UCAS forms sent - just the waiting game now !

[snowyowl70]

My super organised DD1 has had email today to say her forms/reference have been received and should be at her chosen Unis in the next 48 hrs !!!!! So the waiting begins - to those seasoned parents who have done this before can you remember how long they had to wait for their first responses ? At least 2 out of her 5 may call her for interview (MFL) so am guessing these might be fairly on the ball ?

Lovely campus, mind you when I went it was a hot day in July and I sat on the grass reading my book in the sunshine!

Hild and Bede is set on its own at the lower end of Gilesgate, so tends to have a relatively insular social life. That can be a disadvantage to my mind but it suits others down to the ground. It's a huge brownstone Victorian pile, perhaps 15 minutes along the river to the Bailey colleges and Palace Green and the Castle, 15 - 20 minutes walk by a different route to the Science Site and the first of the hill colleges. I honestly wouldn't let the college thing deter him if he doesn't much care for Hild and Bede as a) he may find himself at another college after results day and b) college is far, far less important at Durham than it is at Oxford and Cambridge, although the location of Hild and Bede does make it a little bit different.

Hild and Bede also struck me as being incredibly sporty (which is the only reason my daughter didn't choose it!!) Otherwise, it was really lovely I thought.

I'll keep my finger crossed for your sons best friend.

venturabay I don't think he minds too much about the college, and he is quite sporty. The fact is that Durham would be his insurance and so I imagine if he ends up there he may get reallocated to another college anyway. At least they do guarantee halls for all first years, even insurance ones.

Littleham it's no more or less sporty than any other college at Durham. What gave you that impression, out of interest.

DS still has nothing from Durham, nor do two of his very close friends.

It had lots of sports facilities - tennis courts, squash court, rowers, you name it. The girl that showed us around said that it is renowned for sport, so just going by her really & the amazing facilities.

Maybe we shouldn't give up all hope for Durham, as so many of your friends have not heard. We took a bit of a gamble with it, as my dd's head of sixth form said that we might be wasting our time, as she had only known two teenagers to get an offer from the normal comprehensive's she had worked in during her entire career! Of course, that immediately made my dd put it on the form, as she figured she would have two or three options anyway, so why not try!

Why would they still give offers if they have already allocated their accommodation?

Well DS is from a normal comp and sixth form college. That really shouldn't matter.
Surely they should send out formal rejections if they have made all their offers, I do think it would be a very * * * * way of rejecting applicants just to leave them hanging.

Ds school is a normal comp and his friend already has an offer from durham. He got his offer back in a week i think.

Littleham the students at open days tend to be those who love their college and give it a good sell :) Hild and Bede is far from alone in having a tennis court etc and every single college rows. Hild and Bede simply happens to be on the river, so has a tiny boathouse by its gate, but it's no reflection on the sporting facilities or reputation of other colleges.

DS may well get rejected as may his friends, but I'm not too worried about the allocation of colleges per se. The colleges won't have divvied out all their places, they'll still have some up their sleeves. I think they're waiting to see who firms what and moves in or out of the picture, which makes absolute sense.

Knowing Durham as I do there are certainly colleges which I believe DS would prefer, but none are so bad that I'd suggest he turn down a place on that strength alone.

Littleham

My DD has also applied for languages and put Durham down last on the application as she couldn't think of anywhere else and thought she might as well! Anyway, she has received an offer (AAA) but only this week so they are obviously still sorting things out. I couldn't tell you which college it was, but apparently it's the one she applied for (which was basically a result of guess work!)

I think she is going to go and have a look but we're down South and I think she may be better suited to one of her other offers. Does anyone know if Durham is still full of public school/Oxbridge rejects or is there now more of a healthy mix of private/state. I really don't mean to offend anyone but am genuinely interested

legallady - thanks for that information.

Which languages did your DD apply for?

oh and I didn't realise that the colleges kept some places back, so that makes more sense. It is such a different system form the other unis.

Yes legallady Durham still has a very large proportion of Oxbridge rejects, for whom it's their second choice. It also has a significant proportion of independent school kids. Presumably your DD is looking at Durham as her insurance rather than firm?

Littleham Durham doesn't dish all its places out in one fell swoop like Oxford and Cambridge, so yes - different. But immensely beautiful nonetheless :)

Littleham she applied for French and Spanish.

Venturabay thanks for response and I don't know whether DD should be concerned or not. She's very much state educated and although I'm sure she can handle herself pretty well, I really don't want her to feel that she somehow doesn't "fit". Perhaps I'm remembering my own university experience in the 80s where pretty much the first question I was asked was "what school did you go to and what does your father do?" I really hope things have changed since then.....(and I was at a good old redbrick.....)

Anyway, I'm not sure that Durham will even make the reserve list. Like Snowyowl's DD, my DD has also applied to Southampton for their masters degree and she is much more likely to firm that or even one of her other choices. She also has an unconditional from Birmingham. I just think that Durham has such an exceptional reputation for languages that it seemed daft not to put it on the application as nothing else really stood out. Would she be daft to turn down a Durham offer over somewhere like Southampton? It's four years of her life and she really does have to feel comfortable with where she's at

ah - well my daughter applied for German and Italian, so those making the decisions may be different anyway.

As all the choices are good, I would tell your daughter to go where she feels happy / comfortable and likes the course. Worth going to have a look though, because it is a beautiful place.

legallady my DS is very much a northern lad from a state school and Durham's reputation for being a bit posh is my main reservation. However I have not mentioned it as I don't want to colour his judgement and I don't think he knows.
He is looking forward to staying there on his visit.

legallady with the caveat that I'm very biased then yes, your DD would be completely nuts to turn down Durham for Southampton. Durham does have a lot of Oxbridge rejects but the reason that it's so often their second choice is for the beauty of the place, the quality of the teaching and the reputation. The idea that there are a lot of offensive, braying public school types is hugely mitigated a) by the fact that this reputation was largely built on the existence of the old 'General' degree (very easy to get in for, but now extinct) and (connected, but different) the fact that it's pretty hard to get an offer from Durham these days and intelligence amongst public school types does tend to dumb down their worst prejudices and excesses. I personally think there's far more to fear from that quarter in places with lower standards and a generally less intelligent populace. I think it's worth remembering too that some state schoolers can be pretty tedious too :)

Sorry, too many toos :)

Thanks ventura - definitely a lot to think about

I'd be grabbing the unconditional offer out of sheer relief!!!! That must be seriously tempting.

My second dd is applying soon - might get her to put Birmingham on the list...

I think the unconditional offers (DD1 also had one from Birmingham and Nottingham) are tempting but only if they were in their top two to start with. My DD has firmed Southampton and put Bath as her insurance and turned down the unconditional offers but said if Bath had given her an unconditional offer ( which they don't do so isn't an option!!) she would have snapped their hand off !! DD1 happy with her decision as its the course she wants at a Uni she likes :)

legallady you will have to let me know if your DD does firm S'ton too for the Masters !!

I'd be very cynical indeed about unconditionals from non interviewing non top unis - they'd put me off. In the same way that puppy like boyfriends put me off. Far too desperate - get rid.

I see what you mean and best to go for the course you want so she is doing the right thing. I don't think I would call Birmingham and Nottingham desperate though - they are both very good universities. It is more of a compliment to your children.

Hmm venturabay. Not sure I agree about desperate. Ds has an unconditional from LSE who certainly don't interview. Would he be wrong to turn them down as they are desperate? He didn't get an unconditional from Birmingham which is his first choice, although he did get a reduced offer.