EPQs, are they worth the extra work?

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Just this really. My DD quite fancies doing one but is it really a good use of her time? She will probably be going to a half decent Uni, but not an absolutely top tier difficult to get into one.

Dd2 has an offer for a ridiculously competitive course which drops an A* to an A if she gets an A in her EPQ. It was also the main focus of her Oxbridge interview.
But, hers was in the subject she wants to study and showed very relevant skills for her degree course.

I get asked this question a lot by students.

Particularly for Dental Applicants, the EPQ is not a requirement.
Though, it looks good on the personal statement and in the interview.

As mums and dads will know, the interviews for a medical degree are the hardest bit of the application. If a student can show off the stuff they learnt whilst studying their EPQ, it can really impress the interviews.

DS was told to finish it over the summer holidays, consequently we have hardly seen him.
He's been to a couple of RG university open days and they both said they reduce an A to a B at A2 if you get an A in your EPQ.

Mine are prevaricating - they have been accepted by the school for it -( not all children are would do worse in A levels as a result of doing it) and are thinking of not doing it actually as I suspect they will get nito their chosen universities without it and they are going to do something else instead - some kind of competitions or essay prizes or attempt to win the prize anyway for their favourite subject etc.

My dd is going to uni this september. As she had completed her EPQ and knew her grade at the end of year 12, she received a lower offer from her first and second choice unis (both good universities) for an A in EPQ. In the end she didn't need it but it took the pressure off a little. Whilst doing it she hadn't realised that unis (and obviously not all do) only really took it into account for an A at EPQ which is at least some motivation for getting it done!

DD started an EPQ but dropped it halfway through as her heart wasn't really in it. She did check with her UCAS choices first that it wouldn't affect her offer, which it didn't. I think it would have been a good thing to have completed in terms of preparing her for independent study, but on the other hand, she possibly wouldn't have done so well in her A2s as she was getting massively stressed about it to the detriment of her other subjects. At DC's 6th form, it's EPQ or General Studies, although I don't think its a problem of they drop it.