Applying for Uni 2019 Part 5: UCAS, offers and exam season looming

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

New thread started. Here's the previous one

Framey Ds wants self-catered...

My DS didn't get an UC from NTU and he was really disappointed because he loved the course. It may be a party uni but he did focus mostly on course content and looked at other uni's that just didn't do it for him. He is going to have to work really hard to get his grades. I did ask how much they reduced the grades last year and it was very little. He was lucky to get campus accommodation and now just needs to get the grades.

Article in the Times today about the 'worst offenders' for UCs

Birmingham, Lancaster, NTU, Roehampton, Royal Holloway all mentioned. 40% of NTU offers are UC

I wonder if this is in particular subjects perhaps?

I agree Piggy, some subjects are more difficult to fill places for because there is so much choice.

I was surprised Leeds Beckett wasn’t on there. The unconditional offers really work - my Dd is the only one out of her friendship group that hasn’t firmed one. It makes it a bit weird for her as everyone around her is chilled out and has, in some cases, been able to confirm the accommodation down to the actual flat.

Damian Hinds's statement yesterday on UiFs was so full of academic snobbery, despite proclaiming a stated aim to get more BEM and people from poorer backgrounds into university( who are more likely to apply to local universities) . All his comments were levelled at 'lesser institutions'and the idea that those who had offers from , say, Bedfordshire would want to trade up to a 'higher calibre' institution (yes, Damian , that's what everyone wants to run around doing on results day). It's interesting how he comments on that angle rather than accepting it's market forces or focusing on aggressive marketing tactics : or levelling comments at the higher calibre institutions. Notable near the top of the pile is Birmingham and he aimed no ire at them. I have seen this on (other threads) on MN, too. An assumption that only the 'great unwashed' get given UCs and that really everyone wants to go to a top (preferably RG) university. As someone said upthread NTU has a very fine reputation, particularly in some courses : and it does well in the League Tables.

I am not sure whether Hinds has ever suggested an actual solution other than 'stop doing it'. The unis' repsonses to 'stop giving UCs' was to invent UiFs! I am no fan of UiFs but his statement wound me up!

You must be used to that kind of snobbery by now Piggy mentioning no names

I'm torn. On one hand I can completely see why students would apply to their closest university, but I also think aspiration is important. Having said that I have a friend with a dd at Anglia Ruskin studying a humanities subject. Languishes at the bottom of the league tables I believe and yet she loves it, has blossomed, joined Cambridge uni societies and is generally doing brilliantly, so there's something to be said about all unis really. Contrast that with my nephew at Durham who hates it!

I am still fascinated (and lacking in understanding) as to why it is popular here (especially England I think) for students to choose universities so far from home. Maybe it was something that started when there were grants & it therefore was affordable? I can understand if your absolute nearest is not suitable in terms of course but it would not be impossible to find somewhere to your liking close enough to be able to go home at weekends?

My children are totally guilty of choosing unis far away. So different from my own experience- and what is still the norm in most other European countries.

I think Anglia Ruskin University probably has a lot going for it - like Oxford Brookes - from location and being cheek by jowl with Cambridge (or Oxford) University.

Out of interest, why doesn't your nephew like Durham, Fazackerley?

The reason why they choose unis away from home is so that there is no expectation from their parents that they do come home at weekends! It is theirntime to spread their wings!

We have extended family who are very close-knit and wouldn't want their offspring miles away from home, even for university. All of theirs went to the local post-92 university - it was a given. Mind you, the eldest did very well in his degree and got straight onto a sought after graduate training programme

Dd1 - less than 30 miles away, obvious first choice for her degree.
Dd2 - nearly 300 miles away, all about the course for her, although the department and the city swung it over her second choice which was only 75 miles away.
Ds - will probably be going about 180 miles away, fairly random decision!

I'm not 100 percent sure. He's trying to move to Edinburgh.

