Change course - before forming?

[balzamico]

Dd has had a major wobble and is thinking she might prefer to study English literature rather than history.

She has an offer from Bristol and is waiting for Edinburgh and has offer holder days for them both forthcoming.
The grade requirements look to be the same and she is predicted higher so that is not an issue.
Has anyone done this?

She's scared that by raising this she could end up without a place at all (which I have tried to reassure her is unlikely)

Ds has done it. We went to an open day, he was already twitching but the sample lecture for history put him off. We went straight to the admissions stand and were advised to email them. 24 hours later they’d simply switched his offer onto his alternative course and updated ucas. It was very easy (although he is predicted over their standard grade requirements)

Any offer made is binding so she won't lose Bristol.

She has an offer from Bristol and is waiting for Edinburgh and has offer holder days for them both forthcoming.

@balzamico Curious - how does your DS have an invitation to an Edinburgh Offer Holder Day, if she is still waiting for them to respond ?

@bguthb90 sorry, I worded it badly. The offer holder day is on 5th April and we're hoping to go.
I find it incomprehensible that they may not make their offers before that date although their website does say not to make travel bookings without an offer.

Jesus, April 5 is soon now, and absolutely no sign of an offer from Edinburgh for DD. My DD would also like to change course – Bristol let her do that no problem (while saying, if they didn’t let her do it, of course, she would not lose the offer she had already) so did one other uni she applied to, the third said they would look at her request and then never got back to her – which means they’ve gone off her list. In other words, it’s worth a shot because you won’t lose the place you already have.

Thanks @LanadelSlay that's really helpful.
I'm incredulous at Edinburgh - how do they expect people to attend offer holder days when they've not made offers?😡
It's a several hours trip on a weekday with an overnight stop being preferable - none of which can be arranged overnight.

Yes, DC a went to offer holder day and had an about-face. We spoke to admissions staff and they said it happens quite a lot, and to email. Two days later DC had an updated offer for the new course.

@LanadelSlay +1 for Edinburgh being glacially slow.

DS is also still waiting for Durham and therefore, has missed their final offer day, on Wednesday this week.

Did your DD go to a Bristol Offer day ? If so, did she find it beneficial ?

Mine has booked for April 26 day but undecided whether to go at the moment as majority of seasons/talks booked out already.

I'm incredulous at Edinburgh - how do they expect people to attend offer holder days when they've not made offers?

@balzamico I've come to conclusion that you need to have got an offer by the end of February for Offer Holder Days to be viable - either Universities stop running them in mid March or they're all fully booked.

Just the latest item in the "things I wish we'd known about the university applications process this time last year" list 😬and which my son's school really need to become aware of.

Hi, OP -

I am a former admissions tutor. Not only are offers legally binding, as @titchy says, but this kind of thing happens more often than you might expect. It is in everyone’s best interests for applicants to end up where they will thrive best, so your DD should not worry at all about this.

@poetryandwine that's really helpful thanks, we're hoping they might let her attend both history and english offer holders info at Bristol this weekend as she's already booked onto history and English is conveniently later the same day, that should help her to decide.
Would she email the general admissions office or the English department? also her personal statement is all about her love of history, should/ can she change it? (I seem to think that Bristol said they rarely read them).
She is predicted 3x A* so thankfully no issue there (fingers crossed)

@bguthb90 your poor DD re Durham - what on earth is the point in running offer holders days without having made offers? Or is it the case that she is on some kind of B list to see who rejects them and may still get a place?

Durham emailed about a month ago to say they hope to have made decisions on all applications by April 21st.

Seems like their offer holder days are only for the privileged few who get an early offer.

English will understand that your DD geared her PS for admissions to History degree programmes. I don’t think that is an issue at all.

Asking to attend the English Offer Holder Day without an offer is slightly awkward, but PGs of 3 A stars should help! I suggest that your DD email the English admissions team. Her header could be ‘firmed Br, 3A*, swap to English?’ or the like, because she needs to catch someone’s attention quickly. She can lay out her case, and mention that she is planning to attend the OHD and even what time of day it is. I would not explicitly say it is earlier than the English event even though everyone will know that is the subtext.

However I have a caveat: your DD really should know before doing this how she will react if English make her an offer. (I think they will, but I am in STEM). Other applicants have made their difficult choices and people will feel that if they do your DD this favour she should do the same. Also I have forgotten the logistics of making the change on UCAS: English may not even be able to post offers while DD has Firm and Insurance History choices up. You will need to look into that. Best wishes to your DD

At Edinburgh you can take options from other courses in your first year, so there is an opportunity to swap degree in second year. Edi tends to be slow because they are balancing numbers from different funding streams and unfortunately is not renowned for their flexibility.

Interesting @LIzS - both on why offers are so slow and on first year swaps - so if dd were to get an offer for English (like @balzamico she's got a three A star prediction and an A star in EPQ so we can only hope ...) she could quite readily swap anyway, does this mean without too much hassle at this stage? @balzamicoand everyone else out there, it's infuriating re offer holder days!! DD and I went up for some kind of informal open day last year, loved what she saw and so she's going entirely on that but it was an overnight stay and £££. Plus I have a lot more concrete questions now I know more. Do keep us posted as to how it goes because I'll be following with great interest ...

No, dd went to a Bristol Open day last year, decided not to go to an offer day as for various reasons I don't understand she's taken agin Bristol (she thinks it's too much of a party university, I KNOW Edinburgh is too but such is the mindset of an 18 yr old). So we're holding out for Edinburgh or bust ... Shame because obviously Bristol is also fab and they've already let her change course, while with Edin there is no guarantee

No I doubt Edi would swap easily now. The faculties and admissions are unlikely to be flexible.

@balzamico Of course your DD need not have made her choices yet, so I got a bit ahead there. I think that was because I am rushed today, and you have focused on two unis. But I would keep to my suggestions the broad outlines of the email and retain my questions about how UCAS will work the change: DD may need to release some choices before English offers can be made.

We’re a long way from Durham so wouldn’t visit without an offer. Offer came after offer holder’s day last year.
Son (3 A*s, well above Durham’s offer) is now at Imperial. Durham’s loss.
I don’t know what some of these Unis think they are doing.

I know so many dc who got rejected by Edinburgh via the UCAS system in mid May last year, they never heard from the uni. I believe it was funding related, ie they had no more funding for students from the England.

But do the courses at Edinburgh allow for flexibility year to year?

Flexibility in what sense? I think in first and possibly second year you can do modules from other subjects (although you still need to take compulsory courses for your degree subject which will vary in number) . In theory you can transfer but that will be subject to availability and meeting criteria. Maybe something to ask at offer holder day?

Massive phew - dd now has an offer from Edinburgh, so hopefully others will get theirs very soon

We won't go to the offers day as she feels she's seen enough already and really liked it.

HOWEVER, she will now be emailing them - as with Bristol to request a change of course so huge fingers crossed they let her. If not she'll have to take a gap year and reapply.

@balzamico do let us know how your dd gets on ...

@LanadelSlay congrats on your DD's offer (is it for English?), I really hope that means that history will soon follow. They originally had an OHD for tomorrow that was cancelled by strike action so I'm hoping that means they're geared up to getting offers out this week.
I'll keep you posted, DD's shutting down a bit as she's really stressed by the idea of changing so I'm not too sure what she's thinking but hopefully a few hours in the car will give us time to straighten that out!