University offers for 2017 start (Part 2)

[EnormousTiger]

Continuation of the original thread which is now on to 40 page maximum.
Original thread (part 1) here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/2759621-Uni-offers-for-2017-start?

Most offers now received. My twins have had offers from their 4 and are currently deciding which will be firm and which insurance. One twin
( possibly two of them) is going to an offer holders' day coming up at Bristol next month with his friends from school.

Great that your DC has been able to accept an unconditional offer Chip, that seems like a really sensible thing to do especially if they are feeling the pressure.
Hopefully you can use that to try to help them take things more as they come, and just to do their best, or actually just what they feel able to put into it all.

Some unis seem to encourage applications for accommodation for insurance offers, and even guarantee a place - why would anyone not bother spending an hour or so on it? Unless they're absolutely certain they'll get their firm choice grades, of course - which for DD needing A* in Further Maths and physics plus an A in maths, isn't the case. FM in particular can throw up the sort of question where inspiration dawns as to how to do it ...half an hour after the exam finishes. The time constraints of exams necessarily make for a certain amount of luck, they're not always a realistic test of how good you are at solving difficult problems IRL.

She's not particularly stressed by exams, fortunately- I was the same, less of those old gender stereotypes!.

Mean and misguided of a teacher to be snotty about unconditional offers - some unis (notably Birmingham, which has excellent departments for some subjects) are using this as a deliberate strategy, and only make the offers to candidates with good predictions. Back in the day, 3E offers (ie essentially unconditional to a good student) offers were commonplace.

Blimey Errol, A* in FM is brutal.

Re. accommodation I just wasn't sure if it was a new thing that insurance options had to be sorted.

Apologies for the stereotype! But certainly my boys have been far more chilled than my girls. Some could have done with being a bit less chilled in fact....

I was always very chilled about exams. Dd is not the same .

Her head teacher called her in specifically to congratulate her on her unconditional offer, so definitely no snide remarks there.

Agree ,an A* is brutal.Is It over 90% like the Maths?
Can you repeat last years modules ( like Dd is doing to ensure the highest marks even though she got an A)?
I'm another one who didn't realise you can apply for accommodation for your insurance offer .
Dd is pretty chilled and organised.
I was the exact opposite .

Hello TETA, out of my DD's 5 close vet friends 4 are in the various Stoke Bishop Halls, only one is in town. She is happy with the noise levels but we are such a loud family she is used to it! I think that it is possible to ask for a quiet flat and no alcahol but Not totally sure. My DD had to fill in a short form and describe herself as part of the app process. She said she likes to party, but not all the time, is keen on sport but needs to be able to work quietly at times, she was placed in a flat with quite similar souls.
As for catered vs self catering, she was never going to go with catered so no question on that. Her IBS would never tolerate canteen food every day for long.
As for the distance, i understand there are always complaints over the buses, frequency etc but at least the bus ticket is included in the hall fees and she likes to have access to green space and enjoys the walk to uni on occassion.

Teta - its still possible to repeat any of the maths modules taken at AS, but DD was happy with those. It's also possible to take extra modules - DD and a couple of other girls are self-teaching M3 because it's stuff they want to learn before university. Each A level needs 6 modules in total so the lowest of her options will be discarded. Then it looks like for Maths they have to get an A overall with 90% on the c3 and c4 papers; for fm its A overall with 90% on the best 3 A2 units of those allocated to FM. The optional modules (S, M and D) are divvied up to maximise the grades but prioritising the maths grade over FM if necessary.

http://furthermaths.org.uk/docs/Aggregation%20rules%20for%20HEIs%20~%20Version%203%20January%202013.pdf

well you did ask!

A star in FM is brutal.

Around 30% of those taking FM get A stars.

Of course there is a selection bias, as only those who are very strong in Maths take FM, but an A star in FM is actually "easier" than an A star in Physics. (Marking in the latter is less consistent; correct answers are sometimes not awarded full marks because they miss key words or phrases.)

Still feels more brutal than an A* in History, to a non mathematician!

User - yes....its a good thing she really likes her insurance choice too!
Goodbye - each to their own, essay subjects were so not her thing.

I don't think the As in other subjects are easy to get though either and one of mine needs at least one A for Durham and Bristol and probably A*s will hold them both in good stead for future jobs too.

Well no I don't think the other subjects are easy either but it's the specifying of FM which makes it even worse. At least Durham doesn't specify what the A has to be in any more (as a general rule) - it got its fingers massively badly burned the year the A was introduced by asking for specific subject A* and the upshot was chaos. That lasted a single year only :) Cambridge can be a bit more picky.

Thank you PeaceandlOve we are not quiet here either!!
Alcohol and and a bit of noise is fine,just not loud music all night.But I believe students are far more serious these days than we were fortunately.
I'm trying to fill in the finance form but need an accountant I think [own business] .Simultaneously doing ds2 Maths,ds1 French as well .

Thanks kdasani, that sounds very helpful 😊

Has everyone's dc pushed the button? Ds hasn't and won't until at least Saturday night apparently.

My dd hasn't pushed the button yet either tobee.

I think she is waiting for a flash of inspiration or some kind of sign that she is making the right choice.

My DD hasn't pressed her button either. I mentioned it again last night and got 'the look'.

My ds says he "just needs more time" although to be fair he's going to look at one choice this weekend because of applicant day clashes.

He got an email from UCAS today reminding him of the deadline and it said if he didn't reply by then all 5 choices would be automatically declined. Which I hadn't realised. I'm just really interested in what he picks!!! But... in lots of ways, I don't want him to go at all.

My two saw a teacher who attened both Durham and Bristol so is in a good position to tell them about each, yesterday. I am suggesting they firm on Saturday. One says he wants the bank holiday weekend free..... I would have thought getting it over with was best. So I suppose that leaves him with 2nd and 3 may. Deadline is 4th I think.

Do they both have Durham and also Bristol Janet? And if they do did they get their college allocation and was it ok? I'm sure you're right about things turning out ok - they do seem to.

Looks like a busy bank holiday weekend! Good luck to all x

They haven't told me about college allocation. I will ask them.

yes they both have Durham and Bristol but one has A*AA for both and one has AAA and AAB (Bristol) I think so the latter if he picks Durham would have Bristol as back up but the other twin as the offers are the same would put something like Exeter second I believe.

Please check your student finance offers when they come through. For some reason they got different figures from HMRC to the ones I sent them. I phoned HMRC and their system has the correct figure on one screen and the wrong figure on another! They are 'looking into it' . It means a difference of approx £400 to DD's maintenance loan.