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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Another Path to Greatness - Part II

999 replies

BigWoollyJumpers · 11/02/2021 12:52

Here we are.

OP posts:
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9
SeasonFinale · 27/02/2021 22:33

[quote Applepieco]@bendmeoverbackwards

Fair few of DS’s friends still waiting for Durham, mainly History, English & Law.[/quote]
Some law came through on Thursday but no sign of the others yet

WarmAndco3y · 28/02/2021 08:49

@SeasonFinale

Vargas - Durham would not (usually) accept him if he were to drop a grade whereas it is quite possible that Exeter would still do so, so sometimes you can insure with an offer that is the same but it is risky. Also sometimes Exeter may offer the same course but at their Penrhyn campus instead.
This is a good point. I’d not really thought about this
WarmAndco3y · 28/02/2021 08:51

Congratulations and well done on the new wave of offers that have come through. Worth the wait...

WarmAndco3y · 28/02/2021 08:53

@bendmeoverbackwards and everyone else still waiting, hang on in there. March, I gather is often active month for further offers

Vargas · 28/02/2021 10:21

@SeasonFinale thanks for that, that's really helpful. At the moment he's thinking he'll firm Durham and put Bristol second, slightly risky as Bristol AAA but he's very (over?) confident he'll hit AstarAA which is Durham offer. Particularly if teachers are giving grades and they predicted 3 A stars (which I thought was a bit generous but what do I know Wink)

Vargas · 28/02/2021 10:23

And just to say he has several friends still waiting to hear from Durham and some of the Scottish Unis. Hang in there!

SeasonFinale · 28/02/2021 15:20

DS is off to Bristol for history so I will admit to some bias. He didn't like Durham as it did not match his vibrant city criteria!

Applepieco · 28/02/2021 17:27

@SeasonFinale

Funny - exactly what my DS said. Also off to Bristol for History.

mumsneedwine · 28/02/2021 17:30

DD is a first year at Bristol if can help at all. She's doing vet med not history so no help with the course 😊

Vargas · 28/02/2021 18:41

DS is an outdoorsy sporty type, not terribly keen on 'vibrant city' scene so Durham probably the better choice over Bristol, even though he has never been to Durham! We have done some holiday city breaks over the years and he has hated all of them...

mumsneedwine - I read your dd's subject as vet med history and thought that was a fairly niche course Grin

Jan069 · 28/02/2021 19:47

DD is a London girl and very happy to take 3 years away from city life for little old Durham. Just like Vargas Jnr, loves sports and being outdoors....

MidLifeCrisis007 · 28/02/2021 19:49

DS is similar. Vibrant city life is lost on him. So long as there's a river he can row on and a Wetherspoons, he's catered for!

But no Durham offer yet. Sigh.

Jan069 · 28/02/2021 20:10

@MidLifeCrisis007 sorry to hear your ds is still waiting for his Durham offer. Didn't he have a Durham offer in hand this time last year but was unable to defer? These are such tough times for our dc....

chopc · 28/02/2021 20:13

My DS is sporty and musical and was actually torn between London and Durham. However he is not a party animal and he loves the sense of belonging and traditions and being part of a close knit community. Therefore Durham was the top choice after Cambridge. If all goes according to plan and Covid doesn't interfere, I think he will have everything he wants in Durham.

@MidLifeCrisis007 - I am sure it's just a matter of time.

MidLifeCrisis007 · 28/02/2021 20:42

Yes @Jan069. He was blissfully unaware that he could have carried his Durham offer over so reapplied.

I hope that his perfect score in 11 GCSEs will count for something in this weird world of meaningless A level results.

Jan069 · 28/02/2021 20:55

@MidLifeCrisis007 Oh that's such a shame. I'm sure his perfect GCSE results will be taken into account. Presumably Durham admissions are aware of his previous successful application. Rotten to be kept waiting for so long....

Beetlesand · 28/02/2021 21:07

Hope your ds heard soon @MidLifeCrisis007.

OnTheBenchOfDoom · 01/03/2021 13:39

Does anyone want to say which unis their DCs are still waiting to hear from and which courses? Just so we can see where we all are?

MidLifeCrisis007 · 01/03/2021 16:13

Year 14 DS1 still waiting on:-

Durham - History, Durham - History & MFL, St Andrews - History & MFL.

Original poster
BigWoollyJumpers · 01/03/2021 17:19

Hi all. Not been on for a while. I see Durham has been the main topic of conversation/consternation.

Just to re-cap, DD had all her offers in very quickly, and once Oxford was out, firmed up Exeter with Warwick as insurance. Exeter lowered offer for putting first, so somewhat bizarrely, Exeter is lower than Warwick, but that's her preference, so it stands. So Exeter will be AAB, and Warwick AAA. So, basically she is going to Exeter.

Exeter just emailed to say they have cancelled their offer holders open days in April, but still hope they can run something later. It would have been nice to visit and at least take a look at the accommodation, but that's something else she will have to decide from on-line only. Hopefully her choice won't be one of the ones recently blown up!!!!

OP posts:
Pythonesque · 01/03/2021 17:52

My DD is also still waiting on Durham - English. Her other offers came in early too and she plans to firm York which lowered her offer to AAB with proof of her EPQ result from last year. They had an online offer holders day a few weeks back I think.

Although, all being well she actually plans to defer York a year as she's just accepted a gap year position in Australia, conditional on us actually being able to get her there. (she's got an Australian passport otherwise it was impossible, the place opened up because others had to cancel. We'd love to find her a travel / quarantine companion but that's unlikely to happen)

chopc · 01/03/2021 18:16

DS waiting for LSE

What about your DC @OnTheBenchOfDoom ? Can't recall if you have mentioned before

OnTheBenchOfDoom · 01/03/2021 18:48

@chopc Ds has applied to do Computer Science. He had all his offers out by mid November. I was just curious to see what was still outstanding in terms of which unis and which courses. I know Durham is always very very very late. As has been said before on this thread, I find it an incredible place of support. I don't have anyone in RL that is going through a uni application and I am genuinely rooting for everyone to get their first choice, see their DCs happy during this shit period.

So Ds has 4 offers, Durham, Manchester, Warwick and Leeds. Leeds was his original insurance choice at AAA but then Durham came in with AAA or A*AB and a contextual of AAB. So Leeds was replaced with Durham until we heard back from C.

Warwick want A AA, Manchester A AA. He is sure about Durham and got his first choice college of South which is the new one. He is probably putting Manchester as his insurance which like BigWoolly's* DC is actually higher in grades.

School have told all of them not to firm anything until they are told to but Ds is very sure of his grades, there isn't a lot of subjective marking with maths or science subjects. I think they want to see them face to face before anyone decides their firm and insurance.

fiveoldteddies · 01/03/2021 19:07

LSE....

Jan069 · 01/03/2021 19:11

History:
Offered Durham and Exeter
Waiting for St Andrews and Edinburgh

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