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.

Is this thread just for Russell Group and above. Also are the DC's mostly in Year 12. I have a DD in Year 13 who is reluctantly looking at uni options because of the lack of suitable apprenticeships for next year, but I may be in the wrong place as everyone seems very academic. Thanks

minesawine I think we are all Yr13's. Not sure we are all Russell group, DD is applying for a variety, from the very top to the absolutely standard. You never know what may happen over the year! Please join us, quite a few posters have older DC's too, so maybe can give the kind of insight you need.

Your are right though..... perhaps we should amend our title to include all 2021 school/college leavers.

Thanks Baaa thats helpful.
I am struggling a bit because my DD was set on a film or TV apprenticeship until she was told by her school that there will be very few available next year. We are now looking at animation degree courses in City or seaside locations, so we are a bit late to the game with a school UCAS deadline of early November. Having get my DS into NTU 2 years ago I didnt think I would be here again. Never mind I will help her with uni and apprenticeships at the same time. I just wish she was a bit more enthusiastic and engaged, I'm exhausted already

@CoolKittens I also think it depends on the course. Gap years looked on favourably by MFL departments as long as something specific and useful is planned.

@minesawine, DS2's 'hot favourite' (for university, course and location) is UEA. And that for a lad at a grammar school with an 'Achievement' award sewn on his blazer. His other applications will probably be to Sussex, Warwick, Birmingham and York. If the school are being anything other than supportive of his decisions, neither he nor it are telling us. For all they do the usual, x students went off to Cambridge / to do Medicine etc last year, they also promote apprenticeships as a post-18 option.

Bournemouth springs to mind for computer animation?

Bournemouth looks really good for animation. We have been looking at portfolio videos and her jaw dropped at the quality. She is now beavering away with her sketchbook. We may be getting somewhere 🤔

Minesawine Nephew recently graduated from this & now working on animated series for BBC. www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/media-arts/film-studies/

Minesawine - ITV apprenticeships are open right now!

Thanks everyone. We have looked at the ITV apprenticeships, which are great and at loads of uni's. We spent yesterday on an online american university exhibition, which was really interesting but such an expensive option.

How’s everyone’s DC getting on with uni applications etc? Are they happy they’ve got exams rather than CAGs. My DD prefers exams, don’t really know why.

We are finding virtual open days difficult to follow, so still not quite sure on the final 5 to apply for.

And increasingly limited opportunity to even visit the cities it would seem.

We have done a few virtual open days now and the quality is very different from uni to uni. One just put up photographs from outside buildings and asked us to imagine what it was like inside, whilst another had a camera going around the inside with a person giving a tour. The knowledge from tutors and students has also been variable and the online questions and answers sometimes frustrating. But even the good presentations only give a hint of what the uni is like when you are not there in person. We have been watching YouTube videos and do have a shortlist (sort of). I hope there will be placeholder days otherwise I am going to do a road trip with my DD.

Dd has picked her 5 and has her meeting with her head of year on Friday to go over her form and confirm her predicted grades. Hopefully it will be straightforward and her form can then go to ucas.

My DD needs AAA or AAA for the course/universities she wants and had looked at in summer. Currently having very serious MH issues so predicted grades lower than she wanted/needs at AAB but she’s applying anyway. She’s got one AAB choice and has left the fifth blank incase the other 3 are instant rejects. No advice from school but I think this is ok. I’d rather she took a gap.

@ComplexNeeds. Leaving the last slot blank sounds a good plan.

I"ll join in here if you don't mind.

DS has gone backwards and forwards with courses, not helped by lockdown and the lack of physical open days. He hasn't really engaged with online open days and has mainly talked to friends and his brothers friends about where he could go. 6th form haven't given predicted grades yet as they are doing medicine etc first but he thinks he has a good idea. Personal statement is done and reference is written by his head of year so we are good to go apart from courses.

So last night for the first time DH started to show an interest which is laughable and has now taken DS in a slightly different direction. He's gone in today to have a chat with head of 6th form but I think he now has 8 universities on a list with a variation of courses and entry qualifications.

He just now has to do a further look and hopefully not rush through the final stage.

slalomSuki does his PS still fit the new direction DH is taking him in? I think all the procrastination is good. There’s a heck of a lot of choices and it’s good to have a good think through. Albeit it’s not the end of the world if a ‘wrong’ choice is made as there can be lots of side steps in careers. There’s a really interesting discussion on FB WIWIKAU page where people are posting their degree and what they do now. Very few are linked.

Yes, I think overthinking it is better than rushing into a decision. I've just been talking to dd3 about not getting stressed about her 6th form college's UCAS form deadline, that it's better to be sure.

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

Re the lines - don't leave gaps between paragraphs, but you can jiggle your sentences around so the last line of each paragraph is short, so you get that visual space.

I'll post to get this up the list again!

DD got an offer from Exeter already. She's really happy she has a place somewhere as she is really looking forward to moving on with life after this difficult year. Even if it is still not entirely back to normal next year, she still wants to get to the next step.

Well done Baaaahhhh’s DD! That’s a very quick turn around. They must have been immediately impressed. Was it their standard offer? Where else is she applying other than Exeter and Cambridge?

I thought DD had submitted hers last week but apparently it’s sitting with school who are the ones who submit them. It’s all finished. I guess they’ll send it in after half term.
We are going to look around Bath next week and Reading en route. Just the towns really.

ComplexNeeds

Very quick indeed! In fact Exeter seems to be the first for a few people. All the other uni's have acknowledged the application, and said they will be in touch. Exeter is their standard offer of AAA. So Oxford, Exeter, Warwick, Southampton, Sussex.

I have noticed tonight that a few universities have increased their requirements for 2021. As an example, UEA was asking for BBB for 2020 entry but wants ABB for the course ds wants to do. He is looking for a good BBB option. But that's just great isn't it. They've lost 1/5th of their face to face teaching, and some universities start increasing the grade requirements. Presumably because they think they are oversubscribed already for next year from this year's cohort?

Could someone please explain why it's a good idea to leave a choice blank?

Reading is a nice campus, definitely worth having a look round.

@cologne4711 it’s probably not a good idea for lots of DC but I think it is sensible for my DD as she’s struggling to find a fifth. If she gets offers then she may not need it. But if 3 of the 4 reject her then she can use it as another realistic/aspirational choice. Hardly anything appears in clearing for her subject. Also 2 of her 4 require early submission so she can submit her forms but still have a think about a 5th rather than just putting any old place down. I think she has until the Jan deadline to add a 5th. Albeit I’m not certain of the rules.

@ComplexNeeds yes, you can defo add other choices as you go along, up until Jan 15th deadline. There may be extra costs if you do that - not sure about that.