help me understand pllllllleeeeeeease

[Dracschick]

bare in mind im not experienced with uni(read - tread softly).

In the situation I outline im not going to mention any names as such because im sure ds wont want this widely known.

Ds really wanted to go to the city uni near where we live,his tutor in the first year told him it was out of the question he didnt get the As needed in GCSE.

Ds was gutted.

We went to another local uni who were willing to accept ds on the As grades he had in the first year if the 2bd year were on a par.

Meanwhile end of 1st year ds result in 1 exam got v messed up initially he was told he had a C then it transpired no coursework mark had been added so he got an A.

after getting advice from here (ty [smile you all know who you were),we visited the 1st uni again who have told him (unofficially) that on the proviso of AAA he will get in there as school have written an excellent reference supporting the fact that he and us as a family were having a v hard time (not a sob story all true-sadly).

So Ds is slogging away now determined to get AAA, now we realise that a boy with worse gcse results has been offered a place at the 1st uni with ABB..... because he took the MAP,we fullfill all the criteria for this yet it was never mentioned to ds despite the tutor dismissing his ambition to study at the uni ......fair enough,knowledge is power and we should have somehow find out about MAP .....turns out this other boy had no idea and it was suggested to him.

Its toon late for ds he had to do it in the first year.

And yes I am being petty thinking that he too could have done it and the tutor has let him down but dont you think its a bit unfair?.

Although I don't know what MAP is - it sounds as though you/ds have had a bum deal.

The being told he'd got a C and them forgetting to count his coursework sounds dire as well .How that must have added to your miserable time and DS's confidence .

what on eart can be going on ? I know nothing of the circumstances but just wonder if the school has some negative stereotype in their mind about your ds ?

I think you should raise this with the tutor - or someone else ? Governor perhaps ?
It should never happen again .
Are you sure it's too late for this MAP thing ? Have you asked the uni ,explained circs to them ? Worth a try ? What have you got to loose ?
Really sorry for you and son ,sounds like badly let down at a time when you should have been getting support .

Its a manchester access programme designed to help students from poorer areas and backgrounds access higher education ....so if they havent done aaaa on their GCSE's they can 'pull themselves up' by studying this extra thing in the 1st year.

Initially I thought perhaps it was a negativity towards ds but the college in general is very positive to him and he has featured in their prospectus had 'merit certificates' etc and excellent reports so I can only assume (if im being optimistic) that some lecturers are more clued up about it thab others and perhaps look more closely into their students backgrounds??

For example Ds doesnt on the face of things look disadvantaged (theyve stopped branding poor people with hot irons on their foreheads ,we are a 2 parent family although dh isnt in a v well paid job,ds dresses well 'looks' the part,has very good manners [preen] an elderly schoolteacher once said that she would presume ds was an only child with older parents from a upper working class home (in truth im a rough old bird lol who had ds when I was 19)......in reality he has a disabled brother and lots of shit going on).

He doesnt want me to kick up hell .....hes just resigned to the fact hes got to work darned hard but im glad you dont think its me being pfb.

Thankyou for helping me.

Hi pixie glad you commented it was your advice that led us to gatecrash our way in to speak to admissions .

Sounds like the tutor has let him down. It's their job to encourage and actively enable students to go to university and that includes knowing about the eligibility for alternative admissions procedures.

It seems like your DS has been badly let down Dracschick - The MAP looks fabulous but as it is a year long programme it is too late for your DS to benefit from it.

Has he actually got an offer from the university? They seem very committed to widening participation so I would speak to them again and ask what they think.

Pixie,it was about huddersfield uni and his proposal to move out lots of people were saying the RG unis were better even if it meant moving out - he was the boy who couldnt cook hotdogs??.

The uni he wants to go to have said (not in writing yet)that IF he gets 3 As they would accept him as school have written a supporting reference reinforcing the extenuating circs.

We were so lucky (with the advice from here) that we did gatecrash our way into the uni as his tutor had virtually said not a chance in hell......so it does just look like ds will have to work vvv hard.

The tutor had said to his choices on ucas regarding the uni in choice it was a wasted option -ds said If I dont then I will never know in years to come i may speak to someone who got in and then ill kick myself so i must try......the tutor then said ok.

Imagine his face when ds went to him and said what the admissions officer had told him.

I am cross about thos MAP but its just too late now,obviously im hoping he will get the As and it will be good and all will be well .......if he doesnt 'perhaps' they may accept him with lower results especially with refs from school and the fact he wasnt offered MAP?

Sorry to here that the tutor is so negative Dracschick but if its any consolation there has definitely been a "pushing down" of kids choices at my DCs school so that they are sure they will get offers from the universities they have chosen and will get in before the higher tuition fees come in.

I agree to some extent that you should be realistic in your choices but I still think there is at least space for one aspirational choice. Your DS needs to keep his motivation going, make sure his circumstances are known to the university (put something in writing at this stage?) and be prepared to call them if his results aren't what he needs. Also make sure he has a good solid back up offer to take some of the pressure off.

Well if he can get his AAA then the uni he desperately wanted to go to will take him despite what the tutor has said.

I suspect the tutor is so used to students every year wanting xyz uni that he has to be realistic,he wasnt prepared for the fact (with the advice of MN) Id go crashing my way in to the uni.

Thats his aspirational choice the other uni has already said theyd take him but its not a 'prestigious' but that too has its advantages so its a work hard and wait and see approach.

Im still none the wiser as to what the students on MAP have to do and whether the places are limited.

Have a look at the MAP website Dracschick:

www.sraid.manchester.ac.uk/widening-participation/manchester-access-programme/

Thanks