Son going to Uni 2021....I feel clueless, anyone else?!

[anaa1]

Hi! My son is going to be applying for Uni for next Sept. It’s suddenly occurred to me how clueless I feel, my uni experience seems a lifetime ago!! His application needs to be in by January. I need to find out about loans...open day visit on 26th of this month so that will be the first step I guess. DS is an only so it’s not as if I am familiar with any of this. He’s at
College at the moment - how helpful will they be, re applications, or is it best to do it all ASAP without waiting for college to address it?

DS's school will probably talk you through all this closer to the time. DD's school had a parents' evening to explain the process, what we needed to do, when etc.

Also bear in mind many of the better schools get the applications in well before January and indeed want a first draft of the personal data in July before end of term and I think it is much better to get them in early.

If he is applying for certain subjects or Oxbridge the deadline is in October.

thanks all. It's good to hear College will have some sessions about this. Yes my instinct is to get the application in asap. Have been looking at the realities of loans/accommodation costs etc. And I used to think it was bad enough when we had to buy nappies :-D Teenagers are far more expensive!

Universities are obliged to give equal consideration to all applications received before 15th Jan (not Oxbridge and Medicine and Vet ). This is a requirement . Universities can't make up their own secret admissions policies.

However There can be an advantage for some students to get their applications in early. It gets them out the way and hopefully gets them excited about the next stage of life.

For many students there is an advantage in having a bit more time to think about things.

You can send in your application early but not add all your choices straight away.

UCAS info here

@Trikc

Universities are obliged to give equal consideration to all applications received before 15th Jan (not Oxbridge and Medicine and Vet ). This is a requirement . Universities can't make up their own secret admissions policies.

However There can be an advantage for some students to get their applications in early. It gets them out the way and hopefully gets them excited about the next stage of life.

For many students there is an advantage in having a bit more time to think about things.

You can send in your application early but not add all your choices straight away.

UCAS info here

Trikc thanks so much - I think knowing my son he'll want it done and out of the way asap. This is probably a very stupid question but do you have to apply for more than one Uni? There is literally only one he really wants to go to! He is predicted to get well above the grades needed to get in...

College will guide him , it does seem a minefield but it will all work out if he works within the timescales. Group chats on social media will be set up for accommodation so he can chat to the people he will be living with beforehand.

@pumpkinpie01 thanks! That's useful to know.

Remember it's him going not you. I bet your parents weren't gathering information for you. His school will give him all the information he needs and the ucas website has a parent section

You can just make one choice, or even more than one course at the same Uni if that’s what he fancies.

@aibutohavethisusername thanks - that's good to know.

This is probably a very stupid question but do you have to apply for more than one Uni? There is literally only one he really wants to go to!

He can start off with only choosing one then can add more whenever he wants.

You can find all the info at UCAS

A lot of schools do the Oxford and Cambridge applications first in early Autumn - so working hard on them now as there is an earlier deadline but then like to have the others submitted by about half term October or just after half term. That is what my children's 4 different schools all did. It also means you have totally got it out of the way by then and can get on with working for your mock A levels and that kind of thing.

It is not always a good idea to try to for one for which you will get much higher grades than needed as that tends to short change the applicant as in a lot of jobs the harder to get into the university the more likely employers will want you. So a typical application would be trying for a few places where if you work very hard you might well get the grades usually required and then having 1 or 2 easier to get into just in case. No one has to follow that principle but it tends to be a good idea.

Most people put 5 choices down. You do not have to do so but it is unusual not to.

It can be a good idea to look at details of the universities etc where people who recently graduated have got jobs in careers he wants and work back from that.

Sorry I meant to add on the finances question if you do not have much money then his loan should be enough without any need for parents to help with costs. The loans for rent and your maitenance are up to about £12k in London and less elsewhere.

If parents are better off then often there is an expected contribution from them to pay a minimum maintenance loan of about £4300 up to a full one of £9k or something along those lines. It can mean children whose parents do not earn much (and so the child has a much bigger loan) have more money in practice than those whose parents earn more but the parent chooses not to help the child financially.

@Trikc

Universities are obliged to give equal consideration to all applications received before 15th Jan (not Oxbridge and Medicine and Vet ). This is a requirement . Universities can't make up their own secret admissions policies.

However There can be an advantage for some students to get their applications in early. It gets them out the way and hopefully gets them excited about the next stage of life.

For many students there is an advantage in having a bit more time to think about things.

You can send in your application early but not add all your choices straight away.

UCAS info here

Although unis have to consider applications received by 15 January many use certain criteria to mark the applications and make very early offers based on those mark schemes. My DS applied early and had 2 offers by the end of September and 2 by the 7 October. The reality is although they have to give equal consideration they do not have to leave spaces open as long as there are some spaces still available.

The reality is although they have to give equal consideration they do not have to leave spaces open as long as there are some spaces still available.

The reality is that many make offers to all applicants who meet a certain threshold as the applications come in. (A smaller number of institutions wait till the January deadline then assess the lot at once.) That will still leave plenty of places to offer for those who apply at the last minute (which is a huge number), so don't worry about them 'not leaving spaces open'.

