Another Path to Greatness - Part II

[BigWoollyJumpers]

Here we are.

@goodbye. He has UCL and Exeter. Still waiting on St Andrew’s. I think it is hard to decide which to favour until one knows whether they are all options, if you see what I mean.

The liberal arts offers are a funny one - the course (and the combined social science equivalent) are so attractive that I can well believe they are heavily oversubscribed but presumably people are offered the more obscure elements of their portfolio so it may well be a really hard decision to take the offer. I should go and have a look on TSR (although I hate to as still sulking about Durham - my son is seemingly being way more mature than I am ) as I had been eyeing that course as a possibility for my year 10.

[quote Revengeofthepangolins]@goodbye. He has UCL and Exeter. Still waiting on St Andrew’s. I think it is hard to decide which to favour until one knows whether they are all options, if you see what I mean.[/quote]
So sorry to hear this Revenge. On the up-side UCL, Exeter et al will have a very good cohort this year, full of Oxbridge and Durham "redirects". What a year .

This week's insomnia prize definitely goes to you @Revengeofthepangolins......

[quote Revengeofthepangolins]@goodbye. He has UCL and Exeter. Still waiting on St Andrew’s. I think it is hard to decide which to favour until one knows whether they are all options, if you see what I mean.[/quote]
Sorry to hear about Durham @Revengeofthepangolins it’s rubbish that highly able students are being turned down. How does he feel about the others?

If Liberal Arts is oversubscribed, they are offering alternatives that are under subscribed one assumes. Probably will not be what anyone wants but it could be! Presumably most applicants have A levels that could lead to other subjecs being studied. However everyone can wait for further offers if they do not want the alternatives.

@bendmeoverbackwards. I’m entirely sure - he is not very talkative on the subject, for which I can’t really blame him. Seems to be being pretty stoical

DS got one of the 'Tesco substitution' offers from Warwick when he was still waiting on three in mid March. Rationally it gave him the option to go to Warwick, even if there was no obvious reason reason why they should think he might be interested in the subject. However at this late stage it came across as a bit insulting. Not helped by the fact that they gave an early offer for the same subject to one of his classmates who did not have as strong a grade/prediction profile.

There is some randomness in the process but so difficult to persuade DC not to let it knock their confidence. I hope the offers come in soon. DS bounced back quickly once he knew where he was going. It took me longer. It was awful.

@Needmoresleep did he go to Warwick in the end? How different was the course he was offered?

I’ve been trying to find out acceptance rates for History at Durham and how they compare to Ancient and Modern but can’t find anything online. Does anyone know?

No. DS was passionate about economics, so completely uninterested in studying the random subject Warwick offered. Luckily he got an offer from the LSE the following week (in their final batch of offers) and then a rejection from UCL. One place was all he needed, but it was awful hanging on through to mid March without somewhere he wanted to go to. (He was rejected by Cambridge and had lost interest in his fifth choice.)

[quote bendmeoverbackwards]**@Needmoresleep did he go to Warwick in the end? How different was the course he was offered?

I’ve been trying to find out acceptance rates for History at Durham and how they compare to Ancient and Modern but can’t find anything online. Does anyone know?[/quote]
What do you mean by acceptance rates? The ratio of applicants per place or how the grades are split?

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/470541/response/1140204/attach/html/3/2018%20110%20V100%20applications.xlsx.html

www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/admissions_statistics_for_the_hi

This implies most History offers are given by Jan ......... hmm

Yes I meant the ratio of applicants per place, thanks @SeasonFinale I’ll give that a read

@chopc

This implies most History offers are given by Jan ......... hmm

Oh that doesn’t sound good. Wonder if they’re saving up all the rejections to send out in one go? ☹️

Remember those would stats based on a normal year with non cancelled exams. Indeed even last year exams weren't cancelled until 18 March.

@bendmeoverbackwards

Yes I meant the ratio of applicants per place, thanks *@SeasonFinale* I’ll give that a read

I couldn't find similar for ancient and modern I'm afraid.

Don’t worry bend - clearly this is a year like no other! In a normal year, LSE make about a third to half of their Geography offers in mid-Dec. This has not happened this year. Loads are still waiting for Durham. Also St Andrews by the sound of it.

However... it looks like LSE have actually made some offers today on TSR - Management, Actuarial Science, Finance, Politics, Anthropology and Sociology, I think I’ve seen. Didn’t see any Geography or History though.

Also, Durham have actually given DS his first choice college (well it was first or second, he can’t remember). It’s St John’s. And they also emailed him with info about choral scholarships. Hmmm... Does anyone know about this college? It looks very nice and opposite the cathedral? Is it religious?

St John's is small and sweet (and fully catered, which is a mixed blessing, as it means barely anywhere you can cook if you do need to). It's essentially a row of terraced houses run together, so all corridors and higgledy flooring levels. There is a 'party block' (Cruddas, IIRC), and a much quieter and well-appointed new block (Grange?) for non-party animals, plus a couple of others that escape me.

This is memory and secondhand!

The cathedral space is lovely. The bells are... a feature.

When I say 'memory, I do mean from talking to v recent occupants, not memories of 20 years ago.

Is he swaying now @quest1on ?

Thanks Welcome.

I don’t know if he’s swaying or not chopc. I think it’s more a case of “never look a gift horse in the mouth.” From my point of view, I’ve never been to Durham so I can’t visualise it. I guess the experience at Durham versus UCL or LSE (not that he has an offer obviously) would be like chalk and cheese!

Ah, the quiet block is The Garth, not The Grange, apparently (I was close!)