Page 3 | University applications for 2023 entry

Thepaintedgarden · 2022-08-24T10:14:53+00:00

Is there a general thread already? Please can someone post a link if there is and I'll get this one deleted. I couldn't see one. My dc2 is applying this autumn. Currently Bristol, Leeds and Manchester are definitely on the list and the other 2 look as though they will be between Exeter, Nottingham and Birmingham. Not even started personal statement yet but I think they think it'll take half an hour 🙄.

wonderwoman10 · 02/02/2023 11:23

NoNotHimTheOtherOne · 24/08/2022 11:44

As a very general point, however high-achieving your kids are, they shouldn't restrict their choices to Russell Group universities. For some courses, they are going to have a better experience and gain more useful learning in some other institutions. Most obviously, this includes very high-reputation universities that just don't choose to align themselves with the RG (Bath, Leicester, etc.), but also ones with a very strong record of placing students for industrial years (e.g. Surrey) and others with very strong industry links that feed in to their facilities and delivery. I'm not saying that no RG universities do this but there are others that also do it, and some that do it better.

It will depend very much on what they want to study and what they want to do post graduation. For some career pathways there is a significant benefit to having graduated from a short list of high-prestige institutions but this is absolutely not universal and some of those industries/professions are starting to change how they look at applications.

At the other end of the spectrum, a regularly high-achieving student probably won't be happy studying alongside other students with a very different ethos. So a course/university that looks strong on paper but typically takes students with much lower grades might not be the right fit for this reason. But even this isn't always cut-and-dried for all courses.

Number 1 message, though, is don't take any notice of league tables.

Just for interest, I greatly enjoyed this blog post by Mary Curnock Cook (former CEO of UCAS): www.hepi.ac.uk/2022/08/20/its-time-to-talk-about-the-russell-group/. I don't think much of the RG when it comes to undergraduate education but even I've never put the boot in to quite that extent.

Couldn't agree with you more, and it is also very frustrating that most schools still spout about RG uni's as it ingrains it into our childrens' heads as the only way to go! I have been trying to re-educate my Y13 son about this, but there is so much in the media about RG that it is a bit of a battle!
He has applied to 1 non-RG as of course it is his decision at the end of the day, but is unlikely to firm or insurance it because of what he hears amongst his cohort...
My daughter is at Oxford Brookes where her course and tutors are exceptional. She also had offers from "prestigious RG unis" KCL, Manchester, Southampton, but firmed Brookes as it was great for her course. Yet people still judge her for making that choice. So very irritating.

DinkyDaisy · 04/02/2023 18:26

My ds has offer days to go to. Bath is on a strike day but Surrey touch wood still on. I agree @wonderwoman10 that name of university not the be all and end all. At present, ds likely to choose Surrey over Bath despite Bath perhaps seen as most prestigious... Politics is his course.

Netcam · 10/02/2023 17:52

DS1 has applied for a Maths degree. He has an offer from Warwick A A for Maths and Further Maths and A for one of the other 2 - Physics and Computer Science, plus 6.5 or above in TMUA (taken in Nov, he got 6.9, so doesn't need to do STEP). He loved Warwick when he visited and feels fairly confident he will get the grades. He did have a Cambridge interview but didn't get an offer, so Warwick is now 1st choice.

So what to do about reserve? I worry that something could go wrong on the day of an exam or he might be ill or something. He is predicted 4 x A* from his 6th form, but wonder if he should go for a lower reserve option.

He has an offer from Bath A* A B B and is still waiting to hear from Durham and York, both of which he visited and wasn't quite sure about. He hasn't visited Bath but says he has too much work to do and doesn't want to spend time travelling there before making a decision, it's a long way.

It is likely the Durham offer, if he gets one with be very close to the Warwick one, possibly a bit lower, and York lower than Bath. What would you advise?

Netcam · 10/02/2023 17:55

Not sure what happened above, Warwick offer is A star A star for Maths and Further Maths. It didn't like my stars!

PettsWoodParadise · 10/02/2023 19:28

@Netcam it is known MN formatting issue where a star either side of text makes it bold.

DD is in a similar position for her insurance, doesn’t know if it is worth waiting for Durham and UCL which are likely to have a similar offer to her favourite. Has offers from York and Leicester, likely to have York as insurance.

We know DD can get the grades and more for her top choice but she sometimes takes risks which give her the edge in 95% of scenarios but she knows that if she goes off piste too much she has the potential to ‘bomb’. It hasn’t happened much and she has a good understanding of the mark scheme but she also knows she needs to be honest in the exams to what drives her as it works to her passion. She therefore is under the impression if she does badly she will do very badly. She is her own worst critic!

yoyo1234 · 10/02/2023 20:22

@Netcam
Ds likely to be in similar position with any offers he is yet to receive (I.e. likely to be the same or higher than his current offers). He is yet to hear either way from Imperial (which he loved interview and open day for)

yoyo1234 · 10/02/2023 20:30

@Netcam how does TMUA scoring work?

