Applying for Uni 2019 entry Part 2, UCAS & offers

[Decorhate]

Here we go!

My ds is was at Brighton yesterday for teacher training but was his first interview he really enjoyed it but hasn't any others to compare by yet. Four other interviews pending had to do a lot of juggling as they all seem to interview on Wednesdays and offered same dates. He wants primary ed with maths specialism if possible. Applied for a Reading, UWE, NTU, Derby.

glitterbiscuits yes we do. DS isn't entirely dissimilar to yours in his choices. Four of the courses he's interested in require pretty similar high grades and his fall-back option (UEA) isn't really far behind.

When does info about offer days come through (when offers have been made)? I ask because DS didn't visit two of his choices and feel that offer holder days will be required (assuming he gets offers from both!).

Phew Piggy sure that must be a weight off your mind. Agree that the wording on the UCAS site suggested a hard copy letter rather than relevant 'tracking' info being in an email sent to applicants.

@charlieandhannah my DD probably heading to Kent!

Could I have some advice please - now dd has a very safe offer from Swansea (120 UCAS points), she is thinking of withdrawing her other safe option of Nottingham Trent and replacing with Nottingham University. Is this possible to do and do you think it's a good idea? She much prefers Nottingham to NT.

When does info about offer days come through (when offers have been made)? I ask because DS didn't visit two of his choices and feel that offer holder days will be required (assuming he gets offers from both!).
Some universities have the dates up on their websites in the 'Visit us' section, but not all days may be relevant to all courses (also, you can only book a place if you hold an offer) so yes, you do have to wait for the 'invitation' which comes after the offer.

Thanks MarchingFrogs

twosoups1972 the UCAS 'track' website says "If you made a mistake with this choice, you can still substitute it (for a limited period only)." so it would seem possible in theory...Possibly give UCAS a ring?

I posted this link a couple of pages back:

www.ucas.com/undergraduate/after-you-apply/making-changes-your-ucas-undergraduate-application

University or college

You can swap a choice for a different one within 14 days of the date on your welcome email. You can only swap each choice once.

Within 14days of the date on your welcome email you can swap the choice in Track.However, you can't swap a choice after 30 June.If you swap after therelevant deadlinefor your new course choice, it will be considered late. Contact your chosen uni or college first to check they'd consider your application.In the very rare case of your university/college discontinuing the course you've applied for, please contact us to discuss your options.

twosoups congratulations to your DD on her offer. It's such a relief to get one in. Mine's at boarding school as well, but already broken up. Not having much of a rest as she has been given work to do, as well as wriitng up revision notes which the school will check (I guess so they know they've already started revising - it's too soon!!).

piggy you must be so relieved.

GoldenRuby - that's brilliant your DS has all his offers in. Congrats.

newmodel - DD had her first offer about a month ago and hasn't heard anything from Edinburgh about an offer holder day (although they are on the website). Luckily she's done a talkandwalk at Edinburgh and we stayed there two nights. If Durham offer, that will have to take precedent for viewing as she hasn't seen which is going to involve some poor parent taking three days off work (she boards in another county) to get her there, although, she'll have to do the journey in a year's time on her own, so maybe start now.

Thank you so much @MarchingFrogs this thread is so helpful.

Son breaks up today, sent him a text, have you uploaded your portfolio which you need to send to two unis in the next few days. Deafening silence... is his response.

So stressed out.......

Hi there, just found this thread.

DD pushed the red button three days ago on her 5 choices, got 2 conditional offers on Day 1, an unconditional offer ( if chosen as firm or insurance) Day 2.

She is predicted AAC, but has ASD, Anxiety and Dyspraxia plus another SLD, which have really affected her performance in exams in the past, so she has gone for Unis where they

a) have asked for slightly lower grades just in case her final A level results are not as predicted,

b) have maximum coursework based courses.

c) had better student disability teams and mentoring and support

d) were easy to get to on public transport and were not the other end of the country from us if she needed us urgently.

She has only just been diagnosed , after years of struggling through mainstream school with no extra time or help ( despite our best efforts - long story, don't ask!)

We are all delighted with her offers, but after reading MN threads and other articles about unconditional offers, are we being naive to be delighted about the unconditional offer? Is it really just a cynical ploy to get "bums on seats"? or what?

She is now stressing that she ought to have chosen at least one uni who wanted AAB or AAA as a more "aspirational" choice.

(her college have been generally advising her to aim lower than her predictions (as far as we can see) despite them making the predictions based on her actual results so far.

Any advice? It was all very different when DH and I did our degrees!

I must add, please don't take offence at my question anyone whose child has also had an unconditional offer! We were all dancing around when it came through :)
But it was very uncommon in DH and mine day, and some of the stuff I have read about unconditional offers, nowadays, is less than positive, shall we say?

But maybe it is different if the applicant has SENs? I don't know, hence asking in here.

Hi worriedunimum well done to your dd!

What grades are her conditional offers? Does she have any set ideas where she wants to go?

worriedunimum this is our first time doing this too, and yes it is very overwhelming! No such thing as unconditional offers in my day. I'm sure someone more experienced will be along soon.

Hi both, thanks!
her conditional offers ( and the unconditional, if she doesn't confirm them as her choice) are ABC, so only one subject is a grade lower than predicted,

But she is panicking a bit I think as she only has a short time to alter her choices IYSWIM

And yes, she picked 5 places she really liked the look of both the course and the campus and the accommodation. We did a LOT of Open Days!

And, her grade predictions were made BEFORE she got the reasonable adjustments in place for exams etc at college ( bangs head) so she may well do a lot better than predicted in the lowest grade? Hence her worries now that maybe she could go for other Unis she had previously rejected as "out of her reach" IYSWIM

Does anyone know whether the number of unconditional offers is continuing to rise?

I don't think we can possibly know until 2019 admissions are over and done? How would anyone gather the data? I guess UCAS would have a running total internally, but cant see them publishing it until this time next year?

LoniceraJaponica I thought there had already been talk this year that unconditional offers should be discouraged.

I know! That is one of the reasons I posted?

worriedunimum Please don't be swayed by what you read here or on other online forums about aspirational choices etc. I firmly believe that the trend for heading off to the other end of the country is not good for everyone. If there are any issues which might cause additional anxiety when starting uni, it is very useful to be able to pop home whenever necessary. In many countries it is the norm for students to go to their local university & stay living at home.
Whilst I understand why schools are not keen on unconditional offers, they can be a blessing for some students & take the pressure off.
Piggy what a relief! Fingers crossed he doesn't have to wait too long for offers.

I'd frankly do a lap of honour round my garden naked if DS got an unconditional! Regardless of what people may think of the principle, it's great for your own DD. Don't overthink it!