Uni offers for 2017 start

[Carriemac]

Could we have a handholding thread? I have two DCs going through UCSS at the moment, would love to obsess here so I can appear calm on the outside.
LNAT results go to the UNIs tomorrow I think, so offers could be rolling in soon for DD who has applied for law.

STEP entries aren't until the spring, Ilove, so there's plenty of time to look into it.

Hmm. Might have to have a look into that then with him - thankyou

A couple of dd's courses are maths and physics. I'll have to ask her about STEP. She hasn't mentioned it but she is so self contained / frustratingly spare with information that she may be organising it anyway.

From the Warwick maths webpage:

Standard Offer for 2017 Admission: A-Level Students
A (Maths A-level), A(Further Maths A-level), A (in a third A-level), and grade 2 in STEP, or
A(Maths A-level), A(Further Maths A-level), A* (in a third A-level), or
A(Maths A-level), A(Further Maths A-level), A (in a third A-level), A (in a fourth A-level)

So the STEP mark would let him drop a grade elsewhere, wouldn't it?

I still can't fathom what a contextual offer actually is.

Liney - I think this www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/entry-requirements-qualifications/ from Bristol is reasonably clear.

But Bristol has an extremely strange policy of giving contextual offers to all schools with below average A level results. I have cousins who got contextual offers, despite having Oxbridge educated parents and living in a million pound house, because their school has a diverse catchment and hence below average results overall. (High achievers actually do very well in this school.)

Other universities don't operate the same policy as Bristol as it doesn't make much sense.

Many universities don't actually give out contextual offers but instead use contextual information when deciding on acceptances in August or reserve some number of places for students from deprived backgrounds. Best to ask admissions teams for the courses you're applying to, to see what the policies are.

Oh, I knew they differed but I'd not realised Bristol was particularly odd - thanks for clarifying!

And like I said, my son's school doesn't have a sixth form, so he's had to move on anyway to a sixth form college, so it's like his school years never existed as far as contextual offers are concerned.

I do very much appreciate all the info. Thanks, Errol for responding.

You have to list all schools/colleges from 11-18 on UCAS form, so his 11-16 school information is not lost. Contextual information about schools/colleges automatically shows up on UCAS form - % pupils getting 5 GCSE passes, average A level scores etc - in addition to Polar information.

It is however a myth that contextual offers are handed out very frequently or that contextual offers are particularly different. Usually it's one grade lower at most - lowering further is usually not in the interest of the student, as students with lower entry tariffs (> 2 grades below average entrant) tend to do poorly, regardless of where they came from. As I said above, many departments think it makes more sense to give out standard offers and then make allowances for near misses because of contextual issues. For example, Cambridge maths almost always asks for 2 STEP 1 grades, but uses contextual information in August when results are known.

Some people also over-estimate how poor their DC's schools are. You certainly don't get a contextual offer just because your DC go to a non-selective school or even a "secondary modern". You shouldn't get a contextual offer just because the school's results are below average overall (as Bristol do), as this is usually determined by the demographics in the school and doesn't in itself mean that high achievers aren't getting a good eduation. What is most relevant is how high achievers perform in the school relative to their incoming levels, how many high achievers get the very top grades etc etc.

Apparently Bristol also consider the deprivation stats for a postcode, our area is a leafy suburb but the overall EX12 postcode area has a higher level than normal because if an area a few miles away.

Meanwhile, Ds had an email from another uni saying that they would reply to his application within 15 days but that was 18 days ago :(

user721etc thank you for your reply - that's very helpful.

My dds have to complete their UCAS applications today as required by their school. I have two lots of shouting at their dad for trying to critique their personal statements and ricocheting grumpiness about the intricacies of the form. I need beer & chocolate. Gah, can i have a gap year from stress please! 😱

sorry about the tea mug, it's that or a wine glass. Hope they're sorted - two at once must have been a bit fraught!

We need a special thread for parents of twins applying to Uni ! DS still hasn't submitted and DD went for early deadline but no offers yet and she is panicking ....

There are quite a few of us with twins! Mine have both submitted theirs in the last week. One who submitted first has one offer so far - notthingham AAB I think it was (or he could go unconditional if he accepts it right away as firm but he won't as it's not first choice). They have actually applied to the same universities different subjects in the end,. I thought one was going to St Andrews and one Edinburgh but both put Edinburgh ultimately.

Yes, re Bristol discussion above - I expect their school is not in the lowest 40% for A level grades or whatever the Bristol test is so they don't get the one grade less offers but hopefully that won't bar them from it as I think one at least would like to go there. I didn't know about postcodes but that is not surprising.

The idea the universities have had for decades that if you are the AAA in a school where everyone gets C you get credit for that has always made sense. Wholesale trying to deal with a massive range of social and deprivation factors is a bit less fair and very complex.

Mind you they won't say which are their preferred of the 5 in case they don't get in which is a wise course of action. Nothing worse than a family commiserating with you when you've got in somewhere anyway. The last one did say he was relieved it was submitted now so he could concentrate on his A levels.

Ds has submitted his application. He has already had acknowledgements from three universities but his course interviews so fingers crossed he gets good news on that front (although I don't fancy the cost of train tickets all over the place!!)

OMG OMG OMG DS has had a very near miss today. He checked his emails and found one from Imperial saying 'as you have not responded to our email of x days ago we have cancelled your interview'.

The original email had gone to his junk folder

He rang them up straight away and explained what had happened and managed to get another interview date for 23rd Nov.

He handled all this himself while at school today. He must have been so stressed. I'm pleased with how he just got on and sorted it.

Another lesson learned - check junk folder daily too

CQ phew! good luck to DS and 10 out of 10 for him sorting it.

CQ - oh blimey, good thing the second email didn't go to junk! But good he got it sorted pronto.

DD had her first interview on Tuesday, at Southampton- more of a pleasant chat as part of a 'applicant day' really. She thoroughly enjoyed it - DH 7hrs or so drive each way a bit less so. Good thing next week she can just get the train to Manchester.

Errol at Manchester on Wednesday DS had a chat of about 30 mins but they told him at the end of it that they'd make him an offer, although this one, unlike Bristol and York, is on the higher end of the offer range. They did a very good sell on the uni though, and he seems very keen.

Yes, same sort of thing at Soton, all the applicants that day were told before the interview they'd be getting offers. The standard for EEE there is A*AA I think so high end too.

It was apparently slightly more mixed at Manchester. They were told that if they were made an offer then and there, not to say that to other applicants because some applicants are made offers there, some are delayed and some (a few I think, not many) don't get offers despite coming for interview.

Having posted very early on on this thread to say DD had got an interview at Manchester, she then heard nothing for AGES and I was anxiously lurking on this thread checking other MNers'DCs had not had offers from her chosen unis!

Anyway today she got an offer from Imperial - hurrah. So it's nice to have one in the bag before her Manchester interview. Also interesting to read about the offers being given or not during the interview process.

Thanks for this thread it is an invaluable hand-hold and useful source.