Corona Cohort: Statements Scripted, Grades Predicted

[Monkey2001]

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting. It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, please don't within this thread. Please also be sensitive when responding to threads about grades.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue.

From OrangeCinnamonCocktail:

Our DS/DD may go down various paths (such as employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will most likely find us within the Further Ed board.

Previous thread - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/4339233-Thread-19-Corona-Cohort-Enrolling-on-Year-13-hopefully-NOT-unlucky-for-some?pg=1

DS's tutor sent him a draft reference and I had one of those moments we used to get at primary school where you think they are describing somebody else, but in a completely good way!

We are all done with application, but will probably to the virtual Manchester open day coming up just in case anything comes up which helps DS at interview. Is Southampton doing a full open day?

Yes I went to Southampton a couple of weeks ago to their first open day and it was excellent. Not full inasmuch as no subject talks in lecture theatres, but they sent you those in advance to watch and then on the day there were hot and cold running profs and students to talk to and ask Qs to. Also campus tours, residence tours, tours of specialist facilities etc. It was great and not busy and frenetic like in previous years. Space to breathe and think snd see.

We don't get to see the reference!

DD is almost at submission stage - PS virtually finalised. Just need to finalise which courses to put done. Most of hers have a 3 yr course as well as 4 yr courses with a year out either in industry or abroad. Not sure whether it would be best to go for one of the 4yr courses and drop to 3 if she changes her mind at some point, or go for the 3 and change up. They all seem to have the same entry requirements.

Also got to decide whether to fill the 5th slot with an option that she really doesn't think she would want to take up (but is the only other course she found that she sort of likes) or leave blank....

See line if 3/4 yr courses have the same offers then apply for 4 year. Can always drop to 3 but may make it a bit simpler for student finance.

Re 5th - I’d say leave blank for now, see what offers come in, and add another later if offers are not what she hopes or if she changes her mind about the type of course/place etc she is interested in. A lot can change between now and January.

Thanks Delphi - good point about finance.

I'm tempted to leave the 5th blank, but DD says there aren't any other courses to fill it with (I think there are but hey!). We shall have another chat.

I actually think it is preferable not having to sit through subject talks! Having tutors to chat to was good.

Dd really liked Southampton open day format and, comparing it to RHU it seems to have gone in their favour.

I agree @OrangeCinnamonCocktail!

My dd1 only applied for 3 courses as quite an esoteric degree - we left the other two blank in case she changed her mind or didn’t get offers - never used them in the end but nice to know they were there.
DS1 used them all I think.
DS2 about to apply will only use 3 upfront. Could put a 4th but doesn’t want to go there and offer is likely to be higher than others so there is no point. Probably will not use the other 2 but useful to have in case he changes his mind about oceanography and decides to do eg Geog or Env Science.

@Seeline if your DD wants a copy of the reference, she can get it from UCAS once submitted. I think it is due to data protection rules, she can phone and request a copy to the email address registered on her application.

I keep asking Ds to forward me the email of what is happening at the Sussex open day on Saturday. But he just won't do it 😡 I want to know if it's actually worth going. How much we can see etc. He's convinced he's going to be a covid contact for one his friends and won't be able to go anyway. But if we don't go there's another in a few weeks.

Only 3 used here too. We only expect 2 interviews, but Dundee also has a medicine with foundation year for people with the wrong A levels, but we think he is not eligible as you can only do one science and we think Maths and Physics both count. Maybe he will use the other spots to get offers from places which don't use PS, just for the nice feeling of having an offer, DS1 did that for Biomed at Newcastle, knowing that as ling as you are predicted CCC, you will get an offer. Pretty confident he would get an offer from Bristol for Engineering too!

Reading that info about extra time etc I’m wondering if ds’ school have got it right! They seem to have just decided he needs extra time due to his Adhd- no tests undertaken or anything. The SENCO is new to the role this year. I hope she knows what she’s doing!

