Year 13 2023/2024 - General support thread

[Rollergirl11]

It’s now the time for our young adults to sit their final year at sixth form/college. Everyone is welcome!

We are still at our 2 applied for which only take 5% and 9% respectively so hopefully DD will at least add Bristol soon. She seems to want to wait until Jan to add the last two. She seems to only want Oxford but seems to have chosen the hardest course to get into, I didn't realise that until after she applied. Interview rate is 18% too. Doesn't seem to care about having an offer from elsewhere saying she would reject it anyway. I admire her determination and think she stands as good a chance as anyone of being in that 5% but am also scared of the crash if she's not. Though she's fine with a year out which helps. Hopefully she'll apply to Bristol and I think they have a high offer rate like 80% and then she will see Bristol is fine too.

Our parents evening will be in person - a faff & I can't see the benefit - although we live very close to school at least.

DS finished his NEA work that was set for half term but has still not submitted the Personal Statement. School have given the non-Oxbridge/medical lot until the end of November too submit them. I have gently suggested to DS that he should try to submit this week or next week, as there is still the school review to take place. I'm not even clear if we or school upload it to the UCAS site!

During half term DS out of the blue wondered if he should look at degree apprenticeships. We've done no research into these as he's been so focussed on going to University. Has anyone else looked into these?

Lego - once your DS has done all his bits including PS, he presses submit and that sends it to the school. They add the reference and predicted grades and then they are the ones who send it to UCAS.

(The school can release it back to your DS if necessary, if they spot something he needs to correct or whatever. But he will still only be able to submit it back to school.)

DS got his first offer yesterday! I'm so pleased he has an offer from a place he would be happy to go, probably his first choice if he doesn't get a Cambridge offer. Super high grades though! He still has two empty spaces on his form so needs to think about insurance places at some point but not sure when he will do that, it will probably end up being during the Christmas holidays. He has his next set of exams in December (not January as I thought) so he probably should focus on those next. This year seems to be quite full on.

Great @IThinkIMadeItWorse ! Such a relief when an offer comes in. DD had her second today, from Glasgow. It's not her preferred option, but she's been looking into it more now that it's a firmer possibility and is viewing it more positively. First impressions are important, but aren't necessarily final; it was uncomfortably hot and stressful for the open day, and I'm relieved she recognises this may have coloured her opinion, and is open to giving places another think.

Great news on the offers Ithink and Ten DD still currently not putting any more down and just the two Oxford and LSE. I thought she would feel better with an offer but apparently she thinks not. 🤔She is hyper focussed on Oxford saying no point adding Bristol as she may get an offer from Oxford. Think we are headed for a big high or a big crash here.

Congrats to those with offers already. DS still dithering over where to apply other than the one course he really wants but he got a bit of a push in the right direction at parents evening earlier this week.
Despite moaning about it being face to face (and of course it did run over significantly!) I have to confess that I quite enjoyed what will probably be our last visit to the school where we have had at least one child for the past 14 years. Lots of positive comments about DS which is of course always nice but I was just so impressed by how enthusiastic and committed all his teachers are. There is so much negativity around education at the moment but all his teachers came across as caring people who really believe in what they're doing. It's not perfect of course but we have been very fortunate to have such a good school near us and I found myself feeling quite emotional about the impending end of an era!

Hi, grateful to have found this thread. DS17, having just submitted his UCAS form, is having a total crisis of confidence. Can't be bothered to study any more, it's too hard, lacks any kind of motivation. He says he doesn't know if he can carry on studying but doesn't want to work either. Basically wants to do nothing. Is anyone else facing this? I'm at a total loss, I genuinely don't care if he goes to uni or not but the things he's interested in (languages) lend themselves to a degree more than an apprenticeship. Does anyone have any tips for motivating a very unhappy teen?!

Sounds like he has run out of steam @NoKnickerElastic, understandable as this term is full on. Would he think about a gap year and some travelling to practise the language skills? It's probably more fun learning a language through immersion and then if he decides to apply next year, will look great on his personal statement. Or voluntary work abroad or in the Uk. There are lots of organisations that offer this.

That's actually a great idea. We couldn't afford for him to travel for long but he could definitely look into volunteering for a short time. He's interested in the TEFL qualification so this is a really positive idea.

Lots of revision going on this weekend ahead of DD’s mocks this coming week. She seems relatively calm so I’d say she’s fairly confident. She has one exam first thing Monday and then 2 on the same day on Thursday (5 hours worth of exams!)

3 offers in the bag and now just waiting to hear whether she has an interview for Cambridge or not. The college she applied for said emails with invitation usually start coming from the 2nd week in November so I guess anytime soon. 🤞

Hope people are having nice weekends. Starting to feel the Christmas creep!