Thanks everyone for the good advice. Very useful. Have been looking at UCAS etc.

anaa1 - I am feeling the same like you. Thanks for starting this thread. Really helps with all the good advise provided.

Honestly it's not as bad as you think it's going to be - a huge wodge of the online UCAS stuff is personal details sections - which if he doesn't know the answers to, you've got problems! I'm an ancient 40 something and managed to get through it the other year.

Just factor in, although the deadline is X date - you can't submit your application properly until your referee has done their bits, so it's not a case of leave it to the date in Jan, click submit and THEN the form goes off to get your reference done - the whole package has to be organised and sorted out by then. Although having said that, my form was late in because of the reference thing (as an adult it's always much harder finding someone when you've been a SAHM for a while) and I still got an interview and place for the uni I'm at - but lots of unis won't look at late applications.

Student finance stuff - again online but to be honest its YOU that's going to need to have more paperwork in order for that bit of it and actually for all I curse their name (had a lot of issues with mine because of things like marriage name changes) - their online people via social media are really helpful if you need some advice on that one. Also look into other sources of funding depending on the type of course - things like the healthcare professions training money don't half add up.

Basically just start to get an idea of what type of uni he's interested in, where he might be interested in geographically (and where you're prepared to help him get to with a car rammed so full you can't see out of the back windows) and the courses to narrow all of that down.

I think that universities might - might - wait longer before offering places this year, as they will have a flood of post A Level applicants with achieved grades. Normally there are not many of these, so they can hand out early offers without it much affecting the normal year applicants. This year, if they are being fair, they should look at the wider field before filling up with early bird applicants.

You know what, OP, I don’t think things have changed that much (on the application front) since I went to university in the 80s. It’s called UCAS now and not UCCA. Dd keeps telling me it’s You-cas and not R-cas ! No 2 EE offers any more and you don’t have to hold two offers at a time as I sort of remember you had to back in t’olden days. What has changed is I got a full grant, no fees of course, and dole in the holidays. But then again life was more frugal and of course far fewer young people went to university.

6th form will let you have all the information. Usually there is a parents meeting to talk you through the whole thing.
Students will get support to write their personal statements.
Schools and colleges have to also add their bit (the reference / predicted grades) so they might well say 'we want your personal statments in by end of October' or whatever, as they will have potentially hundreds to do. As a pp said, it isn't just about the student deciding to submit it the night before the deadline.

It is usual to apply fo 5 Universities. You don't have to, of course, but if you set your sights on one and don't get an offer, you will be stuck. It is usually advised that you listen to the school about what your grades are realistically going to be. Aim high with your first choice, if you want to. Apply to a couple that are realistic, and try to get a 'what if it doesn't go as well as I hoped' offer.
I know this year is going to be difficult, but with each of my dc, I found actually going to the Universities made all the difference. You need to get a 'feel' for the place you are hoping to live for the next 3 or 4 years. Some people just feel comfortable in some places.

The college will probably tell you about finance. Traditionally the Universities have open days and will do talks on finance at those (again, might be more on line this year), but it can be worth going to your own local university to hear this information even if your dc prefers to live away.
Martin Lewis's site also give explanations about how student finance works.

Ask away if you want to know anything else.

DS1 is Yr13.
As a PP said usual approach is apply to 5 unis
1-2 stretch / higher offers/ more competitive
3-4 Good but attainable
5 - Safety net / insurance OK uni likely to give a lower offer/ less competitive

It’s a bit like applying for a school place.

Deadline is mid Oct for Oxbridge, Med, Vet and Dental and Jan 2021 for everything else.

Research the courses and check if they have any specific subject requirements. There is no point in applying for Economics at a uni that requires A level maths if you are not doing A level maths etc. Also check if the offer is likely to be weighted towards a particular subject eg maybe avoid a science course that requires an A in chemistry and a B in the other subjects when chemistry is your DC’s weakest science.

Ds is early entry so 15th October but college deadline is end of September, even for 15th January stuff the college deadline is end of October. Early entries are being prioritised at college for personal statement, teacher statements and grades.

Firstly, does he have an idea of what he wants to do? Does he know grade wise where he is and what he is likely to achieve? Does he want to live at home (obviously you have to have a uni on your doorstep) or does he want to go away, and if so how far? Depending on where you live this could be 6 hours away from where you are. Ds had a maximum distance radius and worked out car journey times and train times just from google maps.

If your son has an idea of what he wants to do, he needs to be engaging with stuff outside of college teaching to show he is independently reading/watching/listening/attending (online) or doing courses or activities. They need to know this is a student who will get out of bed and attend lectures and complete the work that is set. This will help him with stuff to write about in his personal statement.

There are lots of videos on YouTube from the actual universities and students who attend those universities, from typical days as a student to accommodation. A wealth of information is available at your fingertips, and his.

I remember being ferried by coaches from our sixth form to unis and filling in everything by hand, including the personal statement. It seems like a life time ago

I agree that a student with their heart set on one course and one course only needs to be encouraged to research some alternatives. Either in case they don't get an offer, or, if their predictions are well above what is required, to help them understand the choice they are making. If I knew an able student apparently aiming lower than they needed to, I'd want them to be able to sell their course choice to me, explaining what was key about that course and that university, and different to other places, that made it the best choice for them individually.