It would have been lovely to get an unconditional for Dd to the place she wants to go to to take the pressure off. As it is, she looked at the location (far enough away but easy to get to on public transport) but the overriding factor was the course. That’s why she only chose 2 places to begin with. Luckily she’s got a bit of a cushion with grades and she’s very likely to get over what she needs. However she has a problem with her writing hand which is causing a bit of extra worry!

Used to it , yes Fazack ! Still annoyed though! Perpetually annoyed since ca 1985... it's my USP

Many people stay at home because it's cheaper. Or I guess for family support.

My entire stated aim when applying to uni was getting as far away as possible from my parents. I did eventually quail at the prospect of Bristol which was a good 600 miles away so dropped out at the interview stage. Ended up about 300 miles away. Then my DM moved back to the US anyway!

Quite a lot of Scottish students stay at home.

Many of the students I teach have a kind of invisible rope (like when toddlers will only wander off a certain distance) which extends as far as Nottingham (sometimes Sheffield) up the trainline in one direction, across to Birmingham one way and then down to Brighton. I guess it's quite sensible really as they can get home on the train without needing mum or dad to fetch them. Despite their relative proximity, I never hear of my students going for OBU and rarely for UEA and I think that is probably because of public transport issues.

Anglia Ruskin is an odd uni , though. It's great if you do a course based in Cambridge. A bit less so if you end up in Chelmsford. Excellent reputation for nursing and social care degrees, I believe.

DD has an unconditional if firmed offer from Birmingham and apparently, only didn't firm it last night as she had mislaid her ID number. Her department makes UIF offers on predicted grades of AAA and above, apparently, so not exactly a complete 'bums on seats' manoeuvre. Yes, it takes the pressure off, but also it's a place that she is happy with (though of course she may yet surprise us and go for Leeds, with its specific requirement for the highest grade in the one subject in which she is most worried about hitting her target - who knows?).

(Re 'marketing ploys', yes, of course, examoning offers carefully is to be enciuraged, but in the wider world do people genuinely seek out only businesses which make no attempt to attract their custom, possibly prizing most highly those who make it most difficult for them to access the goods / services being provided? Or never venture into anywhere like B&M or Savers, just in case tbey are offered something at half the price they usually pay for it?).

my brother & I were absolutely desperate to escape the backwater where we lived (south west) and both went to London - the polar opposite to home. My sister also ended up in London though my parents had moved by then so it was close to home for her but she also wanted big city life.

My niece has gone as far away from home as is possible & stay in the UK - she'll be flying there & back - but that was purely because the course is unique & perfect for her. DD has chosen one of our closest universities (about 50 miles away) but again that's because of the course which isn't offered in many places. There's a real spread with her friends - from our local university to Scotland (we're south east) & a couple going to the US. Wales is very popular every year though.

I'm a sucker for branding and love all Aber's handwritten cards and letters. Put off NTU because their ONLY ploy seemed to be 'apply for accommodation ridiculously early otherwise we stick you somewhere a bit run down 972 miles away' ( exaggeration for effect). there's nice marketing tactics and ther's aggressive ones. I put the UiFs , accommodation supermarket sweep etc in the less nice camp. And the UiF is what ahs actually directly led to my DS's ridiculous havering.

I'm afraid I am one of those who never goes into Lidl because I am a sucker consumer and like my brands....

I was a bit surprised Portsmouth wasn't on the UiF list.

Piggy I know lots of Scottish students stay at home, hence my musing as to why it’s less popular with English students. Maybe it’s a cultural thing? Or maybe it’s more a SE of England thing.

Doesn't Portsmouth have a few really desirable courses? Sure I've heard it said that their animation one is the best in the UK? Also, noticed that three of last year's cohort from DS's school went there, so wondering if they run a very good computer science/cyber security one as well? Or is there a medical school there now? [Note that at DS's school, it is very rare indeed to find any pupils going to post 92 universities].

Fazack and Piggy my opinions too been dissed under various usernames . In fact one poster I thought couldn’t possibly be real but they’re still going.