University offers for 2018? (Part 1)

[OnlyTeaForMe]

OK, I know I'm a bit early, but let the hand-holding begin...

Come and join us if you (and your DC) are about to start the UCAS process in September - applying for a place in 2018.

I've got DS1, who wants to do Computer Science in 2018. Looking at various Russell Group unis and maybe Oxbridge.

I am glad Raspberry, it all looked a bit uncertain there for a while.

Lovely to hear about all the offers.
Hopefully the Unis will start back soon and start sending offers again.

DS received 4 in 5 days so we are just waiting for 1.

I hope everyone's children have received some they would be happy to take up.

1 poor chap in DS class sent his in early October and has 2 rejections and no offers from the other 3. I guess that is unusual?

Dd received a Veterinary Medicine offer from Surrey this evening. She’s thrilled . She spent 7 hours doing the Liverpool Questionaire yesterday. It took so long as she had a bad headache and had to break frequently. Also you have to complete it in one go, hence there’s no opportunity to do it another time.

Wonderful news Teta! Congratulations!

Great news teta. It has been a long journey. Is it unconditional or does she still have a resit?

DD has an offer from Durham! It's her second choice so she's very happy. Just 2 left to hear from now

Brilliant news Lobster. Hopefully it'll make the wait for the last 2 a bit easier.

As its the same course, I shan't tell DD they've started offering!

And congratulations to your DD too Teta

DD had an email before Christmas saying not to expect to hear anything until after the UCAS deadline, so mid January. It was a total surprise to hear today!

I'm really thrilled for your DD. And to be fair, she had her application in months before my DD, though hopefully it won't be another ten weeks before DD hears!

Fantastic news Lobster, Raspberry and Teta :)

Everything crossed that an offer follows for your DD very soon!

Dd got her last interview, so 5 interviews in the next 3 weeks, she will be well travelled

Wishing her good luck. That's a lot of interviews within a short space of time. (And a lot of classes missed too...)

Fantastic news from you guys. Teta, ds1 has an interview at Surrey next week. Fingers are crossed.

Wow Bruffin that is a lot of interviews in a short time!
Is it medicine she's applied for?

Thanks
She is applying for Occupational therapy.
Dont think she is missing too much some are on her day off or placement day.

.

Brilliant news for your Dd Lobster. Hopefully yours will hear soon Raspberry.
Good luck for your Ds’ forthcoming interview Littledrummergirl. Surrey is so friendly and the vet school staff were really lovely to the ones being interviewed on the day. They also kept on talking to the parents and reassuring us that they were all fine. I loved it this time and so did Dd.

Needmoresleep how are you doing?
Is your Dd enjoying Bristol?
Yes, the offer is still 2A &1B,But Chemistry is meant to be an A .Hence she has to repeat. She has a Chemistry tutor from a school where they are very good at getting brilliant results. And they are focusing on organic chemistry which is her downfall.

Teta, she can do it! And perhaps a good example to others, that if you don't get what you want first time around, there is always the option of taking a gap year. One of DDs friends got medicine on reapplication and two got Oxbridge. And local girl missed her medicine grades but received another offer from the same place and nailed the A on the resit.

DD is glad she took a gap year. She loves her course but the first term was tough for many. My theory is that at school they have established their own friendship groups, and so the behaviour of others does not impact much. At University they are thrown together slightly randomly, and a couple of hard core party types can really impact on the ability of others to get on with their lives. Especially for those with heavy timetables and 9.00am starts. DD has now made friends through societies and her course, and next year will be a lot easier as she will be sharing with people she wants to share with. Freshers week, the dominance of clubbing as social life, and the lack of sleep had her a bit thrown, but most have now settled down and general tolerance for the outliers is falling. Having that extra year of experience and maturity really helped.

That is a bit of a rant, but I know DD was not alone in finding freshers week overwhelming. Specifically she has found the level of drug use, and some of the behaviours associated with that drug use, an eye-opener. If nothing else it is one good reason for parents to keep financial top ups realistic. Other posters may claim that students need extra money for "cappuccinos", but observation is that it may well be used to fund something stronger. But it is calming down, and the rest, including the course, is great.

Good luck with that organic chemistry!

Drug use at all unis is shocking, really very worrying to me as a parent.

Needmoresleep I’m glad your daughter has settled in and found her ‘crowd’.It does sound like a period of adjustment is needed at University initially. Yes, drug use is a worry and dds cousins have told us how common it is.
Dd is enjoying her gap year and has learnt a lot, as she is a little too straight-forward in life. She has helped friends out and it has come back to haunt her. But I guess this is all good practice for the future. She still always thinks the best of people though .

Weirdly DS at LSE and DD's sober(ish) friends at Imperial have not reported drug taking as an issue. Undoubtedly it happens but not in a way that makes it difficult for others to get on with their lives. But then MN wisdom has it that London Universities are no fun socially .

As long as the course is right, most will eventually find like-minded friends, and in the second year in most places they can choose who they live with. However if it is likely to be an issue, it is worth considering how a University allocates and supervises its accommodation.

Drugs are endemic but perfectly avoidable. They're also nothing new and plenty of my own generation have survived the experience and are now functioning, non addled adults. I don't find it especially worrying, provided DC have their heads relatively well screwed on. I also don't think as a parent there's anything much one can do: if they want to experiment, they will. Experimentation to addiction is a leap.

Stranger, they are not avoidable as in an individual student does not need to take them (though watch for the peer pressure - one girl in DD's flat repeated told DD she was boring because she would not join in - DD was not amused). However that student is still likely to be affected by the behaviour of those who do. And they may be affected in different ways. DD knows directly those that have had spiked drinks, had to deal with a flat mate following an overdose and someone who was threatened with physical violence (on the latter a quick thinking flatmate both called security and videoed the event - and the University took prompt action.) Add in the inconvenience caused by people deciding to have 'pre pres' in the flat without warning or who come back at 4.00am, leave a huge mess (including vomit), eat any food they can find and wake everyone.

The proportion of students who behave like this will vary from University to University, and as I said DS had no problems at all in his London Intercollegiate Hall. But these are quite big issues for DC away from home for the first time, and a reason why, for a significant number, early student days are quite challenging.

My understanding is that Oxford, which is where five of your DC went, firstly does not put first years into large unsupervised flats, and has a relatively high proportion of academically motivated students.

Though obviously I may be completely wrong and deserve to be shot down, but my advice to parents of quieter students is to look carefully at both University and accommodation. Yes drugs were around in the pre-historic days when I went to University, but it seems very different now, where clubbing seems to dominate social life.

Totally agree Needs. I was part of the race culture but still shocked by the way drugs are so mainstream and cheap now.

Cheaper than getting pissed a lot of the time.