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.

[OddBoots]

Is it particular universities looking for the fee status evidence or UCAS themselves? DS hasn't said anything.

[CQ]

I think it's just a Cambridge thing. Maybe Oxford as well.

[Hollybollybingbong]

Hi OddBoots I think it's only Cambridge, they sent an email asking for SAQ and fee status to be filled in and sent back directly to them. DS hasn't had any other requests from his other choices (that I've seen).
Thank you CQ, I feel we're at the start of a long road, good to share the journey.

[OddBoots]

Thank you both. :)

[roundandroundthehouses]

Dd1 got an interview invitation today from Manchester (Physics), for early Feb :) .

[ErrolTheDragon]

DD got her invitation to sheffield applicant day today too , I think nov 24th. She's struggling with a recalcitrant printer to send a scanned copy of her passport photo/details page along with the utility bills DH unearthed to cambridge.

[Me2017]

Could try a phone to scan and email may be if the printer isn't working?

I hope my 2 get their applications in soon. I looked at a virtually final personal statement of one today.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Apparently the instructions were very specific that the documents must be posted. Probably don't want their inbox filled with hundreds of jpegs! I think it was just something weird about DH's printer but he's sorted it.

[goodbyestranger]

I've had six DC go through the process but not one of them has ever been asked to send utility bills and passport photos prior to an interview. I think one might have been asked for a photo (but not her passport photo) prior to an interview but what are the utility bills about?

[Sadusername]

Something to do with fee status. Proof you have been living at that address for 3 years and eligible for home student status. Though if you have moved? It is hardly fool proof!

[HereIAm20]

No it is proof that you have been resident in England or the UK for 3 years so it won't matter if it is a different address as long as it is within the UK.

[HereIAm20]

Also it is usually Oxbridge that asks for this at this stage as they get a higher level of overseas applicants.

[goodbyestranger]

My DC had all attended the same UK day state school for their entire secondary schooling, as do the vast majority of applicants for Oxbridge, so you'd have thought Cambridge would be able to add two and two. Mine applied to Oxford not Cambridge HereIAm20 and it appeared to be wholly unconcerned by utility bills at all stages. I find it very odd. You have to declare fee status on the UCAS form anyhow don't you? I just can't see the point, though there must be one.

[goodbyestranger]

I'd have thought that the London unis got the highest proportion of overseas students too, surely? Two of my DC have applied to UCL and UCL didn't give two hoots either before making their offers.

[Me2017]

I think there are some children in my sons' class who may not be eligible as home students (as came over from China and also India in the last 3 years or may be they came for 2 years of GCSE so are okay but it is certainly something the universities ought to be checking).

[user1474361571]

My DC had all attended the same UK day state school for their entire secondary schooling, as do the vast majority of applicants for Oxbridge.

Not in counties such as Hampshire in which state schools don't have sixth forms. Lots of movement at sixth form level in London too. And of course it's possible to be a boarding student/day student who lives with grandparents attending a private school and still not count as a home student for fee purposes since your main family residence is abroad. The latter is not a rare situation amongst Oxbridge students. So declaring school in itself is not sufficient.

Also it is usually Oxbridge that asks for this at this stage as they get a higher level of overseas applicants.

Oxbridge don't get the highest percentages of overseas applicants. LSE etc currently have much higher foreign student percentages. (Although all UK universities are likely to see drops under the Theresa May policies.)

Cambridge asks for proof of fee status (and indeed some of the information in the COPA form filled out by non-EU applicants) mostly for political/monitoring/data collection reasons.

[goodbyestranger]

user1571 most kids at Peter Symonds will have been state school students at a Hampshire comprehensive though, so Cambridge ought to be able to add those figures together too, it isn't that complicated mathematically.

Also, what's wrong with the UCAS declaration of fee status? Doesn't Cambridge trust it? And how come Oxford as well as the other unis manage, including London ones? It seems a complete faff and making work for no good reason.

[roundandroundthehouses]

So far, only St Andrews have mentioned fee status to dd1, but we assumed that was because they're Scottish and dd1 has dual nationality.

[GetAHaircutCarl]

SATs round 2 here today so I am fortifying the troops with pancakes and bacon for breakfast!

DD said (late) last night that she wants to pull out of ELAT and indeed her UK university applications altogether.

I can see her point. She won't in all probability finish sixth form so it's all a waste of time. Maybe?

Her US applications and drama school applications can proceed pretty much without A levels. So she feels they are processes worth engaging in.

And of course she could re-do tear 13 next year if she were so moved.

I don't know what to advise. I see her point. But DH thinks 'fuck it' just keep the pot simmering on the UCAS stuff. No biggie. But then he shoulders pressure like a Titan. And DD is only 17 and more flappy.

[Needmoresleep]

Carl, I would go with her instincts.

I don't know if I am an interloper or not, as DD has a deferred place for 2017. She was applying for a really competitive course where there was no guarantee she would get a place, and illness meant she had skipped the medicine equivalent of ELAT so was limited in where she could apply. Yr13 was tough anyway as everyone was stressed especially those applying to high profile Universities in the US and UK. (Even if you were reasonably laid back the stress seemed to be contagious.) She had switched schools for sixth form, loved her new school and wanted to eek out every last minute. She also was not interviewed till March so did not get an offer till early April, so it went on forever, with a huge pile up of course work, revision and interviews just before Easter.

