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

@crazycrofter We must have taken the less scenic route between the station & the uni! I do vaguely remember the New Walk area & thinking it was nice (probably not a student area though?!)

@ZittiEBuoni: sorry to hear that - hope you are both coping ok. Glad she can enjoy her studies at least and that the CBT is chipping away at her anxiety.

@Piggywaspushed: are the lunchtime sessions for your Ds’ EPQ meant to be taught or just self directed learning time? I know ds’ teacher was very strict (as he was their supervisor) at not feeding back to them very much as it had to be their own work… although they had a series of ‘how to’ sessions after that the lunchtime session were really a time they could drop in and do their own work so to speak.

So, to answer Qs. he has had a grand total of 3 lunch meetings with some very vague instructions as to what to do. That's it...

He has realised it is more work than he thought and is regretting it today. They never did it at is school until his cohort so I suspect a 'volunteer' has been put in charge and may not herself really know what she is doing!

Sorry to hear your update ziti.

Yay on the offer hatti!

Congratulations to your dd @Hattifatteners! Sorry to hear about the setback @ZittiEBuoni. Keep taking it a day at a time, she did so well to get into school for the mocks.

@Piggywaspushed that’s really rubbish! Are there any useful guides online/on YouTube?

Dd said to me earlier she feels completely lost and just doesn’t know what to do I wish she was open to the possibility of a gap year.

Sorry to hear that Zitti, and well done Hatti.

Hope she enjoys the interview Hatti.

I really feel for your DD Crazy. That’s panic now setting in, given the school has issued a deadline.

Could you both remove yourself from the detail of courses, and just do something simple, like a mind map of what she enjoys and doesn’t? Obviously in any job role, there will be elements of stuff we don’t like, but to try and get back to where her heart is and work back from there?

No advice Piggy, just hope he manages to fudge his way out successfully. And if this is the first college cohort, that for the next one they learn to try and complete in Y12, not start it in Y13!

Hope things improve again Zitti.

Congrats Hatti - fab news!

We had similar hopeless school on EPQ Piggy its why we dropped it.

@crazycrofter

Congratulations to your dd *@Hattifatteners! Sorry to hear about the setback @ZittiEBuoni*. Keep taking it a day at a time, she did so well to get into school for the mocks.

@Piggywaspushed that’s really rubbish! Are there any useful guides online/on YouTube?

Dd said to me earlier she feels completely lost and just doesn’t know what to do I wish she was open to the possibility of a gap year.

Not sure about YouTube. Will look...

@Piggywaspushed I thought this was very helpful, but I have posted it twice before so apologies if you looked and didn't like it!

Congrats HattI DS

Thanks monkey!

2 confirmed offers to add to Shimy’s fab tally more than anything else. Manchester and Bristol, both A,B,B (M2).

Yay!

EPQ here was a few online sessions as a group in the evenings from school - supposed to teach skills but not interactive and quite poor so DD struggled to recall stuff - plus tutor if needed with about 4 sessions for 15-20 mins just to update on progress but tutor fairly lacking in enthusiasm to organise. DD watched a couple of videos - found some example projects to give her idea on what content should look like. Used the EPQ booklet from the exam board for the mark scheme. Brother helped her learn to use the referencing system on MS word amd collate things. She developed questionnaires etc herself. Taught herself to research. Useful process but not that much support from school.

A bit off topic but does anyone know anyone who’s got an interview for medical degree for Edinburgh. Everyone DD knows at four schools even with 3100 score + in UCAT A* across the board etc has been declined without interview.

@ealingwestmum Congratulations on the offers and the nice sentiment although I think quite a few here have got 2 offers by now .

Congratulations @ealingwestmum! Great news.
I think we are quite far away from offers....

Well done on the offers @ealingwestmum -great news

@ealingwestmum congratulations!

@Fruitygal it was the same last year for Edinburgh. Non-contextual applicants from outside Scotland needed a UCAT over 3,000, band 1 SJT, 2xAA inc an A in Chem and 8 GCSEs at 8/9/A*. We advise RUK applicants not to apply without 3,000+ AND band 1, but they don't believe us. Luckily people with those sorry of stats usually get interviews elsewhere, the sadder ones are the ones with less stellar stats who could have got 4 interviews, but choose poorly and get none.

Just lost a long post. UCAS website accepted DS's personal statement no bother at all tonight, must have been a glitch last night. He didn't get to speak to his tutor today and is up to his eyes in work (mock week and a BTEC deadline) so I said I'd log on and try it for him. I am also going to check his qualifications have all been entered correctly.

With the current subjects, do you just leave the result field blank?

@ZittiEBuoni sorry to hear about DD's problems, hope things improve for her soon.

@Piggywaspushed - DS gave up on his EPQ fairly early on, I'm not sure how good the school support was as it was the first year for the teacher, but as the teacher is an acquaintance who I see quite regularly it's a bit of a relief. I have a few acquaintances and friends who teach at his school and only once has one taught him but it was a bit awkward when I had to make a complaint about her to the head. She then left and started teaching DD at her school but luckily we still get on ok when we cross paths.

Well done to those receiving offers. @Fruitygal I don't know of anyone that's applied for medicine at Edinburgh.

@Monkey2001 thanks for that info - DD was especially sad for a boy on her bus - all 9s from gcses, A* x4 on A levels including chemistry, 1 for judgement and 3100 plus for UCAT but grammar school so non contextual. Loved the place snd was so gutted. Has got two interviews already but still gutted.

@ealingwestmum congratulations on the offers - great news!

@Fruitygal rejected with 3100 B1? That really is unlucky. I thought the cut off was around 3040 B1. Did he apply to St Andrews? You can do the clinical years at Edinburgh if you choose the Scottish pathway. It won't be any comfort, but when we did the Edinburgh open day DS1 decided not to apply because he found the people doing the medicine presentations a bit "up themselves" - lots of patting themselves on the back for being excellent and very little content. Much preferred the Leicester open day.

@Hattifatteners congratulations on interview!

@ZittiEBuoni sorry life is so tricky

Great news on offers.

@ZittiEBuoni Sorry your DD MH has turned again. I hope she finds some calm.

@crazycrofter Lancaster feels more like a market town than a city. It has some nice buildings but a lot of the shops are occupied by charity shops, bookies & vape shops. It is not walkable to the campus. We visited last month.