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?

Gosh. I find that upsetting. With achieved grades as well. Good luck to your ds @Buttermilk72

@Buttermilk72 I don't know what to say. Just sending a hug.

Sending sympathy and hugs to Buttermilk. It seems such a cruel process. Fingers and toes crossed for the other two options.

We have had better news tonight with a first offer (finally).

It's for a MEng in computer science at Durham. It's an achievable offer - just AA in two advanced highers (he already has an A in maths taken last year). He's taking four advanced highers this year and achieved four As in his mocks so hopefully all will be well.

Still waiting to hear from St As, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Sending best wishes to all of those who are still waiting.......

So sorry. Even worse when he has amazing achieved grades. It's soul destroying for them when they have worked so hard

Oh my goodness @Buttermilk72 thats unbelievable! Everything crossed for the other two!

@Buttermilk72 it’s just not fair. Amazing grades already and then doing another A level this year. Really hope that Durham or LSE comes off or that he takes the plunge to Extra and finds something appealing in there.

@Buttermilk72 so sorry to hear that. DD has some friends applying for maths and one heard recently from Durham. None have chosen to defer or take a year out as they’ve heard some unis don’t like that as you can quickly get rusty but surely if your DS has done FM that concern doesn’t apply and hope the ones your DS is waiting on do make an offer.

Thanks everyone for all your kind words 🥰

@PettsWoodParadise unfortunately it wasn’t a choice to defer year last year… he didn’t get any offers last year either… he hoped that with his 3A stars and the addition of Further maths this year that Economics at one of these universities was achievable… his school agreed too… but nothing has gone according to plan 🤦‍♀️

Blimey @Buttermilk72 that's even tougher. You would think his tenacity would stand him in good stead in terms of impressing potential uni's.

Buttermilk. - just woke up thinking of you and your dilemma 😳 - I really feel for you.

If it were me, my gut tells me that it could be wise to contact as many unis directly now (if you are allowed to do this) that he would find acceptable and try and find out the score to see if it's worth withdrawing now.

Keep us posted as we 're all rooting for you and your DS.

Well done bguthb90 and Aurea’s DC. Bristol and Durham - that’s great and such a relief to have the first offers in. Buttermilk - I can’t believe one of your last options won’t come through - how unlucky with those grades….

No change here. The ones DS has offers from are in extra and we are waiting for decisions on the ones that aren’t. (Also economics here)

I was looking at the Uni guide website comparing student experience and earning potential between the courses and can see why the more competitive ones are so popular.

My thoughts, Buttermilk, for what they are worth, is that Extra won’t change much until after a lot of rejections have come out from the places you are waiting for. Have a plan and get in quick if the worst comes to the worst but hold out for Durham and LSE for now. Fingers crossed for you.

@Buttermilk72 so sorry - that seems really unfair. I hope your DS gets an offer soon. His grades are amazing.

@Buttermilk72 so hard to know what to do but surely no downside to him contacting other unis or the ones he’s been rejected from to explore other courses (I know someone a couple of years ago who Warwick didn’t give an economics offer to but they offered him accounting and finance or something along those lines - Warwick offered rather than being asked but what is there to lose? This year bristol seem to be offering other courses like data science to people not getting corp sci). LSE economics seems to be the hardest of the lot to get into but hard to predict but i think the London unis and Durham are really having to up their contextual/state school intake so that may be barrier depending on your school type etc. Durham was 1 in 15 for economics last year it seems from looking at their stats so mega tough. So waiting for those - possibly for a couple of month will be horrible. There must also be a point where doing something is better for him than waiting. Get into a decent uni, do well and a course change might well be possible too? Also, are there other options like trinity college Dublin or elsewhere still open that don’t need ucas. Sorry for the download and I’m sure you are looking at so many things but just rooting for you and your DS.

@Buttermilk72 oh no, so sorry. I thought he was in with a chance with Manchester. Can't believe he is getting rejections with those grades, I never realised Economics was that insanely competitive. Difficult to know what to do, personally I'd advise my dc to find something on Extra. Are there any other suitable courses on there?

@lovefizzycolabottles @Aurea and others…
My son is emailing universities with economics availability (and variations of economics) today. Also emailing LSE and Durham to explain the situation and hope they might have some sympathy and give him a decision one way or the other…He has also very recently applied to courses at Trinity and University College Dublin, but offers are given really late, may even be as late as july. He has emailed his old head of sixth form too, for advice. He went to a grammar school, this probably isn’t in his favour either. 🤦‍♀️

A bit of a curveball for you but what about Strathclyde university in Glasgow? The business school is highly regarded and well-qualified RUK applicants can start in second year to avoid a four year course.

Glasgow is a fabulous place to be a student. The course appears to still be open. They are 12th in the complete university guide league table for economics and fifth for graduate prospects. They will be keen to take on more RUK applicants as they are only paid £1820 in tuition fees per Scottish student by the Scottish government.

www.strath.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/economics/

Sounds like your DS is on it, Buttermilk. You must be very proud of him. I am sure he will find himself somewhere great to study.

Bloody hell @Buttermilk72 I really hope you hear good news soon. I can’t believe how competitive it is this year.

Hi, can I possibly join in?
I have a DD applying for Architecture. So far she has offers for Manchester & UCL - Bartlett. She's still waiting on Edinburgh & Liverpool. She's DC no 3 to apply to university, so i should be an old hand by now, But it doesn't always seem to work like that 😉
Reading through this thread I can sense the stress & strain of it all. I can't believe how late the offers are coming in for so many courses. And how stellar grades are not now enabling places. Sometimes it all seems very unfair. All I can say having been there in the past, is that things do eventually work out. And in the process a lot of learning happens.
Both for parents & their progeny.

Sounds like a good plan.

This is our first rodeo as parents (we both graduated 25 years ago).

It does strike me as a very, very different landscape now when young people with really fantastic grades cannot get accepted into top UK universities. I cannot help but feel furious that places end up open for ‘international’ students and not ‘home’ ones.

And I do understand why it’s structured like this. But I still feel furious about it.

i think there’s always been a case for reforming the system to enable application after A level results are achieved, but surely this new landscape makes it all the more pressing.

Totally agree. If you look at the stats, they are frightening. 60% of students at Imperial are international. Similar figures at orher top unis. It barely gets reported in the media and yet people are busy arguing about state vs private school candidates. It's a very upsetting state of affairs.

God @Buttermilk72 I hope your son realises that he has just got himself into some weird very, very unlucky position and he is actually a top candidate with 4A stars, If he was applying for anything other than Economics he would surely have been snapped up . This seems very, very unfair. My DS has 5 offers for Business with much lower offers AAB- ABB from an independent school so absolutely zero contextual advantage - he would never, ever be able to have done as academically well as your son already has. Most of his friends are on BBB or ABB offers for things like Geography etc. There is something very wrong with the system. Someone I know who works in uni admissions told me that Economics always 'goes mental' when a recession/economic crash is brewing so maybe that is what has happened here.

Really, really hope he gets to do a degree in Economics and use what is clearly an exceptional head for it. And I hope it's not affecting his mental health too much. And I hope he knows that he is more than good enough and has just been ridiculously, ludicrously unlucky.

It does show the perils of applying for all or mostly RGs I think (especially when there are non RGs higher in subject league tables) but why wouldnt you with his achieved grades?

Is what is in Extra any kind of indication of what is likely to go into clearing?