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Original poster

Support thread for anyone applying through UCAS this year

999 replies

Lorelai · 02/09/2011 18:34

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?

OP posts:
unitarian · 05/10/2011 18:27

funnyperson's suggestion of a practice interview with the GP is a good one. DD did work experience with our GP and she went for a chat with him before her first interview. It did seem to help but I suppose it depends on your GP.

ellisbell · 07/10/2011 22:27

according to TSR the first offers are arriving, although only from a few universities.

mrswoodentop · 08/10/2011 13:25

Not sure who else said they were coming to Leeds but we are here and it's heaving.Luckily we were here by 9.30am and it was quiet thenGrin

adamschic · 09/10/2011 01:14

Mrs Woodentop, it was me who went to Leeds today. We arrived around the same time. Went to a couple of talks, had lunch in the SU, then looked around the halls, phew, all those varying rents! Was quite impressed on this drizzly day, but will see. I liked that halls was on campus, Headingly looked nice for future years, and town was within walking distance as we went shopping later.

Had a few mishaps (par for the course with us) but all in all a good day. How did you find it?

mrswoodentop · 09/10/2011 07:55

He really liked it ,now worrying whether he likes it more than Sheffield,I can't compare because I haven't been there.

We went up on Friday and had a bit of a look around then,I think it was a bit different as all the other open days he has been too were in the holidays ,so it was good to see students in situ I YSWIM.He went to the talks himself although I did go to the accommodation talk and he liked Henry Price and strangely the rather old fashioned catered hall on campus.We had lunch in Roger Stevens and then did a tour of the Union ,( ds very impressed with Union thought it seemed the best he had seen )just think we may have walked past each other .
One of the things that impressed me was the emphasis on preparing them for life after Uni,ds said there was a careers person who spoke as part of the politics talk.He hasn't had that at any others

adamschic · 09/10/2011 14:40

I did think that yesterday, that a fellow mumsnetter might be here Grin.

DD didn't like the old fashioned halls (Lyddon?) although I did. We liked the super modern but she said she would probably go for the mid priced one. I want her to go into catered halls in the first year.

We haven't considered Sheffield but DD has decided to put Leeds ahead of another choice after yesterday. The button should be pressed for her UCAS form tomorrow but we are aware that it's not straightforward and she might be at home an extra year (god help me!).

I hope your DS comes to the right decision and gets where he wants to be. Leeds is less than 2 hours from us and a nice drive, so I would be happy if DD got in there.

Yellowstone · 09/10/2011 22:58

adamschic I've been wondering. What did she decide to do?

I hope she was bold and gets her place.

adamschic · 09/10/2011 23:13

Yellowstone, she is more or less applying for her original choices with one exception. She is very laid back about things and is prepared to take a year out if things don't work out.

eatyourveg · 10/10/2011 20:24

Have finally managed to get ds to let us see the draft PS! Its still about 500 characters short and he thinks its too naff to mention having 2 db with autism and any caring responsibilities. With no extra curricula activities other than writing, its the only card he has to play with!

Why is there not a smiley for exasperated?

goinggetstough · 10/10/2011 20:55

eatyourveg surely your DS's referee can/will mention it in his reference? Maybe when he gives the draft in to his tutor, his tutor might suggest adding about his DBs. DCs seem to take more notice of tutors than parents!!!!

eatyourveg · 11/10/2011 06:52

school only know about 1 db, the other db goes to a special school which isn't local and never comes to school things because he wouldn't cope so I'm not sure that they even know he exists!

Will email the school UCAS lady - and hope it doesn't look as though I'm being a pushy parent. Thanks for the suggestion

goingmadinthecountry · 11/10/2011 08:22

Hello there. Am new to this thread but have probably passed some of you at Open Days. Dd is Y13 and wants to study law. She really liked Leeds on Saturday and it has now taken over from Nottingham as favourite. I thought it was very well organised and everyone was very friendly and approachable. We then went on to Manchester which was chaotic - very few signposts, departments not open to see. She really didn't see herself living there for three years. It all goes to show how important visits are - it was really high on her list from looking at the website.

Am I the only one who thinks that surely all those people at Leeds can't be predicted 3 As? I know the competition's tough. Maybe we've just seen all the same people at every single open day........ Or I'm just being hopeful.

whatdoiknowanyway · 11/10/2011 09:32

Am also new to the thread but have just come to end of 8 university open days and am feeling a little jaded.

