Process for applying for universities (open days etc) what do you wish you knew now!

[iwantavuvezela]

DD is currently in Y12 and starting to think about possible Universities and courses. Am I correct in thinking that next September (start of Y13) we could do a whole lot of visits to different universities and then you apply with mock results from Y12 - is that towards the end of the year?

Can anyone give me some good tips around this whole process (we are the very tip of starting this) but need to start thinking around it.

what do you wish you had known?

Help a fellow parent out here.

Thanks for the thread - just marking my place as my DS is year 12.

important to know!
Some unis like Nottingham do a summer school. If you attend this you can get up to 2 grades lower depending on the course and still get on the course. You also get £1000 bursary for each year of undergrad study.
https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/schoolsliaison/services/sutton-trust-summer-school.aspx

See if there are companies offering apprenticeship degrees in the areas your child is interested in.
My daughter did degree course at a Russell Group University, studying Software Engineering in conjunction with PWC. No university fees and a decent salary while studying. She came out with a first. There was no commitment to stay after she completed her degree, but they offered her such a good package, she has chosen to stay on.
There are lots of big companies who pay a government levy to support apprenticeships.
Worth speaking to careers teacher & advisers at local universities.

We went to open days at two unis in year 11 and same two again in year 12 with ideas of what we needed to re look at or bits we'd missed.
UCAS was good at giving us dates for what is needed when and school link person was great at organising Dd's entrance exam for one uni that gave her money and an unconditional offer. So read all the details, only one Uni offered an entrance exam for her.

She's my first at a UK Uni and I think it all went smoothly.

Good thread, good advice. Like pp said: Try to enjoy the process. I know I did. I enjoyed supporting him, Looking things up, booking things, like eg Durham hotel.

Attend alllll the open days, even unis they don’t think they want to go to. Don’t get fixated on Russell group, I attended a Russell group and hated it. Left after first year and went to tiny uni with a ridiculously high acceptance rate that originally I’d never ever have considered. Three/four years is a long time, make sure they’re going somewhere they’ll actually enjoy themselves, not slog through it feeling miserable.

For my 3rd, we had the delight of on line open days which we were able to attend post GCSE rather than first year of A levels. This was a godsend as we were quickly able to eliminate courses and unis that really weren’t what my DS wanted without travelling halfway across the country. Although interactive session are not readily available (some offer this still for internationals so may be worth seeing if you can join those), there is now lots of online content available.

I would also really stress how important it is to look at the accommodation. This struck off a few unis from my DCs’ lists. Bristol because the accommodation was too spread out an a bus route away, Cardiff because the accommodation was really poor quality compared to other unis etc.

Finally look at whether they feel comfortable living in the university city or town. This discounted a few places because they were “too boring” for my eldest DS or a few where my DD felt she would be unsafe. Interestingly, my youngest DS chose a uni that his brother discounted as too boring and he is very happy there. So in the end it does all come down to the student and the fit for them.

Thank you all so much for the advice posted so far. I have a DS in Y12, who is autistic and I’m wondering where to begin with him, as he has no real preference of course at the moment. I feel that my son will be better staying at home and commuting to university, but I am happy to be led by him.
I’ll keep checking in on this thread for your tips!

Once your DD knows what she wants to study, look at the course content. Depending on the field, some courses vary widely between universities in the modules they offer, the number of elective modules (vs. compulsory), how theoretical vs how practically oriented each course may be. Your DD can then se which courses appeal more to her, not just university and location.

Are you on wiwikau? I wish I had found that earlier before DD1 was applying.

We are in the thick of this now. Train strikes scuppered our plans for open days in the summer, so we are now desperately tearing around the country every weekend to fit them in.

Some already have their summer open days listed, so worth looking now. Most seem to require you to register, and they do get fully booked, so don’t assume you can just turn up. Expect to be a few hours: campus/department tour, subject talk, general welcome talk, and also a look at accommodation.

If you know for sure what subject you are looking at, start to research now. Different courses vary hugely in terms of modules offered. Eg. English lit at Cambridge is very different to the same subject at Manchester.

once you have applied in Year 13, most unis will invite all offer-holders to to offer days in the spring. That’s a chance for a more detailed visit, more specific subject/course information, and another look.

