University Offers Coming In 23/4 - part 2!

[WombatChocolate]

Following on from the old thread which was getting full….come and share the highs and lows of the journey that is A Levels and UCAS!

Thank you all for the input, @Angrymum22 such a lot for you all, I truly hope that you're all in a better place and your DS is looking forward to uni this time.

@TenSheds agreed, you'd think that wanting to get some money saved would be reason enough in itself - DD already has a weekend job in a bar and if she could get 20 hours a week for 12 months it would be enough to top up her student loan so she wouldn't have to work whilst studying as she'd keep the job for holidays. Also has had a pretty torrid time in 6th form, school was taken over by an academy trust, challenges with friendship groups which went toxic, diagnosed with severe hypermobility and I think she just wants to be able to get some headspace before more big changes. But UCAS etc seem to think that universities will want a "good" reason for a gap year, like travelling, work experience in a related field etc - DD would be able to do plenty of volunteering as well as work but would be in her sport so completely unrelated.

It's just an idea for now so wary of putting too much emphasis on it in case she thinks I'm pushing for it - her dad is a b*^&%r for obsessing over an idea and pushing too hard which then puts her off, even if it's something that would be good!

Off to watch the videos on student finance that school have sent over now 😀

Congratulations to your DS @Revengeofthepangolins!! He has some great offers to choose from! 🎊🎉

Gosh @Angrymum22 how much can one family go through?! I hope both you and your husband are recovering health wise. Sounds like your DS is a resilient young man able to tackle whatever life throws at him. I am sure he will grab university life with both hands!

@TheOnlyMrsW my daughter always intended to do an Art Foundation year then apply to do animation at an art school. After her results she had a change of heart and decided to apply for Sociology. So while she wasn't trying to defer, because her FAD was irrelevant to her degree choice she just didn't mention what she was doing at all in her PS. I think Cambridge supplemental form asked what she was doing and she just put in the course, but they never asked about it at her interviews. She has offers from Durham and Glasgow (waiting on Bath and LSE) so apparently, depending on course (imagine Maths or medicine etc it's different), they don't care about the gap year.
Applying with grades is a much less stressful process. You know exactly where to apply and offers are unconditional.

DS didn’t mention his gap year in his personal statement - it was all about the subject and what he had done already around that. He got four offers based on the deferred application.

He also applied to St Andrews but in that case he didn’t defer the entry as they have quite a specific policy on they website wanting people to apply in the relevant admissions cycle and they also want the gap year addressed in the personal statement if you take one. He didn’t get an offer from there so there was no drama over whether to take the St Andrews place and forgo the gap year which would have been a tough decision.

Exactly. Ds's friend took a gap year. He came from a low income single parent family and had lots of family responsibilities. A gap year enabled him to pay for his accommodation & sort some issues out without worrying. None of which he wanted to talk about in his PS.

Thank you. We are all doing well. DS has indeed matured beyond his years. He needs a few more weeks rehab with his shoulder but hopefully will be able to pick up some work in the next month or so.
He has become a bit of the man of the house. He has taught himself to cook a variety of meals and is becoming quite self sufficient. He is lucky that half his friendship group have taken gap years so has a reasonable social life.
It has been great watching the boy become a man while he’s still at home. Twelve months ago he was in a different place but seems to have worked through it and we are not worried about him coping.

@mondaytosunday Thank you, DD is intending to accept her place (assuming she gets the grades required) and defer at that point if a gap year is the way she goes so that she knows her place is waiting and the year is as stress free as possible. She's fairly clear on what she wants to do and where but is quite struck by the idea of a break and some money in the bank...........that said it may be that she feels ok after the summer off and decides to go in September - it's the start of the conversation for us. Hope your DD is looking forward to her start at uni.

@TheOnlyMrsW .My DS decided he wanted a gap year early but school told to defer after applying. He did and both his firm and insurance were happy to do so and didnt enquire what he was going to do in the year. Got his insurance grades (actually the same as firm but different emphasis on subjects) then took year off. Worked, travelled, volunteered. Grew up and got over academic burn-out. Went off to Uni with some cash and happy to get stuck into it all. Seems to be working out just fine.

