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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Applying for Uni 2020

999 replies

daydreamornot · 04/08/2019 11:29

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

OP posts:
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7
Hoghgyni · 17/10/2019 18:22

Offer alert. Three weeks after DD's form pinged off, she has now had an offer of AAA star from Warwick and ABB from York. York must be very keen as their standard offer is AAA star.

Ironoaks · 17/10/2019 18:52

Hoghgyni
That's great news - she must be very pleased.

aibutohavethisusername · 17/10/2019 19:28

Do we need to start a new thread for this one to continue on?

Hoghgyni · 17/10/2019 19:39

We're safe to the end of page 40/1000 posts. Time for everyone else to get their forms in & start collecting offers yet.

Hoghgyni · 17/10/2019 19:45

We had 19 threads in the GCSE years, 4 last year, so this one has taken a while to move on by comparison.

aibutohavethisusername · 17/10/2019 20:32

I’m a definite newbie then.

KingscoteStaff · 17/10/2019 20:57

DS has offer from Manchester - and it’s not even Friday!

aibutohavethisusername · 17/10/2019 21:27

Great news Kingscote

PortusCale · 17/10/2019 21:39

Just wanted to post good wishes to all DCs applying for Oxbridge and to those taking the forthcoming tests. I’ve posted on here occasionally (and from time to time on last year’s thread) and have had some great advice - gratefully received. It’s always interesting to read experiences of others and great when it’s a supportive thread.

I’m rather dreading the next few months ahead although DS seems very laid back with it all! He’s applying with strong grades in hand (rejected by Oxbridge last year after interview) but it’s still an uncertain outcome (I was one of those who posted last year on the “anyone still waiting to hear from Durham” threads!) Am hoping he might get a Durham offer sooner rather than later but then again, they might not offer at all!...

Good luck to everyone.

PortusCale · 17/10/2019 21:43

Oops apologies, thought I was posting my comments on Oxbridge thread but always read on here too! God luck to all those applying for 2020 and lovey to read of all the offer!

aibutohavethisusername · 17/10/2019 22:27

DD has received further correspondence from Exeter. Her offer is BBB but if she firms it and gets AAA they will give her £1000 in November of the first year. She hasn’t visited Exeter though and at the moment it is her fourth or fifth choice.

LaBelleSauvage123 · 17/10/2019 23:03

DS ( already has grades) has received his first acceptance, from Newcastle which is his top choice, 48 hours after UCAS form received. He’s very happy!

aibutohavethisusername · 17/10/2019 23:06

Great news LaBelle

nodtik · 18/10/2019 05:55

@Serin That's great!! I know what you mean about Bangor though, it is a gentle university. The surroundings are stunning - I was impressed!

I think after Durham it could be my DS second choice. Even though it's not the highest in the league tables, it's pretty strong for Sports. Plus if he went there he'd do the MSci course Smile

nodtik · 18/10/2019 05:58

Congrats to those with new offers since that last time I checked in.

It seems to be stepping up a bit with a few universities offering below that standard offers to snare a few students!!

Either that or all our kids are bloody brilliantly 😂 which of course they are!!!

Serin · 18/10/2019 08:18

SunburstsOrMarbleHalls All the comp sci open days we have been on said not to worry at all about prev subjects. All they requested was maths and preferably one other science. Smile
They all seem to spend the first semester getting everyone up yo the same level.

Dropthedeaddonkey · 18/10/2019 11:10

Just joined this thread and reading all the advice. Apologies if this has been asked before. DS and another pupil both applying for law and got few offers in but DS offer is higher (AAA) Could this be because he is doing 4 A levels or just because they want other pupil more? Also one offer is AAA but AAB if he puts it as firm (which he won’t as he wanted it as his insurance). Is there a good chance they would take him with AAB anyway? I can see him ending up with all his offers as AAA for law with no ‘good’ insurance. AAB was what was in the prospectus which is why he put it on form. I don’t like this bribing them to put it first it wasn’t like that in my day! I can see getting AAB out of 4 A levels might be seen as easier than out of 3. His predicted grades are 3x A* and 1xA. just struggling understand how it works and annoyed he now won’t have a good insurance offer. He does have one choice which is likely to be lower but that was more a worst case scenario than somewhere he really wanted to go. We were hoping for a bit more of a spread of offers.

