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.

Signing in. This is scary isn't it?

First Open Days mid September here. And no sign of a Personal Statement.

Nice wardrobe for Leeds Festival though.

Priorities Ursula, priorities. The festival comes before the PS deadline and so is more urgent. It's amazing how many things become urgent around here because we don't deal with them while they are merely important.

I am old and jaundiced and suggest that this happens because gaming is always more important than anything else but I am told that I am wrong on this. My evidence based research is dismissed out of hand. I think our relationship will improved once he's moved out and I can't see how he is spending his time.

Hi. This is my second go at this as ds has just finished his first year. However dd is looking at completely different subjects and universities and is also a very different person so it feels new.

She wants to do maths and linguistics which is an unusual combination so she only really has 3 options: York which has a joint hons course; Edinburgh where she can do both for the first 2 years and then has to choose and Lancaster where she could do Natural Sciences but it would be a very maths heavy course. They are all AAA-AAB too.

She also has mobility difficulties and uses a wheelchair for all but really short distances and has ASD so there are other things to take into account.

Just popping in to share this - some of the universities we looked round said they didn't read the personal statements and it was all about the grades. We later found out that this was a load of rubbish, things that happened later proved that they had read the personal statement and had taken it into account when deciding what the offer was.
Good luck to you all.

Hello again - just checked back in and see that lots of people have joined the thread
DS did well and got an A in his Maths AS, but his FP1 and C3 weren't as good as he needs, so he may have to resit those next year

I'm a bit AS he didn't really seem to appreciate how all the Maths modules fit together and can contribute to his final A2 grade. He said he 'could have worked a bit harder if he'd known'

I think all the reformed/unreformed talk has confused things a bit.

Ds wants to do music production at Academy of contemporary Music in London.
Do they need to have their personal statements finished by now ?

YouRat - does your DS need to apply for that course through UCAS?

Our school wants to see personal statements first week back in a September & they are then 'finessed' over a few weeks, with all UCAS applications going off by mid Oct. Some schools are later though.

YouRat If he is applying through UCAS (which he will be if I looked at the right course on the Academy website) then the final date for submission of the form is in January. His school/college will have its own internal timetable that leads up to that. Some music performance courses use a different system (UCAS conservatoires) and for that they need to apply by the end of September.

Where DS studies they've made a start on the UCAS form, got the educational part done and I think the big push on the personal statement is when they get back. It would be helpful to have done it over the summer but they've not been told to do so.

Wow. Thank you. Ds is usually on top of things but not sure how this was missed.

It doesn't sound as if anything WAS missed, it's only going to be a speedy production if it's a conservatoire application. If it's through UCAS then he has loads of time.

It will be interesting to see if universities adjust their offers for 2018 given the number of courses in clearing this year.

DS3 is off to uni next month and we've just been looking at some of the other places he considered. One university advertised its typical offer as A star A A so ds persuaded his maths teacher to predict him the star. This secured him an offer. When he went to the offer holders' day they said they would lower the offer to AAB for anyone who put them first. They're now in clearing at BBB.

Presumably next year European applications will still be down and there may be fewer people generally applying to go to university. I wonder if places will still state high typical offers because it makes them look more elite, or if they'll reduce them because of this year.

It may depend on the subject and place. My sons have a friend who got AABB and has been rejected by his first choice university as the A* was not inthe degree subject which feels really mean to us particularly as other teenagers seem to be getting in but probably they are in different subjects. I suppose it just depends no the university. An awful lot of boys at my sons' school (most they said) have not got their first choice - I have no idea how the school is giong to spin that in any PR! Thankfully my sons managed it. Their school perhaps over predicted the grades which is silly and also it is a particularly bad year in terms of the abilities of that year I suppose and that just comes and goes from year to year (yet the papers are all full of loads of places available in clearing etc).

Lucy - but is it silly to overpredict grades when universities are making offers so much higher than they will take? In the example I gave, ds wouldn't have been given an offer from the university in question had his school not predicted him A star A A. But he didn't need anywhere near that.

Very happy to find this thread and join up, hi everyone! DD wants to study biochemistry, hoping for Cambridge, Imperial, Lancaster, York or Manchester I think, although it changes quite frequently! AS maths went well. No sign of personal statement as yet. It all seems really daunting - I'm definitely not looking forward to the start of term and everything kicking off again

YippeeTeenager if your DD is looking for a possible insurance place can I suggest Nottingham Trent? DD1 is just about to go back for her final year in biochemistry after a placement year. The labs and other facilities are amazing.

DS did Mathematics A level in year 12 (will do Further Mathematics in Year 13). He got an A but is considering retaking two modules to achieve A*. As he will be applying to uni before retakes wouldn't the universities base their offer on an existing A anyway? He will have a full timetable and also is doing EPQ so I think he should just move on. Any thoughts?

magbob - it might depend on what he wants to do at Uni? If it's a Maths/Engineering/Computing type course where the top unis ask for an A* in Maths then it might be worth his while trying to improve his grade. Presumably, his school could predict that he was going to improve his grade for the purposes of his UCAS form?

Thank you. He does want to do Maths. It has been many decades since I have seen an UCCA form (as it was when I applied!) and I wasn't sure if an intention to resit to improve a grade could be mentioned. I suppose the uni could request an A* in Further Maths. Luckily his college is brilliant at helping with applications and his personal tutor will guide him. I was curious. Two Open Days booked for September and an informal trip planned for later this week. Does anyone else wish they could go to Uni all over again because I certainly do!

Oh yes - I felt so down after visiting universities with DS as I just wanted to go and do it all over again. We went to my old uni and DS (bless him!) was so good at putting up with me going on about what a wonderful place it was, how happy I'd been, what wonderful, lifelong friends I'd made , etc etc.

I started a thread over on the Secondary Ed board about Maths grades which might interest you:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3010207-Can-someone-please-explain-AS-Maths-Further-Maths-awards-grading

Thank you. I will take a look. Yes, I plan to take DS to university of Warwick, where I studied and I thoroughly recommend. He would be v lucky to get a place there for Maths though. Mind you, in 4 years I never went to Gibbert Hill where the Maths campus was so I haven't a clue what that is like!

Can't resist commenting magbob - maths no longer at Gibbet Hill! Was rather lovely and cosy but moved into big new building halfway through my second year, about coughcoughcough years ago.

Great course though

You needn't cough - I'm obviously much older than you!

Thank you very much GnomeDePlume, I'll pass that suggestion on to DD. Thank you!

DS has been dithering between maths and physics. I think he's now decided physics, I've been suggesting combining maths and physics or theoretical physics (which seems more mathsy), but apparently no. He's only looked at two universities and not booked any more open days, so I guess it will all be on offer holder days. One was Warwick and he really like the maths there, not so sure about physics. Thinking about Cambridge, UCL/Imperial, Durham, possibly Warwick and not sure where else yet. I'm not sure he's though much about type of university that would suit him.

(stone, not sure. My older children's schools never overpredicted and thus the universities trusted those schools. My sons' friends have not got places. One got AABB and needed A* in their university subject and have been rejected for example. So loads of children at their school have not got their first choice place or if it's the same place it may be a different course. )

HeyBells those all sound like good choices to me. If his career is important it never hurts to have Oxbridge although any of those universities is good.