University offers coming in?

[WombatChocolate]

Just for nosiness and due to excitement about DS’s application going in, wondered if we could have a thread with people sharing offers as they are received, during this early phase.

Has anyone had an offer yet? Who will be first?

And totally realise that most won’t have applied yet and won’t do so for months and that’s absolutely fine and more normal.

Yes, I’d imagine that for courses which rely purely on predicted grades and which aren’t quite so hugely over subscribed, they can offer immediately to candidates who have predicted grades of 3xAstar or substantially above the standard offer. It will be those who are have predicted grades equivalent to the standard offer who might have to wait longer….as they wait to see if they can make the number of offers they need to make to fill (based on previous experience of how many will turn down the offer, miss their grades etc etc) without offering to those who simply have the basic required grades.

In reality, all but the most popular courses will end up offering to pretty much everyone who has the standard offer as predictions. But they might wait until they’ve seen the entire field. Given lots won’t choose them as their Firm choice and some won’t meet their grades then, they have to substantially over-offer.

Only just seen this thread,

My DS submitted on 26 September and had offer from Royal Holloway on the 29 September and QMUL last week.

KCL have now asked for additional information about his background because he has unusually low GCSE results for his A Level predictions due to mitigating circumstances and have said they will let him know within 14 days.

UCL have said they wait for all entries.

He's applying to Oxford for history which is why he's an early applicant.

Well done to all the offer holders!

Oh contextual offers are such a minefield!!! DD qualifies for some places due to area, income and the fact that neither I or her dad went to uni. Others she may also qualify as we're in the middle of an autism diagnosis, school think that due to being in special measures and being taken over by an academy trust last year they may all qualify for some consideration. But some courses take the information from their UCAS form, others it's a separate form which needs a teacher reference, others it's an online form and nowhere is clear as to when the extra forms need to go in...........don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for any assistance to get her where she wants to go but wish it was a bit simpler sometimes!

I hadn't realised they all had different rules, luckily KCL emailed DS to tell him they needed more information 24 hours before their internal deadline for it!

2 places offered without the supporting evidence.

So I've had a mad panic checking Oxford and UCL.

Should be a more simple process. Although my DS doesn't qualify for anything contextual. It's more about having an understanding of how we got where we are from where he was, also undiagnosed autism issues.

Yes - different process for most of DD's choices so hoping it makes a difference for her. She could potentially be ok without as predicted grades are 1 above the requirements but it only takes a bad day in exam season to blow everything up

I have to wonder if predictions will be lower this year, as so many seemed to miss their offer this summer. And if so, it may be easier for unis to give offers as fewer applicants may be predicted the target requirements.

@lifeturnsonadime Good that KCL have responded quickly.

Does anyone know how Unis handle applications? As in what is the process to sort applications - is it people intensive or do they use AI with automated responses??

I can imagine in my day it would have been lots of envelopes arriving that someone had to open and sort.

@Livinghappy I know for Leeds Geology (as that's the only admissions person I've spoken to) it's one person for the whole school of Earth Sciences and she goes through every application personally!!!! Something like 750 applications for the current intake 😮

@TheOnlyMrsW Thanks! So perhaps she does have piles of paper with Yes/No and maybes..

My DS submitted UCAS on Friday 6th October - Maths - and received an offer from Bristol on Monday! He was very pleased. Needs to fill in the supplementary form for Cambridge (long shot). Nothing yet from the others (Durham, Edinburgh, Bath)

@Tiggermum14 that was a fast response. Bath acknowledged after a week so they appear to be slower to process applications.

@Tiggermum14 that was quick!!! DS still waiting for hers to go in sigh........after pressuring them all to get personal statements finished by the end of September everything seems to have stalled and even the early entries are pushing to get in on time 😡.
Went to Manchester's open day yesterday and found it very disorganised compared to others so although she will still apply it's not moved up the list in terms of preference much to her dad's dismay but that's a whole other story
Keeping everything crossed that she likes Cardiff next weekend as otherwise an insurance might be difficult to come by

Congrats on Bristol @Tiggermum14! My daughter didn't fancy it after open day (nor Exeter) which has left her with two slots. And good to know Bath is a bit slower - we have yet to visit (though we know the city) and are thinking of doing so this half term but she'd like an offer first! At the moment it's her back up to Cambridge.

@mondaytosunday I’ve forgotten what course your DD is looking at. Has she considered Warwick? DD was really impressed with it last weekend. Think they have another open day next weekend.

@RabbitH0LE some students have narrowed down their choices in year 12 and have already done the summer open days or if more prepared the winter ones when they started year 12. As my Ds has an older sibling he has already visited a few universities on his list so no need for a revisit. Ds2's completed application went in earlier this week.

@WeeMadArthur1 to put it into figures, last year around 77,000 applicants had their applications in by the 15th October deadline, around 50,000 of those are non medicine/vet so either Oxbridge or just very prepared. By the time the January deadline rolls round a total of 610,000 applicants have their application in which includes that initial 77,000.

My son is at a state secondary, they prioritise vet/med/dentistry or Oxbridge, everyone else is in the queue behind. That means the teachers write their references first.

@Livinghappy there are some posters on this board who were admissions in their uni or still are. I believe they do personally look, some do read the personal statement some don't it depends on the course and whether there was a admissions exam that gives them another grade to look at. I am guessing that when applications come in they have a definitely, maybe and a no pile. They add to each one. But some offers do come out immediately as shown on this thread.

