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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Daughters application rejected...

119 replies

halfbakedkate · 14/02/2023 18:34

My daughter is devastated that her first choice university has not offered her a place. She got a fairly generic response about being unsuccessful due to a huge number of applicants.

She is predicted above the course requirements and has worked so hard - it's half term and she's in her room studying now. She had her heart set on this course and university. She feels at a loss at to what else she could have done.

I just wondered if there is any advice - is it a lost cause? I thought about calling the university tomorrow and see if there is any wriggle room.

OP posts:
murasaki · 15/02/2023 10:16

Those are great predictions, but if a lot of others have them, but also have either maths or biology as one of those predictions, they'd be ahead of her.

titchy · 15/02/2023 10:17

She seems to have applied to a very highly selective place. I hate to say it, because it's too late, but her A level combination wasn't the best. Having Maths or Biology would probably have got her an offer.

While they obvs accept Psychology as their only science requirement, in a low application year this probably would have been enough given her predicted grades and a decent PS. But demand is the highest it's been this year, and I would imagine offers went to those with more science A levels I'm afraid.

Good news that she has four other offers though. Once she's digested the upset, she should start to focus on what the other four can offer. In six months time, when she get her unconditional, she'll be over the moon I'm sure.

Gonemadworld · 15/02/2023 10:17

OP - she hasn’t studied at that University so in reality she doesn’t really know what life would have been like there . I ended up at a Uni I’d not even visited and had a great 3 years. So much of life is about plans not quite working out and making the best of it .. this is just part of becoming an adult .. she has 4 choices - some will have none - she will be fine

VanCleefArpels · 15/02/2023 10:49

It will be lack of maths - some Psychology degrees are very stats / research methods heavy which is not for everyone

Littlemissprosecco · 15/02/2023 11:01

Look at the positives, she’s got four out of five, well done!!
Go and chose now, be positive, she’ll have a great time.
At least she has choices

ClimbingRoseBush · 15/02/2023 11:04

Ah, unfortunately that won’t be a mistake. That’s one of the courses where home students with the grades will be getting rejected at some places. Her A-Level combination won’t have been enough where there are students with the right grades in more science/Maths subjects. Unfortunately she’s just going to have to get used to going elsewhere because it’ll be the same next year. She’s done brilliantly to get the other offers and she’ll have a great time at one of them.

WombatChocolate · 15/02/2023 11:18

It’s one of those situations where you wonder if the school/college advised clearly when students were choosing A Level options….explaining the implications of certain subject choices for certain degrees, and what the most competitive universities would want/favour for certain subjects. Or did they just say ‘do what you like or are good at’.

It could well be that those other subjects were not suitable for the OPs DD. Fair enough. But the implications of not doing them should have been made clear. The trouble is, sometimes these things aren’t actually admissions policies, but simply methods unis ultimately use to sift when they have too many applications…..and they have to find some method to sift out if they can’t offer to everyone meeting the standard requirements. Some years a lack of Maths or a pure science might not make a difference and other years it could. And they probably can’t be really clear about the criteria they will use beyond the basic ones, because each year’s application numbers and types of students will differ a bit and so cut-offs for sifts will have to vary a bit.

It’s really frustrating when you hear of students who miss out, because their subject choices or units covered don’t meet the requirements or won’t make them the most favoured choice.when they could just as easily have met the requirements if they’d known about them and had better advice. I think it’s something some types of schools and colleges excel at and others are lacking in.

I guess another thing which could have happened is students were sifted by GCSE results and the OPs DD just wasn’t high enough in relation to the huge number of students applying.

FallonofDynasty · 15/02/2023 11:23

Psychology does seem to be v competitive. Its one of the most popular courses.
A friend of mines DC was rejected from their 1st choice despite having maths, fm, Psychology and 1 other a level , and high predicted grades. They are v happy at the uni they went to.

LIZS · 15/02/2023 11:25

It may be that that particular course has a higher maths content than some others and therefore post gcse maths would be more desirable. Help her focus on the positives of other offers.

SarahMused · 15/02/2023 11:31

I think others are correct and she hasn’t chosen the best combination of A levels. Too much essay based and not enough science/maths. I would contact the university just to make sure that this is why she was rejected because if she is set on going there and gets her 3A* in the summer she could consider sitting A level maths and/or biology next year and reapply. I would hang on to this years best offers to keep her options open - presumably she was happy to consider those universities when she applied?

MyriadOfTravels · 15/02/2023 11:57

I agree with PP. She needs to ask why and see if she get more advice on what subjects that particular university wants to see.

THEN she has a choice. She can chose to go somewhere else. She can chose to sit another A level next year so she can get in that particular Uni. She might find that having a gap year will help her settle a bit more and recover from the last few years wo the pressure of doing well at A levels etc....

You need to help her step back from 'oh this is awful. I cant do what I REALLY wanted to do' to a place where she still has choices, incl getting into that dream Uni. Encourage curiosity and imagination on what her future could be, not starting from 'Ive lost what I wanted' but starting from scratch imagining what her 'dream future' would be. (Note I didn't say what her dream Uni would be. It's about what sort of life she wants to have. Friends, hobbies, type of exams, environment, does even want more exams, proximity from home etc...)

bguthb90 · 15/02/2023 12:11

titchy · 15/02/2023 10:17

She seems to have applied to a very highly selective place. I hate to say it, because it's too late, but her A level combination wasn't the best. Having Maths or Biology would probably have got her an offer.

While they obvs accept Psychology as their only science requirement, in a low application year this probably would have been enough given her predicted grades and a decent PS. But demand is the highest it's been this year, and I would imagine offers went to those with more science A levels I'm afraid.

