Exeter offers : incompetent or arrogant?

[TalkinPeace]

DD submitted her form last October
Exeter have still not had the courtesy to send an offer (the other four Unis all have)
when phoned they said

• no offers have been issued (bollocks as DDs friends have theirs)
• offers will be made by end of December (bollocks as its now late march)
• offers will be made right after the UCAS cut off date (bollocks as it was in January)
• offers will be made by the end of March ........

Exeter are arrogant liars
the word needs to go round

It was helpful for me TP! Thanks stone :)

Ah, I see - basic courtesy. Like not calling the admissions team at Exeter arrogant toe rags you mean

It's actually Jorvik - you wouldn't want to upset any Vikings

And also Winchester is of course Jorvik South ( and that cathedral town that is more north is lost in cold and damp sea frets )

stonecircle
If your child applied for a physics degree, would they be happy to be offered a Chemistry degree six months later?

No, so he would simply decline the offer

It sad that a thread in higher education of all places has turned out to be so bitchy. I know the OPs OP was OTT but the snippy'ness on this thread is unpleasant.

OP you write as if universities owe your DD a place. She didn't have what Exeter wanted for the course she applied for.

However, just in case she was interested in Exeter, they offered her an alternative - a highly regarded type of course, offering a broad study, much like Liberal Arts in the humanities.

The only one who's been arrogant here is you. And as for being rude to other posters who dare to guess your "code" because somehow they're compromising your DD's identity? a) who cares; b) who started this thread?

Wondered if I could ask a question?

My dd was asking about Natural Sciences and I have absolutely no idea about this degree. Is it for people with a Chemistry / Maths interest?

OR is it for Physics / Maths types? What A Levels are required? What does it lead to?

(sorry for derailing & hope you don't mind)

I've not read the full thread, just the first couple of pages and the last couple of pages, so forgive me if I've got the wrong end of the stick.

Talkin You flatter yourself. Of the 25000+ applicants who applied to where I work, all applications are considered equally and are hand processed, first by the selectors of individual departments and then by the admissions team (of 4 staff, in case you were wondering why it takes so long to process your precious child's application.) They are one random name amongst several thousand, and their application form is judged on 11 factors and has to be pretty stand-out-special to make it through to offer stage, so I wouldn't worry that they've not had an answer yet.

And it may be that the physics course is full but rather than turn your child down outright they spotted potential strengths from the personal statement in a similar discipline? I could understand your ire if they offered history in its place, but have you even looked at the course that's been offered?

I'd be interested in any wisdom on the various NatSci degrees too.

The Nat Sci degrees reflect the fact that the natural world does not respect interdisciplinary boundaries and scientists with a broad base of knowledge and skills will be able to contribute in many areas of current scientific advances. You can only study Science at Cambridge within that framework. Typically the courses will have a wide range of modules specialising further each year. Often there are particular pathways eg focusing on Biology but with side modules in Maths (very obvious applications in dealing with the data produced from research. ) and Chemistry (again obvious interface with cell biology biochemistry etc. ) or Pure Chemistry , Maths and Physics etc. The exciting thing is that many area of research need these cross disciplinary skill sets and indeed beyond. There was recently a conference of game software developers exploring ways in which they could help handle the massive amounts of data generated by research into DNA and genetics. It allows them to develop their interests through the 3/4 years.

You probably should never quote Wikipedia on a Higher Ed thread but en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Sciences_(Cambridge)

Would Maths, FM and Physics A Levels be ok for Natural Sciences or should an applicant have two sciences? Not a problem if it isn't ideal with these A levels as there are plenty of suitable alternatives.

There are often requirements to have studied a science at A level in order to follow a pathway or with those A levels a DC couldn't do a cell biology module but then wouldn't want to . The best thing is to look at the detailed course structures and see how far it would restrict choices. One of the advantages of a Nat Sco degree is the access to modules run by departments involved in the study of the history and philosophy of Science which of course would not have that requirement. Greater value is placed on Scientists understanding the environment in which they work, ethical issues, communication etc than ever before because there is a greater awareness of the need.

Thanks. Sounds like it might not be ideally suited to her but will pass on advice.

I would strongly advise your DC to phone up and speak to the admissions secretary of the institution and department she's interested in. Different places have different requirements, and a Nat Sci course can have many elements. Speak to the department, they won't bite, honest!

Littleham DS looked at Nat Sci courses when he was unsure what he wanted. The courses are extremely different at different unis. Some have specific "pathways" from day1 (York was one), others are fairly general in the first year and become more specialised, with the option to graduate in a particular science rather than Nat Sci (Durham IIRC) if the student decides they prefer that. I think only having Physics might be an issue though.

LittlehamHums DS looked at NatSci at Cambridge, with Advanced Highers in Maths, FM equivalent and Chemistry. He could pick and choose various various courses in the first year to suit his background and interests, e.g. Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Material Sciences, Maths etc. Seems likes it can be a good option for students not entirely sure which branch of science they want to end up in as they can choose the direction that suits them as they progress through the course.

It's very difficult to get into Cambridge Nat Sci without two sciences. Many successful applicants have three sciences plus maths as well or double maths and two sciences or even double maths and three sciences.

She doesn't have Chemistry or Biology so I suspect she might not be in the running but when she goes on the Open Days she can ask face to face. I suspect she is more suitable for the Physics / Maths / Engineering courses.

Natural Sciences is one of those confusing ones so I thought it might be interesting to get academics to explain some of the applications in the real world. Very interesting.

Sorry to take over a thread.

quit2dis probably why DS didn't get an interview - although in the Scottish system very few students take 4 Advanced Highers (most only take 2 Advanced Highers) and Further Maths is just not offered as a subject.

I agree with a PP that Natural Sciences courses vary a great deal. At many universities entering with one science might well be fine.

BTW in Cambridge you can take subjects such as Biology of Cells in the first year even if you don't have A level biology. At other universities you are also often able to take science courses within Nat Sci related to sciences you didn't do at A level/highers.

I applied to Exeter many moons ago as an undergraduate (arts based subject).

I had applied to do a joint degree which, because it was a bit of an unusual combination of subjects, was offered by only 9 universities in the country as a course. I applied to 6 of those and had received offers from 5. Exeter invited me for an interview. At the interview, I was told by the very charming man that I would need to change my accent if I wanted to 'get anywhere' in life as he couldn't understand me. As a 17-year-old I didn't have the confidence to challenge him and came away very upset. This of course tainted my view of the university as a whole and when the rejection letter came it was not a surprise.

I had actually forgotten all about that little episode until I saw this thread. I ended up going to my first choice university and went on to do an MA and PhD at universities which by any standards are 'higher up the pecking order' than Exeter ever was. Luckily they could understand my accent.

P.S. Am loving the code thing further up the thread - never thought I would see such levels of paranoia on an HE thread!