GCSE '18s (20) - half term beckons!

[mmmz]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/3355907-gcse-18s-19-new-beginnings

Oratory1 - I agree. It was just that it was being discussed on here and lots are already doing open days. The situation in our house is
School: she has a very good chance at Oxbridge and should be actively building her PS
Me: it's all pie in the sky
Her: I can't imagine leaving London and I am not sure I want to live in dodgy accommodation and be poor for 3 years. I think I want to commute and stay at home

We are a 25 min commute into Victoria and London Bridge, 35 mins to City, Farringdon and Blackfriars so it is very viable

.....anyone else's DC thinking of staying local??
It's less than a year to applications and I have only just recovered from GCSEs 😩

Wow, I have just realised that I am completely and unreasoningly prejudiced against staying at home for university. Possibly because none of my friends did? I have always presumed that the DC will go away. Note to self - watch out for subconscious bias and fight against it!

We don’t want a recurrence of the 1996 ‘no football fan could ever appreciate E.M. Forster’ incident...

bpisok that is a rather...thorough approach by the school! I’m gob-smacked (and a bit sceptical) at their claim that they have a 100% success rate.

For balance, and in case any Oxbridge hopefuls are reading and worrying that it’s a common approach, DD’s school (12-20ish to Oxbridge per year but from a year group of c120) did nothing like that. There were never any ‘Oxbridge groups’ and no mention of it until Spring of Y12 (and that was only because DD had forgotten to put her name down for a conference and the HoY suggested she might want to attend!) No extra Oxbridge classes either and the PS advice was the same for everyone, regardless of where they were applying. The school said they wouldn’t stop anyone who wanted to apply, but did advise that the chances were slim below a certain number of A*s at gcse (but this was a selective independent, so results were generally very high). And I never heard of any direct communication beyond the standard academic reference.

I was the same Kingscote and couldn’t envisage it myself - but coming round to thinking if DS doesn’t take the apprenticeship route a course near home may suit. He just doesn’t seem interested in the ‘uni experience’ and whereas the local places are not top tier he’s not ambitious and interested in a more practical style of learning so may be an option. Recognise this may all change in the next six months though

From what I hear it’s quite common for London students to commute so wouldn’t be unusual there - and thinking about Australian and Canadian friends, going to the local uni was the norm for them too (perhaps due to the major cities being so far apart ! )

Kingscote . I would very much beg to differ on football/Forster!

Kingscote, what was the 1996 'no football fan would ever appreciate E M Forster incident'? I'm probably being dense but it doesn't ring any bells

Cherryburn - don't forget we are only talking 2 or 3 per year. I know that for the last 4 years they are def telling the truth but that's for offers. One missed her grades.
And yes, really thorough
PS advice will be tailored to the Unis they applying to.

I wasn't sure whether this was a 'normal' approach to Uni applications. I only became involved a few months before GCSEs and don't want to be unprepared and clueless again!!!

Very glad to hear that it's not unusual for London students to stay home- my only reservation about commuting was that she might be the only one and she would miss out on the social side.

I am on annual leave so have too much time on my hands😁

My DS2 is at home for his HE but that's really only because he has SN. He's at the local college and the local uni is quite niche in the courses it offers and a very new uni to boot.

I think I'm also biased against staying at home because I think that a large part of uni is the 'growing up and managing for yourself' experience within fairly safe boundaries. But London may well be different. My DSs couldn't even consider London unis because of the cost and once out of halls all students there seem to have a long commute. DS1's girlfriend is at Goldsmiths and lives over an hour's commute away.

@LimitIsUp That would the the moment when I nearly relegated DH from ‘potential boyfriend material’ based entirely on his preference for Exeter City over early 20th C novelists. Now a byword in our family for rash judgements...

Ah I see

Totally with him on E M Forster though

True, though DS did say he's going to have to look after himself for the next 60 years so what difference would three more make - though I suppose the difference at uni is your all learning together and with halls there is a bit of transition

And lots of them come back home until they're 30!

Limit may you be forgiven

My dd is considering our local uni but she absolutely doesn't want to stay at home

Our local uni is in the top 5 of the league table for her subject and entrance criteria is similar to Oxbridge so she might be being a bit optimistic.

She's at sixth form almost in the grounds and she's loving the atmosphere.

My way of persuading DD to leave is to tell her what a great reputation of local uni has. Edinburgh here she comes!

Hmm this is a tough one. DH and I have always talked about how uni and being away for the first time was the making of us. Best time of our lives and all that. Especially for DH who went abroad. So DD has it in her mind that it is a bit of a rite of passage. But she is equally a Home bod and doesn't know how she will be away from home. And thinks it means that she has to really grow up and leave Home forever.

There is one London uni that she does really like - Imperial and it's hard to imagine that she wouldn't apply or turn it down if she gets it just because it is local to us. DD keen on Oxbridge but apparently School tell us towards the end of the year if they think she is Oxbridge material. Apparently they won't support the application if you decide to apply and they don't think you should.

DS2's school: You should think about applying to Oxbridge.
Me: It's worth applying; you have the aptitude and the passion for the subject.
DS2 at the moment: Meh. More impressed with the redbricks (flashier labs, better sales pitch at open days).

Apparently they won't support the application if you decide to apply and they don't think you should.

I've been puzzling over this recently. What happens when a student does significantly better than expected at A level (eg so that they could have got an Oxbridge/Imperial/ UCL type place had they applied and everyone expected them to do so well?)
Does it get written off as a fluke and they continue with their pre-result day plans?
Or do they have to take a gap year and try for the following year (I guess this isn't a credible option with sibjects like maths where they like you to stay in the groove i.e. no gaps)

😂😂 key thing is they go where they want to go and not where they think school or us think they should go.

Hello all. Haven't been on here for ages due to a combo of work being a bit crazy and having to finish DD's new (and probably last!) dance costume for a weekend festival we are attending this weekend. I have glued over 20,000 rhinestones on a leotard over the past week - all by hand one by one!

Seems so strange that DD has completed her first half term of Sixth Form - results day seems like a lifetime ago!
We are visiting Edge Hill in November and looking at open days at Derby too. DD is dead set on Edge Hill for Policing so we are looking at that one first - she's even started looking at houses!
So far she is coping really well with the work. She did two Sociology 20 markers this week and got 18/20 and 20/20. She had the highest mark in the class and the teacher gave her a sticker! Thought I had seen the last of that in primary!

Alexander hope DD makes some progress with her ankle, DD's friend has Perthes in one hip and has been overcompensating on the other hip for years resulting in upcoming surgery on her good hip! Problem is dancing DC do overcompensate on good limbs when they have injuries - often without realising - I know DD did when she dislocated her knee.

Hmmm You can apply for a higher level course though ucas on adjustment if your grades are higher (like clearing but the other way round) but Oxbridge aren’t included in that. I was going to say the best thing would be to take a gap year and to apply (probably with your original course again as a fall back) and more and more people are taking gao years and not the straight route of year 13 and straight to uni - but is guess that doesn’t work for maths - unless you could go something mathsy in the gap year.

Having said that Oxbridge isn’t all about the grades - if a top school experienced at Oxbridge entry doesn’t think it’s right then they may be right

It works the other way too. Some see medicine or Oxbridge entry as a two year process - if you don’t get an offer the first time and think you could do better with another shot you can apply again with grades and being a year older and more mature - many have gone this with some success

Wow that’s dedication Jufus

I think that calls for a photo of the many sequined costume

I’ve never been that dedicated.