DD fixed on only 3 Unis

[EmmaStone]

DD is currently applying for 2023 entry, she's got good predictions of at least 2 A stars and an A (with this possibly being bumped up, she's taking a further assessment next week). She wants to read something within Classics/Ancient History, but told me the other day when she was trying to decide on her 5 choices, that if she didn't get into her top 2 (or a third being Edinburgh which I'm trying to discourage due to distance and less likelihood of an offer), she would probably reject any offers from the others anyway.

Her top 3 are Oxford, Durham and Edinburgh, with 'bottom' 3 being Warwick, Exeter and Birmingham. I've explained that the odds are against her for her top 3, but she's desperate to be in an ancient university environment, adores Oxford and Durham in particular, and can't see herself at an 'ugly' Uni.

Now I know when push comes to shove she may change her mind, but I'm quite concerned that she would dismiss other excellent choices if she (likely) gets rejected from Oxford and Durham (let's ignore Edinburgh for now...). Those with older (and wiser) children, has anyone come up against this? How did it pan out? Having visions of her applying year after year for Oxford /Durham 😂

I know you're not asking particularly about Edinburgh, but just in case she were to apply and get an offer there, my DD is at Edinburgh. She's 350 miles away which doesn't worry her and very happy there. She loves Edinburgh and is more than happy spending her weekends with her friends rather than family. We did make it clear that if she went there, she'd have to use public transport and sort personal items out at the end of each year. She's totally on the case and either puts everything into store or ships it back here - it's very common as there are a large number of international students.

For now, I'd let her think it through herself. Only four unis offered DD's course, one of which was considerably further than Edinburgh and she wrote that one off. Her school had an early deadline and about six weeks before applying she came up with another course at three other universities - there obviously wasn't time to view, but she phoned each one, found out what she wanted to know.

My DD only applied to 3 (St A, Edinburgh and Glasgow). However applied with achieved grades and knew offer rates for her subject so not so risky. Applied early and said if she had no offers by January UCAS deadline she would add other choices. Worked out okay as she got her 2nd choice and they offered early (but that was 2019/2020). DD was good with all 3 choices. I think it would be different if your DD really just wants Oxford or Durham and everything else is a disappointment.

Agree Oxford and Durham pretty but have some not so pretty buildings. Would she be okay with being in the less pretty colleges? St Andrews also pretty. Edinburgh pretty but had has some nasty buildings.

That is a very risky strategy imo. She needs an insurance. All those will want A stars or As - if she doesn't get them then she will be left with clearing. There was very little in clearing this year.

Is she at state or private? If private you need to be aware that there is a lot of levelling up going on so she could end up with no offers.

Surely it's about the course modules rather than the buildings!

Hi OP, well she will know sooner rather than later if Oxford is a possible; but Durham has anecdotal evidence of being very late in issuing offers. A friend's DD just gave up on it as she had not heard (this was for history as well) by about end of March so she firmed another choice.

Your DD's predictions are not "good" - they are amazing. I imagine she should get an offer from Durham based on that. Oxford of course is a different story and depends on more than just PGs, as I am sure you know. The friend's DD I mention above had an interview at Oxford but no place.

Anyway she ended up very happily studying history at York - has your DD considered there FWIW? Not ugly at all. I went to Bristol which is also very much not ugly (tho there are other factors... but it is not ugly). How far away is Edinburgh? Mate of DD's had an offer there and she is not a 3 x A-star student at all (as I am sure she would freely admit).

FWIW #2, my DD really wanted to go to a specific uni, got an offer there but did not get the grades; she was determined to go to uni that year and she got a place through clearing at a less-popular tho perfectly respectable uni, and graduated with a prize-winning First this summer - so it can work out. You really need to be led by your DD I would suggest.

I grew up in the south east and went to Edinburgh. It is far but not that far.

Good point about the levelling up as Edinburgh has already said that they will be reducing the number of places for privately educated RUK applicants (currently over 50% of students) so offer rates will be higher.

No advice but a hand hold - DD wants Cambridge and won't even go to any other Open Days... she's eventually agreed to put two others on her UCAS form and says she'll visit when she knows if she's got offers..

It’s not ancient but Birmingham university is far from ugly!

DD only put 3 choices on her form, including Oxbridge. It was mid-Covid, so visiting was impossible. Those were the only 3 where she was clear from the course content and the brief 'drive bys' we could eventually do that they were definitely 'right', and she was applying for a course where significant, tailored extra 'stuff' had to be submitted with each application.

She got offers from all 3, and is about to go into her second year at one of them. Especially with early application, it can be worth waiting to see what comes of an Oxbridge application before then deciding whether completely filling the form is necessary, though I agree Durham is said to give offers VERY late.

Agree. Birmingham is the original red brick university and the campus is really beautiful. Nottingham also has a beautiful campus. Your DS could end up in very ugly accommodation in Oxford and not all the colleges are beautiful and ancient. My DD wanted that whole historic experience at a Oxford and ended up pooled. to a college that didn’t offer any of that!

