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Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

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Original poster

UCAS - Applied for one course - gets an offer for another

24 replies

MargoLovebutter · 20/11/2017 14:56

GAH! My poor DS is in a terrible state. He has applied to 5 unis to do a specific course. He got course related work experience and his school were happy with his personal statement as was I. It all seemed very tailored to the course he wants to do.

He received an offer back today from one of the unis he applied to for a totally different course, in vaguely the same field, because of 'issues with his personal statement'. He immediately phoned the admissions office in a blind panic and they couldn't tell him exactly what the issue was, so they are going to get the department he applied to to get in touch with him.

Has anyone heard of this or had this happen to their DC? DS is a jibbering wreck as he has worked really hard to get his application right and get relevant work experience and now thinks he may have inadvertently buggered the whole thing up.

OP posts:

Coconutspongexo · 20/11/2017 14:59

This happened to a lot of people who applied for medicine, they ended up being offered biomed/anatomy/physiology etc.

Has he heard back off any other unis? Some unis don’t pay too much attention to personal statements.

Original poster

MargoLovebutter · 20/11/2017 15:06

It wasn't medicine. He's only had acknowledgements from other universities, nothing specific so far.

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Coconutspongexo · 20/11/2017 15:08

He might be successful with other unis he shouldn’t worry too much!

billybagpuss · 20/11/2017 15:10

My DD applied for the LLB law and was offered the Cert Law course instead which then led into the LLB 2nd year which she is now on. This was a godsend as the Certificate course was a much better introduction to the 3 years than the LLB would have been and she is now on line for a 1st.

I think my advise would be don't panic. Research the offer he's got (and congrats on the offer) then wait and see what else comes in. The next year is a long one :)

Original poster

MargoLovebutter · 20/11/2017 15:15

The course he has been offered isn't easier to get into, it is completely different - although is in the field of science - which is of course, huge.

He absolutely does not want to study the subject that he's been made an offer for.

OP posts:

Coconutspongexo · 20/11/2017 15:18

Is the course he’s been offered through the same school?

Eg life sciences schools sometimes offer for a different course for example biochem instead of biomed and then in 2nd year people transfer over to their original course choice.

LIZS · 20/11/2017 15:19

Then he could turn it down if he receives different offers. Were his predicted grades matching the typical offer for the course he had applied for?

Original poster

MargoLovebutter · 20/11/2017 15:22

Dipping it is an offer from a completely different department, there would be absolutely no way he could transfer from one to the other. It is a bit like applying to study 20th Century Politics and being offered a place for 20th Century English Literature.

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LIZS · 20/11/2017 15:24

He did enter the correct course code?

Coconutspongexo · 20/11/2017 15:24

I’d wait for him to receive all his replies and then go from there, I know it’ll be hard for you son and disheartening but it’s not the end of the world.

Original poster

MargoLovebutter · 20/11/2017 15:24

Yes Lizs, his predicted grades matched the typical offer for the course he applied for. In fact for the course at this particular uni, his grade predictions were one grade higher than the typical offer.

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GrumpyMcGrumpFace · 20/11/2017 15:25

I'd wait to hear back from that uni and the others before gibbering too much. It could just be an error...

Original poster

MargoLovebutter · 20/11/2017 15:25

Yes, correct course code - I checked and his UCAS teacher checked. The offer clearly states that it is different from the course he applied for.

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Original poster

MargoLovebutter · 20/11/2017 15:26

I'm hoping it is a mistake too Grumpy, but he is ASD and finds things like this v stressful.

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catslife · 20/11/2017 15:29

It could be that the university has messed things up i.e. made a mistake rather than him so would recommend not taking things too personally.
Could he perhaps have got mixed up with another student with a similar name?
It would put me off that university though, even if they correct the error.

GrumpyMcGrumpFace · 20/11/2017 15:33

That is tough Margo I do feel for him. I know that there are unis (naming no names!) that are currently expanding quite quickly without necessarily employing new staff at the same rate. You can see how that could easily lead to such mishaps. Not ideal from their point of view, because if your DS did decide to take them up on the offer and it's not the one they meant to make him, that would be a legally binding contract and they'd have to take him anyway.

I hope it's all cleared up soon.

Original poster

MargoLovebutter · 20/11/2017 15:35

catslife, really hoping it is something like you suggest.

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Original poster

MargoLovebutter · 20/11/2017 15:37

Ha, hadn't thought of it that way Grumpy! If he has calmed down a bit later, I will tell him that. It will appeal to his rule orientated mind.

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LIZS · 21/11/2017 21:53

Did you get any answers today?

Original poster

MargoLovebutter · 22/11/2017 11:33

Hi Lizs, thank you for thinking of me/DS. He got an invitation to interview from one of the other universities - phew.

He did get an email response from the uni that offered him the completely different course, but in all honesty it still doesn't really make sense - so with the other interview now in and 3 other unis still to hear from, we are just going to leave it be and cross them off the list as a lost cause.

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nearly250parkuns · 24/11/2017 14:40

It is a bit like applying to study 20th Century Politics and being offered a place for 20th Century English Literature

That would have worked when I was at uni. People in the humanities faculty who say wanted to study History, had to study two other subjects in their first year. So I can see that it would be possible for them to be admitted, say to study French, do History as one of the 3 subjects and then transfer to History in year 2.

My DH wanted to do history at Oxford but was offered a place to do economic history - after the first year exams he was able to swap. There was a technical reason, maybe because he only had one O level language and not two.

Anyway I hope your ds gets an offer for the course he actually wants from another uni :)

SunshineTheMonkey · 07/12/2017 20:08

@MargoLovebutter

Did he ever find out why they offered him such a different course?

Original poster

MargoLovebutter · 08/12/2017 10:20

Hi Sunshine, DS phoned up the Uni in question, as did the teacher at his school who supports the pupils applying for Uni and neither of them got a satisfactory answer. DS was told that his personal statement did not address a particular point and his teacher was told something similar. It is complete bollox as far as we can all tell, as his statement absolutely does address this issue. He has two other interviews now, so he has calmed down about it.

I told him to concentrate on the interviews and put the freak offer for another course behind him, as I was worried it was diverting him. Not sure if that is the right advice and maybe we should pursue it further, but I'm not sure any of us has the time.

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SunshineTheMonkey · 08/12/2017 21:06

That's exactly the advice I would have given.

It sounds like there's a mix up somewhere but as long as he's happy with the other unis I would put it behind us and take his student finance elsewhere x

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