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?

And good luck to your ds with STEP cassidee. Was the rest of the offer standard? A friend of ours had an AAAAA 1,1 offer for maths yesterday (with the A specified as further maths) which seemed rather unkind, although actually the STEP 1s are still the biggest hurdle by far.

No, the rest of ds' offer was very kind - he had a bit of a love-in with his interviewers.

Well done to Casidee's son and BCBG (good luck), friend of DC's also pooled and the two hot contenders from her school both got offers. The one who got a Maths offer also has mega high Step to get as well, probably just as well DC didn't try, although it could be good to have something to aim for.

Oddly her school had no Oxford offers and the interviews sounded pretty tough, one girl said "well I wasn't in tears like some of the others".

Only just read your post about Durham Mrs Woodentop. I went to an Open Day with older DD and she didn't like it, I liked it but maybe because I wanted to... What I can't understand is if they stock up largely on insurances from Oxbridge surely there must be a lot of vacancies come results day? Anyone any idea how it works?

All quiet on the home front, still waiting for that final offer...

BCBG - DS1 was pooled from Emma for Medicine (7 years ago now - yikes). He was telephoned over the weekend (evening) on his mobile by Fitz asking him to go for more interviews. He didn't get an offer in the end, but didn't hear until the very end of Jan that he was unsuccessful. Great, detailed feedback though - really positive. All the v best to your DS. Has he any other offers?

ucasfracas Durham always had a lot of unsuccessful Oxbridge candidates rather than insurance ones (that includes me and DH!) especially as for some subjects the offers will be the same or in the case of Oxford Arts subjects the Oxford offer may be lower. I very much doubt they have vacancies as they would make enough offers not to need to and there is always the option of taking candidates who just missed their offers.

gelantinous that offer is staggering

I seem to have given you an extra "n" for some reason gelatinous!

Webwiz - Yellowstone said in an earlier post

goinggetstough 'a holistic approach to the allocation of places' is a fairly meaningless soundbite. Durham doesn't seem to be helpful at all with constructive feedback. For the past few years Durham has managed to restrict its offers at our school almost exclusively to those with Oxford and Cambridge offers, in the Arts at least, and then gets huffy when it's held as an insurance. Last year it circulated a long and detailed survey asking why it was held only as insurance.

Which is what I was referring to...

A friend went to a post offer open day in Durham at the end of last term where someone asked about holding them as insurance (quite a few were there following Oxbridge interviews)apparently they were very negative and said that they do not want to be held as insurance but quite what they think they can do about it I don't know.They can hardly retract their offer can they?

I know quite a few who did hold them as insurance last year and suspect Durham raised their offed this year to try to make people hold them as first choice but who in all honesty would hold Durham above Oxbridge?

Sorry didn't see that - Everyone I've known who's had Durham offers held them as first choice so it probably evens out when considered nationally rather than on a school by school basis.

All a bit silly really isn't it mrswoodentop Durham seem to have maintained this sniffy attitude for years. The universities don't have a choice in whether they are put as an insurance offer - that's the way the system works.

Yes Webwiz in our day I remember being told that if you put Durham and Bristol on the same application they would take offence,but dh didhe never heard from Bristol though ,complete silence!

Gelatinous - where was that Maths offer for? I'm gobsmacked , although if you are doing 5 a levels then I suppose you have to accept some places will use that in an offer. I'm pleased DD held out for doing just the three last year, which gave her time to work on STEP

DC got the explanation letter tonight, it was completely general and mentioned "holistic approach" four times, you would never do that on a personal statement!

Congratulations on the Cambridge offers. It seems you have to be a genius to do maths there.

All the Maths offers seem to be for a different planet. I second the genius thing. I'm glad we're not Mathematicians, I'd disintegrate with worry between now and August. Just horrible.

This may be the last year that Oxford looks pretty, offer-wise. DS1 is the first to admit that he's in a cushy place. At least he can face Bristol's pre-interview rejection (which arrived this evening) with equanimity now.

