Is there an applying for 2023 thread which isn’t early entry

[KittyMcKitty]

I can see there’s the Oxbridge one but dd isn’t an early entry applicant.

anyway she’s finally submitted her UCAS I know school have added the reference so imagine it’ll be off in a day or so 🤞🏻

Shes applying for sociology and has applied to:
Durham
York
Lancaster
Sheffield
Birmingham

her predicted grades comfortably exceed all the standard offers so I hope she gets some offers (and please please please let Durham offer!!).

anyone else waiting?

We're waiting on Newcastle for MFL (German post A level, Spanish from scratch) with business management. She has an ABB offer from Nottingham & Newcastle will likely offer the same. No insurance option here, she was very specific In what she wanted to do & where. If she doesn't get the results then she'll spend the year in Spanish/German speaking countries & then decide on next steps

Good point - I will look up the exam dates - would be very useful to know when DS finishes! He needs to do some serious revision this week as he has mocks as soon as they go back and he really needs to practise exam technique. I’m hoping the UCAS form goes in quickly in the new year and that he gets an offer so he can compare mock results with what he needs to achieve! He’s bright but a bit too laid back. He also has course work and an EPQ to keep him busy.

DD's application was delayed while she waited for the uni to appoint her replacement personal application tutor, who then took his time getting to look at it. Then she's had a message from one of the unis, asking for her maths GCSE result as it's not on her application.

Well it certainly was when we filled it in at home so not sure what's happened there.

She's doing A level Maths, so they can assume she did well at GCSE, but she's considering emailing each of the unis she is applying for to tell them there's been an error and it's been missed off and giving her grade. And she is hoping they won't ignore her application out of hand in the meantime.

Hi all. Hope you don’t mind me joining this thread. My DD has had some offers which is great but we were hoping she has until June to decide on firm/insurance… however I’ve only just twigged that accommodation applications will presumably open much earlier? I read March for Nottingham Trent.. she was hoping to go to some applicant days to make firm decisions but I guess that means she’ll need to decide by end of Feb latest…

@NotDonna my daughter is also going History and Psychology, plus art. Art will be done and dusted early May.
At this very moment she is doing her History essay for submission (or the teacher? No idea how it works). She is finding it a slog - all the reading is very dry. Psychology is taking a back seat at tte moment. She's predicted an A star and it is her 'easiest' A level, history a B and she has to work at it!
Art also has an essay due and her sketchbook by the end of January, and of course her applications require a portfolio! She was hit with flu just before Christmas so it has thrown her schedule off track. January is going to be a tough month.

History coursework is a killer. DS lives history and in theory wants to do a history degree but this coursework is putting him off the idea..

My ds loves history but hugely regrets history A level. It is the fly in the ointment of his 3 A levels...

It’s a really time intensive A Level. I really feel for DS. He’s predicted a high grade but it’s been a LOT of work and very dry because of the way in which the coursework has to be structured.

My ds needs to be more tick boxy according to history teachers. What suits his politics A level causing problems in history...
He needs to regulate himself better in history and do as he is told!

Strangely my DD has not been struggling with history and is her strongest subject, just as well as that’s her choice for next year.

Her struggles have been biology and she regrets taking it now.

Ds regrets economics. Much drier than he imagined and he’s used to subjects where you get extra marks for research and wider reading so finds it hard to switch to a subject where you literally have to explain how something works.

Biology is known for being a tough A level compared to the GCSE, I've heard a few biology teachers say that the step up is bigger.

My DD did Biology recently. Two warnings; 1. There's a certain amount of maths in it, and 2. a lot of the marks seem to be about knowing exactly which words are in the mark scheme and copying them.

Obviously it’s horses for courses but Biology is a walk in the park compared to chemistry- my dd is doing both (9’s in both at gcse) she’s found A level biology a natural progression from gcse (predicted A*) but Chemistry is a slog (predicted a B) - the maths in both is pretty straightforward (dd got an 8 at GCSE and isn’t doing A level Maths).

Sorry my post was clumsily worded- it’s horrid for dc stuck with subjects which weren’t the best choice for them 🤞🏻for all our young people.

Thankfully she has had that explained to her and she’s using the interventions but she thrives on essay based subjects rather than facts and logic.

Trouble is she didn’t want to do English which would’ve suited her better.

I think a lot of decisions were made quite blind, I would say this cohort were the hardest hit of all the covid years. I wish she’d took her exams it would’ve given her a better view of her a level choices.

Yes, DD1 did A level chemistry and found it v difficult (9 GCSE) compared to maths & economics. Lots of maths (ok) but exact terms required. Did AS psychology and wished she’d stick with that and dropped Chem. Found economics a walk in the park yet DD2 wishes she’d stayed well clear of it! Loves History and doing ok, whereas DD1 would have struggled. Everyone is different. But with new subjects like econ & psych it’s often a bit late by the time they realise it’s not their forte!

Chemistry is the hard one for DS too. Fortunately, the maths in it is ok for him but all the rote learning is a slog and that doesn’t come naturally. Thank goodness he likes the economics which was new and wants to study that at uni. I am worried that his chemistry grade could be low enough to mean he won’t make his offers.

Found economics a walk in the park yet DD2 wishes she’d stayed well clear of it!

I'd agree with this. I found economics by far my easiest A level. If you 'get it', it's really not that difficult and not the vast content of geography.

But if you don't, it can be a tough A level to crack and do well in.

Strangely, my son's economics A level mark (percentage not grade) ended up being his highest by some margin despite having been his lowest in the mocks. Whereas his politics and geography marks were lower - you run the risk of going off at a slight tangent in an essay and losing marks quite easily with the longer-style exam questions.

History is a tough A level - DS is finding it harder than his other two and he needs to crack on with the first draft of his coursework to hand in by January 16. I’ve made the point to him that it could be worth a grade overall if he puts the effort in!

Yea my daughter applied to sixth form intending to take biology, art and history.
But in looking for a back up plan to her intended art degree, social anthropology was the most interesting, so biology changed to psychology. Glad she made the change as, being a new subject to her, it was automatically interesting, and as it has turned out, she finds it straightforward.
It was a steep learning curve for my daughter as to how differently this History teacher taught than her GCSE teacher. They seem to want to take all the personality of the writer out it - making the subject at times quite boring! But she's glad the Tudors are behind her and is finding the fall of the Berlin Wall more interesting (until she started this paper that is)! It is by far her most time consuming A level.

Has anyone signed up to the offer holder day at York on Sat 28th Jan? DD & I are going to go as she’s not yet visited and doesn’t know the city at all. It’s likely to be her insurance (if Bath offer).

No, but DS1 is studying at York so if you’ve got any general questions I can try and help. (He is English and philosophy but can report back to me on other subjects!)

@MarchingFrogs Spot on - Durham have confirmed they consider DDM equivalent to BBC so they still want A Levels. Cardiff have gone unconditional though, hurray! Just waiting now to hear from her favourite, but they've said that won't be until May.

@NotDonna DD is a bit overwhelmed by invites from York, a golden ticket, Christmas card, offer holder, ‘looking forward to you joining us’. All in the post. She did go to an open day in 2022 (seems funny a few days into 2023 to be referring to ‘last year’!) and is now deep in with mocks and not contemplating any visits except if she gets an offer from UCL, it’s open day clashed with others last year and as it is close to home she left that one as easier to do last minute.

As well as the open day thst DD went to alone we had also been to York on a city break and loved it. The university is a few miles out of town but with regular buses into town.

DD did have York high on her insurance offer list but she says she feels like she is dealing with a needy ex and the experience is putting her off, but appreciate for some the comms will be helpful.