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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

University entry 2016

102 replies

Itsthiwooluff · 21/09/2015 13:44

Apologies if I have just overlooked this, but is there a thread for the parents of potential, non-medic 2016 entries yet?

I really need somewhere to unload about the sheer teeth gritting frustration produced by dd's approach to her personal statement.

OP posts:
hellsbells99 · 23/10/2015 13:30

Squirrel - normally the uni will ask on the day who needs to leave promptly for trains etc and schedule their interviews first.

SquirrelledAway · 23/10/2015 15:48

Hellsbells fortunately we've been able to request an early interview beforehand, the email invitation said that everything was arranged in advance and couldn't be changed on the day. Even with an early time slot it's still a bit tight.

eatyourveg · 23/10/2015 15:58

Anyone got any ideas about how influential a reference is?
Ds has got to get his done by someone who hasn't had much experience with ucas (main referee off sick for time being) and asked me this morning if it might make a difference to whether he got any offers. I told him not to worry and that short of saying something along the lines of HE being unsuitable, it shouldn't matter but really I'm not confident it will be anywhere near what it might have been. His ps is a good one and his grades are apparently the best on his course and he is on target for his predictions which just makes the whole thing more frustrating should it go through without any decent backing.

SeekretSquirrels · 23/10/2015 16:09

eatyourveg I wondered the same. At DS's college none of the teaching staff do references. The individual subject teachers write a short reference which is used by the mentor to put together the school ref. In fact pretty much all none teaching work is done by "mentors". I have a low opinion of them from experience of speaking to them. Also the quality of their written communication makes DS cringe let alone pedant me.

My hope is that the admissions staff will take pity on DC who manage to achieve good grades at such a school.
I am being slightly flippant there but only slightly.
Oxbridge and medics get preferential treatment and applications handled by senior staff.

Having said all that, DS is predicted grades above those required and his courses are not over subscribed at the unis he wants. One admissions person we spoke to said they make offers to all applicants with the right grades.
I wonder whether they even read the PS.

RhodaBull · 23/10/2015 18:30

Yes, I wonder too.

Ds's tutor did his reference. They are new to A Level teaching and seem to be a bit... amateurish.

Otoh, ds's cousin's reference was written by an alumnus of the chosen college who is pre-eminent in his field.

Whaddayado... [surrendering shrug emoticon]

TalkinPeece · 23/10/2015 18:38

Interviews / Offers : I'm assuming nothing till Christmas - only in the new year will I worry

References : DD had one by her pastoral tutor and one by each of her subject tutors
then her pastoral tutor went through the lot with her removing duplications
she also has the added bonus that her school tutor now teaches at the college (unrelated area) so was able to add the long term view

GloriaHotcakes · 23/10/2015 18:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Headofthehive55 · 23/10/2015 19:23

hocus no offence taken. It sounds a luxury having a car but I think it has really helped my DD actually stay there at uni, as she hasn't had the best of times...

MrsUltracrepidarian · 23/10/2015 19:42

GloriaHotcakes
Me too! Was surprised when DS said he had an interview at Imperial.
Although, looking at the day's schedule, looks like the interview is half an hours, and the rest of the time is the uni selling the course and uni to the applicants Grin

MrsUltracrepidarian · 23/10/2015 19:44

Rhoda surely of the tutor is new to A level teaching he should be guided by someone who is experienced at writing refs???

HocusUcas · 23/10/2015 20:53

Head that sounds like a good investment for her and she makes good use of it . I wish her well.

I will tootle off back to the new Uni starter thread where I belong but just to say Talkin , DS had an offer from UCL end Feb. (I know your DD hasn't applied there but just to say lots of offers do come in post Christmas. )

The one we have in common is Exeter (albeit my Ds was humanities) but if I can get to speak to him and find out when that offer came in I'll post it, although I am sure you will have friends who will know more quickly.

Rhoda Grin - So we have also saved on the leaf blower to be delivered by the end of term. Something of a result.

Good luck to all.

SquirrelledAway · 24/10/2015 12:45

MrsUltra DS is heading to Imperial too, wonder if they are applying for the same course? I did find out his day comprises: registration, a talk, lunch, tours of the department and a 30 minute interview. Because DS has to leave early, he is missing the tour but I am guessing that one set of labs and classrooms is pretty much like another.

MrsUltracrepidarian · 24/10/2015 13:07

Oooh, so excited!!!! Nagged Advised DS (after advice on here -thanks!!!to check his spam folder daily just in case anything dropped thru' there - he has an offer from UCL! A, A, A, but the A can be any subject, so less pressure that I thought he would be under re specifics.
They certainly work fast! Does make me think tho' that it looks like a good idea to apply earlier rather than later...
Can't show my excitement to anyone in RL, so thanks for being here - and good luck to everyone!

MrsUltracrepidarian · 24/10/2015 13:08

Squirrelled - could be!

SquirrelledAway · 24/10/2015 13:39

Congrats on the UCL offer. Must remember to get DS to check his spam folder regularly too - his email account is a mess, I find it hard not to offer to go in an organize it for him. I'm not sure that an early application should make any difference - all applications up until the 31st Jan deadline should be treated equally in theory.

MrsUltracrepidarian · 24/10/2015 14:20

Yes, I can see that - but surely they have a finite number of offers to make, so if they have used even only some of the quota in Oct, what happens when say 10 really amazing candidates apply on 30 Jan and there are only say 6 offer places available because they have used them up - and maybe on less suitable candidates?

BaconAndAvocado · 24/10/2015 18:02

mrsultra that's brilliant about the UCL offer.

My DS is in the process of doing his UCAS application and has UCL down as one of his choices.

I didn't realise you could get an offer so,early!!

Should I encourage him to get it sent off sooner rather than later?

BaconAndAvocado · 24/10/2015 18:06

Is it a fact that there are only so many offers made, I.e. First come first served??

Starting to worry now Hmm

MrsUltracrepidarian · 24/10/2015 19:25

It does seem odd to me they do that. Surely you'd think they'd wait till 31 Jan and then look at what they've got and make offers on those?
Perhaps an admissions officer will come along & explain...

TalkinPeece · 24/10/2015 19:45

I know one of the staff who handles the full admissions chain for an RG Uni.
They do not make the offers - but they deal with the overall numbers.

Statistically only 1/6 of offers is likely to be taken up (5 spaces on a form plus exam flunkers)
and the Unis have a very very clear idea where they stand in the pecking orders for each course and thus with a particular set of predicted grades
they can make a darned good prediction of who else is on the form with them

so they can guess who is coming their way
and they have their funding deal for next year
and they know how many kids there are in the cohort

its huge amounts of big data crunching

jaxxyj · 28/10/2015 23:00

Hi all just joining in. I have twins, a DD with ucas form ready to go, waiting on school to do their stuff and a DS still isn't sure what his predicted grades are, where he wants to go and hasn't started his PS! Chalk and cheese. So frustrating!

Ohtobeskiing · 29/10/2015 11:33

Re cars at uni. Dd will be applying for a health related degree. She will need to do placements, some of which will be block placements and some one day a week. All the universities we have looked at are quite open that the travelling time and distance can be huge. It hadn't really occurred to me that having a car would be a good thing but we are seriously considering it now.

TalkinPease · 29/10/2015 11:34

she'll probably get allocated a permit then as its linked to her course

Lydiarachelrooney · 29/10/2015 21:39

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

TalkinPease · 29/10/2015 21:44

Lydia, please report your post as advertising is not allowed on random threads
AND
Quite a few of us have done more than enough exams for one lifetime