Applying for uni in 2021...

[Parsley65]

Thought I'd start the ball rolling on this one...

Dd wants to study psychology and we've been checking out dates of open days.

Her school still does AS levels. She's doing psychology, physics & business.

Please come and join us on the long and bumpy ride past revision and exams and on towards the much anticipated start of uni life in Autumn 2021.

LSE isn't a proper campus university, either, in the sense that the others (apart from Oxford) are. And the other striking feature is that it is very much in London, not even in a bit of London that has any pretentions of 'separateness' like e.g.Greenwich.

Hi all can I join? I started off on the medicine threads - then started a thread (at DS's request) asking for advice on medicine vs Natsci at Cambridge- DS decided on Natsci with some Physics applications elsewhere- now tonight has suggested he may actually prefer to apply for Physics at Oxford.

I'm fed up I'm afraid. We spent money on resources eg medify for him, literally this morning he asked me to order a £25 book re the NSAA - now may have to ask his long suffering school to enter him for a third aptitude test, the PAT.

I know it's good that he decides with an open mind now but he seems incapable of researching and deciding for himself. We're sitting every evening with him looking at uni options and it's a bit exhausting. Think I'm just a bit tired, feel free to tell me to buck up!

Other options potentially in the mix - Manchester, pretty settled on including Imperial, possibly Leeds - any words of wisdom on those or indeed generally on physics and physics vs Natsci v welcome!

@NotDonna He doesn't want to go to London, so that ruled out LSE. We did the virtual open day for Warwick but it was disappointing, just not very enthusiastic. So that was crossed off the list. Although I know it's really popular.

Sorry calculator I’d missed that he wanted a campus.
Sounds exhausting pumpkin.

Thanks @NotDonna - Reading it back this morning it sounds terribly self absorbed, I do understand it's his choice and not about me, was just tired of it all last night I think!

Not at all pumpkin they are big expensive decisions at the best of times! There’s a lot of choices and it’s useful to make good ones early on!

I wouldn’t cross somewhere off the list because of an open day. You just can’t see what it’s like and the q&a sessions all feel very flat - like any webchat.

There must be some videos of Warwick, and I would suggest any applicant (or their mum ) signs up to The Student Room, as there are masses of threads there on every establishment.

Oooh thanks Irma now rushing off to join Student Room- think DDs already in but....

I do understand it's his choice and not about me but it is sort of fun helping, isn't it - until one gets to the point you have just got to... I think of our three, DD has the greatest potential to drive us round the bend that way, but re her postgraduate choices. She switched (after a campus tour at KCL led by a wonderfully enthusiastic 3rd year) very early on, from law to IR with French, but seems to have different plans every five minutes as to what to do afterwards. DS2 was going to do Architecture, but is now applying for History of Art. And DS1 was all set to become an English teacher, up until the point that he said which A levels he was going to take. Well, Biochemistry is very similar to English, isn't it.

They will get there in the end. Somewhere, anyway...

@IrmaFayLear yes we looked at lots of videos too, campus tours and talks by students. Just didn't feel as drawn to Warwick as the others.

I'm on Student Room too, I wonder how many mums are lurking on there

Thanks @MarchingFrogs , wise words and you've made me feel better!

Hi all, just bookmarking again, as this thread fell off my "watching". I'm on all the other threads.

PS due tomorrow - eeeeekkkkkk. Several texts from DD this morning, needs to cut out characters. I thought she was OK, but UCAS counts characters differently from Word..... bloody hell. Less comma's required methinks!

We had to do the same with DS's - drastic culling, but he hasn't posted it into UCAS yet. Will have to warn him if it counts differently to Word.

Oh DD does it straight onto the system (at least I assumed it was the system), there’s 3 sections and counts characters in each section and at end as far as I know. Saves each version/changes etc. How’s the Cambridge v Oxford argument going with tutor baaaahhh? Hope your DD is doing what she wants! DD not doing oxbridge so no huge rush but wants it in by half term regardless.

Oddly, having sweated characters, DS1 found that lines were the problem. He was o. 4015 characters and thinking he just has to trim a word or two, but when he use some of the online length checkers he found he was 7 lines too long! In retrospect it was an error to have structured it in 6 paras, which wastes 5 empty lines. I don’t quite see how one gets up to 4000 character sublets sone just has a giant block of text

Info that the number of deferrals is same as always so no worries for y12s!

wonkhe.com/blogs/covid-19-has-not-dampened-the-appeal-of-uk-higher-education/

Is anyones DC having thoughts about deferring to 2022 in view of the how the worsening covid situation is affecting this years freshers (in general, not just Oxbridge)?

@CoolKittens we were having exactly that conversation this evening. It’s so hard to know what to do for the best.

@Tenpastseven so hard!! Everything could be fine (hopefully!) in a years time but who knows. It sounds horrendous for this year's freshers. But then again gap year options are limited.

Exactly the same discussion with DD tonight re deferral. Is applying for a L-o-n-g course (Architecture) so deferring takes up yet another year.

Yeah DS will get a year abroad as part a 4 year MFL course so felt like he’d get travel experience then. But now it’s like playing a guessing game trying to work out what’s for the best.

Another long course here, vet med, but my view is that we can;t carry on like this forever, so in a year's time there will either be a vaccine, most will have had it or we will be carrying on regardless. Really feel for this year's freshers though, especially those in Scotland who have been told they will be breaking the law if they go home for a visit. That seems particularly hard to me...away from home for the first time, bit allowed to mix to make new friends but also not allowed to go home for support if you're struggling.

Coolkittens, deferrals do depend on whether an institution chooses you or you choose it.

Popular places/courses will always be more loathe to agree to a deferral as that would be bagging a place for next year when there might be better entrants.

Oxbridge offers very few deferrals unless someone is too young, or is ill etc. A “weaker” (not that there are many weaker!!) applicant wouldn’t stand much of a chance of deferring. And I suppose they want to get rid of this year’s problem of giving away next year’s places, which was (hopefully!!!!!) a one-off.

@IrmaFayLear that's interesting. The college DC is applying to clearly states (in bold!) that they do not differentiate between those who choose to defer and those who don't. On a recent webinar for a different college the admissions tutor said exactly the same. Perhaps DC needs to do some more digging!