Thread 23 Covid Cohort Stepping Into Christmas, Tests, Mocks & 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

@20newnames/ DS / Engineering
@Alsoplayspiccolo/ DD / English + Film
@AnneofCleavage/ DD / gap year? Primary Education
@BlueMarigold/ DD / Biology
@cariadambyth/ DD / History / Southampton, Bath Spa, Warwick, RHUL
@collywobble/ DS / PPE, Economics / Lancaster (AAB)
@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 / Birmingham (ABB), Cardiff (ABB-BBB), Warwick (AAB)
@EwwSprouts/ DS / Biology
@Fiddlersgreen/ DS / Journalism / Bournemouth (104 pts), Brighton (BCC), Cardiff (ABB)
@Fruitygal/ DD / Biology
@Hattifatteners/ DD / Vet Med
@Heifer/ DD / Biology
@Hopeful201/ DS / Medicine
@Horace123/ DS / Classics / Edinburgh 34/665
@icanbewhatiwant/ DS / History + Philosophy
@Isthisjustnormal/ DS / Comp Sci
@JustHereWithMyPopcorn/ DS / Law
@KingscoteStaff/ DD / Medicine
@Knickerthief1/ DD / Child nursing / York
@Monkey2001/ DS / Medicine
@mummabear74/ DD / Environmental Science
@mummyinbeds/ DS / Law + French Law / Birmingham (AAA), Kent (AAB)
@Nard75/ DS / Maths
@NCTDN/ DD / Liberal Arts
@Oblomov21/ DS / Accountancy / Southampton ABB
@OrangeCinnamonCocktail/ DD / Music (uni)
@PaddingtonPaddington/ DD / Music (cons)
@Piggywaspushed/ DS / Social sciences / Birmingham (AAB-ABB), York (AAB-ABB)
@ProggyMat/ DD / Classics / Bristol (BBB), Edinburgh
@SandyBayley/ DD / Medicine
@Seeline/ DD / Liberal Arts / UEA (AAB), Kent (BBB), Nottingham (AAA)
@Shimy/ DS / Business + Management / Birmingham (AAB-ABB), Loughborough
@singingstones/ DS / Neuroscience
@Volterra/ DS / Maths
@whatsnext2/ DD / English joint hons
@Wheresthebeach/ DD / gap year? Marine Biology / Southampton, Portsmouth
@whoamitojudge/ DD / RyanAir cabin crew training
@Zebracat/ DD / Liberal Arts or Anthropology
@ZittiEBuoni/ DD / tbc applying next year

Big congrats @Fruitygal. Lovely uni.

Thanks @ealingwestmum and @Shimy - she’s happy! It’s been hard watching most of her friends who applied to Oxbridge getting other offers. One of DDs friends got St Andrews since Friday at school and is over the moon

Great news @Fruitygal. York will be on DDs list for Biology (when she finishes her PS)...

@BlueMarigold - we do all seem to have at least 1 in common though I think, just not the same 1 :-)

@Heifer there will be a few of them then and with Lancaster I think we have a match with @BlueMarigold's DD too x

@Fruitygal Yes, DD currently thinking of Nottingham, Bath, Birmingham, York, Loughborough, plus 1 possible back up (so lose 1 from above), so a couple of matches with @BlueMarigold ,

Was the offer as expected gradewise? It says AAB but I believe DD could be offered 1 or 2 grades lower due to our pc plus also 1 grade lower if she gets a B at core maths, so assuming at least ABB. Did your DD get a lower offer for EPQ? (hope you don't mind me asking)
Also - did she apply for BSc or MSci?

If you want to apply for a course with an extra year work placement do you do that at the time or is that something to do later?

Lovely set of unis @Heifer does she have any favourites yet?

DD is at a grammar and our home postcode doesn't warrant a drop but she is predicted AAAA with a raw score indicating an A* in her EPQ so she was thrilled to be offered AAB or ABB with EPQ at a B for the BSc. Durham is her top choice but its very competitive and even though the grades are AAA most get much higher so there is no guarantee of an offer it will be a bit of a lottery.

