5 UCAS choices?

[mrsconradfisher]

Can someone confirm whether or not they have to apply for all 5 choices at once? DS has been told he has to apply for all now and can’t add more later. He is on a Gap year so has grades already (I’ve already done loads of posts about it). In theory he should get offers from the 2 he wants to apply for but obviously you never know. What he’d like to do is apply for 2 now then add more if he doesn’t hear anything or gets rejected. UCAS says you can add more but only if you have no responses, both he and school are interpreting that a different way!

He has to apply for them in one go. Is there a reason why he doesn't want to do that?

Yes. Very long story. After exhausting every possible Uni and course last year and a Gap year to try to get where he wants to go there are only 2 Uni’s he wants to go to.

Where are you getting this from? The UCAS website clearly says

You can choose up to five courses (all now or some later)

'https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/filling-your-ucas-undergraduate-application'

I think the 'adding more only if you have no responses' may be that if an applicant gets no offers from their original 5 then they can make some more choices

www.ucas.com/undergraduate/after-you-apply/types-offer/extra-choices

This section makes it clearer still 'If you did not use all your choices in your initial application, you don't need to use Extra, you can just sign in to your application and add another choice'

No he can apply for any at any time as long as he meets individual course criteria and obviously the deadlines!
My dds did this, applied early for some, waited to see what happened, then put in further applications in December! It’s absolutely fine with the unis and ucas. Schools apparently not so keen.
one of my dds changed her mind completely on what course, she still had one space, this was January, she phoned the uni and explained, wrote a separate ps sent it in by email. Got an offer the next day!
its fine

What he’d like to do is apply for 2 now then add more if he doesn’t hear anything or gets rejected. UCAS says you can add more but only if you have no responses, both he and school are interpreting that a different way!
Where are you getting that from? I've looked at the UCAS website and found two articles about adding more later (there may be more, I thought two articles were enough to prove the point!):
1 Applying for Oxbridge deadline then adding more non-Oxbridge later
2 See here, point 5
Presumably the 31st January deadline still stands, though, for the additions.

Does your comment about adding more apply if he selected five originally and all five rejected, then he can add.

x-post. Must type faster!

My understanding is that you can add up to 5 in total at any time. So apply to one or two with the original application and drip the others in if you want to. Ideally get them all in by the January deadline for equal consideration but, if the course is not competitive then that won’t matter anyway. Schools don’t seem to like it though probably because they want to know what their reference should be aimed at and feel that each application is complete.

Extra kicks in in late February for people with no offers or who have turned all their offers down. That is one course at a time.

He already has his results. I presume he will be applying for courses he reaches the requirement of.

It would be very unusual to not get an offer from first choice unless an interview or other test is a prerequisite.

In general, though that's unfortunately not necessarily the case for a few of the most competitive courses eg economics. Even with grades in hand it's definitely a good idea to have a plan B - and C.

He can add up until the January deadline,

That’s absolutely not true. Dd applied to two and waited to see what happened and then added more once she had those offers secured.

Yep my DD has left a gap and will add final one in January. Schools pretend you can’t do this - ignore.

This

This is totally incorrect.

He can apply for between 1 and 5 as he submits and add others after submission.

If he wants his application to have equal consideration make sure he adds them before end of January . Even then if he doesn't he can see whether a choice is accepting late applications and submit after the end of January.

I think I remember you, OP. If I do I very much hope that everything is now well aligned for your DS. Nevertheless I agree with @ErrolTheDragon ’s second point also. IIRC DS has a highly competitive first choice. Even though he has made the grades and we can be reasonably optimistic, it isn’t a dead cert.

In theory everyone who applies before the Jan deadline has an equal chance of admission, but for the most competitive programmes that isn’t always quite true.

It will be very painful if DS needs to return to the application process later in a poor frame of mind. I really think it is in his best interest to apply to at least one true Insurance choice now. By that I mean a dead cert. I don’t remember whether his second choice fulfils that role or not.

Just get it over with! And best wishes regarding that first choice

My daughter has grades in hand. She's chosen three for now, two she has above the grades for but super competitive (so just about everyone applying will have above the grades predicted too), one she should get an offer from as three grades above but you never know!
She applied to the first and then added the next two a day later.
She is hoping for an offer from the last before Christmas and if she doesn't get one will add at least one more.

This is wrong. You can apply for 1-5 to start with and add the rest whenever you like. DD started with three, has added one and has one space left to fill.

There isn't even any fuss over the fee now (used to be you only paid some of it if you applied to one, and then paid the rest when adding the second, but it's the same fee now however many you put down).

Schools / colleges are often woefully uninformed in DD's experience!

Thanks everyone, school have been very insistent that he must apply for all now and he won’t be able to apply for the other 3 later. I’ve interpreted the guidance on UCAS the same way as everyone on here but school are insisting that only applies if he gets no offers. @poetryandwine yes it is me! He has the grades now for Loughborough and Bath but both are so competitive that I’m not being too optimistic that he will get in. I will get him to forward the guidance on UCAS again and see what they say.

And his insurance would be the other course at Loughborough, this is the one he wants to add on later but he wants to see if he gets offered the pure Sports Science first. He’s convinced that if he adds both now that he might not get offered the course he has spent the last year trying to get onto!

The school is definitely wrong, which is better than if they knew you could but wouldn't "allow" DC to do it. I hope you can convince them.

It can be a really good tactic if for example your favourite two or three places are competitive and have different grade requirements, helps to be able to wait for offers and then choose an appropriate insurance. Or for early entry applicants who want to go to some non-Oxbridge autumn open days before deciding. Or in your son's case, I think that's a wise approach, don't give them any chance to offer him the other course unless you have to! Fingers crossed for Loughborough 🤞

Tbh I’d advise DC to just nod and smile at school and submit a few. They aren’t involved at all in him adding more later so don’t need to know.

Yes, afaik it's none of their business after the initial application is it?

Though I think it'd be good for the OPs DS to send them the links with the relevant bits highlighted so hopefully they stop peddling misinformation to other students.

Some schools, including ds's, say you need to apply for all 5 at the same time -you don't (or didn't 2 years ago when ds applied).

No idea why schools keeps saying you "have to" when it is incorrect. Or imply they can't send in their reference until all are filled in - that is not true either. It is either ignorance of the rules, or just wanting their box ticked that student is completed rather than letting the student make sure they are making the right decisions. Or they don't trust the students to keep on top of it.

ds applied for 3 in December and added another early Jan. Didn't add the 5th because he got an offer from 2nd choice mid Jan so didn't need to.

You do need to apply for all by the end of the Jan deadline if you want equal consideration.

Yes, DD's tutor told her all sorts of rubbish about UCAS applications - luckily we have been through the process before, but it's not great for DC who rely on their teachers for information.

This is tricky, because with my experience doing Admissions I think DS may have a point about the two L’boro courses.

Is the second L’boro course really a dead cert? Is there somewhere else he could apply now as a true Insurance option (that he hopes not to use)?