Support thread for anyone applying through UCAS this year

[Lorelai]

Following on from a thread in chat I thought I would start this so that we can hold each others' hands through the UCAS process with all its challenges.

Who's with me?

Hope they don't beat themselves up too badly for their sillyness.

Just spoke to someone whose son is applying for classics apparently he had 6 interveiws

MrsW Thanks for the news about the payslips. I must have missed that episode.

DD had the same problem with her modern language. We had been holidaying in that country for years, had visitors from there and she did two exchanges so she was pretty well fluent - too fluent apparently. There was another subject at GCSE, I forget which, where we were told she had to tone down her answers. But if that's the advice then it's best to follow it.

Fingers crossed for those Oxford returnees.

I remember because the rather cocky one ( who turned out fine in the end) was worried he hadn't been paid!

I suppose on the exam front I just can't help feeling that it's turned into a box ticking exercise with very kittle room for flair.It used to be that you felt confident that avoid candidate will stand out I fear now that a lot if examiners just tick boxes looking for set phrases and points ,it's not necessarily their fault but it's what the exam boards demand.

Stupid iPhone meant to be good candidates not avoid candidates

I dont know why a firm is called a firm but I can tell you what it is - it is a small group of 4-8 students who stay together all through their clinical years. They will rotate through the clinical specialities together. It used to be that you could choose your foursome, at the end of year 2/3 so in effect you went round for the following 3 years with your friends. I am still very good friends with my firm. We all laughed and cried so much together, and went to each others weddings natch, and are still the people we telephone in a crisis though none of us married each other. You are 'on call' as students with your firm and of course you make mistakes (and excel) in front of your firm and there is no hiding and because you are on call together you are off together so it is important that the firm have compatible out of work interests too.
Each clinical speciality 'firm' would also consist of the consultant, senior registrar, registrar, houseman and students and would all sit at table on the ward on Christmas day with the nurses and patients and silly hats and the turkey which the consultant would carve. But that part doesn't work like that any more as consultants are not supposed to be at the top of the tree they are supposed to be members of a multidisciplinary team where all are equally respected. Housemen are no longer housemen they are foundation years (FY) but the foundation years do get paid. Usually a pittance as it is part of the preregistration training. However I gather that the pittance is similar to the average national wage.
Good luck again to all the candidates. The TV programmes don't cut it for me. Paradoxically all the emotion is missed out.

I didn't see Junior Doctors, no, though I remember DS did. Green Wing is the only medical thing I've watched in the last decade. Dr. Finlay was the one before that (on my parents' black and white wind up television) . I like the sound of the firm but surely huge potential for misery if there's any dysfunction? Presumably that's a major part of the point, that you have to function whatever. This phase where my eldest are applying through UCAS in consecutive years is going so fast that when one goes off on a frolic (in this case Medicine) I have to learn as I go. I don't want to look too far ahead, I just hope he'll get a place on the ladder. Even knowing as little as I do I can't believe that Medicine is a career only for those who are rich, so I'm not going to fret about funding or pay, I'll just assume the means to survive must be there.

Six interviews mrsw?, blimey!

School record at ds school was 11 interviews at Oxford so head of sixth told me. The poor boy got in. Its to do with passing the faculty criteria and the faculty interview apparently but then not quite making it on the college one. Or perhaps its to do with persistence on the part of dc/parent/school ...who knows? Any way if one is to make a fool of oneself asking for more interviews, now is the time I suppose.

Thanks for the explanation of firms funnyperson. It's a lot clearer now, and explains a lot about the focus on extra-curricular group activities at interview.
It's the English teacher latent in me that wants to know the origin of the term!
Firm friends? A small business?

On exam marking - I suspect a lot of papers are computer marked now, looking for key pieces of information with little room for leeway ( and a lot of room for marking errors).

