Looking for advice on which university course

[Sydney200]

DS is currently in the lower sixth and is taking 4 A levels including maths, further maths and physics. He is currently investigating university options and is not sure if he wants to study maths or physics/engineering. His current view of what he wants to afterwards is pretty nonexistent but maybe finance/banking (!) or engineering.

He has asked me for my opinion but as a single mum who never even got passed ?O? levels I am a little out of my depth. He will get further help from his sixth form and should get good grades but I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thank you.

if you look at the UCAS website here you will see there is a stamford test which gives some ideas on types of courses based on interests and how you would feel about working in particular environments. The whole section on what course to study is really useful

He's doing subjects which universities regard highly so you'll have a lot of choice

I'd also suggest looking at this book. There will be one in the school/careers library but you might be able to find an older edition/ second hand one on ebay or via bookbutler. Brian Heap is a bit of a guru when it comes to University applications and any/all of his books are worth looking at

There are some courses your DS can apply for that will help him to rule engineering in or out as a choice.

Look at the Smallpeice Trust and Headstart courses. Both are great (as long as you can afford the fees)

Some Unis, eg Bristol offer courses that combine maths and engineering, called Engineering Maths (unsurprisingly )

the Nuffield Bursary is designed to aid people like your son www.nuffieldfoundation.org/science-bursaries-schools-and-colleges

and he may qualify for the Sutton Trust summer schools www.suttontrust.com/summer-schools/

If his grades are very good he should also be looking at things like the Cambridge shadowing scheme - it does no harm to apply for any or all of these, you just lose a little time
www.applytocambridge.com/shadowing/

He should also be using his work experience time to explore possible careers and he should be making good use of his school library.

Don't rely on the school, help your son to focus on what he wants from life and how best to obtain that. It is possible to change course at university, although not something to encourage .

Thanks for all the information

I have given DS all the links who is now investigating them. He asked me to pass on his thanks :)

Ellisbell ? The bursary information and the Cambridge shadowing programme sound very useful. To be honest I don?t think my DS has considered Cambridge or Oxford but technically if he carries on as he is going it could be a possibility. As you suggested I will do some further research and support him, which is hopefully what I have been doing up until now. His education has always been a priority for me, even from an early age, so hopefully he?ll get further than I ever managed!

One further question came up which maybe someone has some knowledge on. Which degree - Maths or Engineering - is seen as a ?better? degree by graduate employers if not going for a specialist job i.e. Engineering? I hope that makes sense and I am not trying to be contentious either. Thanks

Maths degrees are always seen as valuable but they are very competitive and many applicants are likely to have further maths and maybe STEPS papers. What is his 4th A level? Engineering probably slightly less general application but many employers don't care too much about the degree subject. The UCAS website mentioned later will give you some more ideas.

It's hard for anyone to support students these days and you may find better information on mumsnet and on a website called www.thestudentroom.co.uk than from his school. The headstart courses (hadn't heard of them before) mention a bursary too and it might be possible for your son to investigate charitable funding. His school library may have a guide to finding charitable help.

If he can get onto one or more of these schemes they'll help him explore what he wants to do. If not he's going to have to try and find some relevant work experience locally and read around the subjects to see what appeals to him. The school should arrange for him to go to fairs where he can pick up university brochures. Going to an open day at the local university will also help - go to as many subject lectures as you can fit it. It doesn't matter if that university interests him, he's only getting an idea about subjects. You can find out about open days by looking on university websites, they book up quickly but it's sometimes possible to go without a booking, especially if it's just one teenager slipping into the lectures.

UCAS have a helpful website www.ucas.com and if he does want to consider Oxford or Cambridge this website has good free resources www.oxbridgeapplications.com/ They also offer paid services but while they will be mentioned in their e-mails you don't have to take them up.

DS1 took Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Electronics at A Level.

He was offered places at Cambridge, Bath, Bristol and Brunel.

He opted to go to Brunel to specialise in Aeronautical Engineering (his passion is planes).He is now in his second year and loving it.

I was surprised at the many varieties of engineering degrees there are out there but, from what I can remember, a lot of the degrees do "general" engineering for the large part of the degree and only specialise in the final year so I should imagine that the skills obtained are quite transferable. Let's hope so

Sydney,
My DS is applying this year to do chemical engineering (he'sgot 3 offers so far which is great) Although my DH and I did go to uni neiter of us is a scientist so we also felt a bit at sea. Things that have helped us are;

• local university has a scheme for aspiring applicants and they run study/challenge days a few time a year for students in year 12. (Manchester)

-DS went to 2 challenge days at Cambridge - his sister was there so this felt relatively natural thing to do -the Headstart course - My DS and a frined of his did one of these - the school should know about them really - try asking the teacher your DS gets on best with; -asking around for anyone who'd studied engineering - we did manage to find two people who then came up with tips and relevant magazines for DS to read, and one who very kindly organised a few days work experience . -approached the Institute of Chemical engineers (I guess there are other similar prof bodies for most subjects) who gave us a list of employers

I think its certainly worth checking what your local uni(s) offer in terms of open days/access schemes etc as they seem to focus on year 12 so I'd do it now!

Overall I get the impression that companies are keen to get to know bright aspiring scientists - certainly easier than for linguists! But then its simpler to know how to encourage linguists in our house as that's DH and my background.
Good luck

Once again thanks for all the information.:)

His fourth A level is economics hence the interest both in engineering and finance.

Progress has been made and he is now registering for a ?headstart? course for engineering. I have also managed get the book recommended by 'eatyourveg' and I can see there will be a little light reading over the Christmas Holidays.

I mentioned the idea of Cambridge shadowing programme but I have to say that did not go down too well! I know he has been told of university open days in June but would it be worth visiting a good university city just to see the place or will that totally put him of?

One further question ? do you need 4 A levels for university? DS informs me that he has to drop on at the end of this academic year.

this website www.opendays.com/calendar/ is useful for looking at open days, although it doesn't include all universities and some of the days are only for postgraduates or other groups. There may be some before June and the sooner the better really. If you go with him to open days comfortable shoes are essential.

It's useful to do quite a few open days and that can be expensive so I wouldn't spend money now on a general visit to a university city. You could see if there are any public lectures at the nearest university. Pity the Cambridge scheme didn't appeal. He doesn't have to apply to the university (although it might inspire him), it's just another opportunity to learn more about the alternative subjects.

You don't need 4 A levels, better to focus on good grades in 3 of them. He'll presumably do an AS in the fourth subject.

Another thing he might want to think about is 3 or 4 year degree. Some courses do a year in industry, paid if you are lucky, and that helps when job hunting later. The UCAS website has good information on how many students quickly find employment after each course.

Don't know much about engineering - so can't say if this quiz is any good careerplanning.about.com/library/quiz/career_quizzes/blengineer_quiz.htm Encourage him to use www.thestudentroom.co.uk/ - he'llprobably find people there who've been in a similar position.