Dd has seen her reference but is planning to do the PS in half term. She’s thinking she’ll just put 3choices down, but I might see if I can persuade her to put UEA too.

Do many universities do interviews? Ds1 is at UEA they didn't. My friends dc's go to Exeter and York. I can't remember their other choices but they had never visited their universities until the day arrived. Several others I know didn't have interviews either. DS's friend goes to Cambridge, I know he had an interview. Ds1 was called in to Essex university before he had an offer, it was a sort of open day/interview. But he wasn't really interviewed, the man told Ds it was his job to persuade Ds to firm them.

I think interviews are more subject related than unis. I don't think any of DDs choices are interviews - I don't remember seeing anything mentioned on line.

Oxbridge and medicine/nursing/physio/vet etc interview. Art/architecture too although sometimes you just send a portfolio, and music sometimes still has audition/interviews (Cardiff did for a friend). There are a few places which have an offer holders day at which you have a relaxed interview which might result in a reduced offer. One of DS1's friends did this at Leeds, but he did not realise what it was, so didn't prepare.

That’s really encouraging to hear, Delph and Orange. DH is taking DD, but we are both familiar with Southampton as a place, through work.
When he booked the open day, he said it was vague, re timings of tours - is it a case of turn up and be allocated a tour guide?

Yes it was for us. They have a bunch of subject/faculty gazebos with staff and students under them to talk to at Highfield, then students doing campus tours so you just join the next one, then there are buses to take you to a residence and give you a tour- again just take the next one - and buses to eg the waterfront campus at NOCS (where we went). That was v organised - sign in, get 2 students to take you around, then back into a lab where there were admissions profs for eg marine biology, geology, oceans who you could ask further questions to. The building tour and opportunity to talk to the students leading it was excellent. We even went on the research vessel they use for undergrads.
Masks required inside.

We actually didn’t do the campus tour (as DH is an alum so he showed us around) or residence tour (we drove around them ourselves and they all look the same inside) but the NOCS tour was what we came for and it was fab.

I’m beginning to wish we’d waited for the Southampton open day! Although dd liked it when we visited on a Sunday in the summer so maybe it doesn’t matter.. Liverpool could probably have done with the open day treatment though.

Tbh if he was going to study geography or English or something a drive around on our own or a non-open day visit would have been fine. But we really wanted to get inside the specialist facility that is NOCS and an open day was the only way to do it. Remember there will also be offer-holder days.

Ds messaged me earlier to ask if I could order some books for history. I said of course...send me the Sussex email first. So now I have it.
There are several talks I'd like to go to, for example the history talk, a year abroad talk and what they look for in PS but they are all at 9.30am or 12.30pm. That's not helpful. We will have to write down exactly which ones to go to. Ds says he doesn't need to go to the history talk as he watches lectures at school from the history teachers. Hmm...I'd still say it's a good idea to go to a history talk.

At Southampton..Dd particularly liked that she could go up and chat informally to the Music Lecturers at RHU she had to make an appt and said she felt like she was being interviewed. It had a more formal feel and was quite hectic whereas at Soton it was more of a festival/jolly feel she says.
We live near Pompey so not a million miles away, we like Southampton as a city...went to the Mayflower Studio the other weekend and it was a lovely sunny day..she said it had that feeling of 'holiday' the same as Cardiff Bay and Gunwharf Quays. Lots to do, sea nearby, people spilling out of restaurants etc.
Not sure about Sussex this weekend on my way up to hospital DM has been hospitalised and it not looking good

Should say Re: Southampton...and have a full stop

Queen Mary have emailed to say I longer have a place on their talks at their Open Day this Saturday. oversubscribed. I booked 3 talks, 6 weeks ago, so I'm more than gutted.
This is the Uni that Pwc had it's new flying start course for accountancy, which is ds's first choice by a country mile, so I'm severely disappointed.

Oh dear @Oblomov21 that’s disappointing. Can you still go to the open day itself?

@Oblomov21 that’s awful! Once it got full they should have stopped people making new bookings. Do they let you rebook?