Question for you wise Mumsnetters. Can students use the extra points from additional studies in Year 13 - in his case A/s maths for the application? Ie can he add on the 12 poihts for his predicted C grade to the tariff points for other 3 ALevels?

I would look at taster courses and summer school courses in Year 12. The deadlines are often the Dec/Jan of Yr 12.

I found our school didn't really want to involve Year 12s in university thinking until about Easter in Year 12 (presumably as they were helping the Year 13s) and it was a bit late. There were some taster days for Kings engineering which we missed for example and we also missed the application deadline for the Headstart engineering residential course that my son would have found useful.

If there is any chance they are going to want to apply for medicine - definitely look into it sooner rather than later as the deadline is earlier and they have to take aptitude tests. Similarly if they are interested in Oxbridge.

Yes I believe so, unless something has changed.

Some universities ask for specific grades not points and dd only applied to those ones I think so she didn't count her AS but I know when I went to uni (some time ago) counted.

Something to be aware of (for you or any other parents of teens) is that if your child wants to apply to Oxbridge or is considering medicine (possibly vetmed??) then the deadline is much sooner. It always used to br 15th October, not sure whether it still is. If this applies to your children, then they really need to write their personal statement over the summer holidays, not wait until they get back into term.

You apply through UCAS and essentially make only one application to several unis. I believe 5. You do not rank them. Once you have offers back, then the applicant generally picks a first choice and a backup in case they don't meet their grade requirements. I would say grades and personal statement are the main things. Extra curricular are, IMO, not all that important. Schools like to put a lit of emphasis on your child needing to appear a "Well rounded individual", but the reality is that their hobbies will only feature in a few lines on their personal statement. There are exceptions to this (if they are applying to a theatre studies degree then they should have plenty of acting/theatre experience to write about, for instance), but unless the extra curricular is pertinent to the degree then I think they make minimal difference. Same thing for Duke of Edinburgh, etc. I just don't think unis care that much.

Thank you, this is very helpful

With both of my DDs we started with a local uni that was highly unlikely to be on their list, so they could get a feel for what an open day was like. It was decided that we would discount a few unis on basis of distance, so they didn't look anywhere over 5 hours away. This meant it was easier to pop up and see them occasionally through the year and made moving in days much easier as we took up their stuff and came back in the same day. It also means it is easier and cheaper for them to come back on the train when they want to.

Then they picked several they liked the look of and we prioritised 3 or 4 to visit. They both chose to go with me rather than with friends and we did overnight stays at them. Both were able to go on a residential to Cambridge with uni. DD1 was interviewed but didn't get an offer.

Taking into account their personalities and habits helped...
I found it interesting to see what they liked, or instantly disliked about different places. DD1 instantly hated Durham before we even got to the campus (too much like Chester apparently, which is on our doorstep). And they then put the nail in the coffin with how inflexible their modules of study were compared to other unis. She hated busy cities, but loved York and ended up going there. She isn't into socialising and liked the leafy campus for walking around.

DD2 hated York as too quiet and remote a campus. She wanted all the conveniences on her doorstep without a 40 min walk or bus drive. And she decided that everyone was too 'posh' to go there. Loved the big city vibe and has ended up going to Leeds. Which DD1 hates! Right opposite her block of flats is a shopping complex with every shop she could have wanted as well as the cinema, nightclub and lots of takeaway options.

Thank you everyone for your advice and all the information this thread has accumulated.

I have taken the advice on board and am making notes of open days for next year and getting on uni email lists. Most of the open days now seem to have ended and start again in the New year.

@DrMadelineMaxwell took your advice and last weekend took DD to a local(ish) Uni not on her radar to get her mind into open days, getting a feel for different campus vibes, gathering info etc. I also feel a little more in "control" of what is happening. DD is busy with school and focussing on A levels, so whilst I have time I am using it to gather info so we can really harness the time over summer (and earlier to visit Uni's).

When i finally get any useful information I will be sure to post it here