Applying for Uni 2020

[daydreamornot]

Thought it may be nice to have a 2020 support thread, everyone welcome! (maybe Oxbridge posts could be kept to the Oxbridge thread).

Hello, @oneteen*,*@LooseAtTheSeams@hoghgni & @ExCwmbranDweller.

Good luck to all those DC waiting for AS level results. This time next year we will be on tenterhooks awaiting A-Level results.

I think its Scottish results tomorrow "eek".

Fing Bots

Hi all.
Dd is looking to do Biomedical Science. She has visited and likes Exeter, Bath and Southampton. She didn't like Bristol (helped her decide she definitely wants a campus uni) and is aiming to visit Birmingham in October.
She's just finished AS levels in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Psychology. Results next week when she will decide what 3 of those to continue to A level.
She's also planning to do an EPQ this year.
She's made a few notes for her personal statement but nothing more than that atm.

Hi all.
Dd is looking to do Biomedical Science. She has visited and likes Exeter, Bath and Southampton. She didn't like Bristol (helped her decide she definitely wants a campus uni) and is aiming to visit Birmingham in October.
She's just finished AS levels in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Psychology. Results next week when she will decide what 3 of those to continue to A level.
She's also planning to do an EPQ this year.
She's made a few notes for her personal statement but nothing more than that atm.

I don't know how you cope without getting a half way heads up!

I can't imagine any school not running 'serious' internal exams near the end of year 12 (although when the changes to AS / A levels were first announced, there did seem to be an assumption in some quarters that it would mean no exams at all between GCSEs and A levels) and some do still have their year 12s take AS exams. DS2's school does - at the time of writing, anyway.

Well, we do have AS results next week but I'm trying not to think about them too much! DS is doing English lit, philosophy and psychology and hopefully an EPQ if the AS results are OK.

Well, we do have AS results next week but I'm trying not to think about them too much! DS is doing English lit, philosophy and psychology and hopefully an EPQ if the AS results are OK.

Well, we do have AS results next week but I'm trying not to think about them too much! DS is doing English lit, philosophy and psychology and hopefully an EPQ if the AS results are OK.

Well, we do have AS results next week but I'm trying not to think about them too much! DS is doing English lit, philosophy and psychology and hopefully an EPQ if the AS results are OK.

We’re in Scotland so results day tomorrow- eek!

DS is hoping to either do the Edinburgh data science degree/PWC apprenticeship or a Maths & Statistics degree. For the Maths, he had been planning on applying to Glasgow, St Andrews, Heriot Watt and Oxford, but has decided he wouldn’t actually want to go to Oxford, even if he gets the required results so I’m not sure who will be his 5th choice now.

He found a software company in Edinburgh who agreed to let him work shadow for a day to see what data scientists do day in day out and he had and he had a great time there. He also spent last week on EY’s Business Academy (week of work experience on the Assurance side) and really enjoyed that as well, particularly the staff/work environment etc. So he’s pretty certain he wants to end up in something numeracy related.

He must be good Wicked as the competition for those places is fierce. Their apprenticeships are highly sought after too.

It's interesting to see how different schools have different approaches to the EPQ. DC had to sign up in Jan/Feb and finalise their big idea after their summer kicks (which were pretty nerve wracking as they gave the predicted grades). It should be in progress over the summer, but I haven't seen much action yet. I know some schools already have them done & dusted.

DS’s school do either 4 A levels or 3+EPQ and the EPQ is finished by Sept of Yr13.

Waves to @snozzlemaid @WickedGoodDoge @MarchingFrogs.

DD's school doesn't do AS's, I am quite relieved, although, on the other hand, it must be nice to get some good midpoint results.

Have all your DC's decided which Uni's they will apply too?

Sorry that was pretty daft of me, of course there will be internal exams that will be well scrutinised, I have no idea why I didn't think of that, I suppose more of it is that the A/S levels will be 40% of his overall grade so that bit is set in stone.

That's really cool Wicked we haven't found anywhere to do work experience he could logically go to as it's mostly farming/building/hospital or police for jobs near here. At the moment DS2 wants to do Maths 'because it's what I'm good at' rather than something more interesting like your DS. Oxford is a slightly far off possibility as he's in a Welsh school based programme called Seren with links to Jesus college but I think that will be an aspirational selection because he has a spare 5th place slot rather than an actual realistic option. I think City of London is the complete opposite but more realistic option because of it's links to finance which is what he'd like to do in the end.

At the moment I think he'll apply to; Oxford just because - not that he's likely to get in but his brother went all out for the top uni course in his chosen degree and magically got in (I think due to a year of lower applicants but don't tell DS1 I said that ), then Bath, Exeter, Swansea and City of London, in order of hardness to get in to! A mix of pure Maths degrees and possibly Maths with some sort of finance.

One thing that I remember being really weird with DS1 was that on A level results day he got his 'Congratulations you got in' email to his top uni choice two hours before he could get his results. So by the time he actually found out his A level grades they were already pointless! which is great because if we'd had his grades first we'd have been panicking

@WickedGoodDoge. Quite a few unis send advice out just after midnight, I know KIngs did last year.

Hi all. Waiting for Scottish Higher results before joining just in case it was plan B or Plan C. However good results so it's plan A - Economics. She'll apply to StA, Glasgow and Edinburgh. If she gets a quick Glasgow offer then she'll ditch Edinburgh and wait for StA.

What is she doing in Sept Clerk? A friend has got his today and is now off to Strathclyde in Sept at the tender age of 17 for a 4 year degree. The Scottish system seems do different to ours.

She's going to do S6 including the OU yass economics course plus AH maths and hIstory and H business. My DS2 went to university straight after S5 (as did I) but DD wasn't sure what she wanted to do early enough in S5 to apply. Plus DS2 says going at 17 isn't that common now. He felt at a disadvantage as they raised thru subjects in 1st year because the vast majority had already covered.

*Raced not raised

AS in England won't count towards final result and I don't think unis pay a lot of attention but they will either be a wake-up call or a confidence booster for DS. Suspect the former...

My SiL did the same as you years ago rather than start uni at 17, but she took a gap year. She then when to uni south of the border and started alongside all the A level applicants. I couldn't imagine going to freshers week, being asked to show ID and being turned away at the bar when everyone else can buy a pint.

Well DS got 4 A’s (Maths, Computer Science, English and Philosophy) and a B (Chemistry). He was a bit gutted by the Chemistry result because he really really wanted 5 As, but has cheered up now. He should be well placed for the courses he’s looking at. He’s had his component marks through and he completely messed up the Chemistry assignment which is a shame, but hopefully he’ll learn from it!

ExCwmbranDweller We’re definitely at an advantage as to where we live! We’re 30 minutes by train outside Edinburgh so there’s a wide range of companies in and around the area. Even if we’d been, say in the Borders, it would have been next to impossible for DS to do the work experience. For the data science day, he googled to see who was currently recruiting data scientists and wrote to them to say he saw they were recruiting, he was obviously not applying, but is interested in that area so could he come along to work shadow, and attached a copy of his CV. He figured, don’t ask, don’t get.

He figured, don’t ask, don’t get. I think this is something my DD needs to learn, even when she is offered things on a plate it takes a HUGE nudge to get her wheels rolling - too laid back for own good! Well done to your DS.