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

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Following on from the previous thread.

DD shows no sign of being a spreadsheet type of gal unless she has a personality transplant over the next few years.... Sighs.

LoniceraJaponica the geography coursework has been a labour for sure. At DS's school the teachers decided to change exam boards for Politics at the end of Year 12 because they weren't happy with the other one - hmmm? Know that the latter is the subject DS is most worried about.

Thanks for the tip off about being able to do the finance side now. The sooner all these admin things are done and dusted the better.

DS2 here is shaping up to being perhaps not everythingonaspreadsheet.com but more 'right.com,' so that's good enough for me. DS1 has exhausted me to the point, any sign of engagement is thrilling.

My friends DD has decided to redo her year 13. She has worked very hard but struggled with one subject to the detriment of the others. Perhaps this is a sensible thing to do in some cases.

My dd did the same justasking

It's been a really hard slog but rewarded by getting 4 offers and waiting to hear from a 5th.

My DS doesn't need to do anything that drastic (hopefully!)

His pressure calls have been flooding in recently : fortunately for him, I keep picking up : we have had Lincoln and NTU. I told him he should have told NTU that horror stories about accommodation have put him off but if they gave him an unconditional, he'd reconsider ;)

Dd has firmed her unconditional offer for Lincoln. She's going to an offer holder day next month.

Need to apply for student finance now.

Nico - Congratulations to you both. Must be such a relief.

nico accommodation booking starts midday Friday if you don't know. Apparently, Cygnet Wharf goes within minutes...

My friend flunked out of school went into army. Came out went on to do a degree, masters, phd. Education can be a long and winding road.

Well that's good piggy. I was just mentioning it. We had our fair share of disapproving looks this time last year!

I can't see my DS doing more school : he is so anti . If anything, he'll be lured by the unconditional. God knows with him, tbh. Those who redo year 13 have at least got some desire!

Piggy You sound like you are feeling as despondent/deflated as I was with my son’s mock results.

We’ve just had a fairly positive parents’ evening with all his tutors seemingly confident that he can do well (🙏). They obviously see a different side to him than we see at home. It does seem as though his biggest crash and burn was the first mock exam he sat, before which he was incredibly stressed and anxious. His results then improved as the exams went on and he relaxed into it/gained confidence, so we are definitely going to look at working around that for his actual exams.

Other than that, he’s probably going to firm his original first choice (Sheffield) and insurance will be Leicester or Manchester and take it from there. We’ve collectively decided to believe that wherever he ends up must be where he’s meant to be. (Gin helped enormously!)

piggy has your ds decided about Lincoln yet?

Dd will live at home so will save me a fortune!

Shimy, thanks. It's a big relief. I hope she does ok in her A levels still but definetely feel that the pressure is off.

Forgot to say, he’s also adamant that he won’t retake year 13 should everything go wrong. He could resit as an external candidate, but there is very little possibility of him doing the work/revision without college support.

He has however just handed in his coursework/project and is the first student in his class to have done so. I’m so pleased for him - he was so proud of it when he showed it to us. Hopefully, coupled with his tutors’ comments, it should boost his confidence and motivate him for what’s ahead.

Just completed student finance with my DS. He hasn't got a student bank account yet so used his current junior account and will change later. Hope that will be ok.

When can they get student bank accounts?

You used to have to wait for the letter confirming that you had an unconditional firm place (normally after results day), but now it can be done with codes, it seems...
www.ucas.com/finance/managing-money/quicker-way-get-student-account

Thanks, once she turns 18 then we'll sort that.

nico, no he hasn't . He won't decide anything unassisted, I suspect.

We are awaiting results of scholarship for Aber and have a visit day on 9 March, so Lincoln, unfortunately has to wait. Lincoln accommodation is fairly expensive so you are definitely saving money there!

Quick question -We are a bit behind with the process as DS can't firm anything until after his last offer visit day on the 9th of March.

I just picked up from what Nico said. Do they have to be 18 before they can apply for student finance? i hadn't thought about at all and DS isn't 18 till August.

I think they may just have to have a guarantor until they are old enough (18) to 'own' the loan. Unless DS1 applied late, he would have been 17 at the time - he definitely didn't ask me, though. Will check with DH.

On the loan issue, I wouldn't have thought they would own the loan until payment is made/contract entered (which presumably doesn't happen until their place is confirmed in August 2019). So currently being 17 shouldn't be an issue. It might only be a problem if, on rare occasion, a young person goes up to university when they are under 18?

Shouldn't be an issue for applying for student finance at this stage. Sorry, didn't preview my post before publishing.

Dd is not 18 until after results day, not sure how SF works then.