Final choice for UCAS 2012

[ucasfracas]

Have your DCs decided? Mine hasn't...

Mine has now firmed and insured this UCAS choices and applied for finance too. Scary stuff.

It's maths isn't it? Which is she dithering between?

DS firmed and insured on the morning of April 1st. I'm avoiding looking at the three finance forms I've got to do; they're on the end of the kitchen table.

Can you say what her options are ucas? You may not want to. Or the pros/ cons?

Very high offer Bath

Quite high offer Leicester

Yes Maths

Thoughts anyone?

So this is a choice for the firm? Does she have another in mind for insurance?
Bath does have an excellent reputation for maths, but Leicester is also good. What does she think the chances of meeting either Bath or Leicester offers are (I know it's really difficult to say sometimes)?

I reckon if there is a third choice not too far behind Leicester and she has a fair chance of meeting the Bath offer it might be worth firming Bath, but if the Bath offer is more of a stretch for her and she would much prefer Leicester to her insurance then firm Leicester.

That's just from a maths prestige perspective - obviously there are other considerations about where she would prefer to live for the next few years...

It is very daunting making these choices...

DD2 is at Bath and she just made sure she had an insurance that she was sure she would make and would have been happy to go to (York).

Or if there isn't a third option could she firm Bath & insure Leicester and hope for a clearing place somewhere if she misses both? (Do many maths places come up in clearing, is it possible to find out?)

Also, is it possible to find out how likely either are to accept her if she narrowly misses the offer?

I would expect only weasel words if you ask the question, gelatinous.

I'd advise mine to go for Bath over Leicester for sure. And surely they couldn't have given her an offer which was way above her predictions? But the primary thing is that she must like the idea of spending three years there, the rest is just secondary.

Its STEP that causes the wobbles Yellowtip rather than A levels. Even if you are meeting your predictions STEP can be a bit of an unknown quantity.

I was thinking more on the lines of official statistics/freedom of information request (for previous offer holders) rather than asking direct yellow. There also seem to have been some places making much higher offers than usual this year, and I wonder if those places will be more lenient too (so for instance, if Leicester's standard offer was a fair bit lower last year they may be more likely to drop it on the day). Perhaps webwiz's dd has a feel for whether Bath let any/many people in last year who narrowly missed their offer? It's no guarantee the same will happen this year, but it gives a bit of a clue to what might happen this time.

Has she tried many STEP questions yet ucas? If so, how is she finding them? STEP 1 might not be too bad.

Last year's near misses at Bath got offered a place on the Maths with Computing course. There was a thread about it in the student room at the time. I got the impression that last year was a bumper year with the fee changes being imminent.

DD2 was in an odd situation - her offer was A (maths) AA but some people were given the alternative offer of AAB STEP 2 (with the B in the non maths subject). She actually got the alternative offer (she missed an A in Chemistry by 2 marks but got the STEP 2). We would have gone for a remark if she hadn't have got the place but it wasn't needed.

By STEP 2 - I mean a grade 2 in either STEP I or II.

Yes I see that about STEP.

gelatinous I don't think any it would be wise to allow historical stats to influence a choice because ultimately it will depend on the cohort. And I expect that that's the most an admissions tutor would or could say.

You need a crystal ball. This is a instance where a post results application system would make life a lot easier.

please excuse any incoherence - jet lag. Whether a university will accept less than their offer depends on how many people have firmed, how many miss and how many want to take up insurance offers. Bath isn't likely to be an insurance choice so it's really down to how many firm and miss. They'll base the numbers of offers on past experience but it's not an exact science. The information you really want is how many have firmed in comparison to the number of places. I suspect that generally universities with very high offers would prefer to take those who narrowly miss (as Oxbridge tend to do) rather than make too many offers and have to ask some to defer a year.

Of course if she misses and they won't take her it's always possible to take a gap year and reapply next year. If she narrowly misses universities will sometimes hold for a quick remark or offer a place for the following year.

It's not an easy decision.

That's what I meant when I said it depends on the cohort ellis.

Given the crazy high offers for Maths from some universities this year, surely Bath may well be a very desirable insurance?

Where do you get your information that Oxford and Cambridge 'tend' to take those who narrowly miss their offer though ellis? The best one can say is that they sometimes do and they sometimes don't - I wouldn't have said it was as much as a tendency though. With specific regard to Maths, I actually thought the recent tendency at Cambridge at least was to stick with the offer.

I'm just very glad that none of mine have so far had to look down a barrel at an AA offer, or the hideous STEP.

The bolding got me again: I meant A A.

Some subjects are nearly impossible to find a good insurance for though. And some universitites take exception to being put down as an insurance too!

Unconditional offer firmed and therefore done and dusted here. Finance applied for and accepted. And accomodation applied for! It would be the icing on the cake if he gets the accomodation he wants. DS1 had a bloody awful previous 2-3 years I hope this all goes to plan. Just want to see him happy doing the stuff he really wants to do. Actually just want to see him happy.

Yes it does involve STEP, haven't a clue how things are going... The offer Webwiz's daughter didn't get!

Yes she does have an insurance which she doesn't want to risk losing if things go pear shaped. She hasn't visited it though!

It is a difficult choice - two of DD2's friends ended up playing it safe with their choices and then regretted it as they got the higher results. Then you are stuck with taking the place, adjustment or applying again the next year.

At least she isn't in the same position as someone I know - her DS has managed to get 5 offers all with exactly the same grades!

My son was nearly in that position, webwiz - AAA offers from 4 places, AAB from the fifth. He's firmed Oxford and put the AAB offer (Lancaster) as his insurance. We went to a UCAS day and liked it very much but I do have all digits crossed that he doesn't need it!

This is for History, by the way, and the other AAA offers came from UCL (a surprise as the website suggested it would be A*AA), York and Warwick (not far off the end of March).

Good luck to everyone for the summer exams! Can't believe it's all so close now.

Well at least your DS can have an insurance offer LondonMother - unfortunately for my friends DS its an offer that is a bit of a stretch for him five times over so I'm not sure how that will work out.

Webwiz that is us despite all the best plans ,however it is achievable and his fifth choice who said they would offer ABB and actually offered AAB did say at their post offer day that there would be places for near misses (rather a rash thing to say I thought but there you go)
It has been hard for ds to choose between his two favourites but he has decided (see my other thread ) And I rink he has made the right choice .I am not sure that all these league tables are very helpful because they are too broad brush etc

I think in the end you have to put league tables away and go for somewhere that makes you excited at the thought of going there.

If you like your university and course you are much more likely to do well .

Exactly my advice.His course is very highly rated in the field he is interested in,is v competitive to get onto but is at University which some of his peers perceive as being lower ranked.Interestingly in my day the two universities in question would have been reversed in order of apparent prestige

..He has always been a bit "glass half empty" but I think he will be fine once he gets there

mrswoodentop the course your DS got a coveted place on looks utterly fab.

DD1 got AAA offers for all five, DD2 got AAA for four and an AAB which she decided she didn't actually like, DD3 got four AAAs and a rejection and DS1 got two AAAs, an A*AA and a rejection.