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Higher education

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Original poster

Exeter offers : incompetent or arrogant?

620 replies

TalkinPeace · 25/03/2016 22:42

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

OP posts:
Molio · 14/04/2016 11:25

I tend not to go for hyperbole quit2dis! No offence intended to the uni or its engineering (and no doubt other decent) courses.

JokesLOL · 14/04/2016 12:57

Quit2

OP thought that her DD was a dead cert for an offer and that Exeter were just being slow. OP also expected an answer by Mar 31, not realising that Exeter had no obligation to reply until the May deadline

Where on earth did you get that from? Confused The OP has never claimed her DD was a dead cert or given the impression that she thought her DD was a dead cert and how was expecting a reply before March 31 unreasonable when the Uni had told them they would and were posting that everyone would receive their offers (or rejections) by March 31 on Twitter. The OP seems to have pissed off some posters but that's no reason to make stuff up.

Mumsnet Higher Ed threads are really interesting and there are lots of informative and supportive posters but sometimes there seems to be a lot of snippiness and point scoring. It's a shame.

quit2dis · 14/04/2016 13:00

The title of the thread is "Arrogant or incompetent". The second line of the original post reads "Exeter has not had the courtesy to send an offer".

If the latter is not assuming that she was a dead cert to get an offer, I don't know what it is.

JokesLOL · 14/04/2016 13:46

As I'm sure you know, everyone and his dog uses the term 'offer'when referring to offers or rejections - even Exeter themselves do it.

I agree the OP's OP and thread title was very ranty but I still don't think she was unreasonable to expect Exeter to have replied to her DD when they said they would or for them to have kept her updated if there was an unforeseen delay.

Fair dos to criticise the OP for accusing Exeter of dishonesty or arrogance but there is no need to embellish things to suit your story.

ps I am not the OP Wink

titchy · 14/04/2016 13:53

As I'm sure you know, everyone and his dog uses the term 'offer'when referring to offers or rejections - even Exeter themselves do it.

No they don't. Most people, and Exeter, use the word decision.

JokesLOL · 14/04/2016 14:17

.

Shock
Exeter offers : incompetent or arrogant?
whatwouldrondo · 14/04/2016 14:20

I would also say that if you have 4 early offers from equivalent or actually more highly ranked ( Jorvik is 4th, Exeter 9th, for biological sciences, for what it is worth) then it wouldn't be arrogant to think the odds ought to be in favour of an offer? I am quite surprised that the course at Exeter would have filled up with more able candidates, compared to the other universities as I wouldn't have thought the Sloane effect on demand would play strongly for Sciences. But then neither I or OP know what they have selected on or what factors have affected demand / capacity and maybe it always was an aspirational choice for her DD for reasons we are blind to. Which is really the issue we keep coming back to, that this can be a very opaque process for applicants.

whatwouldrondo · 14/04/2016 14:22

Sorry it was clearly an aspirational choice because they have fobbed her off with their leftovers...

whatwouldrondo · 14/04/2016 14:27

Molio Decent? In the words of their Rugby team anthem

I could have gone to Manchester, or Leeds or Hull or Birmingham, or even Exeter, or even Exeter. But in spite of all these colleges which are merely but apologies, I am a Wessex man, I am a Wessex man :-)

quit2dis · 14/04/2016 15:51

everyone and his dog uses the term 'offer'when referring to offers or rejections.

Every UK university I have ever worked at uses the term "offer" to refer to an offer, "rejection" to refer to a rejection and "decision" to refer to a decision (one way or other).

"University X has still not had the courtesy to send my DD an offer" would not be read by most people as being identical to "University X has not given DD a decision yet". (Indeed the former would never be read as either offer or rejection if X was Oxford, Cambridge etc.)If OP had not written the former in various phrases throughout the thread, and had not used words such as arrogant and liars, she would have gotten different responses.

Nobody is disputing that Exeter should have updated OP's DD (and other applicants who were in the same "maybe" group) via email or website but throughout the thread people have also pointed out that admissions teams are often over-worked at this time of year.

TaIkinPeace · 14/04/2016 15:54

DD's offers that were in hand long before I started this thread were one for Nat Sci and three for Biological variants.
It was not unreasonable to think she might get an offer, but actually as I said to quit up thread, by the time I posted last month, ANYTHING would have been better than silence.

It was the silence that hacked me off, nothing more complex.

Coconutty · 14/04/2016 18:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TaIkinPeace · 14/04/2016 18:13

Of course Smile it was the standard A*AA - after all that !

Poikjhvcx · 14/04/2016 18:18

As long as she is happy with her firm and her insurance then that's the most important thing.

TaIkinPeace · 14/04/2016 18:21

Absolutely.
Now she just has to get the grades Thanks all

Coconutty · 14/04/2016 18:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Molio · 14/04/2016 19:09

What are the grades for her firm and insurance TP?

Yes I assumed she'd get a bargain offer from Exeter too. It seems a slightly odd strategy just to dish out a standard offer. They work in an interesting way.

Coconutty · 14/04/2016 19:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Molio · 14/04/2016 19:58

How does that work Coconutty? I'm not sure unis can put feelers out and they can't know who didn't get an offer or indeed what first choices were. I'm assuming the NatSci course is simply not full so they're throwing offers out but without being prepared to offer inducements, so as not to cheapen their wares. Good luck to them!

Coconutty · 14/04/2016 20:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

whatwouldrondo · 14/04/2016 20:45

Indeed and to see the whether they have improved the proportion joining the course with lower ucas tariffs. On the face of it I have to say that there is an apparent show of arrogance but maybe they have found themselves with so many acceptances from predicted / achieved A*AA candidates they don't know what to do with them all Hmm

HocusWireless · 14/04/2016 20:47

Talkin - timing aside she has landed very well. Congratulations.

TaIkinPeace · 14/04/2016 21:50

Molio
Her three Bio offers were all the same, the standard AAB, the other NatSci was A*AA I think (but much more Bio heavy so on her radar)

Am relieved to hear that others find the "standard offer on a random course after 6 months " a bit odd as well

but its all sideways now as the student finance for t'other course is now applied for Smile

scaryteacher · 15/04/2016 17:51

We went to both the Exeter campuses at Exeter and Falmouth. I loathed both, and thought they were very arrogant at both places.

Ds is in his second year at another RG university where he is very happy and plans to stay and do an MA.

boys3 · 15/04/2016 18:03

TP glad she finally heard, and that she is now able to make her choices. Life in a Northern Town isn't all that bad, and if really lucky she might even get an indian summer