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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Higher education

University offers for 2017 start (Part 2)

999 replies

EnormousTiger · 02/03/2017 11:21

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.

OP posts:

Report

Waitingforsherlock · 14/03/2017 20:47

I agree dreaming. I'm trying not to say anything about ds's choices. He's narrowed it down to two. Unconditional due to completing his A Levels last year, so grades already achieved. I too don't want to say too much as I thnk he has to go with his gut. Lovely to have a choice as this time a few weeks ago he was yet to have an offer and thought he might not be going anywhere.

TryingtostaycalmMum · 14/03/2017 21:33

ErrolTheDragon-I agree about league tables for the engineering subjects and the anomalies. My DD only wants to do General Engineering and not many Unis offer it. But in the league tables Imperial and Bristol are listed but they don't do the course.
Btw still no news from durham!

andolea · 14/03/2017 21:58

dreamingofsun - I totally agree with you. I am NOT going to say anything at all about where he should go - and am trying hard to make him trust in his own gut feeling. Which hasn't told him much yet....
Am really hoping that York rocks his boat this weekend.
Otherwise it will be much harder for him to make a decision- something he isn't good at in the first place.

andolea · 14/03/2017 22:03

RedHelenB - he didn't not like Sheffield.
But he didn't love it at first sight and I think he assumes that is must be like that. Or whatever he assumes...am trying hard not to sway him either way.
This decision needs to be his alone. Not a family one.
Too weird really - all these big boys and girls! Very nice though, I much prefer being a parent to a teenager.

Waitingforsherlock · 15/03/2017 06:50

Frustrating isn't it it Tryingtostaycalm? Is Durham first choice too?

TryingtostaycalmMum · 15/03/2017 07:03

Yes Waitingforsherlock-it is. DD is finding it hard with everyone talking about their trip up there for offer holder days. She's doing 5 A levels plus an EPQ and predicted 3 A stars and 3 As. I just don't know what these Unis want!!

EnormousTiger · 15/03/2017 07:17

Those are very high predictions and I assume in decent subjects, not advanced knitting or something so I have no idea what Durham wants! My sons need AAA and AAA respectively for Durham (geog and the other ancient history). May be your child is applying to a very popular or very hard to get into subject (or waiting for 2 to reject Durham which I think they will do). Good luck.

I am standing back from the Durham Bristol choice and I really don't mind if either twin picks either of them. I am not looking forward to different long drives (although Durham has shorter terms so if they go one to Durham and one to Bristol that will help when I drive them). I would prefer them at the same university. Also I told the one who will need an A that even if doesn't get one (he just did in the mock results out yesterday in one subject if that says anything) and goes to Nottingham that's fine too - one of his sisters went there, had the best 3 years of her life, adored the campus as someone said above, made loads of people who are still friends and is a really good lawyer in London. If however my children were choosing between a really poor university and a good one and it was clear the poor one would make it hard for them to get jobs later then I would certainly express my views.

At least we now have the mocks over and are into home stretch for A levels.... though one of mine yesterday said there was not much work to be done at all at the moment which I doubt is the attitude the teachers want but at least they are not worried I suppose.

OP posts:

TryingtostaycalmMum · 15/03/2017 07:34

Yes they are-double maths, physics, chemistry and ancient history! She's applying for General Engineering. I think it is one of the competitive ones but not the most.
Good luck with the Unis decisions!

Needmoresleep · 15/03/2017 10:34

Trying to stay calm, Durham really is another the regularly keeps people waiting, and engineering is another, like economics, where top courses are surprisingly competitive.

You should hear within a week, so hang on in there. What might help is reading the tail end of last year's Student Room Durham applicants thread, to get an idea of when the final decisions were made. If they have kept her waiting so long it means she is close.

I hope it goes well.

ErrolTheDragon · 15/03/2017 14:36

engineering is another, like economics, where top courses are surprisingly competitive.

What's surprising about it?

User006point5 · 15/03/2017 15:55

What's surprising about it?
Everyone's always talking about the shortage of engineers, so you'd perhaps think there would be less competition for the courses?

Needmoresleep · 15/03/2017 16:07

What can surprise good students, as PP suggests, is that 3A*2A predictions may not be good enough, and that you can still be waiting in mid March to hear whether you have a place.

Having been through it with DS for economics, it is really tough. The DC is left wondering what more is expected of them at a point where they need to be focusing on getting the grades.

Again I hope it goes well for the PP's DD.