All those years ago I put Bristol ahead of Durham on my UCCA form and got offers from both, but then I tend to not buy into myths, which has mostly paid off. All I meant by what's been quoted above is that that's what's happened in our school in the past few years: Durham offers only to Oxbridge offerees and I'd have thought ill-advised rejections for very, very able applicants who have missed out on Oxbridge by a whisker (or by bad luck, as I do believe that the process is an inexact science, however hard the two universities try). When Cambridge introduced A offers and then London followed suit, Durham could legitimately be held as an insurance, which has annoyed Durham no end. Hence the questionnaire last year and the challenging A offers this.

adamschic, I'm watching for her news too - and hoping it's going to be good.

The maths offers do seem generally a bit higher than other subjects, but I guess you have to bear in mind that a considerably higher percentage of candidates gain A*s in maths and f. maths than for other subjects, so raising the average grades of mathematicians.

ISWM the offer was for Cambridge. It certainly makes you wonder at the wisdom of doing extra A levels unless you are certain you can pull off top grades in all of them.

It certainly makes you wonder at the wisdom of doing extra A levels unless you are certain you can pull off top grades in all of them.

I think it might be partly to discourage people taking large numbers of A Levels in order to stand out and then under-performing or dropping some after interview. They seem sometimes to do similarly if over -predictions are made - ask for an extra A for example - my dc was told something like this this by the Head of Sixth, though she has received a standard A AA Cambridge offer while doing 4 A Levels and an EPQ .

I dislike the lack of clarity over numbers of A levels required. At a teachers' meeting a Cambridge Fellow asked why the fashion for 4 or more? He said they wanted 3 and extra reading (they like the EPQ as it shows initiative) yet an Oxford Fellow told me in informal discussion that "we like four as it shows breadth." (The difference, I think, is between individual fellows' opinions rather than the two universities stances as the Cambridge comment was not made as an official statement but as a comment during discussion)

I cannot but believe that the completed EPQ on top of four Arts/Humanities A Levels helped my DC's application, but it is a devil of a workload.

Gelatinous, I'm not sure you can be certain of pulling off top grades now that there are A*s. It's quite fiddly getting those stars. You ideally need a bit of latitude - eg, room for a mess-up on one of the exam days - which you don't have with a starred A.

Ds' offer gives him the choice of two A-levels to get A* in, so he should (fingers crossed) manage one of them at least. But I certainly wouldn't bank on both unless everything goes perfectly on exam day.

cassidee I was thinking A or A when I said top grades! Agree A can be tricky and most especially in arts subjects.

It's a canny game you have to play these days, especially with Oxbridge. We took our eye off the ball and believed the official bollocks that it doesn't matter which college you apply to. Can't believe now that we fell for it! Sort of annoyed with the school (well known, expensive, supposedly Oxbridge savvy) that they didn't provide more useful advice, as per above, rather than spouting platitudes. I'm sure I'll get over it one day....

Anyone waiting to hear from Bath for Maths?

Pleased to say I can answer my own question. Scary offer from Bath, involves Step

ucas that's great she got her Bath offer:) I'm just so glad all mine avoid STEP by not applying for Maths. What was her offer, if you don't mind my asking? But why are so many MNers DC doing Maths? It's quite striking how many there are.

Mendip I don't think it's bollocks, I think it's correct. What makes you say that? Oxford or Cambridge though? And which subject?

i was thinking this thread was for students not parents!

lol

I'm sure you can join in, Sea.

Yellowstone, I'd say my ds is doing maths because he's nuts about it; but I think there's been a surge of interest - certainly at his school - due to the recession. People will always be able to make use of a mathematician; it's a "hard" subject; a maths degree will always look good. I work in the arts, but I respect a maths degree. And would employ a mathematician and delegate the budget-checking to her/him...

Congrats on the Bath offer, ucasfracas. Step is always scary. Slog through past papers, it's the only way.