Netcam · 10/02/2023 22:28

yoyo1234 · 10/02/2023 20:30

@Netcam how does TMUA scoring work?

It is a Maths exam taken in November of Year 13. Warwick ask for either 6.5 or above in TMUA or a grade 2 in STEP if they didn't take TMUA or got a lower score. So if they get 6.5 or over in TMUA they don't have to do STEP. My son's 6th form had a small extra preparation class for those interested. But it's only a few unis that ask for it on top of A levels. I think Durham does as well.

Netcam · 10/02/2023 22:31

@PettsWoodParadise it's hard when they push themselves so much isn't it, like nothing else is good enough! What subject has she applied for?

yoyo1234 · 10/02/2023 22:40

TMUA scoring system seems unusual (i tend to think in percentages for test results) but spoken to DS and seems engineering assessments he sat seemed similar with 9 being top grade.

PettsWoodParadise · 10/02/2023 22:44

@Netcam DD hopes to study English Literature. There seem so many science students out there! She had to submit examples of past work and do a written exam, but nothing like the pressure of BMAT, STEP etc.

yoyo1234 · 11/02/2023 00:12

A written exam and submitting essays etc would probably be far tougher for DS .

wonderwoman10 · 12/02/2023 20:51

Netcam · 10/02/2023 17:52

DS1 has applied for a Maths degree. He has an offer from Warwick A A for Maths and Further Maths and A for one of the other 2 - Physics and Computer Science, plus 6.5 or above in TMUA (taken in Nov, he got 6.9, so doesn't need to do STEP). He loved Warwick when he visited and feels fairly confident he will get the grades. He did have a Cambridge interview but didn't get an offer, so Warwick is now 1st choice.

So what to do about reserve? I worry that something could go wrong on the day of an exam or he might be ill or something. He is predicted 4 x A* from his 6th form, but wonder if he should go for a lower reserve option.

He has an offer from Bath A* A B B and is still waiting to hear from Durham and York, both of which he visited and wasn't quite sure about. He hasn't visited Bath but says he has too much work to do and doesn't want to spend time travelling there before making a decision, it's a long way.

It is likely the Durham offer, if he gets one with be very close to the Warwick one, possibly a bit lower, and York lower than Bath. What would you advise?

DS has also applied for Maths and has an offer from Warwick AAA, Bath A*AB and Exeter AAA. Also waiting on Durham. Rejected by Oxford as taking a gap year and didnt score highly enough in MAT. He is in a similar position though preferred Durham to Warwick despite Warwick being better on paper for Maths. He will firm either Warwick OR Durham (if her gets an offer) and then will insure either Exeter or Bath as grades for W & D are similarly high and insurance should be lower. Hes also keen on sport and both Bath/ Exeter have great facilities. I'll be interested to hear what your DS decides.

Netcam · 12/02/2023 21:57

wonderwoman10 · 12/02/2023 20:51

DS has also applied for Maths and has an offer from Warwick AAA, Bath A*AB and Exeter AAA. Also waiting on Durham. Rejected by Oxford as taking a gap year and didnt score highly enough in MAT. He is in a similar position though preferred Durham to Warwick despite Warwick being better on paper for Maths. He will firm either Warwick OR Durham (if her gets an offer) and then will insure either Exeter or Bath as grades for W & D are similarly high and insurance should be lower. Hes also keen on sport and both Bath/ Exeter have great facilities. I'll be interested to hear what your DS decides.

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Sounds like a really similar situation. We are also waiting for an offer from York, but have had a letter saying they will make an offer and DS expects it to be AAA, but he was not that keen on York as a reserve so is weighing up Durham or Bath. He is expecting Durham's offer to be AstarAA. But I guess we'll have to wait. He seems to feel fairly confident about an A* in either Maths or Further Maths and so might risk Durham as a reserve. Interesting you got the MAT score, DS doesn't know what his is, only TMUA. Did your DS do TMUA as well as MAT and will he need to do STEP in the summer?

wonderwoman10 · 13/02/2023 16:19

Netcam · 12/02/2023 21:57

Sounds like a really similar situation. We are also waiting for an offer from York, but have had a letter saying they will make an offer and DS expects it to be AAA, but he was not that keen on York as a reserve so is weighing up Durham or Bath. He is expecting Durham's offer to be AstarAA. But I guess we'll have to wait. He seems to feel fairly confident about an A* in either Maths or Further Maths and so might risk Durham as a reserve. Interesting you got the MAT score, DS doesn't know what his is, only TMUA. Did your DS do TMUA as well as MAT and will he need to do STEP in the summer?

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He took MAT and TMUA as applied to Oxford, so was sent his result in January. I think this is standard procedure when applying to Oxford. He also took TMUA and gained 5.9 so not quite enough for an automatic grade reduction for Durham, though it was enough for a reduction for Bath which is normally A star AA. I would seriously consider Bath if your son likes a campus uni. Mine really liked it...