Another Path - part IV

[321zyx]

Apologies if I've done this wrong! I seemed to have filled up the last thread, hopefully the abbreviated title is ok!

@Jahebejrjr you should look at the website of the Uni your DC is planning on going to. They may have their policy for 2021 intake on there

He’s already there. To be honest his experience has been great. He’s been very fortunate.

SATSmadness a gf of one of my DS's was clear that she wanted to do the Oxford course only and re-applied and got in to her first choice college. She has 12A* but had a bad day on the BMAT first time around so didn't get an interview but got Bristol/ UCL/ Newcastle and turned them all down to re-apply. Plenty re-apply successfully. Given that your DD's grades will be very good and that she was interviewed I would strongly support a re-application if she likes the idea of Oxbridge still. Has she thought about Oxford this time, or does she strongly prefer Cambridge?There were a large number of re-applicants in DS's cohort too.

(Obviously I don't mean I would strongly support your DD's application - very badly phrased - I meant if she were my own DC :))

At which Uni has experience been great @Jahebejrjr ?

Not everyone wants to watch a lecture online in a tiny university halls room when otherwise they could have got out of their room to go to a real life lecture, chatted to people before and after etc. Also not everyone has good internet in their rooms.

Could the universities let students go into the lecture halls and watch the recorded lectures on big screens at the lecture time in addition then?

I’ll dm you @chopc

@chopc

At which Uni has experience been great *@Jahebejrjr* ?

I would also be interested to know *@Jahebejrjr*

Grt idea @Xenia . Wonder what the academics may think 🤔

I’m a big supporter of keeping everyone safe but if by the start of the autumn term everyone has had their vaccinations, why aren’t the lecturers returning to normal?
My nephew in the US has been told they will need proof of having the vaccination to return on campus and to take a picture on their phones of their vaccination record so that they have it with them.

@Xenia - that sounds like a great compromise.

Those who want to attend in person can, with all the benefits of socialising which that would make possible and those who prefer not to can watch from their rooms. Lecturers could do a live Q & A session over the big screen at the end of the lecture even if the lecture itself was recorded. Makes me wonder though if any part of this autumn's online lectures will be last year's recorded stuff being re-played for this year's cohort.

My room in halls many many years ago had a window overshadowed by an evergreen tree and was quite dark all year round. I got out as much as I could. Spending too long in there would have driven me mad.

Surely Universities want to fill their in house accommodation to maximise revenues. If they're not careful students will opt to save on accommodation if there's no prospect of a large proportion of F2F learning, although so long as they can socialise around the tuition part of day to day Uni I guess they'll want to be on site.

@Jahebejrjr, I'd also be really interested to hear which university, if you wouldn't mind doing a 3rd PM :)

SATS my son's privately rented room in his year 3 in Bristol had scaffolding up about 95% of the time he was there. They got some nominal £100 for the year off the rent but it was so dark his plants died. He came home at Easter 2020 and stayed home for his finals that year (and of course no reduction on rent as private sector rent).

@Parker231

I’m a big supporter of keeping everyone safe but if by the start of the autumn term everyone has had their vaccinations, why aren’t the lecturers returning to normal? My nephew in the US has been told they will need proof of having the vaccination to return on campus and to take a picture on their phones of their vaccination record so that they have it with them.

I agree *@Parker231* It's madness that cinemas, theatres etc will be open but students can't attend lectures as normal.

[quote LoonvanBoon]@Jahebejrjr, I'd also be really interested to hear which university, if you wouldn't mind doing a 3rd PM :)[/quote]
Thanks for the PM @Jahebejrjr I understand you don't want to name the uni on here but it might be helpful if you could discuss what was so good about this particular university during the last year? From what you say I don't see any difference between it and any other institution! Sorry.

I can’t really comment on other universities to be honest. All I can say is that there is a lot of negative press about student experiences whereas we’ve been happy for lots of reasons.

@goodbyestranger

I doubt it. I think he'll re-evaluate once he has his A Level results. If he's not been awarded As as previously predicted prior to formal A Levels being cancelled, it might not be advisable anyway in a year of anticipated inflated grades. I mean to say, how does a University determine between a "grades in hand" applicant with an A when they might have been borderline B/A if exams had run as usual and an applicant whose school were more nervous of being seen as too generous/not sticking to the guidelines and awarded them an A based purely on specific assessments/mini exams although the candidate was A/A borderline or even a straight A* type throughout 6th form ?

Personally I really think the Oxbridge style of study would genuinely suit him but I'm guessing most Oxbridge applicant parents could convince themselves of that.

@fairisledog I am a medic but not Oxbridge. I think it's not the style of study in Oxbridge which is different when it comes to Medicine. The course is very scientific - eg you have to enjoy learning about things for the sake of learning as opposed to it being necessary for the medical course. Not sure if I explained it well.

Anyway this is something I noted between my Uni (UCL) and my friend's (Cambridge)

Well that's right up ds's street @chopc and was the reason he applied in the first place.

Sadly he was rejected post interview and as a second time round medicine candidate this year I think he'll be looking at suitable med school courses with potentially shorter odds for an offer. But you never know and it's got to be his own decision.

I just want him to be happy.

All the best to him @fairisledog !

