DS1 will be applying for uni this year and I have no idea how to help. All tips very gratefully recieved.

[melodyangel]

DS1 wants to study Chemistry. I haven't been to Uni so have no clue what the application process involves. I know he has to write a personal statement and he's booked in for a bunch of uni open days but thats about it. I really want to be able to be supportive but not really sure what to do. I have asked him to show me his personal statement but I don't know what it should include, tone, that sort of thing. Feeling rather rubbish.

there is nothing to stop you going to a university open day without your son. Just choose a local one and attend. Although that may sound odd they are busy days and parents sometimes go to different lectures to their children (especially the finance ones) to cover all bases. So it may look a little unusual but not totally wierd. Or tell your son if he wants money from you while there then you are going to at least one with him .

thestudentroom website is good and mostly accurate, but not always. Reading the personal statements there is helpful.

Schools vary in what support they offer and it's always wise to have an alternative source of advice.

Ds went to Sheffield last week really liked it and it is highly rated for his subject but was very disappointed with the subject talk which he thought was too geared to admissions and lots of silly questions ( his words )
In contrast he didn't much like the campus at York but said the subject talk and taster lecture were fantastic ,he went to Nottingham on Friday and said the same although liked the campus better than York and very good subject talks .

Listen to what teamdamon says about insurance offers, it's a really really important point.
And if you look here: www.unistats.com you can see all sorts of interesting stats by subject at different institutions. Student satisfaction rates is an interesting one, for example.
The yacht question upthread made me laugh out loud!!

Mrs Woodentop, back when I was young Nottingham wasn't a particularly top place to go but it certainly is now. I loved it and would probably even live in halls myself! Ditto Birmingham - the subject lecture at Sheffield (Law) was dull and bably prepared though the dept is apparently v well thought of. The guy at Birmingham had me wanting to sign up. I love it when people are excited about what they do.

I've kind of worked on would I be happy dropping off dd knowing she'd be happy there. It's a bit of a gut instinct. Looking round has made her sure she wants to be in/ v near a big city - she's like me and loves stuff going on.

Warning to anyone planning 2 open days in a day - wear very comfy shoes (while still looking stylish of course!! This is Mumsnet after all.)

Anyone going to Mnachester on 8th?

Leeds on 8th!

DS1 is off to Hull on the 8th. I might have a look at Sussex on my own although I'm not going into any chemstry talks, my brain would explode.

Ooh, another busy day - Leeds and Manchester together! We're softy Southerners so may as well do everything at once.

My other tip - it's great to have a good look around the city but make sure you don't get the train home with all the drunk football fans.

We are going to drive up the night before ,being east Anglian softies

Dh and ds did Durham and Newcastle on consecutive days and that was bad enough,not sure we will make it to Hull but might be choice number 6.Also Bristol fully booked plus clashes with school but not sure worth applying as has a C in his AS that he is dropping .GCSEs all As and A*s plus one B though .

Do you think it is essential to visit all you are applying to ,I didn't visit any

I didn't visit any either. I was in a different situation though as I did A levels early so had my results therefore didn't have all the stress! No, I certainly don't think it's essential, especially with so much information on line. A bit of it is enjoying spending some time with dd1 while dh stays home with the other 3!!

Dd's in a similar situation with dropped AS - admissions tutors in Bham, Sheffield and Nottingham all told her directly that they are looking at the A level predictions only and aren't bothered about it. Her dropped one was in a totally unrelated subject (Physics) to law.

It's expensive stuff, isn't it? Mind you, spot the student is a fun game to play over breakfast at a budget hotel of your choice. Holiday Inn Express is my favourite at the moment. I'm looking at it as lots of mini breaks.

Has anybody else visited Sussex? Waht did you all think we live close by so would save a heap of money but I guess he wouldn't get the full university experience!

Does anybody else have a DC applying for Chemistry?

Hi melody - my DD is off to Sussex in a couple of weeks to do Biology - we live in Brighton but she is going into halls - so will get the "student experience" -student finance will give you the loan/grant for this even if you live close by and Sussex were happy to allocate accomodation.

On the open days last year we did go round the Chemistry Dept (as she was unsure which science to do) and it seemed very good (although all the teens looked bewildered by the talks by the professor's etc on their specialist research)- Sussex's rating for Chemistry is very high in the Uni league tables and contact hours and lab work afternoons were high (though that might change)They also didn't require A level maths (extra maths classess at uni).

You can nip up to Sussex at any time for a look round - go into the cafes, the co-op, SU, walk round the halls and the library foyer etc. It is all very open. My DD likes that everything is on campus and fairly small scale,it is all very clean and green and that all the lecturers she had to deal with (she changed her choices twice) were really helpful and friendly- despite her dithering. The 25 bus runs 24 hours every 10 mins into town.

Quite a few of the parents at my younger son's school were students at Sussex and went to London for a few years but were drawn back here again.

