New GCSEs - do DDs grades rule anywhere out?

[PancakeMum6]

DD did very well in her GCSEs (best in her school) but she’s at an underperforming comp so it’s hard to compare. As they don’t sit AS levels these will be the only grades the universities will see, so we’re trying to work out if her grades are ‘good enough’ for us to bother looking at Oxbridge/Durham/UCL/Bristol etc. as there’s lots of conflicting information. We want to work out where realistic universities are before starting on the open day process!

She’s doing A levels in English Lit, Arabic and French, and she wants to study either French and Arabic, French and English, or French and another language at beginner level.

At GCSE she got
A*s - Arabic, media.
9s - English Lit, maths, French.
9-8 in combined science.
8s - art, English lang.

She’s been reading all sorts about “percentages of As” and can’t tell how the new “8s” are considered. At her school they were described as high As/low As.

[HingleMcCringleberry]

PancakeMum6 - I think Xenia was alluding to the fact that your DD is considering so many different courses. If they all hold a reasonably equal attraction then filtering by competitiveness is not a bad way to go... and hopefully wouldn't represent a compromise on the course of her dreams!

[Xenia]

Of course but there is ak nown pattern of people from not very good state schools applying for some of the most competitive subjects where in a school used to putting people in for Oxbridge they would be giving them all kinds of advice about chances of success, which subjects are really hard to get in for etc etc. given how much luck even for those with stellar grades to get into Oxbridge that there is. She should certainly work backwards - if she has a rough idea of the kind of career she wants and earnings level she wants look at where people doing that now went to and what degrees they did.

It sounds like she is being very sensible in having a look at places. Durham is good. My father went there and I am from near there. It's a lovely city and a very good university. All of my children with a choice of Durham rejected it in the end after offers just because of distance from London I think as much as anything. My daughter chose Bristol instead having had offers from both (she didn't try Oxbridge). Durham is very good. I like it a lot.

[goodbyestranger]

Durham would be significantly better if they'd only take the great big nappy off the top of the cathedral. It's been ruining the skyline for too long.

[PancakeMum6]

DD1 has narrowed her decision down to Durham and Newcastle so if she goes to Durham I’m not sure if that will encourage or deter DD2. (Same with Newcastle). Both cities are pretty much the ideal distance from us! (Unlike Bristol, which is a nightmare to get to...)

[Xenia]

My twins are at the same university but chose separate halls and have different friends. It has not been a problem for them but I suspect most siblings would rather be at different ones.

[PancakeMum6]

I don’t know what my girls will choose - they currently share a room out of choice and are very similar. They’re both prone to worrying about/looking after one another too much though (frequently reminding them that I’m the mum!!) so I think some distance might do them good.

Also to reiterate - she’s got no clue what she wants to do in the future but it’s definitely not anything crazily competitive or high powered (nothing that ‘requires’ a top 5 degree) so even if she rules out high ranking universities after looking around (like DD1 did - top grades across her A levels and she still applied to and considered Northumbria and Man Met!) it’s not a problem.

[Xenia]

Interesting. My twins shared a room until university even though their sisters had left home by then and there was a spare room (although they don't share now when they are at home in the holidays).

I always think the main thing is to make informed choices so someone doesn't turn round in 2 years and said I had no idea XYZ. Eg a friend's daughter was the best in exams at her comprehensive school and wanted to be a lawyer. She went to a university with low entry requirements (to read law) because of friends going there. Not surprisingly she now finds it hard to pursue that career. When I last spoke to her father she was just working in some office doing admin - she might as well not have gone to university to do that. I am not sure she made an informed choice but I certainly didn't interfere. if she knew going there meant she didn't have a cat in hell's chance of getting a law job but went anyway that's absolutely fine - her choice, her life.

[PancakeMum6]

Has anyone got any experience of the Sutton Trust summer schools? We notice it’s a wider variety of universities and DD would be guaranteed a place according to conditions.