@fairisledog, as @LaLaFlottes said a bit earlier on this thread, St Andrews might be worth a look if your DS hasn't considered already.

There is the RUK cap to consider if you are applying from England but usually they have a very good offer to interview ratio. If your DS scores high enough in UCAT to be as sure as he can be of an interview, he will have a better chance of converting that to an offer than at many other places. Obviously it remains to be seen what the ratios are for 2021 entry but they will no doubt come out in FOI ratios later this year. I believe it quite scientific in the early years too.

He was already a long way there if he got to interview fairisledog - by definition excellent GCSEs and clearly a sufficient BMAT score. if that's the type of course he'd like, he might be frustrated by a number of the medical courses elsewhere, which will certainly impact on his happiness. Good luck to him whatever he decides - all I would say is that he's clearly already got the right profile for Oxford Medicine if he's interviewed once.

@PresentingPercy

Going back a bit in the conversation: I don’t think anyone needs to fear going to a lesser university for engineering. Ie not Imperial or Oxbridge. In fact the latter two are not necessarily the best at producing engineers who actually work in engineering. There are plenty of universities where a MEng would be great on the cv and it’s not that competitive to get into at some truly great universities. There isn’t really any great need to plan strategically or take 2 years doing it.

I can see for the ultra clever, aiming for just a tiny number of universities could work but for the vast majority it is risky to only think Oxbridge, Imperial or LSE will do. The majority of bright dc do have to choose strategically and often it’s a case of understanding Leeds or Sheffield are great too. Just not for the ultra high achievers here on MN.

That is a v limited list!

“Oxbridge, Imperial or LSE” does not by any means represent the top 4 U.K. universities for all subjects. Law for example. I’d replace LSE with UCL if only going for 4. But Durham for one is up there. Which is exactly why so many on here are considering it. After all this a thread on which v bright “ultra high achievers” were redirected from Oxbridge, which halves your list or means re-application, which also may result in redirection, so a backup plan needed.

Not everyone here will want to go to university in London generally or Imperial or LSE specifically. Even if it does have some of the leading courses. I can see why some students who wanted Oxbridge don’t really wish to go to Imperial or LSE instead. Very different set up.

I find the attitude that someone should go for the courses with the highest entry grades somewhat soulless. Those courses are v competitive and high demand but that may be for reasons that aren’t relevant to all high achieving applicants. For example this notion that if you want to go into investment banking you do economics at LSE. Say my DC2 wants to do economics and has high enough grades to get into LSE but absolutely doesn’t want to go into investment banking or any kind of financial work. Personally I wouldn’t give two flying hoots about LSE having higher entry requirements and therefore more alleged prestige than Uni Y that required one less A*. I’d say go for the course that better appeals to you. It wouldn’t make my DC2 any less bright or higher achieving, in fact IMO it’d make him smarter for being more strategic and self-aware rather then simply putting prestige first.

And if my DC2 gets the grades to get into Oxbridge, LSE and Imperial - nay even all at the same time, for economics, medicine, law AND engineering - but after proper consideration doesn’t think any of them would be a suitable fit and so doesn’t want to apply, that’s all good too. My brother got into Imperial for Material Science years ago, hated it, and dropped out after one year despite passing the year. He went to a different university the next year, a RG one I don’t see mentioned a lot here. He had a fantastic time there. Yes Imperial had far more prestige than Uni 2, but he wanted to enjoy his time and also get a good degree with prospects, not just the latter. Settling comes in many different forms.

It will be interesting to reflect when the DC's of this thread graduates ...... Hope you all stay on for the ride

Hi everyone. I’ve been a bit GCSE-focused (younger one needs a fair bit of help) the last week or so, but just catching up.

DS has his final exam tomorrow! Then, he just has to go in for part-days on Mon - Wed next week and I think that’s it. Not sure if there’s a final assembly or anything. There is a leavers ball in early July.

I’ve been told I’m not been able to mention unis choices to him as he’s “focusing,” but I think he’s leaning towards a gap year. After all that! He has a great work opportunity for Sept and would hopefully go some overseas thing next year (if permitted).

When he looked at the UCL accommodation, it does seem quite “variable” and dispersed. You can state a room-type preference, but could be allocated any one of about 12 blocks. Only two have catering. That course was A*AA when he applied (4 year programme with international year). but they have lowered it to AAA for this year, it seems. Not sure why. LSE has no accommodation left now apart from the inter-collegiate halls. That is AAA (3-year programme).

Did someone mention there is a tour of Durham coming up and should he have had an email about this? He’s not mentioned anything. He would need A*AA for that course. Then Bath is ABB.

He’s being a nightmare because he’s saying he’s now not sure he wants to stay in London. I said, great, firm Durham then, but he’s just not that excited. I’m hoping if I can get him up there, it might change.

He has a lot of friends going to the US and has spoken about maybe giving that a shot if he took a gap year and reapplied. My worry is, he would try Cambridge again. Not sure I could stand it! Would I be right in thinking it’s only worth re-applying if he gets AAA? Probably not worth it if he got AAA? He has A EPQ. Not sure what to advise him and the school are no help really. My preference would be for him to try and defer one if the ones he has, but it’s not my life.,,