Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
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:
Thread gallery
9
bendmeoverbackwards · 07/03/2021 21:10

@chopc she did get Oxford feedback but it was very vague and didn’t really give her much insight

SeasonFinale · 07/03/2021 21:12

[quote chopc]@bendmeoverbackwards Unis are thought to be looking at 9's and 8's the same so if she doesn't get an offer, I don't think it will be due to her GCSE grades.

I can't recall if you mentioned if she got feedback from Oxford? If so were GCSE grades a factor? If not I don't see why it would be an issue for Durham ........ [/quote]
Actually some unis do have higher grade requirements than say Oxford mainly because they do not have an aptitude nor an interview process to see if the student fits.

Durham History is very competitive and the personal statements will be being read.

We have had all 9s and 4 x A* predictions rejected by Durham for E&M but who hold Oxbridge offers. Remember too that as well as many of the Oxbridge candidates (both Oxford and Cambridge) many of the other top candidates who did not apply to Oxbridge may well apply to Durham. They will have a far higher number of candidates after the Durham places than the Oxbridge places.

Remember too that mnay involved in the decision process will also be lecturing and marking essays etc too. They will get there in the end.

Good luck to all those still waiting.

chopc · 07/03/2021 21:26

@SeasonFinale so your post suggests that grades may not be the deciding factor? Despite other such as Durham having higher grade requirements?

Plus those are AL requirements you are talking about (higher than Oxford) and the grades mentioned by Bend are GCSE ones. In fact GCSE's are not even mentioned in Durham'a History entry requirements

Bend was concerned that her DD's GCSE attainments may go against her in Durham and I don't think there is a reason to think they will.

Ultimately none of us, even the sixth form advisers KNOW why a Uni would accept some students and not others .........

goodbyestranger · 07/03/2021 21:46

I asked because I wondered if bend's DD was one of those with all top whack grades who sometimes get left on one side until the very end and then get an offer/ first choice college.

goodbyestranger · 07/03/2021 21:47

Really hard waiting - can't be long now; fingers crossed.

goodbyestranger · 07/03/2021 21:54

There's been a lot of conflict over the years about Durham's History requirements chopc. Back around 2007/8/9 Durham History was explicit on its departmental webpage that an A in History at GCSE was essential, also a minimum of 7A at GCSE. Then those statements were retracted because of the very obvious problems they caused with access. After that, Durham History fell a bit on its face with an attempt to make an A* at History at A level a condition of offer, and that too got swiftly pulled, in terms of being a formal requirement. This stuff is riven with politics and has been for years. It's certainly not as straightforward as those GCSEs are fine, those are not.

chopc · 07/03/2021 22:32

If you think that goodbye why ask about the GCSE grades?

The truth of the matter is none of us know why some students are picked ahead of others and you yourself have told Bend that her DD's grades wouldn't be an issue for Durham. I can't recall if it was in this thread or another though .........

goodbyestranger · 07/03/2021 22:33

I asked for the reason I said I asked, a couple of posts back.

SeasonFinale · 07/03/2021 22:35

No they consider the application as a whole.and sometimes there appears to be no rhyme nor reason as to why a straight 9 and 4 x A* does not get an offer and another with lower grades does. And why some are accepted at one but not another - it is such fine margins and sometimes a subjective decision based on PS.

The reality is many Oxford applicants can't insure a Durham (History) offer because Durham want A*AA and an Oxford offer would be AAA.

This year of course fewer offers are being made for the same number of places.

bendmeoverbackwards · 07/03/2021 22:36

Thank you @SeasonFinale that doesn't sound at all promising for dd unfortunately Sad

I've been mulling it over this evening and feeling a bit down. I naively thought that dd would have the pick of the universities. If she doesn't get a Durham offer, she'll only have offers from 3 of her 5 choices.

A few years ago, my oldest dd (much less academic) secured 5 offers for English Lit + Lang including Birmingham (her first choice). This was with a BTEC in Performing Arts and ONE A Level in English (Grade C). She was actually pretty amazed herself that she got offers from very good universities with her grades.

Just seems so unfair that dd who is much more academically able, hard-working and has huge intellectual curiosity is finding it so much harder.

SeasonFinale · 07/03/2021 22:51

@bendmeoverbackwards

Thank you *@SeasonFinale* that doesn't sound at all promising for dd unfortunately Sad

I've been mulling it over this evening and feeling a bit down. I naively thought that dd would have the pick of the universities. If she doesn't get a Durham offer, she'll only have offers from 3 of her 5 choices.

A few years ago, my oldest dd (much less academic) secured 5 offers for English Lit + Lang including Birmingham (her first choice). This was with a BTEC in Performing Arts and ONE A Level in English (Grade C). She was actually pretty amazed herself that she got offers from very good universities with her grades.

Just seems so unfair that dd who is much more academically able, hard-working and has huge intellectual curiosity is finding it so much harder.