So for much of the year she was working on the basis that her UCAS application was a trial run, and that it was fine if she ended up taking a gap year and reapplying. In the event she got her first choice, but then decided she wanted to take the gap year anyway. She was tired. Simple.

Its working out fine. She has not envied her friends heading off all over the place, and instead has had fun visiting them, or seeing them when they are back in London. The switch from school to university has been tough for some, and I am sure she will start better prepared.

The one rule was we were not prepared to have her at home doing nothing. Instead she has done an eclectic mix of helping out with a residential week for disabled people, worked on a market stall, and is now interning at a cookery school. (In a nod to another thread, this has been a real eye opener in terms of how hard people running small businesses work.) Next will be a ski season as a chalet host and then hopefully Camp America, possibly one for people with disabilities. She has also kept up sport and volunteering.

She has started to say she is looking forward to getting back to studying. That was not the case in September. I think she will arrive at University far better prepared, with better organisational skills, wider horizons, and a better self-understanding of why she is there. Plus her cooking has improved, as has her washing up, and she has a good opportunity to improve her French and skiing.

I have enjoyed having her around during this transition year. The next five years will be a slog, more so for her as she is dyslexic and taking a course that will involve a lot of reading, so I am glad she has had a break and a chance to find herself.

Not getting Oxbridge can be a biggie, even if a DC was not too bothered whether they go there or not, especially at a school where some measure results by the number of Oxbridge places. For DS it was his first taste of "failure", and it hurt more than we expected it to, and at a time when he needed to focus on the last two terms at school. I would leave it a year and use an Oxbridge/other UK application as a Plan B should the Plan As not work out.

Anyway forget the DC, twins and double/triple applications plus the other joys of Yr13 would be too much for me as a parent.

[user1474361571]

most kids at Peter Symonds will have been state school students at a Hampshire comprehensive though

A minority will have been boarders to 16, board/lodge in Winchester and not be eligible for home fees. All universities have to check fee status carefully. The real question is why Cambridge do so in such detail before interview. As I said above, this is (I believe) for "political" reasons.

It is BTW also not always reasonable to compare directly with Oxford, as Oxford and Cambridge often have slightly different "special deals" with the government/funding bodies.

Both Oxford and Cambridge ask for a lot of extraneous stuff in their applications that are not really relevant to the decision making. Oxford also behave appallingly at interviews, by not confirming ahead of time how many interviews applicants will have, when they can leave etc. Both universities behave in a way that impedes broadening access. In general applicants put up with it because they believe that Oxbridge is superior. If more applicants complained and voted with their feet, Oxbridge would soon adjust their admissions procedures.

[goodbyestranger]

As I say, I'm sure Cambridge has its reasons user1571 but getting every applicant to send in utility bills and have someone check them when the declaration of fee status is already made on the UCAS form sounds daft. But then I prefer avoiding unnecessary work not creating it!

Carl good luck to your two for the SATs. I'm with your DH re the UK process but then it's your DD's life. But realistically she has a super high chance of being called for interview unless she completely crashes in the ELAT and it's only a couple of hours with no work capable of being done tonight, so why not defer the moment of reckoning and ditch Oxford before interview if she's determined. That way she has another four weeks to mull over her choices. I do agree with Needmoresleep that it will be particularly harsh, given the school, if she didn't get in, but doing the test tomorrow does give her another iron in the fire, even if her sights for the moment are set elsewhere.

[GetAHaircutCarl]

Thank you need and goodbye.

Your kind and thoughtful words are appreciated.

I'm super stressed by all this. I know that the real issue is that I'm sad and anxious about DD leaving in January. I'd imagibed that in October 2017 she would be tucked up in a little room in a UK university, devising an excuse for why her first essay was late .

On a recent visit to Exeter university, I could have easily seen her there. Happy and safe.

My head tells me that this is a fabulous opportunity for DD. That no one says on their deathbed 'I'm bloody glad I didn't make that film when I was 17'. That afterwards she can go to college in the US or RADA ( though the odds are way worse than Oxbridge)
But my heart tells me she's too young to do this. That the film industry is going to chew her up and spit her out ^melodramatic music please ^

[user1474361571]

In the near future (post Brexit) international student numbers will become even more restricted. Some universities will have unlimited quotas; some will have fixed quotas and some will be allowed to take none. It not yet clear what category Cambridge will be in. With quotas in place, it will be necessary for all universities to look at fee/visa status before making offers to insure they don't over-shoot quotas. I would anticipate all universities having to follow Cambridge soon.

BTW documentation with utility bills etc is of course trivial compared to what we (non-EU citizens) are asked to produce to document indefinite leave to stay.... we have a culture of distrust, asking everyone to prove everything.

[ErrolTheDragon]

Needmore - IMO your DD fits the thread title, and your perspective may be extremely valuable to some of the parents on this thread. That model of having a (useful!) gap year is exactly the right thing for some people - IMO especially medics where between the added pressure of the applications, the extra time to do volunteering and the gain in maturity it can be an asset.

Re the cambridge fee status palaver, as User has indicated there can be quite a lot of complexities, so from their POV why the heck should they do the maths? It does actually make a lot more sense for the onus to be on the candidate. It also occurred to me that maybe the insistence on paper rather than electronic transmission could be related to data protection considerations (only recording the absolutely relevant data gleaned, paper shredded would probably be good practice). However, doesn't data protection mean that they're only allowed to use the data for its stated purpose (ie determining fee status) ? I didn't notice anything on DDs form mentioning it might be used for 'political/monitoring/data collection'