After an extended period reoccurring chronic illness which appears to be better controlled after finally a diagnosis and medication plan with a specialist (privately as the NHS is largely broken) However she knows things can go awry with a sudden onset of illness like it did in the mocks, so having this offer for a course she loves at not crazy grades really made her visibly relax.

She doesn't want to do an MSci would prefer to choose her uni and course for the MSc if she does one later. (She has a couple of ideas up her sleeve and only one will need a MSc in a science) She will do either a year abroad or placement but didn't apply because she is not certain which and they said you could add on later. I think once the offer days have happened and she gets a better idea of the two options she'll probably ask to amend the offer then.

Nottingham at the moment, although that could change when she knows re offers I think. Your DD has done very well, excellent grade predictions.
I think I have persuaded DD to forget about the MSci for now - she can always switch later, as I think it's about getting offers in first and going from there. Agree with wanting to do Masters somewhere elsewhere later - she likes the idea of being a Clinical Scientist so would like to do the NHS Scientist Programme if she could (which includes a Masters).
I am going to tell DD about yours getting an offer from York as it may make her pull her finger out and finish the PS! to be fair she has been off ill today, but has been revising. Good luck with the other offers.

[quote Heifer]**@Fruitygal* Yes, DD currently thinking of Nottingham, Bath, Birmingham, York, Loughborough, plus 1 possible back up (so lose 1 from above), so a couple of matches with @BlueMarigold* ,

Was the offer as expected gradewise? It says AAB but I believe DD could be offered 1 or 2 grades lower due to our pc plus also 1 grade lower if she gets a B at core maths, so assuming at least ABB. Did your DD get a lower offer for EPQ? (hope you don't mind me asking)
Also - did she apply for BSc or MSci?

If you want to apply for a course with an extra year work placement do you do that at the time or is that something to do later?[/quote]
Bath said you must apply for the WP variant. May not be true of all unis but at Bath it is difficult to swap streams.

@Heifer I think it depends on the uni. Birmingham said you can switch between the streams and even different courses once you start. Nottingham said if you’re not sure put MSci.

Thanks @Piggywaspushed - makes sense for Bath as so many do apply for the work placement.

@BlueMarigold thanksm I remember now Nottingham saying that on their website. I need to check them all again.

It's a mind field! :-)

@Heifer and @Piggywaspushed I know Bath do a lot of placements and maybe they do expect you to apply upfront. I’m not sure as we didn’t do an open day there. I think it’s worth ringing admissions or emailing to understand how each one works. They can be different. DD doesn’t want to do 2nd year abroad only 3rd and some do that so she’s not going to choose that. My DS2 decided on a year abroad for his third year while at uni and applied in second year and got a place in usa for third year but then covid hot and it was cancelled 😞

*hit

Well done @Fruitygal dd! Great to have an achievable offer and somewhere she’d be really happy to go.

Dd says she’s putting York down without a visit as she knows the city. I really hope they do get offer holder days this year. Although I dreamed last night that dd got no offers as she knew absolutely nothing about mental health nursing in her interviews

@Heifer DD has got good predictions but that all they are and the last few years has thrown us a good few curved balls as a family so we are all cautious as a result. Due to having bouts of being unwell she wants a solid option.

We’ve been in a different place with her brothers - predicted grades B and Cs so we’ve been in the middle range of unis before and that’s a whole different game. They both did aspirational, realistic and bad day options for their ucas forms - both ended up at their insurance choices - which they loved and got excellent degrees despite less than stellar Alevels.

We had friends DDs who missed out on Durham and Oxford 2019 when they missed an A* they needed by 3 and 4 marks each. Both girls were gutted but DMs were super stressed out as they had not really considered the insurance choice. (one hadn’t even been there?!?!) One is at Durham now after taking a gap year and the other went to Loughborough in 2019 both happy but a tale of making sure you have a plan A, B and C.