I think it must vary with uni. FWIW I asked UCL and Lings english departments if DS2 coudl ask to defer after getting a this year place and both said it would be fine - sounded like a totally admin point. No questions about why etc. I think some others are more tricky about it - eg I thu k Durham english not so keen. But it is that micro. So you could always do a quick abstract question to the relevant admissions departments on a no names basis to give you more of an idea in the background

@Revengeofthepangolins that's great news.

@Angrymum22 that is some year & puts the minor niggles into perspective for sure. Glad you are all doing well.

It really would be so much less stressful if everyone applied grades in hand!

I've actually seen online that the English dept at UCL are still conducting interviews and I think your DS is the 4th person I have seen online that has an offer, everyone else has either had the interview or is waiting for an interview. Not sure what's going on tbh lol. DD has firmed UCL anyway so we are waiting to see if their is an offer day but I don't think this will be announced until more offers are given.

Does anyone know - for courses that include an optional year abroad, is the maintenance loan still available for that year? Specifically Student Finance Wales if that makes a difference. I can't find anywhere on the website where it says it's not available but then again it doesn't spell out that it is either.

@catmomof3 how curious re UCL. And congrats to her on firming UCL. It looks like an amazing course and it is so great when they can see their path and what they are aiming at. Make sure she hits the accom deadline which used to be earlier than one might expect (or before the firming deadline). My elder son is at UCL

Sorry to jump in on this thread and congratulations on the offers at UCL. DS has firmed and offer for history and has an offers holders day later this month. I am getting frustrated by the accommodation portal which states that it is open March 2024 but doesn't give a date. If any of us hears anything about this opening can we share the info?

Congratulations to all for the last lot of offers. @lifeturnsonadime my daughter had an offer from UCL for history a few weeks ago, but hasn't heard anything about an offer holders day. Grateful for any info you can give me. Thank you

Hi son has an offer holder day on March 20th, he was emailed about it a few weeks ago, he received an offer at the beginning of January. I don't know if they are sending them out ad hoc, perhaps she should call and ask if she hasn't had an email?

Does your daughter think she will firm UCL?

Thank you. Will nudge her to call admissions. She really likes the course, but hasn't been on any kind of open day, so will wait until then to decide between UCL and Durham. Also still waiting to hear from Scotland, but like others on here, she's getting a bit fed up with them taking so long!

@Revengeofthepangolins Accommodation opens at the end of the month and I think this year it's first come first served but she's been checking daily.

Do you know the date, the portal just says March 2024?

Someone asked about tuition fees at the Cardiff offer holder day and (iirc) they ask for 1/2 of the fees for the year abroad so assuming that this is covered by student finance, possibly maintenance loan as well? The best people to ask are the people in the department or admissions for the uni - we were given direct contact details for both at Cardiff so hopefully you could get those too? Sorry of that's not completely helpful!!!

Quite a random question but I can't find anything on the mighty Google!!!! Is there a way of finding out if a course has been in clearing in previous years? As well as musings on a gap year DD is fretting getting her first choice grades so I was wondering if the fact they were in clearing might be an indicator of whether they might take lower than offered? Not helped by the fact that both DD and I missed the deadline for Access to Leeds being 14th February not 14th April so chances of a contextual offer are out of the window which would have really helped.................

@TheOnlyMrsW there is no way to see what was in clearing last year - it was changing by the hour anyway. What you can do is see which courses still have vacancies now that the UCAS equal consideration deadline has passed. This is by using the filter for course vacancies in UCAS and selecting vacancies for your country. The grade drops don’t appear until much closer to results day. Last year there were some big grade drops in clearing and lots of people where accepted onto their firm or insurance courses without meeting their offer grades but it was perhaps an unusual year with the boundaries going back close to 2019 and maybe predictions were higher than they should have been.

@TheOnlyMrsW what subject is it you’re interested in and what unis? I screenshotted DDs subject in clearing at about 8 unis on A level results day last year.

@SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun thank you, will get DD to have a look. @GuacamoleinmyDMs it's geology 😊

My DS has his UCL offer holder day on Friday 15th. The accommodation office would not give us a specific date unfortunately, just said end of March. Sounds like it will be stressful and my DS is not on the ball with checking his emails so I would appreciate any heads up and I will do the same.