Please help - any advice re university/what to do now

[mycatsaysach]

ds has just started his second yr of a levels - he's a coaster type of pupil and has been ever since juniors.did reasonably well (without too much effort) in his gcses - few as and bs.

he decided he wanted to do a levels in 2 academic and 2 not so academic subjects.
as levels results not great but not bad enough to get asked to leave college - resits are being done in january.no evidence of any work/revision being done for them.btw he has no part time job either so has lots of spare time to put the effort in.

yes he is hard work at the moment.
he has got to the point where it is time to apply for university - he chose his best as level subject (one of the non-academic ones) and wanted to go somewhere local.i thought we were all agreed this was a good idea.

now however, he is kicking himself as a lot of his peers are making plans to go to wonderful universities/exciting cities and he thinks he has sold himself short by deciding to go to the local place to study an 'easy' subject.he spoke to his teacher today (also head of year) about possibly trying studying english at a different university but he told ds that ship has sailed.his as grade was e for english and even if he does well at the resit that grade will really count against him.

i suppose i am asking for any advice/help for ds as he has brought this on himself but, i think it is a maturity thing too though and would like to help him see the wood for the trees at the moment.

thank you.

Well he could sit his A levels and then apply again next year when he has his results. If he wants to do English then an AS grade of an E is not good especially as it is very competitive but if he had an actual much improved final grade it might improve his chances.

ok thanks webwiz - what would be best to do for the whole next year though?

Has he put his Ucas form in yet? - if not he can change his courses. English is competitive but combined degress Eg English and Sociology etc often want lower grades.Your son could take a gap year and re apply to "better" unis and maybe do an extra A level or resits (if needed) to boost his chances. At 21 you can do access courses which mostly negate the need for A level grades.

My DD's friends all applied to exciting places, but most are at the local not so good uni and vocational college or at dreadful places they took through clearing. my DD now feels lucky she applied to good local uni and went to halls there.

thanks javo - hmm combined degree sounds good, does he not need to have studied sociology at a level though??

Well he needs "a plan" or he'll drive you mad!

A combination of earning some money (not easy at the moment) and things that strengthen the uni application (eg some sort of relevant volunteering).

I know of someone's son who took a gap year before university with a plan to work editing an online magazine set up by a friend of a friend The job fell through and so he spent an entire year sleeping a lot and asking for money!

yh a plan would be a first

Don't despair. A friend's daughter (not brain of Britain!) managed with retakes to improve an E at AS to a B at A2 in English. But he would need to apply after his A levels. Nothing wrong with applying next year and earning some money during that year before going off to uni. Loads of new subjects can be studied at university without having studied them at school. Most social sciences are like this. Sociology A level is not very well thought of but at university level at the right place it is very competitive entry.

DS has applied for English lit. Even the places that have low requirements will probably use the tariff and ask for at least a 100 of it to come from English. I would second webwiz's advice. Once you know what grades your ds has to play with, you can see which places will consider him. In the interim year he could try and get a part time job in the library or volunteer in the Oxfam bookshop or maybe listen to primary school children reading. This would then help with the Personal Statement. If you log into UCAS course search it will tell you all the other subjects that you can combine with English. There are hundreds!

thank you veg - i am looking now

Your DS could also look at going abroad, if he wants to do something 'exciting'. There's a fair amount of places in Europe offering BA/BSc degrees taught in English now; I know of an English Language, literature and culture programme in the Netherlands that's supposed to be very good (at the University of Groningen, where I very nearly ended up myself - wonderful place to study) and they might look a bit more kindly on good grades if they come from resits, as the exam system is so different anyway. You'd have to contact them for entry requirements really. Just something to consider!

wow that sounds brilliant naoko
i will def mention that to him when i see him over the weekend - thank you

I did this in the opposite direction - I'm Dutch and went to uni in the UK, having just turned 18, straight out of secondary school (Groningen was my backup in case I didn't get into any of my British choices). My mum hated the idea of it so I totally understand the thought giving you the wibbles! She came round to it in the end though, when she saw how excited I was about it, and she was really supportive. I had a great time too so it all worked out.

good friend has a ds who has gone to the u.s - he loves it.a big adventure at that age.

Oh yes. When I did it, i was probably about 50% excited and 50% terrified, with the ratio skewing more towards terrified as my moving date came closer...so glad I did it though, I've never regretted it for a single second. I'm sure I'd have had a good time if I'd stayed in the Netherlands and gone to Groningen too, but I really wanted that foreign adventure, and I figured straight out of school was the best time to do it - nothing tying me down, no financial commitments, and an opportunity to study a subject I loved on a course that really appealed to me.

English at university requires a lot of independent study - loads of reading, thinking and writing that students really have to do on their own. To succeed, a student has to have a certain level of intellectual independence and maturity, and the ability to organise themselves. It doesn't, quite frankly, sound like the ideal option for your ds! If he's always been a slacker, it's unlikely he will change now, so a subject that involves more directed teaching might suit him better.

think you are right there camper - he has now calmed down after this latest mini-crisis and has resigned himself/settled to studying his original choice.

sighs of relief all round - thank you all so much for your comments

I think sometimes teenagers just want to make sure that they have considered other options properly (even if it is done with great angst and drama!) so that they know that there isn't a fabulous, easy and exciting alternative that they are missing out on.

yep def cold feet type panic

phew! but as a lecturer I'd add my voice to those who say above that he may just not be ready for uni yet, and might be better off waiting till he's older. But with youth unemployment as it is, I do understand that that might not be constructive or practical advice.