Melody, I personally think the whole university experience is important (that's what people at our local uni (2 universities in nearest city) say anyway. They get round it by either sleeping on floors a lot of the time or at least spending the first term in halls so they get to be a real part of a social group. Of course, that won't save you much money! Mind you, at least he can have clean clothes and will probably appreciate home cooking a lot more.

I certainly wouldn't discount it. Our local ones just aren't great for what dd wants to do.

Javo - We're in Brighton too. I would love it if he went to sussex but I know it has to be his choice. Actually I would love to have the last 18 years back and do it all again, it's been so wonderful having him, but there you go.

Melody, you just made me cry!

Dd is now getting stressy about her dropped AS. Grrrrr. If only they still interviewed.

In case this helps somebody we got a copy of a book that I think is produced by the Sunday Times with the top 100 universities in it. It gives you the student satisfaction rate and how many graduates got jobs in their field afterwards. I found it really useful and so have many friends who borrowed it.

Unistats is also good as it has the results of student satisfaction surveys etc

Sorry, not looked at this in ages but hope I can still help!
First thing he needs to think about is what kind of university he wants to go to, a big city or a smaller campus university. Would he be happy in a big year group (we have taken 220 into first year chemistry this year) or would he prefer somewhere smaller?

What predicted grades does he have? As and Bs? He'll still have his pick of most places with As and Bs (rules out the likes of Durham who want A*AA and want A2 maths).
He will get an interview, we interview anyone within sniffing distance of our AAB offer which means over 800 interviewed. He'd do well to do some reading around. He can join the Royal Society of Chemistry for about £12 a year and they have an event every year in London called 'Meet the Universities' where he can do chemistry specific research on the university courses. I recommend a book called 'The disappearing spoon' for a potential chemist.

It's doubtful he'll get paid work experience in pharma or chemistry (in fact the UK is suffering a real decline in pharma at the moment with Pfizer cutting 3500 jobs this year in Kent). He may be able to find some work as a school lab technician. We are finding it difficult getting industrial experience placements for our 3rd years.

Chemistry is a great degree which has the potential to take him to many places, I really do recommend it.

For the person who was talking about chem eng. Chem eng suits people who like chemistry but love maths, it is chock full of maths and applied chemistry and the consequences of scaling from lab scale to plant scale. Maths is the key to chem eng rather than chemistry.

melody if your son is willing to live at home it would save a great deal of money. I would say that spending at least the first term, if not the first year, in university accommodation is essential. It's a time when you are making friends and hanging out in each other's rooms in the small hours is a big part of that. After that he'll be able to sleep on people's floors/ in his girlfriend's bed and it won't matter as much.

Hopefully he's now getting some idea of where he wants to be. If he's not too sure of his future large departments can give more flexibility.

You'll see a lot of discussion on here about Russell Group. If he is likely to get good enough grades he should certainly look at the universities in that group as they tend to have better employment prospects. If his grades are very good Oxford and Cambridge offer the best financial support and good employment prospects.

This website gives you a facility in the uni finder section where you can filter down your choices by using criteria that are important to you, be it size, student satisfaction, employment prospects, night life etc etc. There are loads of things they consider. You put in your subject and your predictions and then just score the various factors on a sliding scale of "very important" to "not at all important" with the idea that it filters it down to the most ideal

melodyangel, don't feel bad about not being able to help. the best you can do for your son is to be honest about it and help him in ways how he can find information himself and get in touch with people who can help him. I think a big mistake school leavers make is to thikn their parents actually know what they are talking about, while when it comes to choosing degrees and choosing a career, a lot of us parents don't have a clue. I clearly wish I had understood at the time that my mum had no clue and had put me in touch with people who did know instead.

you can help your son in how to approach finding out more about chemistry in the following way:

• do internet search on exact courses chemistry students study and on career statistics for chemistry graduates (what are all the things people with chemistry degrees end up doing)
• what are the best unis for chemistry?
• try to help him get in touch with current chemistry students... either his seniors from school who are now at uni or students at his current target unis
• let him find people in business or research etc. who have chemistry degrees to see what they are up to and how happy they are

this way he can understand what studying chemistry entails and what it will lead to. that's what you can help him with. you can help him think about how he can get all the info he needs to make a great decision. you don't have to feel bad about not already having all the information yourself.

My DD has just started at Sheffield on a 4 yr course Maths with french so i cant comment on the subject, but she is really enjoying the city and is getting out and about loads( prob too much )

Wow thank you everyone for all the tips. Well he visited Hull at the weekend and I think he now has a short list with both higher and lower grades required so now just that PS to conquer. I should at least be of some help there - I hope.

Had a good long chat to him about the money side of it all and how much we would be able to help and how much he will have to borrow. It all seems rather overwhelming to me but he takes it all in his stride.

Betelguese - he isn't quite at Oxford standard more of an A rather than an A* student.

sanam2010 - /thank you for the kind words and tips.

kritur - Thank you for the tips. It is all rather a worry with reguards to work and placements isn't it. How are you finding overseas placements? Are they also in decline?

GardenersDelight - Good luck to your DD. Maths and French ...WOW!