ErrolTheDragon · 15/03/2017 16:13

Smart kids know there are good job prospects, so that will drive competition at the top end, I guess. And presumably its not easy to just expand the number of places on courses with a large practical element - both in terms of space and kit, but also they're much more expensive per head than 'book and blackboard' subjects.

aginghippy · 15/03/2017 16:14

User006point5 The top ranked ones are not the only engineering courses out there. My dd is applying for mechanical engineering, so I have looked into it quite a bit. There are a range of courses out there with very different entry requirements. They are not all competitive. I would expect competition for engineering at the University of Southampton, for example. Less so for Southampton Solent.

TryingtostaycalmMum · 15/03/2017 16:25

The problem is that Southampton don't do General Engineering as she is adamant that's what she wants. If Durham don't offer though, she will put Warwick as her first choice and Exeter as insurance I think.

User006point5 · 15/03/2017 16:34

aginghippy Yes, there's always less competition away from the top courses. But for those top courses, it seems the standards could hardly be higher. With 3A*2A predictions, the DD couldn't be blamed for thinking she should have an early offer. What a lot of pressure for young people, on top of the actual exams themselves.
TryingtostaycalmMum I hope she gets an offer soon.

ErrolTheDragon · 15/03/2017 16:45

I'm wondering whether gen. eng is particularly problematic because there are relatively few places offering it (quite a few at the lower end of league tables) therefore many of the applicants expecting very high grades will have a lot of overlap in their 5 choices. Assume that most try for oxbridge (where they're also competing against kids applying elsewhere for single disciplines); most will probably also apply for durham and warwick , and really just a few other places. It mystifies me how uni admissions get their numbers right. They can't over-offer, they won't want to end up with a lot of clearing places, so probably they do have to hang fire a bit with some until they start to get a fair few acceptances and rejections in. Maybe trying's DD is in durham's 'probably got an oxbridge offer and will make their grades' pile?

aginghippy · 15/03/2017 18:50

Oooh is there a 'probably got an oxbridge offer and will make their grades' pile? Maybe dd's Bristol application is in that one. Here I was thinking she was in the bog-standard 'maybe' pile

ErrolTheDragon · 15/03/2017 19:05

I'm afraid I have no inside info, just a capacity to overthink and speculate. As I said, it's a mystery to me how they manage offers in order to get nearly enough acceptances/insurance who miss firm^^ but without overshooting, given that they don't know where else the person has applied to.

BizzyFizzy · 15/03/2017 20:19

My DD is going on to study economics. Her predicted grades are AAA and she already has an A* in her EPQ.

Her offers are:

Edinburgh (firm) - ABB
Southampton (insurance) - ABB
Newcastle - AAB
Sussex - unconditional
Oxford - no interview

As for Engineering, I don't know what general engineering is but can't think that it is very prestigious. I did Chemical Engineering at Edinburgh 35 years ago and it had a common first year with other Engineering disciplines (and still does). This meant I did the same course as Mechanicals, Electricals and Civils. Is this what people think General Engineering is?

TryingtostaycalmMum · 15/03/2017 20:47

It's very hard to guess! Durham will definitely be trying to guess who has Oxbridge offers etc. They will know that my DD did it as her application went in so early. My patience is running out....but I keep trying!! My DD is OK on the surface

Waitingforsherlock · 15/03/2017 20:59

Interesting to see your dd's offers BizzyFizzy. Ds applied for economics with grades A*AA and was rejected by St Andrew's and Durham but has offers from Edinburgh,(economics and maths), and Bath. He hasn't decided on which one to go for yet.

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Waitingforsherlock · 15/03/2017 21:01

Agree with Needmoresleep. These courses are surprisingly competitive, with students being rejected even if they meet or surpass the criteria published by the institution.

Needmoresleep · 15/03/2017 22:33

Trying to stay calm, universities have to give EQUAL consideration to all home/EU applicants. So Oxbridge does not come into it. Instead those that are oversubscribed with qualified applicants will often sit on applications until they have a better idea of how many places they still have available.

My impression is that with engineering and more quantitative economics courses, and depending what you want to do afterwards, it can matter where you go. DS was helping a friend apply for a Masters at LSE and was quite shocked how little maths/stats his friend had done despite being set for a good first at a well regarded former poly. Almost certainly not enough for the more highly ranked Masters courses. It is really worth looking at course content.

HSMMaCM · 15/03/2017 22:47

DD hasn't confirmed her firm and insurance yet. She had a phone call from a student on one of her course choices, offering to chat to her about the course. I'm finding all this sales and marketing fascinating.

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