Applying for Uni 2019 entry Part 3, UCAS & offers

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Wow that last thread filled up quickly. Well done to your DS, Piggy!

Hi all. Still nervously waiting to hear back from uni's but wanted to ask - did I read that some universities make conditional offers and then change/reduce the grades that they want from the student. Is this done after you have accepted or if they have not heard from you and want to encourage you to accept with them. What about rejections, can the uni reject your application and then change its mind. Thanks

At DD's school they do mocks before Christmas when they haven't completed the syllabus, so they do mocks just after Easter as well. Just as well because she got AAA in December and ABC at Easter. They became AAA by results day though

Laniakea - Thanks. I’m sure they emailed DS as well and he’s deleted it, offer since November!

@Aurea woooooow! That's amazing for your son- what a star!! Oxford is just a dream for me!

Thank you, I was dying internally waiting 😂

Great news Aurea. A wonderful position for your son to be in. A very competitive course at great universities. A win win situation I think. We are waiting on tenterhooks for tomorrow’s Cambridge decision. But DD has offers from 4 others, 2 that she has been to and liked very much and they are closer to home too.
The deadline for applying is on Tuesday and one of DD’s best friends has not got her application in yet as she been discouraged by her family. School have tried to help, but I don’t think she’ll get it done in time. She is now realising that going away from home may be the best thing for her. It seems our children are lucky to have supportive and interested parents.

@waterplease

Congrats on your offer

DS put his application in just before the Christmas break and Kent sent an offer last week. His other two offers were the week immediately after submitting. Hth

@nokidshere NB Kent accommodation opens on Weds for offer holders (no need to firm first). Worth getting in there just in case! Have been looking with my DD this morning to finalise her preferences

@VanCleefArpels thanks for that but after his trip to Northampton this weekend he has decided that that's the place for him

Atia & Wifit - fingers crossed for your sons tomorrow

Well # 3 has come in Bristol.
But now hehas a dilemma (so i said i would ask my " friends" !!)
Southampton and Bristol have asked for the same ABB and Plymouth havefor just a B presumably in any of his subjects.

He only wants to put down /confirm Southampton as he really only wants to go there. From the way it is worded UCAS seem to say if he does not get his firm ..he has to take his insurance Plymouth .

Does not make sense now writing it down. But just wondering if it is ok to just conirm the one.

I thinkhe said if he does not get the grades for Southampton..then he wont have themfot Bristol and he would rather re take the year.
His predicted are AAA but we both feal AAB is a safe bet.
He thinks the lower ABB is because all 3 of his suject are listed where they only want 2 of them .

Sorry if this is confusing..think i am "
"Universityied out " !!

Bizzy has he been to an offer holder day at Southampton yet? We went to one before Christmas & the admissions tutor in the department was very helpful regarding what grades you actually need to get on results day to secure your place as opposed to the offer. It would be worth trying to find that info for your ds’ course especially if he doesn’t want to put down an insurance.

From the way it is worded UCAS seem to say if he does not get his firm ..he has to take his insurance Plymouth .

He does not need to have an insurance choice at all, if he really wants Southampton or nothing. But yes, if he names a university as insurance and gets the grades required for there, but not for his firm, then his contract with the insurance university comes into play and the expectation is that he will go there. He can, of course, ask to be released from his contract with that university, but if he is absolutely sure that he doesn't want to go to anywhere but Southampton, he should just firm So'ton and leave it at that.

Thank you for the replies...i think it is all making sense now !

My DS didn’t have an insurance - only wanted to go to the one place so decided no point in nominating anywhere else as backup. Led to a stressful results day 😉😂. My DD applying this year likely to do the same, but less jeopardy as she will have either u/c or reduced grades if firmed depending on which she chooses after upcoming offer days

@VanCleefArpels did he get in to his one choice ?
Ds is a procrationer all the time to the best.....BUT when he has made his mind up ..that is IT !! Just hope we are not doing this wrong

The "low " grade offers concern me .

Bizzy If there is no way he would consider another offer like the B for Plymouth, but he would consider Bristol it is worth putting Bristol as the insurance just in case, on results day, Bristol have space and are willing to drop their offer slightly, but Southampton are not. So, although it is not what most people would do, it is ok to put a firm and insurance with the same grades. Hope that helps.

Yes agree that he could put Bristol down as insurance (as long as he would be ok with going there) even if the offer is the same. Ds may do similar.

@bizzey yes he did and will be graduating this summer!

As for having equal grades as insurance, that would have been the case for DS as every one of his offers was identical. Had he gone for an insurance we would have done some research on how likely it would be for any of the others to accept a missed grade or two.

This is exactly what we are doing so interesting to see it being discussed here. All DS’s offers are the same. So his firm and insurance are identical based on which one we think is more likely to drop slightly on offer day as his insurance.

Does any here have access to last yr clearing data?

Can anyone remind me about the website that shows what grades universities actually accepted for a course? I know it’s retrospective but 2 of the same offers here too!

Shimywe think alike!

Can I ask a question?
This is our first time applying to uni. Dd has left it til the last minute. Attends sixth form in Wales. Do we apply through school? What does this mean? Do we fill in the application ourselves or do school fill this in? Do we pay UCAS directly or the school? She can't seem to find out much information through her school but thinks we apply ourselves. However from what we've read online it seems if you attend school the application goes through them??
We're confused and dd is very anxious. Obviously I don't want us to mess this up. I just can't seem to find out exactly what we should be doing...

Betty you need to go to the school today and get them to write a reference and show you how to set your daughter up on the university ‘TRACK’ system. You fill out most of it and the school add the reference. You pay on TRACK. School should be guiding your daughter through TRACK. Deadline, I think is tomorrow so the majority needs doing today if possible. Not sure what happens if you miss the deadline??

Betty - make sure she speaks to the school ASAP today. It doesn't sound like she's getting much support from them. Do they know she wants to apply to uni? She needs to know if they will support her in the application and have a reference prepared. If not, I think she can apply herself, but she'll need a reference.