Oxbridge Aspirants 2021 - New Thread (2)

[Baaaahhhhh]

Sorry posted last message on the last thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3757768-Oxbridge-Aspirants-Sep-2021

Here is the new one......

@Jano69 Wow congratulations!! DD also awaiting an Exeter decision, what subject did your DD apply for if you don’t mind me asking?

@mikeandike History. Exeter’s typical offer used to be A*AA but this year it’s been reduced to AAA.

Congrats to your DD Jan! How lovely to have an offer already.

Interesting that Exeter have reduced their standard offer this year, for History at least. I wonder if other unis might do the same?

@Jano69 Great news! We're just waiting for college to press submit. DS has also applied to Exeter, would be great to get an early offer in the bag.

Hi all, not been on here for a while but reading with interest.

DS has submitted his application to college so now waiting for them to do their thing.

He’s also applied to Exeter so very exciting if they’re making early offers.

It all seems so very real now. Eeek!

I was a bit puzzled about Exeter’s history tariff as various uni sites quotes wither AstAA or AAA, and their own website showed both so I emailed them and rather annoyingly they said that they would offer AAAs to those who had that as their prediction but AstAA to those who that or higher as they “like to encourage aspiration” which I thought was a bit rotten. Am curious if that is what they are in fact doing.

@Jano69. Our Dc have close to identical applications I suspect - DS1 is also history and also applying to Durham and Andrews alongside Exeter so, having learnt from the hive mind of Mumsnet, I have warned him not to expect anything from those two until Feb at the earliest. Not that he seems to care much at present :-)

DS was going to apply to Exeter for a different humanities subject. It was quite confusing as there were different standard offers according to whether you ended up at the main Exeter campus or the other one in Cornwall. But it was exactly the same course, so I guess it was simply that one campus was more popular then the other.

Just paid and submitted. Next hurdle is the MAT. Anyone know what happens if they are ill or self isolating on the day?

@Revengeofthepangolins Interesting our DC have chosen similar routes.

I hate the whole "aspirational offer" thing, just puts unnecessary pressure on DC.

www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/history/historyexe/

DD is predicted 3 A*s but got a 3 A offer from Exeter. The unis seem to make it up as they go along.

By the way, I’ve finally mastered the bold glitch in Mumsnet.

If I use the browser, I can type A Star A A, I get A*AA.

But if use the App, I type A Star A A and get A*AA which always creates confusion. Thought this might be helpful...

Now I've really confused things, that's the first time I've typed A*AA in the Mumsnet App and not got the bold glitch.... maybe Mumsnet have finally sorted it.

“DD is predicted 3 A*s but got a 3 A offer from Exeter. The unis seem to make it up as they go along.”

Ooh, that’s exciting

@Jano69

Now I've really confused things, that's the first time I've typed A*AA in the Mumsnet App and not got the bold glitch.... maybe Mumsnet have finally sorted it.

Hence my rather clumsy AstAA rubric - I got really fed up when lurking last year with trying to decipher the whole bolding business

Hmm. Let’s try. A*AA. Has that worked?

*@Revengeofthepangolins

That's precisely what I would have advised and as DD hasn't submitted her application yet, we'll research some other colleges this weekend.

She wouldn't choose a single sex college but if she was pooled and it was that or nothing, I suspect she'd change her mind fairly quickly.

@quest1on , its C

@Revengeofthepangolins

Hmm. Let’s try. A*AA. Has that worked?

Well I never, that worked, maybe we'll all be able to understand grade talk moving forward!

I can remember Nottingham doing similar in engineering a couple of years back. DS1 had BBB predictions and was offered ABB, someone else was offered A*AA because they had higher predictions. Seems really unfair and makes decisions on your 5 choices even more difficult.

We've paid and submitted too. School will add reference next week, so don't know whether we will get anything back soon. Impressed Jano69 got theirs out and back within 24hours!

DD has been given A, AA as predicted. Which is fine, but a bit annoying as she is well on course for three A's. School don't like over-predicting, they think it sets a bad precedence, which is fine in an exam year, but if they use CAG's again, could work against us?

History here we all come .

@calculatorqueen

I can remember Nottingham doing similar in engineering a couple of years back. DS1 had BBB predictions and was offered ABB, someone else was offered A*AA because they had higher predictions. Seems really unfair and makes decisions on your 5 choices even more difficult.

Wow. That really is unfair

Top tip - if you want to see the school reference the student can call UCAS after the school has submitted the application and ask for a copy and UCAS will email it to them. If you ask for the reference you get just that if you ask for the whole application you will also see the predicted grades too.

Paid and sent! One more hurdle down. Next step NSAA!

Where a course is offered at both the main Exeter campus and the Penryn campus, one has to add 'C' on one's application to indicate that Penryn is the desired location. It may be, though, that one can 'end up' at Penryn at the results day stage (or even offer stage, of if the requirement for the main site was a bit too aspirational?) if the original offer isn't met, but there are places available on the same course offered in Cornwall. The alternative offer will be flagged up.in Track, though and acceptance / rejection required - there is no danger of applying for Streatham and finding oneself on the way to Penryn come September, without having been personally involved in the process.

Hints & tips from this year. Make sure your DC read right to the bottom of any offers from Exeter. They offered DD's friend a £2000 bursary if she made it her firm choice, along with a reduced offer, but she stopped reading when she saw the grades and only found out about the bursary a few weeks later.

Durham doesn't leave all offers until February or March. DD received offers from Warwick and York a couple of days after her form went in and Durham in November. Edinburgh was the real surprise - they dumped her on her 18th birthday in the spring despite her PGs exceeding their standard offer.