Help! University not processing transcript so son can't apply for Masters degree.

[rosiethehen]

Ds completed his degree this year and was awarded a First. He wishes to start a Masters this autumn, but his applications are stalled due to his university not forwarding a pdf of his transcript to prove he has actually graduated. One of his application deadlines is next week.

He has contacted his tutors and the department responsible, but nobody appears to be interested.

He is also planning on applying to the Civil Service this autumn and it may affect this process as well.

Please, does anybody have any advice on what to do?

SueEllenMishke you’ve been way more polite than I was going to be!

I had to take a few deep breaths before replying!

I have some thoughts on the contemptuous treatment meted out to academics by many parent-posters on MN. But I've been at my desk since 6am, and I'm not going to get clear till about 7pm tonight, so you can all wait with bated breath ...

@noneformethanks she took you r advice and emailed the course leader to say transcripts were unavailable and her degree confirmation letter has not arrived despite requesting it a
Month ago . He replied saying essentially upload what you have and admissions will
Decide if it's suifient for admission but he has no influence it's an admins decision
He also said the deadline is the 31st ( not a bank holiday in country ) and lectures commence shortly afterwards so she has very little leeway

I'm so worried for her now - if oxford don't produce anything for her to upload she may well miss the year .

Carrie that does sound a bit crap of Oxford. But it’s also a bit crap of the other institution. I know that’s not how anywhere I was would handle it.

Literally don’t know where to turn
She has done everything she should, the finals nearly broke her . She was so looking forward to this masters, she has found a place to live , quarantined , and now I feel her university has really let her down .

@Carriemac

Literally don’t know where to turn She has done everything she should, the finals nearly broke her . She was so looking forward to this masters, she has found a place to live , quarantined , and now I feel her university has really let her down .

what country is this university in? States? Any of her tutors an alum with contacts there?

Ds' transcript came through today. He has a place on his course as well.

@Carriemac if your daughter misses this deadline, is applying to another university an option for her? Ds says they're being very flexible with late applications due to needing students. His friend was given a place on a Masters which he didn't expect to be offered.

It’s in my home country where she wants to practice and she has had her heart set on this university and city for a while. After her extremely tough year this was the light at the end of the tunnel.

@rosiethehen was your DS at university of oxford? Maybe DDs will arrive tomorrow.

Blimey that's ridiculous. I'm shocked somewhere like Oxford won't help him with this.

Quite often it's universities like oxford who have outdated systems. They always get students, they're well regarded internationally so don't need to make the effort.... (obviously a huge generalisation but it has been my experience)

I used to organise open days for a post 92 institution. We spent a fortune on systems that made booking easy, allowed visitors to personalise their programme, we could track all visitors to see if they applied and and then if they turned up. It meant we could see if some subjects were under performing on the day and allowed us to really work on the 'customer experience' and evaluate the day and the marketing.
Our Russell group neighbour just advertised the open day and knew people would turn up and they knew people would apply. They never knew how many had been let alone names for tracking!

@Carriemac

Yes, it's Oxford. I'm sorry you're going through it as well. It's utterly ridiculous that they haven't adopted up to date methods of handling information.

So update - she has received a degree Confirmation letter ' PDF via email and has submitter this instead of a transcript so fingers crossed

@Carriemac

So update - she has received a degree Confirmation letter ' PDF via email and has submitter this instead of a transcript so fingers crossed

Excellent news! Good luck to her!

Brilliant! Fingers crossed 😀

Yay! Good luck hope they accept it

I am relieved. Hopefully they will accept it.

Quite often it's universities like oxford who have outdated systems
Very true.

A lot of rather aggressively defensive responses from university staff on this thread but outdated systems fail both students and the staff trying to cope.

@sendsummer

Quite often it's universities like oxford who have outdated systems Very true. A lot of rather aggressively defensive responses from university staff on this thread but outdated systems fail both students and the staff trying to cope.

Or maybe it's responses from university staff who know how it should and does work at their own university 🤷🏼‍♀️

I'm so fed up of being called aggressive for defending my profession.

Thanks everyone - so nice to be able to vent here with people who understand

But the assumption is always that university staff are just on a jolly. The number of people who assume I only work in term time shows that. It’s true we tend to have a degree of flexibility, but that’s reflected in pay, and actually doesn’t extend to the professional services.

Bad systems do make the job harder, but the ire should be directed at university management (who earn a fortune), and not the poor souls working their arses off from home

The vitriol aimed at university staff on this board is horrendous at times.

Yeah I get the term time thing too ..... and people think we're all earning a fortune!!

SueEllenMishke from what I can see the OP and CarrieMac were simply asking for help to understand how their DCs could navigate an administrative wall. Obviously stressful due to the very tight deadlines.

I'm not blaming the staff, it's the systems and bureaucracy that are to blame. The decision makers at Oxford need to update their tech to make things more automatic and easier to access.

sendsummer Carriemac did have a swipe at University staff - denying they were working through the pandemic so naturally university staff were upset at that assertion.