Thread 26 - Covid Cohort Hoping for a Stable, Successful 2022

[OrangeCinnamonCocktail]

previous thread

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.

Sending hug @Volterra

That sounds rough, Volterra .

@Volterra sorry to hear you are being hit on all sides by sad news and uncertainty. Cancer treatments are so much better than they were - internet searches are scary, but outlooks are very different even compared to a of couple years ago.

Oh @volterra that is incredibly stressful for you. So much to contend with all at once. I do hope all your loved ones make good recoveries. A big unmumsnetty hug for you!
@ealingwestmum that is very adventurous of your DD if she has no connection with Canada! Good for her! I totally understand the attraction of a fresh start and reinvention and I think it is so important for kids to do it if they feel like they have got themselves on the wrong track for them.
That is useful to know about the 4 A levels but my younger dd is only going to be doing 3 plus Arabic on the side. To be honest not only is she Canadian, but she hasn’t lived there so is treated as quebecois (as she has no residence in another province) and so the fees are truly madly cheap… it is like a built in scholarship! I will leave the scholarship money for others who could use it more!

Just double checked - $30k tuition and fees for international, $10k for Canadian non-Quebec, just under $5k for Quebec 😱

Oh Volterra, I'm so sorry to hear about your Dad, what a horrible start to the year for you all. Sending hugs of support.

Delphigirl how very exciting about the Canada offer - despite the fees. DS wants to do a US exchange on his degree course. UCL offer it with Columbia and the costs looked to be around $100k per year. Lol!

Yes @JustHereWithMyPopcorn the year abroad in the us is a fantastic bargain. My DS1 is going from Birmingham to the us next year - hasn’t heard which uni of his choices he has got yet but they are al high end private universities with $70k pa tuition and the year abroad charge is £1850 😱😱😱😱 bargain!

Ugh, dd2 has just tested positive for Covid prior to her dance class - so no dance class now and she's absolutely devastated. She was planning to go to a friend's beach party afterwards and swim in the sea! I'd consider that a lucky escape personally...

Won't make much difference to DD1 but I expect she's secretly hoping she'll test positive herself. I'm negative so far, DH about to take a test.

@Volterra sending much love and

Thank you all so much, really appreciate the support. We haven’t told DS yet as feel we need more info so will keep everything crossed that his procedure goes well and take it from there. He’s having his booster at the moment. Really need to talk about 2 more to add to UCAS but he isn’t hugely receptive currently.

He applied for the integrated course at Exeter so offer is A Star AA, same as Bath BSc. I’d like him to think about emailing them to see if they would change offer to BSc which I think would be AAA (am sure standard offer was AAB last year.). If he won’t and puts them as insurance I wonder if they would look at taking him onto the BSc at that point instead with a missed grade? They were in clearing last year and he has extenuating circumstances on health grounds currently which is in his reference.

Need something AAB to feel more comfortable really, the A star makes me twitchy as does an A in physics .Southampton likely to offer AAB if did well enough in his MAT but he doesn’t think he will have done. Cardiff will be lower as his TMUA grade was fine for reduced offer there. Would like Birmingham but standard offer is AAA I think and he won’t qualify for contextual.I don’t feel able to think very clearly about it all at moment.

Sorry to hear of more positive tests. It’s great to read the good news though. I think there are a couple on here waiting for Oxford news this week, have fingers very firmly crossed for that .

@Volterra if he could deal with the uncertainty of Clearing there will be options for maths if all the offers look a bit high. Also, don't forget that if they actually do exams, the grade boundaries will be generous, so getting AAA will be significantly easier than it was on 2019. The OFQUAL stats show that 14.3% of candidates got A## in 2019 and in 2021 it was 31.5%, so more than twice as many. in 2020 it was 24.5%, so the midpoint target between 2020 and 2021 implies that around 28% of candidates with get A*## in 2022, so still twice as many as usual.

If he has no strong preference for any other course he could put the Exeter BSc as one of his other choices.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/analysis-of-results-a-levels-and-gcses-summer-2021/summer-2021-results-analysis-and-quality-assurance-a-level-and-gcse

As much as there are many pluses to being brought up in London, it can be a huge bubble that feels claustrophobic at times, with much of them going onto unis she's applied to.There's a US college on application too but that one is less attractive to her with lower admission odds so she's not holding her breath for that outcome, due end of March.

Studying languages makes it easier for her to step out of her comfort zone, it's just weighing up the value add of a 4 year international UG course vs a 3rd year overseas placement from a UK/Ireland based Uni. We've factored in more than just the fees, which is naturally the biggest consideration if no fin. aid is forthcoming.

...there's a US, not S !

@Volterra sending you a virtual [hug] . Re missing the grade for Intergrated Masters, with Biology courses, at all the uni's we looked at if you applied for the Inergrated Masters and missed the grades they automatically offered BSc instead (as long as you got the grades for that) so perhaps same for you?

What a horrid start to the year for you @Volterra. I hope all get the very best treatment and support.

It is my birthday today and DSs have made me some marzipan fruits with a marzipan muscle man! Thought it might amuse the mums of other gym bunnies!

Love it. Happy birthday Monkey! 🎉

Happy birthday @Monkey2001! The marzipan is fab. Hope you are having a lovely day.

Oh dear @Volterra, that really is a lot to deal with.
Happy happy Birthday @Monkey2001.
Just had a delayed Christmas day with the COVID afflicted members of our family. So fun. 2 darling dgc. My fingers taste of play dough.

Monkey I love marzipan man.

Happy Birthday Monkey and thanks for the advice. Love the marzipan! Hope you have a lovely evening.

Glad Christmas finally happened Zebracat!

Heifer that is what I was hoping might be possible. We’ll just get this week over and think about it all. Thank goodness cut off date is a bit later this year.

Happy birthday @Monkey2001! Love the marzipan creations!

Happy birthday @Monkey2001.

Happy birthday, @Monkey2001. And sending much love @Volterra: so much to be juggling at once too :-(