Fingers crossed for your DD @Rollergirl11 - she sounds like an extremely able young woman and I am sure she will be successful wherever she goes.
I can't believe how fast time is going. Less than 2 full terms to go til they are out for exams now. A couple of DS's teachers said at parents evening this week that they will have finished the syllabus and be into full term revision after Christmas. I guess that's good, but at the same time it seems so final. I want time to slow down!

That's great your DD has 3 offers in Rollergirl

Agree its going so fast. DD still has only applied to 2 but I think is starting to think more about adding more.

We have just been to a concert and afternoon tea at one of the Cambridge colleges and met someone else there whose child is applying. She just got a second acknowledgment from the Oxford college re special consideration. Though apparently one child at her sixth form has been going about telling people she doesn't deserve it as she wasn't distressed at me having cancer and her brother being in hospital. 😡Its a girl who is also applying to Oxford but for a different subject, medicine I think. I don't think they do much with it either, its more to make them aware. DD was quite hurt.

Blimey, not sure medicine is the right career for that girl @Silkierabbit !!

Great to see the offers coming in - DD still on 1/4. No sign of mocks yet, apparently they haven't been mentioned. They won't be anywhere near finishing the syllabus by the end of this term so that is very good going @MrsAvocet

Mocks for dd too on Monday starting with 4.5 hours of biology and chemistry. Cambridge college emailed to say details on interview or not will go out from 15th November. Dd has an interview for Loughborough but will probably will select a date after Xmas.

Good luck to those starting mocks next week.

No offers for ds yet - I think he's getting a bit anxious about it now as most of his friends have at least one in the bag. He hasn't applied for a super competitive course either and has above the minimum predicted grade for the courses so it's a bit puzzling (although two of his choices, Oxf and Imperial are a long shot). The others were what we thought were safe choices. Still, could be anytime up to May I guess.

Gosh @Silkierabbit how insensitive of that girl! I can understand how your DD found her comments hurtful.

Good luck for DD’s mocks @ShanghaiDiva

What are the other unis DS has applied for @Lightsabre? I’m sure his time will come but it is frustrating if you can see others receiving offers.

@Rollergirl11, Southampton, Warwick and Bath.

@Lightsabre - we're waiting on Bath. Science subject.

Ds has had three offers but they're from unis 3, 4 and 5 on his list (but one will be his insurance pick in all likelihood). His top two are still silent. There's plenty of time although it is a bit unnerving when others get offers from unis that you've not heard from. Different departments may have different timescales though.

Our mocks aren't until January but ds has two tests tomorrow so he's been revising for those this week.

Despite DD getting her PS in on time, school have advised they may not go to UCAS until January. Quite pissed off as wanted to add a further choice dependent on offers before 31 Jan.

Only one set of mocks here in January thankfully. There always seems to be low stakes tests and timed essays though. His maths teacher in particular likes to torture them a bit - they know they are due a test just not when he will spring it on them. It is good to keep them on their toes.

DS has an interview prep evening on Tuesday. A local independent school is hosting a consortium of history teachers and applicants from both sectors, to give students their first taste of academic interviews by teachers they don’t know. Seems like quite an efficient way of doing it.

Otherwise it is just impatiently waiting for news to see if he has actually got an interview and then from UCL and Durham.

@SooperOuting that's really annoying re UCAS submission. I appreciate it takes a little while for the school to do their bit but there's surely a middle ground!?

DD has finished her personal statement and is planning to submit her UCAS form next week. Based on some of the experiences on here, it looks like she might get some offers quite quickly (although I'm not telling her that!)

Interestingly her school have always had 2 sets of mocks (November and February) but this year they have changed to just one set in January. The cycnical side of me wonder if this is logistical - they really struggled with invigilators and exam admin when DD was doing GCSEs.

@Lightsabre my dd is also waiting for Bath.

Thanks @ShanghaiDiva and@QueenMabby . Realistically he knows the wait could be long but he was hoping for one offer before Christmas. I'm trying to distract him by suggesting he applies for a couple of degree apprenticeships but he just looks at me as if I'm mad. Apparently the competition for those is insane.

He has several topic tests this week and then mocks are in January.

@LightsabreDD has quite a few friends waiting to hear from Bath and I’ve heard that Southampton are well known for keeping people waiting. Warwick are definitely processing applications and DD just received her offer on Friday afternoon so hopefully you will hear from them soon.

@SooperOutingahh that’s frustrating. Is DD able to ask someone what state her application is in? Ie if teacher references are good to go and they aren’t waiting for anything will they allow her to submit her application earlier?

@Jaxxwe have similar at the end of November 2 of the local independent schools are giving Oxbridge candidates mock interview practice.