MillicentMartha · 18/10/2019 11:59

DS hasn't even put his form in yet, but he's likely to get 5 AAA offers (or possibly some at AAA.) His predicted grades are A A* A so while he won't have a spread of offers, he's not gone for the really aspirational universities. 4 of the 5 were in clearing with his subject in August, 2 with AAB and 2 didn't say, so I'd like to think they'd accept him with AAB if necessary. Cardiff said at the open day that they offer AAA or AAB if firm, which has put DS3 off them, TBH. He won't be putting them as firm but they were in clearing anyway so probably accepted insurance candidates with AAB (or less!)

AChickenCalledDaal · 18/10/2019 17:45

I don't like this whole bribery thing of lower offers if you firm. They should be able to choose freely which uni is best for them without feeling they are missing out on some "special deal". Not sour grapes - DD has a very nice offer from one uni, which only applies if she firmly accepts. It was her fifth choice so it's just made her feel a bit confused.

And did I read that Exeter are actually offering some applicants £1000 for a firm acceptance?!!

aibutohavethisusername · 18/10/2019 17:54

achicken my DD got an offer from Exeter of BBB. The £1000 is if she achieves AAA as a sort of academic excellence thing. So she wouldn’t just get it for a firm acceptance.

AChickenCalledDaal · 18/10/2019 18:03

Oh that's interesting. So they are basically saying "we like you so here's a lower than standard offer" but then providing an incentive to work a bit harder?

MillicentMartha · 18/10/2019 18:25

I guess Exeter are avoiding the ‘unconditional if firm’ issue of previous years (of DC then taking their foot off the gas) by giving a lower offer if firm, but ‘we’d prefer it if you got AAA, so here’s a scholarship if you do.’

It’s still a marketing ploy but a bit more thought out.

aibutohavethisusername · 18/10/2019 18:37

aChicken I think so yeah. I am not sure if it was a contextual offer or not.

MillicentMartha · 18/10/2019 18:41

To change the subject slightly, a colleague was telling me that her DD was struggling with maths at Exeter. She’s in first year and only ever wanted to go to Exeter, so much so that she only put Exeter on her UCAS form. But she’s finding the pace too fast. She didn’t do FM and 75% (apparently) did and the first few sets of lectures have been very demanding. They are trying to get everyone up to a similar standard and are putting on extra lectures for those who didn’t do FM so the workload is heavy as well as difficult.

My impression is that she was one of the best in her comp at maths, but got ABB A levels, which were below her offer (AAB if firm) but was accepted anyway. Exeter was in clearing at ACC. So there will be students there with lower grades, maybe in the same boat. It might be that Exeter normally has AAA type students but in last year’s low birth rate year has accepted students with lower grades but hasn’t reduced the pace or difficulty of lectures accordingly.

It sounds like this girl is on the verge of giving up and coming home. Sad

It makes me feel that DS’s fairly safe UCAS options (cross fingers) aren’t a bad idea, and he may well be happier in somewhere where he shouldn’t find he’s struggling.

oneteen · 18/10/2019 19:34

Quite a few of the Unis have in the past offered incentives - My niece was offered £2k by Bham (This was 4 years ago) and gladly took it plus the UC. I think Lancaster offered her £4k!

Well, we are in a state of flux...HOS seems to have been off school more than in school over the last 3 weeks - so not sure what is happening and some girls don't have their final confirmed predictions because there were some queries on the grades (HOS has apparently said she will sort out on return after HT...the cut off date for UCAS within school is on the first day back after HT!)

Letter out from HT today stating that she is leaving the school at the end of this school year. Lots of experienced teachers retiring going part-time...DD has had 3 changes in teachers in the last 15 mths and a teacher off school for 1/2 a term.

Thankfully DD off to Japan tomorrow so at least she can forget what is going on ... and I'm more than a little grateful that she is in the final year of school.

@Millicent - I totally agree with your sentiments...I took the decision this year to take on a Physics tutor for DD because she wasn't doing Maths A Level. I was concerned that DD would struggle without taking Maths ...as it happens it's only the Mechanic's aspect of Physics that DD has not felt comfortable with - the speed of coverage in class was too fast. I was fortunate to find a lovely lady who was an Oxford Graduate but not a teacher (she's a retired engineer) who seems to be widening DD's knowledge of Physics way past the classroom.