Part 2: Continuation of 2023 uni (and other) applications for those pursuing art and creative routes

[Duchessofmuchness]

As requested transferring us all over hear for the continuation of the 2023 journey. Have so enjoyed the company and support of all on the first thread. Link to original thread copied below (I hope!)

2023 uni applications for those pursuing art and creative routes www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4626697-2023-uni-applications-for-those-pursuing-art-and-creative-routes

HELP PLEASE!!! Any ideas for presents for a completely inspirational art teacher who's taught DC for GCSE and A level. They're also a professional artist, so art supplies or whatever wouldn't do. Cost up to £50. Thank you

@Aaarghthepancakes I think it's going to have to be a gift certificate. Glad your YP had such a wonderful teacher - my DD's was hopeless! She did make all her teachers some homemade fudge though.

@Aaarghthepancakes As a teacher myself (though not of art), if you do give a present, please also write a nice thank-you email and copy in the HoD and Head. These things stick in the back of the mind when it comes to appraisals etc!

We gave DD's art teacher a nice bottle of wine, but only because as a colleague I happened to know that she is a wine fan!

Also, it looks like DD might have some volunteer work over the summer. Maybe not as good as finding paid work, but in a small museum/gallery which could be useful experience and I know is an area that many artists go into. It would be general helping-out, but also possibly running crafts sessions for kids in the holidays, which DD would really enjoy! Fingers crossed.

Thank you both. Both are brilliant ideas ... and I will definitely make sure the Head knows how amazing the teacher's been too. DC finished school yesterday and Art was the only lesson they were in tears leaving. 😢

@Aaarghthepancakes I would also say gift certificates, I know my teacher friends/family always appreciate those!

@mondaytosunday that's so lovely of your DD. I hope she managed to recover her lost work. I was not particularly impressed with my dc's teachers so I won't be getting them or making them anything!

@PhotoDad well done to your dd, she's certainly pro-active. Good for her.

Catching up on all your recent news. Great to see you back @OneFrenchEgg and to know your DC has found their way through.

@mondaytosunday - what a nightmare that your DDs work has gone missing.

Congrats to all those who have reached final decisions and hope all those still waiting have heard.

DS has final deadline a week today. Have no idea what that means but he certainly is working the hours.

Thank you. We are in the thick of all the associated applications, and it's less exciting because of my fears but I'm happy to be back with you all.
Really hope the missing artwork reappears, have you tried the power of social media?

I've looked on the Lost & Found in London FB pages. She hasn't heard back fromTFL. She's just had to accept it and redo the work.
She turned 19 Friday and it's coming closer to decision time. She wishes she had chosen differently and I'm frustrated that they can only choose five unis and one subject (or two closely related). She put down Durham on her SFE application but has so many doubts.
She must have a big deadline this week as she's working all the time but her course doesn't end till June 28, their year end show is the week before. Basically we are focusing on our upcoming holiday to Spain and can't think beyond that!

@OneFrenchEgg we had a similar experience with DD as MH issues meant that we were very nervous about her leaving. But on a positive note - DSA was really good and very helpful. They have provided a lot of help. We sent all the documents to the Uni and she had a number of conversations with them before starting in order to make sure autism support and MH support were in place from the day she started. She was also able to get accommodation allocated before the bun fight of the day everyone gets access to the system so that helped a lot with her anxiety. Our experience has been overwhelmingly positive so fingers crossed with you.

I've got my fingers crossed the missing artwork is found.

Hope everyone who has been waiting has an offer they are happy with. My DD has finished her foundation course and is currently travelling for a couple of weeks with friends before returning for the exhibition to open for friends and family.

Never heard from Newcastle and considering they have to reply in 3 days to her application then it can't really be anything but rejection. I'm so disappointed with them- rejection is one thing, but keeping students waiting over three months and rejecting on the final day is just poor form and not what I expected- having lots of applicants should not be an excuse- they know they will have lots of applicants and should have plans in place to respond to them in a more timely manner.