Dr Finlay! You must be as old as me

Middle English ferm, from Anglo-French, from Latin firmus; akin to Greek thronos chair, throne
First Known Use: 14th century

(online miriam webster dictionary)

Dr Finlay. Hah. What a giveaway. A Crackerjack contemporary I see.
I like the recent one with Martin Cluny acting a strange GP in Cornwall. DD loves 'House' which I have never seen. None of these have any bearing on real life as far as I am aware but are entertaining.

I remember being told that GCSE can be tricky for intelligent students because they don't recognise a simple question for what it is. Was also told this about the dreaded source questions for history A level.

Not sure about the high offers except to say that one of DD's choices have offered her a place at the lower grade requirements because that is what she is predicted. Anyone predicted AAA have got an offer for AAA. I thought this was because they didn't want inflated predicted levels. I didn't realise about the funding issues.

Oh I remember Dr Finlay as I'm from the Crackerjack generation .

Well we have definitely been caught out on the history source paper (resit in Jan).

I don't think ds grade predictions are overstated but they are done in Sept and as the syllabus develops there can be quite a lot of movement.Also the stress does build up and I think it is patronising to say that someone predicted AAA won't achieve that if offered ABB ,it would just relieve the pressure so that they can get on with achieving their potential and looking with confidence to re next stage of their education.

Mrs W, it was Leeds that said this at one of the general talks, the one in the large older hall, iirc. I might have got that wrong and it might have been for DD's subject. They put it as 'we want everyone to achieve their potential so if predicted AAA we will offer for those grades'.

I never did understand why they would ask for AAA/ABB for a course beforehand so it made sense to me. It would be so much better if and when they take actual grades.

That would make sense for Leeds as we know of someone with a high offer who does actually have over predictions IYSWIM.Thankfully for ds subject Leeds has a standard offer.I have say I think that if AAB is what they need to cope with the level of the course why offer more.Choose the people you want for the course based on whatever factors and then offer the places and stop messing around with them ,it seems to me that a lot of 18year olds are pretty brittle mentally with the stress of getting a place,getting the grades,financing it etc the last thing they need are universities playing games over numbers with them .

One person commented that the grade inflation may be due to the University in question being fed up with being held as insurance.

Also does that mean if predicted DDD then they would offer that,I don't think so .The offer gives some idea of what type of academic level younwould be expected to work at.
Also if all the universities used that method;a person predicted AAA would revive all AAA offers and predicting are an art not a science ,there is no room then for human error plus how would peopleknow which courses suited their grades.

The course DD applied for at Leeds had a range of AAA/ABB so she got an offer based on what she was predicted, I did wonder if they would only offer to the ones predicted AAA but it was OK.

Tbh, I think the whole process this year is stressful, they keep changing the fee/funding information, applications are down and I do wonder if some courses will be able to run.

Thanks for the etymology of firms.

Now bracing up for the return of the prodigal DD at the weekend.

For modern TV watching we both enjoy Grey's Anatomy but more for the eye-candy than anything else. I've recorded Frontline Medicine on her instructions.

Does anyone go back as far as Muffin the Mule?

Dh goes back to Muffin the Mule (he gets his pension on the 31st December) but I am younger than him (only by 5 years) and it was before my time. I am going to collect dd tomorrow who is now in her second year.

Roll on next April when DH gets his.
My DB was obsessed with Muffin so I'm no longer sure if I actually watched it or have sort of inherited the memory.

DD can't quite believe we ever watched black and white TV and that there was a test card until children's programmes began. But we kidded her for years that the TV didn't work in the daytime so she's a tad distrustful!

Muffin is before my time, I think . I had DD at 32 and am posting here so.....
Not much in the pension provision for me am relying on meeting a rich man or DD looking after me in my old age .

My DC all watch House too, and Scrubs.

The reason Dr. Finlay is etched on my mind is because my pretty Scottish mother had a huge crush on him which meant that the household ground to a halt during his weekly appearance. He was rivalled in her affections for some years only by Captain von Trapp.

I don't recall Muffin at all.

Bit of an ER fa myself..Had an op this summer which involved lots of sitting and amused myself watching reruns on Sky.

Ds has an offer from Oxford! He needs A A A grades this summer. We are very happy & partaking of .