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.

Which Uni was that? How interesting!

Reading. They were chatting for about half an hour and the girl offered to meet her at the uni applicants day.

As for Engineering, I don't know what general engineering is but can't think that it is very prestigious. *
Which is why cambridge offers it but not mech, civ, elec (chem is separate there now) .They do two years in common, then have options and say its a 'deferred specialism' so they can decide what they want to do after having some experience of each, and a broader base, but then end up with expertise (and full accreditation) in one branch. DD's offer is AAA, with the stars having to be in further maths and physics... apparently some people doing 4 A levels have offers of 3A* (which again must include physics and fm) plus another A. So...its for people who start off with that and then work very hard for 4 years.

I would guess not dissimilar at the likes of warwick and durham ... 'new unis', not so much.

Yes-Warwick Durham and Exeter are the same. It's a fantastic course if you don't yet know which type to specialise in and it's an MEng at the end.

I wasn't sure what General Engineering entails either (despite being an engineering academic) so had a look. Someone above describes it as a deferred specialism, which I think is a good description. In the end, to be accredited by the appropriate engineering institution the students have to do sufficient work in the discipline. So the final year or two usually have students picking a discipline to specialise in. Few general degrees include chemical engineering because there is less overlap between our disciplines and the others and it is difficult to meet the requirements of the IChemE in a general degree (but not imposible because some places obviously manage it).
Also waving to BizzyFizzy; we must have been at Edinburgh at the same time. Have probably just outed myself but my disguise is thin anyway!

I haven't been on Mumsnet for a while (probably 2 years ago when I was stressing over my DDs Uni applications! )
It's now my youngest lads turn and we are still waiting for a decision from both Edinburgh and Herriot Watt. He wants to study Maths and go straight into year 2. We are counted as EU so we know the chances of getting an offer from Edinburgh are slim (really really slim), but until that email comes through we are unfortunately obsessively checking his UCAS and trawling through thestudentroom forums seeing if others have heard anything. It's driving us both insane!
Luckily he has offers from Glasgow and Strathclyde and as his sister is at Glasgow we know he'll be really happy to go there.
Glad this is the final time I will have to endure this....

I've been reading this thread with interest. My DS has received his uni offers but has now decided he doesn't want to do the course (Electrical / Electronic Engineering). What on earth does he do now? He is now considering Maths & Economics at LSE. First of all, has he any chance of getting in there? I know from a PP that the personal statement has to be tailored to LSE but his is obviously tailored to engineering! Will he have to take a gap year and reapply?

I graduated in 86, Chemenger.

lostheloveofmylife we are Canada too. Dd is holding offers from UBCO (she didn't apply to Vancouver, just Okanagan), Victoria, Alberta and waiting on Dalhousie and Calgary. She wants a smaller university so has avoided anything in Montreal, Toronto etc. We have another teen living here for welfare reasons and she is holding UBC and Alberta, and is still waiting on a few too. Dd has had to self-report grades for two applications, and so we have been contemplating the benefits of giving slightly lower than current grades, to mitigate against any disasters in diplomas! I think most places have said within 5% of reported grades, so not much margin for error. UVic have said she is in the scholarship pool, so that's good to know.
It's very odd to be doing this in a different country! I have very little clue what is happening, but at least it will be easier for the rest of the kids....

Oh, should also have said, she was lucky enough to be selected for a summer program at the University of New Brunswick last year, so she has already spent a month living in halls and attending lectures etc. It gave her a really good intro to uni life (and also removed New Brunswick from her application list lol). She has a much better idea now of what sort of uni she is looking for. She's still going to be 17 for half of her first year, so I can't really get my head round that, but apparently it's not that unusual here...

Bisquitine- what a dilemma. I have no idea what the answer is, but hopefully someone more knowledgable will be along soon.

Bisquitine - oh heck. Still better now than start a course and then decide its the wrong one. Is he thinking of declining all his offers and trying LSE through UCAS extra? There's some advice university.which.co.uk/advice/ucas-application/ucas-extra-no-offers which says they should contact the uni to make sure they will be willing to consider the application before applying - so maybe a very carefully thought out email might allow him to explain his change of heart. Presumably he's done his mocks and has appropriate A level prediction including the A* for maths and the FM requirement?

He should contact LSE. I suspect he is too late for this year. Specifically LSE does not enter clearing so presumably would not be available for extra either.

But a gap year is not a bad thing. DD is having a ball.

Thanks Errol, I'll check the link. Yes, he's got good predicted grades and he does FM.

Good to know LSE doesn't do clearing Needmoresleep.

Just not sure what to do, and he's not being particularly** proactive.

As an aside (not really posted before) how do you all get the lines through text? It's a great way to say something!

You mean like this ? You just put -- (two dashes) either side of the block you want to strike through.

The actual ucas info on Extra is www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/apply-and-track/track-your-application/extra-choices

Somewhere under there I think theres a way to find out where has courses available in extra - there was some discussion a while ago. ..here... search.ucas.com/search/providers?Vac=1&AvailableIn=2017&Query=Maths%20and%20economics&IsFeatherProcessed=True&Page=1&flt6=2

I don't think LSE is listed there, but there do look to be some good unis still showing. That search was specifically maths and economics so he may want to look for other variations.

Thanks Errol! This whole uni thing is so stressful, -and why I am doing the legwork-. MN is great, everyone is so helpful. Wish I'd discovered it years ago!

aha, now I've got it!

MN and these threads have been a godsend from GCSE onwards!

Hi Bisquitine, a friend's daughter had a similar change of heart over degree courses. She has now applied to do a degree at a high ranked Dutch University. Many of their courses are in English and their fees are low and it's still application time for Dutch universities!

Sometimes you can switch course at the same university shortly after you start I think too or you used to be able to. I was telling one of my sons about that the other night (as I adored my law degree and had hoped one of the 5 children might read law as a first degree... this is my last chance... I don't think he's persuaded).

Bisquitine, if he is good at maths and going to get good grades, he should look at those Universities offering more mathematical economics courses, where there will be plenty of overlap between the two degrees. The most competitive are LSE, Cambridge, UCL and Warwick. All are very oversubscribed, as in they will have been turning down, depending on context, applicants with 4xA* predictions, and are very unlikely to be available now. Instead he should get his grades and spend the summer reading. Only Cambridge interview, so a strong PS is all-important.

Otherwise look a bit further down the Complete University Guide table (a tip is to rank by entry standards, as this indicates how strong other applicants are) at places like Bristol, Bath, Edinburgh, Nottingham and KCL and look to see who offers Maths and Economics or perhaps, in the case of Bristol, Econometrics. But you will still be looking at very oversubscribed courses. If he is A* material, he should want to be stretched. It is a very employable subject, but many employers will be looking for strong technical skills.

So decision time for dd - Edinburgh or Imperial to firm with Exeter or Manchester as insurance. She knows that for cv purposes Imperial looks better, but we can't really afford for her to go to London (we are in EU so no access to loans) Edinburgh was always her first choice so she is over the moon with an offer, and knows it will be a better (?) university experience. Any thoughts wise mumsnetters?

Surely if you are in the EU you would have the same access to loans as a British student.

Though obviously the fact that at Edinburgh EU students don't pay fees must be tempting.

Jessicapearson your DD would get fees paid from SAAS and access to loans for maintenance from SFE if she goes to Scottish Uni. She would get a loan for the fees and a maintenance loan from SFE if going to English Uni. (That's assuming she is originally from U.K.)

(That's assuming she is originally from U.K.)...errr no. The point of the EU is that home/EU students are treated equally.