So it's between Chelsea and Manchester now- DD is torn between wanting to be in London for the art scene, and wanting to be somewhere where she can afford to have to have good time!

Great to hear everyone's news, sorry some of it sounds tough.
DS has finished first year at UWE Fine Art after his tortuous Visual Culture essay was handed in last Friday!
He is home for 2 weeks on an internship in a major financial company on London learning about their creative depts. He is exhausted after day 1 but seems to be really enjoying it. He is certainly using a lot of the editing and software skills he has picked up this year and on his FAD.
He will go back to Bristol for the summer I think, he has several job apps in for summer work, mainly on kids holiday courses with one interview so far.
He has really enjoyed year 1. He finished the year off being in a small team that curated the bar space at Spike Open (a massive open studios event in Bristol which includes prof artists as well as the UWE studios). They themed it as a hyper surveillance space; 'Perceived', including face recognition software and live printing of visitors to create a wall of art, an eye based logo, idenity cards and stamps and costumes etc all quite distopian!.... the space was very well received and he has learnt so many transferable skills. He'd def do it again.
He can't wait to get stuck onto year 2. But with the benefit of a house in a student area as opposed to a room in a city centre hall!!

@FancyFanny - that's appalling about Newcastle. Did you ever hear? It's such a huge disregard for the applicants. Understand they may have a lot of applications and even need all the time, but then they ought to provide more information and updates.

@Lottsbiffandsmudge great to hear experience after first year. I think o remember you sharing when your DS left home to do foundation and concerns about him settling etc. It's really encouraging to hear how much a young person can progress in 2 years.

DS has just over 48 hours for his final deadline for FAD. He is sleeping much but seems to have it under control!

Ugh power point part of final project due today (140 slides - is that even possible)? So she pulled an all nighter last night after seemingly working all waking hours for days.
No word on lost artwork.
Then they have to finish the actual piece - I think she's doing an animation. I've totally lost track now on what her theme was in the mix of offer holder days/SFE etc and deciding (or rather, not deciding).
Her final show is around the 20th June for the week and her last day is 28 June - seems really late compared to others doing FAD?

Yes @mondaytosunday - the UAL foundations have all but finished - the CSM show is this week, and Camberwell next week.
Other colleges in London do go on for a bit longer but expect UAL probably has a lot of fee-paying students booked in for various summer schools starting very soon.
Sorry to hear about the lost artwork. That is awful for your DD, but all the same, a valuable life lesson to learn!

Well, DD contacted newcastle again to ask for an update on her application, and they told her she had been invited for interview a couple of weeks ago. She cannot find anything from them though in her emails or on UCAS. She's currently gone travelling with friends so not in an ideal position to arrange an interview- it's all so frustrating!

@mondaytosunday That is late to finish foundation- I wonder when they will mark and grade the students because surely some of them will have degree places which are conditional based on their FAD result?

@FancyFanny as they will already have their A levels I guess it's still going to be marked well before A level results. It's a UAL accredited course.
But it's buggered up our holiday as I need to be abroad for business and planned for us to all go together and she had assured me initially that she would be done by late May. So now I'm going without her and she and her brother will have to join me (he (20) doesn't live on the mainland I'm anxious about them both getting to the airport with passports, tickets, phone and luggage in good time! She says 'but I travelled to Portugal' - yes but I drove her to the airport where she met the group)! They are totally relaxed about it of course.

We never heard back from Newcastle at all either. Same with Edinburgh. It hot to the stage last weekend that she thought 'sod it' and chose Glasgow School Art who had offered an unconditional place (it was that or University of Leeds). We rushed up to an Offer Holder day and she liked what she saw, so that's where she's going. She's just booked into halls ... at a cost of £7000 a year (gulp!)

£7k year, is that catered Cruicible?

Am I correct in reading that although you only get to chose 5 places, two of them Newcastle and Edingburgh, haven’t even bothered to respond?