It simply comes down to the lack of exams that gives the "natural deselection method" (by pupils missing grades and thereby offers) there would usually be as unis decide whether to offer fewer places in anticipation of most meeting their grades on TAGS. They had to take students last year or offer deferrals and find accommodation etc. Last year exams were cancelled to late to deal with this but this year obviously they were cancelled earlier and they can. Remember Durham (as this is beibg discussed in particular) paid peopke to defer which has also restricted the number of offers. Please don't fret too much, she does at least have offers and no news remains good news for now. There is no real reason why the offer won't be hers!
chopc · 07/03/2021 22:52

When you put it like that @bendmeoverbackwards it sounds pretty grim but then again your DD2 applied for higher ranked and more selective universities than DD1 so you are not comparing like with like

SeasonFinale · 07/03/2021 22:56

@bendmeoverbackwards remind me again what subject and where she has applied? (If you don't mind)

quest1on · 07/03/2021 23:10

Hold on there bend. I’m sure she’ll get an offer soon. DS only got one just over a week ago, As the weeks went in, he was increasingly convinced he had blown it there actually, because Geography is a very broad subject and his PS was targeted at LSE ie all human / economic / political geog (it has to be because they explicitly state if you mention physical geography you will be rejected straight off the bat as they are not that type of course). So even though he wrote an alternative PS for Durham, he just added a bit about extra -curricular, as apparently they are interested in this (LSE and C are not). He was convinced he had been rejected by D because his PS wasn’t balanced enough, The waiting makes you second guess everything.

It seems like they offer certain subjects on certain days of the week. Someone in TSR was suggesting that as well as POLAR and ACORN targets, they may also have regional targets to fulfil - ie. they only make so many offers to students in various regions week to week in order to avoid been accused of over-representation from areas such as the SE or London? Sorry, I don’t know where you live, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a whole ‘balancing act’ of variables come into play when deciding the speed and order of offers. What a palaver, basically.

SeasonFinale · 07/03/2021 23:22

Durham offers are released on a subject by subject basis not a region by region basis.

bendmeoverbackwards · 07/03/2021 23:26

[quote SeasonFinale]@bendmeoverbackwards remind me again what subject and where she has applied? (If you don't mind)[/quote]
Ancient and Modern History (but really wants straight History now). Offers from Exeter, Manchester and Liverpool

MidLifeCrisis007 · 08/03/2021 07:47

@bendmeoverbackwards - DS is still waiting for Durham
History and Durham History and MFL. He only applied for the latter post Oxford rejection but would actually prefer to combine History with Russian as he thinks it would be CV enhancing and he loves the Russian language. (He did if for A level). Durham are also very strong at Russian.

Given he's a post results applicant, and had a AAA Durham offer for History and MFL last year, it's been a long wait this time around!

goodbyestranger · 08/03/2021 08:01

bend whoah! The situation is really tough but I merely wondered if she was all 9s/ A* at A level and might be in that particular curious and select clutch of applicants where Durham pings out offers for History right at the end. She doesn't fit that exact profile but her GCSEs are still extremely good. She is definitely on the not rejected pile. Hang on in there. I know the feeling of wanting an offer for something very badly because your DC wants it only too well. Distract yourself and keep cheerful for her!

chopc · 08/03/2021 08:10

@MidLifeCrisis007 I can't believe your DS is still waiting!

quest1on · 08/03/2021 09:01

Well it’s 8th March today, so they only have 3 weeks now if Durham are to meet their deadline. Surely they’ll have a push this week?

Season, sorry I didn’t mean to suggest offers are sent out by region and obviously it’s by subject. But what I meant was, within each subject, do you think they try and strike a certain balance - eg they need to ensure a reasonable proportion of offers are made to certain regions, minority groups, other contextual factors, as they go? Once they have reached target levels for all the criteria, then they can release all offers to fill up the total spaces they have? I’m not claiming to know how they work, but I do know they have to publish this kind of data so it would make sense to monitor all these factors as they go, which may mean holding back on some offers until the end. Just trying to work out why there seems no rhyme or reason to the pace and order in which they make offers.

Jalfrezi · 08/03/2021 09:32

I am rooting for your DD/DS @MidLifeCrisis007 @bendmeoverbackwards 🤞. The wait is SO hard but at least you know that pretty much everyone on MN who has applied for History at Durham is still waiting. I think they must be looking much more carefully at PS this year as well as having to come up with a new algorithm to decide what their offer ratios will be.
Fingers, toes, legs - all crossed for you!

bendmeoverbackwards · 08/03/2021 10:02

Thank you all for your support, this thread has been a godsend.

@MidLifeCrisis007 I’m keeping everything crossed for your ds too, incredible he’s having such a long wait with grades jn hand.

Dd didn’t do a separate PS for Durham, don’t know if that’s good or bad! She was peaked with it though.

bendmeoverbackwards · 08/03/2021 10:06

*pleased

goodbyestranger · 08/03/2021 10:12

It's good that she didn't do a substitute PS, I'd have said.

chopc · 08/03/2021 10:22

@Jalfrezi is your DD waiting for Durham as well? I recall she did get an offer from Oxford. Wouldn't her Durham offer be higher than the Oxford one?