PS currently standing at 6000 characters so DD has a bit of work still to do. Her problem is that she does lots of extra curricular stuff but it's hard to draw links with the courses she wants to do.

Was different with DD1 as she got most of hers done in summer holidays 2 years ago but DD2 was on world challenge for a lot of the summer, then focusing on completing her ASDAN and is now heading for meltdown at the amount of coursework needed.

AMumInScotland · 11/10/2011 09:44

Don't worry about linking activities to the actual courses if there's nothing clear - if she can talk enthusiastically about things she does, and maybe bring up some of the "transferrable skills" she gets from them - organisation, teamwork, etc - then that will add to the whole "rounded individual" she's trying to get across.

Yellowstone · 11/10/2011 10:06

I agree that there's no need to link ec's to the course. Tutors are human. Students do other stuff because they like the other stuff. It would be a dull, dull world if everything had to be course focussed.

Mine took the view that tutors were smart enough to work out that netball, rugby, Ten Tors etc. implied team work and that to say it explicitly was a waste of space. The ec's were maybe four or five lines at the end of the PS and were stand alone in each case.

whatdoiknowanyway · 11/10/2011 10:31

Trouble is some tutors eg English at Leeds have been adamant that they are not interested in extra curricular activities at all. So the challenge is to demonstrate passsion for English and history joint honours and still find space to talk about the other ways she can contribute to the wider university community.
DD1 was able to incorporate a lot of her travel, sport, work experience into the 'why i really want to study geography' bit whereas her sister has to incorporate a similar amount of interesting stuff into a few lines at the bottom.

adamschic · 11/10/2011 12:59

It's hard to know what to put on a PS re ec stuff. Some say they want to know that the person applying will fit into uni life (not going out getting drunk) and others say it doesn't matter. DD mainly stated some of her achievements and the skills gained from them.

Not sure about everyone being predicted 3 A's, maybe they have to be if the course says it's an entry requirement, e.g medicine,law but whether everyone gets these results is a different matter.

One of the courses DD has applied for have asked for AAA/ABB, they mentioned that if you are predicted AAA they will offer a place provided you get the predicted grades, if you are predicted less (which DD is happy to be) then you will get in if you meet it.

unitarian · 11/10/2011 18:38

I'm not going through it myself this year but I have got quite interested in your DCs' progress so I hope you don't mind me chipping in.

I'm convinced that DD's PS swung it for her though I know many people say tutors take little or no notice of the PS.

I think it's there so you might as well use it. I can see that a tutor selecting for, say, English might not be swayed by a PS but he/she might notice a well turned phrase here or there!

DD was not the most outstanding one of the students applying for medicine from her school. She didn't have the most A*s, she was scared she would be predicted AAB, she wasn't a school officer, didn't have the highest UKCAT score or the highest BMAT result and she wasn't highly regarded by the chap writing the references. But she's the only one of 8 who got three offers and ended up at a BMAT med school.

She wrote a stonking PS.

unitarian · 11/10/2011 20:06

eatyour veg
DD included in her PS the fact that she had looked after an autistic boy. She almost didn't mention it because she felt it was irrelevant.

At interview she was asked about this more than her other, seemingly more relevant, work experience. The interviewers were fascinated.

adamschic · 13/10/2011 11:36

One of DD's friends has already had an offer. We won't be put out of our misery until next year afaik.

ellisbell · 14/10/2011 13:53

realistically my child is unlikely to hear anything for at least a month, given the combination of courses/universities they have applied for, but it doesn't stop me checking track. Unitarian that's interesting, hope she's enjoying med school now she's there.

unitarian · 14/10/2011 17:57

Yes she is, thanks. Medics seem to know how to work hard and play hard.

lazymumofteenagesons · 16/10/2011 17:27

Reference approved and application sent to UCAS by school at 5 o'clock on friday. I await its arrival in 'Track' so that I can spend each day getting excited about checking it while DS1 seems to take little/no interest at all. Actually this time I think he may be more into it as any offers will be unconditional as he has done his A levels.

eatyourveg · 20/10/2011 10:06

Anyone know on average, how much lower in terms of grade requirement the reserve 5th choice should be? Form due at school tmrw and ds still hasn't made up his mind!

adamschic · 20/10/2011 10:18

DD chose her insurance with a drop of a grade for each subject. If she doesn't achieve this then she will resit. No point going to uni with any lower grades as she won't be able to do the course she wants at a traditional uni.