Ds1 had the standard Warwick email "Because we receive many applications close to the deadline, it typically takes until the end of March before we have completed this review. Depending on the applicant pool in any given year, some individual applicants may hear from us before this point" Ds1 had an offer from Warwick before mid November.

Massive congratulations to all those whose children have offers already.

State comp here, they aren't submitting any forms til December except the Oxbridge and medicals. I hope there's some places left!

@calyxx the vast majority get their applications in after the early entry deadline. It isn't done on a first come first served basis. And remember that every applicant usually has a preference as to where they will go. If they are Oxbridge then their first choice is usually that the others are just in case they don't get an Oxbridge offer.

Each applicant chooses 5 but will only accept one as a firm. Therefore universities will offer out way over their place numbers as they know not everyone will accept their offer. There are statistics online that show how many they offered to and how many accepted. For places like Oxbridge the numbers closely match because not many would turn it down but other universities have large differences from offers to acceptances.

And remember, that you cannot choose a firm and an insurance until all offers/rejections are in so some late offer unis hold up applicants accepting their place. If they have secured the unis they want they can withdraw their application from the ones outstanding to close the process down. Some unis start pressuring to book their accommodation months before results day. It is shitty. So technically you could be placeholding 4 offer places waiting for that last one who could be your first choice! I hope that makes sense.

DS got his application sent off on friday - finally. After much revising of the personal statement!
Good to hear of early replies - I didn't know that was a thing and thought we wouldn't hear back till next year.
He wants to do Maths and is trying for Oxford - but loved Warwick too so we have a few good options that he likes.
Fingers crossed... hope my nerves hold up!

I would ask them by email to submit your child’s UCAS form when it suits your child, rather than their December timetable. There is no reason they can’t.

Is the course your dc wants to do oversubscribed?

If they have people applying for Oxbridge/medical, it must be a good school and they must have already written the generic section about the school. It’s very little work therefore to submit your child’s form. I contacted my child’s school to ask them to submit his form and they submitted it - I’m not sure why anyone should have to wait if they’ve done their form. The fact that his form went in means that he has an offer now.

That said, universities are aware. Many operate an equal consideration policy and therefore will only give early offers to exceptional candidates and the bulk of the offers are given out later. Giving an early offer makes the applicant happy - getting the first offer in for someone means that when they are deciding what to firm and insure, that they have these positive feelings from the early offer. My friend’s dc got an early offer a couple of years ago, he was invited to something at the uni (not an interview) which turned out to be a lovely day - and he ended up firming it and going there. So it’s a difficult balance for the universities. Plus, universities have to offer many more applicants than places as everyone’s applying to 5 and thousands will have to decline 3 offers.

anyway - I’d ask the school to send it now.

Pls don’t worry. My state school dd’s form
went in dec via school and she got 5 offers eventually, inc St. Andrews etc. I’d be amazed if they ‘run’ out of spaces - they know what they are doing

Many operate an equal consideration policy and therefore will only give early offers to exceptional candidates and the bulk of the offers are given out later.

Just to be super clear, all universities operate an equal consideration policy, it's a strict rule that they are required to follow. Whatever your DC is applying for, as long as it's before the deadline, they will have the same chance as anyone else. They won't miss out because the course has filled up with people who got their form in early.

Universities do this every year, so might know for example, that DC predicted all A stars will always get an offer, in which case they might offer early. Some courses know they can offer to everyone who meets the required grades without the risk of the course becoming too full. Some choose not to make any decisions at all until all the applications are in. So anything could happen really, depending on course, uni and the approach they like to take.

Hi - application sent off today - Cambridge UCL Royal Holloway York and Kings College London all for Law.

Still hoping for more offers before the end of the month.

Several seem to say they use a collected field process and mostly don’t offer until after the end of Jan, BUT that they may make early offers for exceptional candidates or those with special circumstances.

I assume special circumstances includes contextual offers and possibly those with grades in hand. What do we think ‘exceptional candidates’ means? Is it those with 3 x Astar predictions or grades in hand? The vast majority of universities will be making those with such grades an offer. They know they will make an offer at some point, so do they decide to just offer to them early as they know those candidates cannot be beaten by better grades? I’m not talking about the few universities and few courses which are so so oversubscribed, which even with the fact they know all offer holders won’t firm them, or make their grades, they can’t offer to all 3x Astar…….I’m talking about the vast majority of other places and courses which will certainly be offering to all 3 A star candidates at some point.

Exteter for example openly acknowledge it uses a tier system where it ‘tiers’ applicants with those with 3x Astar predictions in tier one. It says it works down the tiers when making offers. They are popular but not so popular they have more applicants with 3 A stars than they can make offers to. So are those candidates likely to get early offers? Is there also a case that some unis are just speedier with their admin and getting ‘on it’ whilst others take longer to be processing and in a position to make offers? Just interested in the behind the scenes processing, which I know are often very secretive.

Yes, all universities will know roughly who to expect, and what sort of predicted grades they will end up offering to. For some courses it will be everyone who applies. DS got a very early offer from Exeter for example, and his predicted grades were AAB, which matched the standard offer.

So some offer early to the people they know they will end up offering to, but some prefer to wait until all the applications are in, often because there are so many great candidates that it's difficult to make those early decisions. UCL say they do a sort of halfway house where they wait for a certain number of applications to come in and then make some decisions about that batch. Presumably anyone who is marginal is kept on ice until later.

@WombatChocolate we live in a polar 2 ( low progression ) area so qualify for contextual for some uni and have grades in hand and still haven't heard from anyone !