Applying for Uni 2019 entry Part 3, UCAS & offers

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

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

DS pipes up today with the news that 25% of uni. students are getting mental health care and another 25% wish they were.

Is uni. that bad??? I now have something else to worry about.

Does he have a source for those statistics? They don't tally at all with the impression I get from my DD.

It sounds about right from what my DD says, justasking

I don’t doubt that 50% of students find it hard at times. Whether all of those actually have a mental health issue is questionable. I fear mental health problem is a term applied to a spectrum of issues raging from feeling down to full blown psychosis which might dilute that terminology

DS just got an email with a reduced offer from Birmingham, he’s really please as it’s currently his top choice.
Weird to get it on a Sunday evening though!

Itscold - Congratulations to him, how exciting!

My DS had all unconditional offers based on attained Higher grades, as is the norm here in Scotland, Edinburgh and St Andrews sent out letters sometime after the offers advising him not to slack off for the rest of sixth year as hard work at Advanced Higher was good preparation for first year, in fact Edinburgh told him they had to be informed if he dropped one of his subjects ( it does happen, I did it myself !).
If unconditional offers become more common everyone will adapt and different reasons for getting top marks at A- level will emerge, like competition for summer internships or scholarship funds, I don't think it will have a big effect in the end.

Itscoldoutthere, DS got his reduced offer (but not by much) from B'ham on NYD, so not entirely surprised your DS's arrived on a Sunday. Well done to him.

Has anyone heard from Bath?

We are still waiting to hear from Bath, rather frustrating, although I’d be surprised if they offer my DS.

Bath was the first offer ds had

My DS has predicted grades below Baths standard offer for his course, so it was a long-shot. Currently working on the fact they haven’t rejected him yet as being a good thing, as it’s probably all down to numbers that apply!

Dd also has predicted grades below the offer. It's the only one she hasn't heard from. No news is good news!

Anoyher question - dd is doing 2 a levels and a Btec - NTU have offered tariff points 'from 3 a levels or equivalent'. We are presuming this covers her btec but just slightly concerned that they don't mention it directly (all others have, eg offer is a D in btec and BB a levels for example)??

I’m pretty sure the ‘or equivalent’ cover the BTEC so I don’t think you have anything to worry about, but you could phone their admissions if you wanted to be 100% sure.

She emailed them and they sent a not hugely helpful reply just repeating what they said in the offer. This is after two incorrect offers, one for an overseas student! So she's a bit concerned

There’s usually an explanation in the required grades section for the course showing what the offer would be for BTEC or IB students.

That is annoying, but I think some just give overall points needed, if you use the UCAS points calculator you can then see how the different points add up.
It could be for example if she slipped in a BTEC module and got DDM (instead of DDD) she may still have enough points if she got a higher A level grade, so often they don’t specify the actual grades you need (although for my DS lots say you need a B in biology even if your points are higher than needed).
You can get points for other things as well like out of school drama/ music and my son has some points for his E grade AS! But they all add up and help.

She can't use any other UCAS points which is a shame as she has some for an AS level and she is doing an EPQ. She is doing the 2 year BTEC that is the equivalent of one a level. I'm sure it will be fine, it would be nice if her BTEC was mentioned! just so that she is completely sure (she wants to firm them I think depending on Bath).

The required grades section only mention the BTEC Diploma (the one that is the equivalent of 3 x A Levels).

Sorry press send too soon - she is now considering NOT firming them as she is worried that as they haven't mentioned her exams, and there is no explanation in the required grades section - she doesn't want to waste her firm (NTU KEEP mentioning 3 x A levels and she does not have and will not have 3 x A Levels!!)

Could you ask school to contact Admissions at NTU about BTEC? Some unis are more positive about school contact than parent contact!

Fazackerley it might be worth ringing them if emails haven’t been helpful, particularly if it is one she’d like to firm? Dd had a much more helpful response when she tracked down the admissions person for her course rather than just the generally admissions office.

Itscold very good news for your ds :)

Dd got her presentation thing done, she needs to take a piece of work down too & has been flapping around wondering what to choose. Anyway she got a really reassuring email from the course director this morning, saying he remembered her from the summer school, was pleased she’d applied & let her know who’d be doing the interview - it’s a professor of something that she’d writtten (a bit) about in her EPQ so she’s decided to take that down with her.

Quite a few have interviews & offer holder days at Southampton this week (loads applied this year - last year everyone applied to Cardiff!) And her friend from the school bus who is repeating year 13 after missing a grade for medicine just got an new offer too!

Don’t you have to wait to you hear from all your choices before you can firm? So you would have to wait to hear from Bath first?

She hasn't firmed them yet but she really liked the university so I think would firm over Bath! If she gets an offer which is on the low side of likely!

You can withdraw from ones you haven’t from if you want to firm another. A few years ago when my sister applied Bath took ages - she withdrew her application in February as she’d got her first choice by then (was applying with grades so unconditional offers).