Agree @Fruitygal about plan B...we're delighted by DD's offers but its a bit tricky now. I was hoping for a slightly reduced offer from either Portsmouth or Swansea due to DD's dyslexia but she's got standard offers. Last night, Plymouth sent a reduced offer but she's gone off Plymouth (sigh).

So the reality is that unless she puts Plymouth as her insurance, her insurance will be the same grade offer as Southampton BA offer so no insurance at all! With her dyslexia she qualifies for a prompter in exams but doesn't use it - if she's tired or stressed she can have an off day (eye issues as well so she can get very tired) so I'm worried that if Chemistry doesn't go as well as expected she could be high and dry with standard offers.

Naturally she doesn't want to put a Uni down that she doesn't want to go to...Gah...

@Wheresthebeach it’s still possible that Portsmouth would accept her if she missed her offer, even if Southampton didn’t, so it’s worth putting it down as an insurance. I don’t think it’s worth putting a place down if she wouldn’t be happy to go there. Dd has also gone off Plymouth! How close are the offers to her predicted grades?

@crazycrofter - Her predicted grades are high, although I fear Chemistry is very aspirational due to nerves. The teacher has said she understands it all, which is the hard part, but she needs practice answering the questions. She does get stressed so that's my concern.

She's predicted AA and A in Chemistry, but got a C in the Autumn mock. It's quite possible that she will get very high mark in Geo and Bio and but not so in Chemistry. She needs a B, so it should be okay but I'd be happier if her mock was at least a low B or higher C. She's a set of mocks in January, so I guess we can wait and see what that looks like.
Its funny how they change their minds so much - she's now really set on Liverpool or Swansea. Maybe that will change, I agree Portsmouth is a good backup.

Opps Need to leave a space A A in Geo and Bio.

Great predictions but i understand your nerves!

Well it’s finally happened….. dropped DD off last night for her 6 wk cabin crew training. She’s staying at the hotel where the course is taking place and we booked the hotel for the first two weeks which is good as the hotel isn’t one of the best! ( to put it politely)
I sobbed all the way home and then when she messaged me saying that there was noisy guests in the corridor shouting at about 11pm last night. I can tell she’s nervous and apprehensive at the same time.
It so strange knowing that she’s away for so long especially as she’s my only one. I’m not going to lie but I feel so sad one minute and then happy that she’s getting to do what she wants to do the next.

Ah @whoamitojudge - I will be the same next year. DD my only so it's going to be hard. Delighted your DD is doing what she wants, it's fab. Tough on us parents though.

@crazycrofter - I'm quite relaxed about Bio and Geo grades...but Chemistry gives me the shivers! The teacher assures me that DD will 'get there'. So its a case of 'big smiles'.

@Wheresthebeach she can ask about grade flexibility on an offer holder days. For some universities, as long as they have an equivalent UCAS tariff there is no problem. Or you could email Admissions and ask. I think Swansea are usually very flexible.

Just give her a few days to bond with her training group whoamitojudge and you’ll hear her buzzing. It’s one of the most strong friendship-making professions out there, and she’ll grow up fast with the responsibility that comes with the training requirements.

@whoamitojudge

Well it’s finally happened….. dropped DD off last night for her 6 wk cabin crew training. She’s staying at the hotel where the course is taking place and we booked the hotel for the first two weeks which is good as the hotel isn’t one of the best! ( to put it politely) I sobbed all the way home and then when she messaged me saying that there was noisy guests in the corridor shouting at about 11pm last night. I can tell she’s nervous and apprehensive at the same time. It so strange knowing that she’s away for so long especially as she’s my only one. I’m not going to lie but I feel so sad one minute and then happy that she’s getting to do what she wants to do the next.

Quies earplugs are her friend. Available at Amazon. Amazingly good.

@Monkey2001 - oh thank you for that. I suggested that I email Swansea but both DH and DD were appalled at the thought of me sticking my oar in.

I'm finding the UCAS tariff v grades irritating. Plymouth have gone with UCAS tariff but Swansea is grades. If the tariff is used she's likely to have lots of room to screw up Chemistry (!), but not if grades. We will def be going there to look around so I may email and test the waters...quietly...