Thread 31 Covid Cohort - Hopping through Easter and Revision

[OrangeCinnamonCroissant]

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 30

I've made this one a little bit earlier as things are so busy, at home and on thread, so please feel free to use up previous thread first

DS has come home with his coursework mark for History, he's got 34/40. His teacher has told him that's an A. I'm assuming he's based that on previous exam years.

@crazycrofter you don't have to agree to complete in 7-9 weeks. You hold the cards now, you can tell them when you want to complete!

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn I think that Vet med is like medicine in that other things, mostly work experience, can be more important than absolutely top grades, although you probably need mostly 7+ at GCSE and AAA at A level. Have a dip into The Student Room and check the vet school websites - there aren't that many of them. I am sure @Hattifatteners knows more than any of us about the current requirements.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn DD has applied to vet med this year and managed to secure offers from Nottingham and Bristol. Her GCSEs were 2x9, 7x8 and 7, although I think this is irrelevant if you meet their minimum requirements. Vet schools do not rank students by their GCSEs like many Med schools do. Like @Cantonet said, you need to meet the A-level requirements which generally are AAA or AAB for Surrey and Nottingham. Cambridge may require A*AA. The most important thing is the work experience. For example, RVC wants you to have 70 hours of clinical and 70 hours of non-clinical work experience. Different vet schools have different requirements and there has been some relaxation on these due to Covid. Now that the restrictions have been relaxed, the vet schools may return back to their normal requirements. DD managed to do 6 days at vets, lambing, stables, wildlife hospital and children's play farm. All vet schools interview apart from Bristol. Many of them have supplementary forms/tests/reflections to do as well. Happy to answer any further questions.

Crazycrofter we have said we can't do the completion date our buyers have suggested as like you need don't want to be moving during DS's exams. We've suggested an alternative date (in line what we originally said accepting the offer) and are waiting to hear if that's acceptable.

Thanks, there’s been no discussion about timescales, so hopefully they’ll go with our preferred dates.

Thank you vet advice people! Please can you all stick around for another 3-4 years so that I can pick your brains again when he's applying! 😂 Can't believe they need 70 hours experience @Hattifatteners that seems a lot. Think I'm going to have to start sending him on his own to the vet with our cat, try and create a bond with the vet so we can pleased for work experience nearer the time!

Good luck with the buyers @crazycrofter I hope they are not going to give you greif.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn it is actually 140 hours 😂. And yes, it is mad. Requires a lot of hard work. Maybe this is partly them assessing how serious you are about it.

Not wishing to be negative about vet med @JustHereWithMyPopcorn but I know of a girl with all 8-9s at GCSE, predicted all A* at A Level, more than the required hours of experience and she only got 1 interview, from which she’s now on a waiting list. So it’s definitely competitive! But maybe this year is worse than usual.

@crazycrofter in all likelihood he'll change his mind when he realises that Chemistry is much harder than he currently thinks it is and decides he wants to be an architect instead.

140?! @Hattifatteners 😮

Everything this year is worse than usual which must make subjects like vet med, med, and dentistry an utter nightmare. I really feel for those aiming for these courses this yr, it's all so unfair. I also don't understand how we can be short of Vets/doctors etc and someone with the profile @crazycrofter just mentioned only gets 1 interview! something very silly is going on and someone in charge should do something about it. All those disillusioned young people, they should be making entering those professions easier. Not by lowering the entry standards of course but by creating more Vet/ Med schools etc in the first place so they can increase their intake of good candidates.

Yep @JustHereWithMyPopcorn 70 hours of clinical and another 70 hours of non-clinical. DD managed to collect 210 hours in total, but only 42 hours of clinical due to Covid restrictions. However, it is good to remember that each vet school has different requirements and those can be found from their websites.

Dd1 had about 20 weeks experience.
But this was pre-lockdown & Liverpool I think interviewed you then on the basis of how much experience you had.

I hate to say this but Architecture is just as bad. DD has been told to target for 3 × A at A level. The top Architecture schools are very difficult to get into.

To add to the supply/demand challenges this year, it really isn’t just the medics who’ve taken a pounding, but the more traditional history, English, and lots of Maths students also struggling to get offers, all with top grades.

I haven’t don’t the research fully but on top of the deferred, inflated grades, honouring over offers and many other reasons, the taking in physically, international students (vs them studying remotely for nearly 2 years) will have pushed out available domestic places.

@cantonet DH and I are both architects so at least we know what's involved with that.

DS had the same with law, 3 As was the minimum offer and he only got offers from 2 universities despite having that predicted and his A* EPQ plus good work experience including with a top London chambers.

It's all a bit mad really.

Great NEA result, JustHere.

In which case can you tell us how to get into UCL @justhere ? 😂

Thanks @Alsoplayspiccolo I think he's a little disappointed as was hoping for the evasive A*.

@cantonet for this year? If you haven't been rejected yet there's a good chance you might get in! Seriously though, the Barlett has always been highly sought after, particularly by foreign students and lets not forget that those are the ones that bring the money. I know two boys at DS's school this year both rejected and they are A* students. One I can sort of understand as he has no experience and isn't really very artistic / creative the other one is though AND his dad's an architect so you think he'd have stood a chance! My understanding (from back in the day) is they are really looking for creative thinkers as well as academically and artistically strong and confident people at interview.

Sorry about the bold fail not sure how that happened - it should have said A* students.

Sounds like a nightmare that this year vet/med, architecture and others are even worse this year.

Had a difficult conversation with Dh and Ds1 re finances. I'm not sure exactly how much we can contribute yet.

Some of you mentioned your orders option was that you / the parents pay for accommodation outright by parents, and then leaving the remaining maintenance grant for them to live off.

£4.5 minimum maintenance grant / 31 weeks of term = £145 per week. That's alright, I'd live off that! Ds's Nottingham catered is £6k. Dh suggested we pay the difference (£1.5k) and then pay him a small amount weekly for living costs.
I expect him to get a job. (Screwfix have already agreed to transfer his job, plus he'll have money from his PwC work experience. Is that enough though? Seems a bit measly.

That's nowhere near what some parents have said they intend to contribute - Eithet to make up the maintenance grant from 4.5 to 9k
(4.5k), Or pay for accommodation totally (can be as much as £6k or more) Surely 4.5k-6k can't be the norm for parental contribution?

DH would have loved to have been an architect JustHere. I didn’t rain on his parade to say that Architecture has one of the largest drop out rates, from the sheer hard graft and long hours UGs have to put in. But rewarding I hope if one makes it out the other end?

Architecture - my niece was rejected by Bartlett but got offers from Cambridge, Bath and Cardiff. Architecture is the most competitive subject at Cambridge - offer ratio half that of Medicine (1/10 last time I looked).

@Oblomov22 parents are "expected" to make up from minimum loan to full loan as the reduction is due to their income, see Money Saving Expert. Of course many can't afford it unless they have saved for it. Talk to your DS about what you feel comfortable with.

@Oblomov22 DS will only get the minimum amount of loan which isn't enough to cover his accommodation (just over £7k) and we will give him about £50 a week then which would be the equivalent of him getting a full loan. It is going to be painful.

@ealingwestmum I remember when I started we lost loads of students in the first year - either of their own accord or by failing. Loads leave after the degree too. It is absolutely a slog, long hours and hard work and lots of criticism! No, it's not particularly rewarding at the other end, financially or happiness wise! 😂 Maybe I'm just tired and jaded by years of red tape. The good thing is that it's easy to work for yourself and I did that when my DC were younger so that I could be around a bit more for them.