Good point - a friend's sister was at Oxford and her college buildings were ugly; it's not all Brideshead and dreaming spires.

Honestly, course modules and content should be a major factor, and it’s worth really looking closely. Secondly, when we were looking and deciding here, we didn’t like everywhere we thought we would, and vice versa! Worth visiting, even if not an open day.

My daughter has just finished a Medieval history MA at Exeter. She found the staff very encouraging, great teaching and she did not have any online lectures. She also had a good choice of specialities to study.
Exeter has a variety of buildings but the campus is very green

My son's just started at Durham (which is where my husband and I met). My kids are at a selective private school and had lots of Durham and Cambridge rejections this year (most of the kids had 3 A star predictions). Think they only had three Durham offers out of at least 20-30. Strangely they did better for Oxford offers.

But her course probably doesn't have as many applicants per place as some courses which is in her favour.

OP I'm sure you know all of this, but an offer from Oxford is ridiculously hard to get. My DS who is ridiculously academic, off the scale at times, didn't get an offer this year. He got offered St As and Edinburgh, but decided on Glasgow (older and arguably more beautiful than Edinb?, but distance seems to be an issue for you, so that's not a helpful suggestion 🙈) because of the course.

As others have said, hold your nerve for a Durham offer- they're late!!!

Hi OP

Has your daughter considered Royal Holloway? It’s not ancient university but it is ridiculously beautiful in my opinion and it has a well-regarded Classics course?

What about Trinity in Dublin? There are some new buildings but the main bit is lovely and old.

I work with teens making these decisions. So, hopefully she'll get offers from her top two and can accept a firm and insurance. Then obtains great 'A' levels and off she goes.

If this doesn't happen then she may well change her mind on not going anywhere. If she has nothing lined up, she could enter Clearing and maybe find a course that suits her. Or take a gap year and try again, but this time with confirmed results and maybe some extra skills to bring to the table. In the big scheme of things, this makes very little difference.

Either way, I can pretty much guarantee that she wont spend the rest of her life applying for those two unis 😁

I would support her choice wholeheartedly, she knows her own mind and we all need people to believe in us...but quietly and without announcement have the info ready for a plan B in the back of your mind in case she needs it.

St Andrews actually outranks Oxford and Cambridge for Ancient History/Classics. It’s a beautiful campus and fantastic place to study, so consider applying there. I don’t think Scotland is that far from England/Wales tbh as it’s just one small island- a days journey at most.

As a prior poster said, her grades are fantastic. I think she has too many safety choices on that list. Please don’t discourage Edinburgh.

With your daughter’s predicted grades she can afford to be selective & her desire to go to her chosen university will be motivating

Warwick is not a very pretty campus, whereas Royal Holloway is

In my day (20 years ago) Durham routinely rejected those applying for Oxford/Cambridge as did some other universities: it’s worth checking with her teachers about this & any ‘levelling up’ implications

If your daughter gets her grades and no place she can always apply the next year - a couple of my classmates did this and while it might seem a bit extreme, which university you go to does make a difference in terms of opening career doors so I wouldn’t say it’s always the wrong thing to do

Thank you all so much for your kind, thoughtful (and very sensible!) comments. I'm too tired right now to reply to individual points raised, will come back tomorrow, but I'm going to try and be more supportive of her choices (maybe even including Edinburgh!), but as many of you point out, she's at risk of missing out due to being independently educated. Her course choice is fairly unusual, however, perhaps less competitive than others...

In my day (20 years ago) Durham routinely rejected those applying for Oxford/Cambridge
Anecdotally at least they don't do this (and they didn't in my day; nor did Bristol or it would have been empty!) as my friend's DD as mentioned in pp did get a Durham offer in the end, despite applying to Oxford as well.

I'm really concerned at you trying to discourage Edinburgh due to "distance"? What exactly do you mean- too far for her to come home during term time? You should not be expecting that anyway and it's weird to think she would want to.

Surely it being a long drive or train journey at the beginning and end of term is neither here nor there? Edinburgh isn't that far from anywhere in the U.K. anyway.

I come from near Edinburgh and went to University in the south of England. Distance from where my parents lived was completely irrelevant to me. They drove me down in September and picked me up in June, I got the train home in the other holidays if I was not going off travelling.

Edinburgh is beautiful, vibrant and an extremely good University. Please don't let your own self-interest cloud your judgment about your daughter going there.

I say go and visit. Warwick was at the bottom of my son’s top 5, but once we visited he loved it (so did I). He didn’t make the cut for Oxford - no interview (he got 3 A*’s but competition is tough) and he got an offer for St Andrews and Imperial but ended up firming Warwick - largely because he loved it there, much closer to home than Scotland (St A was his insurance) but mainly as they have good links into the industry he wants to work in, so look at graduate employment too. Visits helped us decided for sure. We spent 3 days in Scotland last October, and we loved Edinburgh too, really nice place

Newcastle uni also very beautiful…