Applying for Uni 2019 entry Part 2, UCAS & offers

[Decorhate]

Here we go!

Pancake, I know and this is just the start of supporting them through uni. DD's at a private school, but managed to secure a massive scholarship and bursary for the education she wanted, she nor us are going to get that going to uni.

Personally, for me I had to get her to St Andrews and Edinburgh as they're 6-8 hours away by train. DH and I only have one afternoon together with working, so can't just pop up there on an overnighter. When DD moved to the different school for the music and educational experience she desperately wanted, she really struggled initially with a different lifestyle, so as near as I can I want her to know as much as possible about where she's going onto.

I suspect that with Christmas looming there may be a bit of a pause on offers...

Last year one of DD’s friends got a 23rd December rejection... and another got a 27th December offer so I think some unis seem to keep going over Christmas (except from the holiday days)...

Thanks for that info PancakeMum6.

Fingers crossed for everyone - sorry, I need to read through the whole thread to catch up with where all the DC are at.... Lots of DS's friends have lots of offers/interviews at Oxbridge...

Well done to Framey's and Lonicera's dc on their offers.

I know Sheffield (the city) and Hallam uni quite well. It's a great city. Don't really know Sheffield uni that well although I did study there for six months. If you visit on offers day you must go to the Arts Tower and see the paternoster lift!

DS sent off his UCAS application on Saturday. Leeds want to see him next month with portfolio. Anglia Ruskin, sent a conditional offer then tonight contacted again and asked for his portfolio online. I had never even heard of Anglia Ruskin, his teacher suggested it as a choice.

Still waiting to hear from the other three.

Hmmm, just been revisiting some stats for the course dd has an unconditional offer for and the drop out rate is 18%. Which is way above national avaerage and a concern. Also doesn't seem to tie in with the positive feedback from the students surveyed on the course.

Thank you for the "well dones" for DD. For those of you who may not have read previous posts of mine. DD applied unsuccessfully for medicine last year, and is now applying for something else. She already has her A levels so the offers will be unconditional anyway. She really liked Newcastle when we visited to look at the medical school, so it was definitely one she wanted this time around as well.

Where did you find the drop out rates Nico?

lonicera found out the drop out rates on the which website.

university.which.co.uk/courses?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInY_9wMKF3wIV7ZXtCh0-EwHBEAAYASAAEgIESPD_BwE

madmum5811 what is your DS hoping to study? If it's art related ARU started life at the John Ruskin School of Artm I believe, so has a strong heritage in the field.

Wow that's great that your DS got an offer and conditional offer in a matter of as many days. Was your DS's school very quick off the mark doing the reference and sending it off?

Well done to your DD LoniceraJapoinica.

I can't find anything about drop out rates on the Which website NicoAndTheNiners , and I do subscribe to Which.

As Pancake mentioned offers will slow down over Christmas or even be at a standstill

DD has just submitted an essay for Birmingham, who say they offer/reject within 28 days which takes her up to 29 December, they're only open 29 and 30 December over Christmas so either need to make an early decision or offer/reject on 29 Dec. It they issue an offer/rejection on 29 Dec, then I bet UCAS will be closed!

New model. School was useless, I just kept on at them to get it done, teachers lost references, UCAS specialist was off for two months on sick leave. Now the sh1t has hit the fan, all parents e-mailed saying if children do not make their choices by the end of term they may miss the deadline. Bangs head... I do think parents have a responsibility to be more aware of where their children are at choice wise. I think because they are paying they think the school fairy does it all.

DDs UCAS has just been submitted but I didn't get a chance to read her reference. Now I'm worried that the reference may not be good enough to secure an offer as her referee is a bit scatty.
How much weight is placed on the reference against predicted grades? I'm worrying too much, aren't I ?

Well done on everyone's offers

Arrghh, as dd is away at boarding school and is refusing pretty much to discuss it with us, I don't know if she is ready to apply. The last we heard a few weeks ago was she had decided on her five and was making a few changes to her PS. She only has a week and a half left of this term and I know she wants to get it in before then.

I've sent an email to the Head of Sixth Form but no response yet.

I keep reading about all these offers, especially unconditional ones, and worry that they will run out of places. Can someone please reassure me that dd won't be at a disadvantage applying late?

Well DS has just informed me that the same tutor who took forever to review his PS will be the one writing his reference...Sighs. So do you think I should email her saying that we'd like it done ASAP. I'm more than a bit annoyed because they clearly weren't this laid back for the Oxbridge/Medicine applicants (all 50+ of them). DS's application has already been held up through no fault of his own. GRRRRR.

I know this has been answered somewhere on the previous thread but don't have time to read through it all at the moment. How do you get hold of the reference once the UCAS application has finally been submitted. Who do you email for a copy?

If loking for dropout rates, look for the chart which shows 'completion rate'. I have definitely found this on a site and I think it's Which. Could be Unistats. Not unifrog.

Can someone please reassure me that dd won't be at a disadvantage applying late?

@twosoups1972, can't reassure you wrt actual late applications, i.e. made after the 6pm January 15th deadline, because it's up to the university then, as to whether / when it considers those. But yes, your DC doesn't have to worry when exactly before the deadline their application is submitted.

It isn't supposed to make a difference to getting offers when in the cycle you apply Gaelforce

@MarchingFrogs thank you, yes that's what I meant, she will definitely get it in before 15th Jan deadline, hopefully before Xmas.

Another offer arrived today. DD has already decided to accept the first one, but thinks she has to wait to hear from her other choice (she only applied to 3) before she can accept. Can anyone confirm whether this is the case?

@LoniceraJaponica, yes - she needs either to wait, or if she is very sure about her choice, to withdraw from any she is still waiting for.

Thank you RedHelen,

DD has just shown me a copy of it. It's really underwhelming and more the standard of a 'nice' school report.
It's our first experience of UCAS -we're in Ireland- I'll hope for the best.

Thank you Marchingfrogs

lonicera. The drop out rate info is definitely there, on the individual course pages such as this one. You have to scroll fairly close to the bottom and look at the purple icons.

university.which.co.uk/coventry-university-c85/courses/architecture-bsc-hons-2019-8e6e222d7ca9