Hopefully going to see the CSM foundation show tomorrow. I should also book to go and see Chelsea’s but it’s a mission to get to.

I would like to see the Morley foundation show too, to compare and contrast.

D2 has an extension for her foundation year final submission for an extra 1-2 weeks arranged via mentor support (ADHD/ASD) but I'm trying to encourage her to get it finished this week as her sister and bf are coming for a week over the bank hol.
Had a bit of a nightmare with accommodation for September, she was allocated the most expensive (private provider) £190pw over a 44wk contract 😱 and then it was difficult to complete the guarantor info with all the id proof required (no paper bills for utilities!) but think it's all done now. I'm so anxious about her managing everything away from home.

No, not catered.

I suspect Newcastle and Edinburgh couldn't be arsed - or possibly, in the case of Newcastle, there were IT issues. Still, they would have had applicants' email addresses that they could have used in the event of there being some communication malfunction between themselves and UCAS. Luckily, dd didn't want to go to Newcastle anyway and she didn't warm to the cool demeanour of the Head of Faculty during the Open Day at Edinburgh which gave off a message of 'we don't have to try as we'll fill our places anyway'. That may well be true but there's something to be said for staff not wholly buying into the 'universities are businesses, solely interested in profit' mentality.

I guess they still had time to respond given it was only last weekend that dd had made a decision, but they'd had her application and Portfolio since early Feb and not replied either way. It doesn't matter to dd particularly. I'm more annoyed though about the shabby and insensitive way they treat young applicants. In contrast, GSA's first year tutor at the offer holders' day was the warmest, most genuine and approachable of people who made an effort to speak to the prospective students. That went a long way in dd feeling it was the right choice for her.

@crucible2024 I find it shocking that they can't even press a button (or whatever) to decline an applicant! How hard is it to do that! After all the portfolio prep - and it could have been the case that an applicant really is hoping to get an offer and then for it to just to have no decision at all? Shame on them.
@ArtGarfield I think my DD said the FAD show at Morley is week of the 17th but I'll check. She came home at 8pm after her all nighter and fell asleep holding the cat while watching Masterchef!

Considering how much work goes into putting together and tailoring a portfolio to just apply, I find it disgusting that some Universities don't bother to reply at all. It is just so rude.

I think students that don't get a reply by a certain date, should be given an option to either carry on waiting or picking a different choice.

@mondaytosunday hope your dd is having a much-needed rest this weekend.

@JulesJules and good luck to your dd with her final submission. I am helping with the accommodation form and am also a bit shocked at the prices, we are looking at £200 a week.

DC's accommodation is coming in as £7k too, not catered. They've been following us round the kitchen trying to work out how to cook things! I can see emergency packets of noodles being delivered. I've said they need to eat something green every day.

I’m still shocked that a university wouldn’t get back to a student. Partly became it’s just plain rude but also because I can’t imagine many unis can rest on their laurels and expect people to keep coming. It’s all about getting students in.

I am shocked at the £7k a year without catering. I don’t see how we could do that for our child. We live in London so everything we earn goes on living here! I had thought DD might live at home and go to a UAL college but she’s not sold on it as an institution so far. I took her to see the new LCF building and she disliked everything about the experience. Felt it was soulless and all show and no substance. I think this is unfair but also can see why she may have this impressions And then today we went to the CSM foundation show…

We were both underwhelmed. The general feeling was that students were trying too hard to be edgy but didn’t seem to have finalised their work well. Maybe it’s because there were just so many of them (500) that there was only space to see one finished article each, there were no sketchbooks. But I felt the finished articles either weren’t finished to a decent standard or weren’t interesting enough to be a finished item.

The other UAL show was today too, although it goes on all week today was the only weekend date. That seems slightly mad as surely people need to see both if they’re thinking of applying to UAL. I don’t think I’ve time to get her there after school/work.

I want to take her to see the Morley show but can’t find the dates so if you can find out @mondaytosunday i would be grateful