Applying for Uni 2019 entry Part 4, UCAS & offers (and thinking about exams)

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Following on from the previous thread.

Re UEA- excellent applicant day (and lunch) with DD yesterday, including a tour of a perfectly clean and not at all smelly flat in Norfolk Terrace. DD now says that she would consider applying for the Ziggurats, should she decide to firm UEA after all.

DS2 and I managed a visit to the Sainsbury Centre and a meet up with a friend of mine who works at the university. And a post-lunch walk around the Broad, only afterwards discovering the reason for the area roped off with Police tape. We had already seen loads of 'Have you seen...?' posters in the city the day before). A sad day for the (now found) missing student's family and a no doubt rather stressful time for the university.

I knew a young man had gone mssing (there has been a sad spate of this) and didn't know, depsite living in the region that his body ahd been found. How dreadful .

The atmosphere at Hull was a little muted because of Libby Squire.

Re Birmingham. Lots of year 13s at my school have Birmingham as a first choice uni.

marchingfrogs oh how sad I saw the posters when we were there last week. Going to Reading on Saturday where I think the young man who was missing was also found in a lake/river, so sad.

Thank you for all the comments positive comments about Birmingham DS has applied for Biology/Biosciences. I don’t know anyone who’s DC has gone to Birmingham so don’t have a good feel for it, also as he’s at home retaking his A levels rather than being at school he’s a bit out of the loop, doesn’t know anyone who is applying this year. I’m finding all the talk here on MN very helpful.

minesawine thanks for your update re Essex, sounds like the same level of effort that went into the open day we went to. Glad I’m not the only one thinking the towers were grim (and we saw them before students moved in so supposedly in tip top condition!)

I know loads of kids who have gone to Birmingham from here. Both mine applied there - for dd the offer was too high for insurance (she was very set on somewhere else for her firm) & ds liked the uni but the course was not 100% what he wanted. I would say overall it has a better standing than UEA but that will vary by subject.

Itscold. I may have misread but if the offer from Birmingham has higher requirements than the first choice there is no point in making it an insurance?
I'd say Birmingham had a better over all reputation.

glitterbiscuits Birmingham has the higher grade offer ABB, his UEA offer is ABC, so he’s likely to put Birmingham 1st, UEA insurance.

Morning all, I fell off the last thread and have just had a marathon catch up on here. I feel way behind some of you - we’re still deliberating where never mind accommodation!

So dh took dc1 to Bath Spa for an interview then Cardiff for an offer day. Bath Spa gave an Uif offer and Cardiff reduced their offer. Dc has offer days at Newcastle and Manchester in March but is still waiting to hear anything from Edinburgh which was favourite on paper.

We didn’t do any open days last year as dc1 was adamant they weren’t going to uni so the offer days are the first chance they’ve had to visit places. Which is great except they all seem to be on Wednesdays, we live in West Cornwall, have 3 you get dc and dh and I both only get unpaid leave. Lessons have been learned for DC2

Welcome back PhannyMcNee - wow that's a tall order doing all those visits which are quite some distance away (and having to take unpaid leave). Tiring too.

I think DS has settled on his choices, he's visited first choice for applicant day and next step is to complete accommodation and finances.

Has anyone had any experience of applying for student finance when both parents are self employed?
It would be good to get the admin jobs out of the way before he starts revising

eatingless yes, York good except the weather and traffic jams (accident caused ringroad blockage). Course is good, buildings are mixed - some really nice grounds. Staff very approachable and keen to talk to prospective students. Library great. Some of the accommodation in the west campus didn’t have a ‘living’ area - just a kitchen. Slightly far from the smallish city. It’s a strong contender.

zanda , it really isn't far form the city. Nearly everyone at York has a bike and is easily cyclable. Heading into York on foot is also easy, with eateries en route (and pubs) . It is easier than , say, getting to Nottingham City centre from its campus or Norwich from UEA. And nealry everyone lives closer in to the city in the second year and cycles to campus.

I never felt like I was tucked away from civilisation at York.

DS finally heard back from his 5th choice and now has four unconditional offers and one interview for a place, so he'll need to make some decisions. He tells me he's booked one offer holder day (and the interview) but I'm not sure if and when he's planning to visit the others.

We're a bit behind on the search for accommodation, I feel!

Dithering - Your DS is in a brilliant position. Good luck with choosing now!

Yes well done Dithering it shows that sometimes it really is worth waiting and working for a while. Your DS now is in such a great position.
My eldest DS (21) has just gone back to do a HNC after working for a year and his attitude is completely changed, he’s finding the written work hard as he’s dyslexic but he’s so much more focused than he ever was at school/College. It’s lovely to see.

Oh, thank you both! It's been really nice to have some fellow travellers through this time, as most of our friends' children are finishing university and on to the next stage just as DS is starting out.

Well done to your DS, DitheringDan.

Agree about getting the finance side of things sorted sooner rather than later.

Harking way back to UoB accommodation, how is it allocated? -

How does the allocation process work?

Allocation of accommodation is completed in two waves.The first wave is completed at the end of Julyfor the majority of undergraduate students who hold unconditional places at the University.The second wave takes place in mid-August, once the majority of students have had their places confirmed following the publication of exam results. Please note that you may have to wait 14 working days after results day to receive your offer.

In both waves, all students who have applied for accommodation and have unconditional places accepted at the University are processed by the allocations software, which allocates studentsin a randomorderto their preferred accommodation. As we have a number of accommodation sites, inevitably some are more popular than others. For each student, the allocation software will seek to find an available room which matches the preferences that students select on their application form. Where options are limited, the software will try to find the best possible match to the preferences.

The order of allocations is done randomly by an allocations software system to ensure fairness to all applicants.

Please note thatthe benefits of an unconditional offer are purely academic, and unconditional offer holders will not receive any priority over any other offer holders in the allocation of accommodation. Please visit ourwebpagefor more information on the Unconditional Offer Scheme.

One of the things that put DS off of Birmingham was that none of the students he met on the offer holder day had ended up in accommodation they wanted. Several had been given expensive fully catered halls and others were in private halls 20-30 mins walk away from campus. They all seemed ok with their lot but it didn't endear DS to the uni.

Admittedly five years ago, but DS1 got his first preference accommodation at Birmingham (Jarratt Hall - Selly Oak Village. Not as trendy as the Vale, but about five minutes' walk in in the morning, vs 15-20, also practically next door to Aldi).

So East 15 audition was a bomb ( not unexpected). We are torn between Chichester and Chester. Going to Canterbury open day as that is very low offer. Just costing out accommodation options. How many weeks do I price out? Terms totals 32 weeks across the academic year at Chester but do I have to factor in holiday weeks too which takes it to 41?

Any experiences of those three unis most welcome. He won't accommodate Winchester since he got such a bad vibe from them at audition, even though they've given him a UIF (as has Canterbury, but we've not visited there).

Usually you have to pay from Freshers week until the end of term in summer, so typically mid-end September until the end of June. The exceptions are halls eg in central London that Students vacate for the holidays and the rooms are rented out eg for courses or students in the Christmas and Easter vacations.

well done to Dithering Dan's son, after the 11th hour dash to get his application in! I've gone through the process once and am starting with no2 for 2020 entry.

mushroom3 good luck. Hopefully it will be easier second time around.

Out of interest how many hours work are your DC doing over half-term? DS did very little yesterday (because we were out) and had done precisely one hour by 4pm today. I'm a bit WTF , with the exams only three months away (and a second course work history essay still to do) or should I cut him some slack? Note this is a boy predicted A*, A, B but who underperformed at GCSE.