Thread 22 Covid Cohort - Creeping towards the Future - Personal Statements and Interviews

[OrangeCinnamonCocktail]

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.

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/4370509-Thread-21-Corona-Cohort-Nervous-waiting-so-frustrating
Role Call below
@20newnames / DS / Engineering
@Alsoplayspiccolo / DD / English + Film
@AnneofCleavage / DD / gap year? Primary Education
@BlueMarigold / DD / Biology
@crazycrofter / DD / Child (?) + Mental Health Nursing
@Decorhate / DS / Economics + Politics
@Delphigirl / DS / Oceanography
@DoggerelBank / DS / tbc sciencey
@ealingwestmum / DD / Middle Eastern and European Studies
@EerilyDisembodied / DS / History or Environmental Management
@estherfrewen / DS / History
@EwwSprouts / DS / Biology
@Fiddlersgreen / DS / Journalism
@Fruitygal / DD / Biology
@Hattifatteners / DD / Vet Med
@Heifer / DD / Biology
@Hopeful201 / DS / Medicine
@Horace123 / DS / Classics
@icanbewhatiwant / DS / History + Philosophy
@Isthisjustnormal / DS / Comp Sci
@KingscoteStaff / DD / Medicine
@mummabear74 / DD / Environmental Science
@mummyinbeds / DS / Law + French Law
@Nard75 / DS / Maths
@NCTDN / DD / Liberal Arts
@Oblomov21 / DS / Accountancy
@OrangeCinnamonCocktail / DD / Music (uni)
@PaddingtonPaddington / DD / Music (cons)
@Piggywaspushed / DS / Social sciences combo
@ProggyMat / DD / Classics
@SandyBayley / DD / Medicine
@Seeline / DD / Liberal Arts
@singingstones / DS / Neuroscience
@Wheresthebeach / DD / gap year? Marine Biology
@whoamitojudge / DD / Cabin crew training
@Zebracat / DD / Liberal Arts or Anthropology
@ZittiEBuoni / DD / applying next year

@ealingwestmum I’m sure you will be soon!
It’s 4 weeks tomorrow since DDs UCAS application went in and lots of her friends applying to read alternative subjects have had several offers - as have posters’ DC on MN

Oh no Singingstones. It’s a term all of us with furry family members dread. I’m so sorry to hear that.

@singingstones sorry to hear that. Best wishes for tomorrow, I can only imagine how it feels to lose a beloved pet.

I'm sorry @singingstones . We have cats too.

Thank you, we will miss her very much. Especially poor DD, they have been best buddies since Dcat was a kitten and DD was 3. Not great timing as DD has maths GCSE exams on Monday and Wednesday next week 😬

Thanks @PaddingtonPaddington. Now just to work out the exam codes for the right versions of some subjects. DS hardly knows what board he’s sitting 🙄!

Sorry to hear of all the ups and downs people have been going through. @Oblomov21 my eldest DS had months of rejections for apprenticeships and we were beginning to wonder what on earth he could do next. He then ended up being offered two in an hour!! You are right though that the application process for the decent ones is very onerous.

Sorry to hear that @singingstones. We lost our cat last year, they are very much part of the family

So sorry about your poor Dcat, singing. We are a family of cat lovers here, and have been through the heartbreak of saying goodbye several times. It’s the worst part of loving them.

Delighted offers are starting to come in for some.

DS is off on a biology field trip this weekend. Apparently it's compulsory but doesn't contribute to grades predicted or actual. LFT done!

@singingstones Sorry dcat is so poorly. Pets really are part of the family.

Made some progress today… one of DD’s friends got an offer through and it’s made DD want to send off her application now! She sat and wrote a proper draft of her PS and sent it to her teacher for marking.

Amazing @BlueMarigold!

Nothing like a healthy dose of peer competitiveness to mobilise into action; good to hear BlueMarigold.

So sorry to hear that Singingstones. We lost one of ours a couple of weeks ago . Take care 💐

@singingstones - very sorry to hear about your cat.

@PaddingtonPaddington - thanks for the exam info - makes it seem all too real!

@BlueMarigold - good news on the PS. Not long now until your Lancaster trip!

@ealingwestmum - as an ex-Welsh swimmer DS quite keen on the Cardiff course! Am sure offers for elsewhere will come in soon. I don’t think we will hear anything from anywhere else for some time now.

Thanks @estherfrewen We are all looking forward to it.

Sorry about your cat @singingstones. Very sad for you all and lots of reminders around, feeding bowl, basket etc. We lost our Parrot of 16yrs last November and that was very very sad, so sympathise with you.

@EwwSprouts DS is also off on a field trip for Geography this weekend. It constitutes 20% of their final A'Level grade, so it might be the same for Biology.

I'm so sorry about your cat @singingstones we are a cat family too and fully understand the grief. x

I am desperate for DS to send his UCAS stuff off, apparently they can't until next Friday as the school wants them to go all at the same time or something. Obviously they sent all the medics and Oxbridge off but the rest of the year has to wait.

I’m really sorry about your cat @singingstones, that’s so sad.

Good to hear more offers coming through, it doesn’t sound like unis are waiting til January!

At a sixth form open day with ds last night one teacher said with some certainty that they won’t be doing public exams this year! We questioned her on it and she back tracked a bit, but I wondered why she was so sure?

Oh dear, I don't like the sound of that Crazy.

At a sixth form open day with ds last night one teacher said with some certainty that they won’t be doing public exams this year! We questioned her on it and she back tracked a bit, but I wondered why she was so sure?

Really?! I have told DS to take all mocks and coursework very seriously, after warnings on here, was it from @Delphigirl? After the debacle with the BMAT for medicine applicants on Wednesday, university is going to feel like a lottery if our lot have no "real" GCSEs or A levels. I think DS would do well with teacher assessed grades, although there is a complication as his maths teacher is his GF's mum! I don't think it would actually be good for them.

Congratulations on offers. I think popular courses might be the slow ones as they won't have a feel for how many applications they agree getting until January.

I want them to do exams simply because there’s so much scepticism over teacher grades. But in DD’s case she’d be fine with teacher grades, would probably get As/A*s whereas exams are more of a lottery. In ds’ case, I’m not sure what grades teachers would give him as he only revised for the first time for his Sept exams and even then he only managed to fit in 6 subjects, so the other 4 were dire!

I don’t like the sound of that Crazycrofter! DS has exams next week, will have to hope the entrance exams this week have given a bit of practice.

The BMAT episode is an absolute disgrace. Am I right in thinking there were issues last year with it ? Lessons really should have been learned if so.

Yes it was me. I still can’t say what I heard or when it was said but it was the antithesis of a throwaway comment at a dinner party. Carefully selected words delivered from a very high level at the department to the highest level of a major stakeholder in university admissions.

@Monkey2001

At a sixth form open day with ds last night one teacher said with some certainty that they won’t be doing public exams this year! We questioned her on it and she back tracked a bit, but I wondered why she was so sure?

Really?! I have told DS to take all mocks and coursework very seriously, after warnings on here, was it from @Delphigirl? After the debacle with the BMAT for medicine applicants on Wednesday, university is going to feel like a lottery if our lot have no "real" GCSEs or A levels. I think DS would do well with teacher assessed grades, although there is a complication as his maths teacher is his GF's mum! I don't think it would actually be good for them.

Congratulations on offers. I think popular courses might be the slow ones as they won't have a feel for how many applications they agree getting until January.

Maths teacher will DEFINITELY have to declare that, exams or not. Every year we get asked by exams officer to declare any interest (eg teaching your own child etc)