Good news that she has four other offers though. Once she's digested the upset, she should start to focus on what the other four can offer. In six months time, when she get her unconditional, she'll be over the moon I'm sure.

Unless you work for UCAS /have access to their data, how can you possibly claim that demand is the highest it's been this year @titchy ?

titchy · 15/02/2023 12:13

Unless you work for UCAS /have access to their data, how can you possibly claim that demand is the highest it's been this year @titchy ?

Application rates as of the January deadline have been quite widely reported. Hmm

Macaroni46 · 15/02/2023 12:19

Now that you've shared her A level subjects with us, it's highly likely that she has the wrong subjects. Maths or biology, as others have said, would've been better.
However, it's great that she's got 4 other offers. This means she's got lots of choices.
Or she can defer a year and take A level maths and / or biology.

bguthb90 · 15/02/2023 12:33

My apologies @titchy - I wasn't aware that UCAS had released the 2023 data last Thursday.

That'll give me something to waste an hour over later tonight to see where my DS fits in

Chewbecca · 15/02/2023 12:33

DS didn't get an offer for St Andrews which he really wanted. Exceeded their grades, straight As at GCSE. PS used as an excellent example.
He was upset briefly but got his other 4 offers and is now exceedingly happy at his firmed Uni. Can't imagine him anywhere else now.
She'll be fine.

whatsup00 · 15/02/2023 12:55

Are you 100% sure that the university in question considers Psychology A Level to fulfil their science A Level requirement?

The reason I ask is that some universities are not keen on Psychology A Level (I used to work in university admissions).

As other posters have mentioned, some psychology undergraduate courses are very heavily statistics-based. I know of one where in the first year one third of the entire course is statistics. And some of it is relatively advanced. So they like combinations such as Maths, Biology, Chemistry as A Levels.

I hope that she goes to one of her other choices and is happy there. You actually never know when things can turn out for the best tbh. It may well be that she ends up at somewhere where ultimately she is happier than she would've been at the original choice.

Original poster
halfbakedkate · 15/02/2023 13:02

Thank you everyone.
I do really appreciate all your advice and experience.

We have spoken at length today and I have reassured her how amazing it is that she has four offers. She also thinks it's because of her A Level subjects. I think she probably was not advised as well as she could have been but, as someone said above, she was never at the preferred university and hasn't 'lost' anything. She is in a more positive, reflective mind set today. I'm actually really proud of how resilient she is, I shouldn't have doubted it.

We are going to pay another visit to her second choice next weekend and go from there.

And I have not called the university crying and wailing down the phone asking them why they have singled out my beloved daughter by not offering her a place Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
halfbakedkate · 15/02/2023 13:03

@Chewbecca @whatsup00
Thank you, they are really kind comments.

OP posts:
TizerorFizz · 15/02/2023 13:44

The other issue with Psychology is that few do it at gcse. So it’s a new and exciting at A level. It becomes a goal for a degree but planning can go awry with the other subjects. Plenty of schools don’t see it as a pure science either - they might have thought she would do history or law as a degree.

Also did the university select using the PS? Sometimes it’s a tie breaker but teachers often think it’s more important than it is and build up DCs hopes based on that. Frequently it’s not part of the selection process.

Aurea · 15/02/2023 13:46

May I ask, if the PS could be considered not so important, what is actually important?

Obviously grades in the right subjects, but what about the teacher reference?

Best wishes for your daughter's future.

Thanks!

Roseey · 15/02/2023 13:57

Actually psychology numbers are down on last year by about 3000 applicants. But they are significantly higher than they were couple of years ago.

OntarioBagnet · 15/02/2023 14:56

If she doesn’t have a maths or another science a-level they may also take gcse results into consideration. I lecture on a science heavy degree curse which bizarrely (and I am trying to change this) does not ask for a science a level. However if it came down to two applicants and one had a science a level and one didn’t I know which i’d be more inclined to choose. Ditto if someone applies and has a string of 4s for science and maths at gcse (not saying your Dd does).

BlueHeelers · 15/02/2023 15:06

I thought about calling the university tomorrow and see if there is any wriggle room.

No, really don’t do that. They won’t be able to do anything and you’re basically asking university staff to contravene university decisions in a less than transparent way - to act corruptly. Imagine if every disappointed parent tried to put pressure on a university staff member to bend the rules? We are monitored for the transparency and equity of our admissions decisions.

It could be many things: her personal statement, her references, her mix of of A Levels, her predictions.

poetryandwine · 15/02/2023 16:17

Hello, @halfbakedkate

I have been following your thread as a former Russell Group STEM admissions tutor. I was late seeing it and I didn’t have anything to add until you told us about your DD’s AL choices. Very likely lacking a
science or maths - if I may put it that way as I have great respect for the social sciences, including Psychology, but consider them a different field - was a key factor in her rejection.

I am not up on the top unis for Psychology. If her top choice was Oxbridge then there is so much randomness that it is not my impression anyone can give her good odds that even an excellent science AL next year will make an offer likely. However a discussion (preferably initiated by email) with the admissions team could not hurt. For any other uni, if your DD is willing to consider sitting helpful AL and reapplying, she could certainly contact her top choice to ask about the merits of this path.

In order to reapply she will have to let any choice she makes now go - she cannot simply defer (UCAS rules). As admissions tutors we really don’t hold grudges, we just want the best students we can get. If your DD gets 3 A stars now she will be able to reapply with confidence. OTOH for my own DC my hope would be that they get on with one of the options they’ve got now. Best wishes