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!

We're back from Exeter - was a bit meh for DD. She didn't want to look at accommodation and I don't think the subject taster lecture helped much. She just can't decide on a subject. I think she feels she should do one thing but her heart is in another one.

So DD, who has ABB offers from York and Sussex, can go down a grade for each grade above C for EPQ at York. This has pleased her - although she doesn't know the epq grade yet!
We're tackling finance and DSA tomorrow....

We are just back from Exeter. DD still really likes it and she thinks she prefers over Durham. But she still feels like she should firm Durham over Exeter because it’s more prestigious. Also 2 of her close friends are firming Durham and they are all on a par academically so once again makes her feel like is she doing herself a disservice by not going for the more prestigious out of the two. I guess you can’t help what you like though.

@Jaxx DD has just discovered Moberly on the Exeter website. It’s cheaper than East Park and new Lafrowda but modern with 3/4 double beds (which is a huge plus for DD). It’s by Birks Grange and Duryard so one of the furthest away but we walked to it today and it’s just over 10 mins from the centre of campus. It’s also not oversubscribed whatsoever. I’m not sure why it’s not more popular tbh. @lastdayatschool would you or your DS happen to know?

@Rollergirl11 asked DS about Moberly.

He said it's popular with international students but has no idea why. He also said to look on tiktok as there's a lot of Exeter halls reviews on there.

Well he has made a decision and is going to firm Durham at A*AA and insure Exeter at AAB (with A or above for EPQ - which while not confirmed has been strongly indicated). There wasn’t anything he didn’t like about Exeter, he just prefers Durham and I am pleased as I think he will benefit a lot from the college system.

What I hadn’t foreseen was that he might put a catered, Bailey college (St Johns) as his first preference above Stevo. He is going to email their catering team to get some example menus and see how flexible they can be. Although much improved from the years he would only eat beige food (apart Doritos and skittles) he still has issues. Self catering would fix this, but would also involve him learning to cook a much bigger range of meals. He also needs to check on the likelihood of him being able to start in halls beyond the first year - he may not need or want to, but having that possibility will be reassuring.

Thanks @Rollergirl11, I’ll take a look if he doesn’t get his grades for Durham!

Thanks for that @lastdayatschool. It makes sense as have hardly seen Moberly discussed anywhere on the usual forums.
On the Exeter website it shows the same room pictures for Birks grange as Lafrowda. Do you know if they are the same in reality or they’ve just used the same pics on the website? DD seems to be favouring rooms with 3/4 doubles over other options which is why her interest was piqued by Moberly and why she’s not that interested in Birks at the moment (her reasoning is single beds plus being further away makes less attractive whereas at least Lafrowda is fairly central and sociable which is another tick).

@Rollergirl11 just asked DS and yes, New Laf rooms are identical to Birks rooms. He's got plenty of friends in there - they reckon only difference is how noisy Lafrowda is through the night

@Jaxx remind me what subject your son applying for?
@Rollergirl11 it's tough - as you know my DD didn't take to Exeter at all on open day so didn't apply there, but she is looking at the subject rankings between the ones she did apply to (three are in the top 5, Durham at 8) as a factor in her decision. I know this changes year on year, but not by much. Durham ranks quite a number of places above Exeter for English (that is your daughter's subject?), but if she gets the 'feeling' that Exeter is the right one then it's not like it isn't an excellent university! I think she needs to go with her gut, but I expect they will all second/third/fourth guess their choices!

Exeter offer holder day here too. DD hadn’t been to an open day and was thinking of it is her likely insurance. Came away very impressed with both the uni and the set up for her course and is now up in the air over whether to firm it instead of Edinburgh.

Still waiting on Bath and Leeds, but went to the offer holder day at Sheffield yesterday (insurance, last minute addition to the application) which he loved. So tempting to advise him to ditch Bath, which is his first choice, and just go for Sheffield as he should easily meet the grades and their accommodation is already open for booking.
But I know he really wants Bath, so the waiting game continues...

@mondaytosunday yes DD did look at the league tables for English to base her initial list off of. They do vary and while Durham is a number of places above Exeter in some as you say, The Sunday Times 2024 league table places Exeter ahead of Durham for English. In fact I think currently Warwick is ahead of Durham for English placing at No 5 pretty much in most rankings. DD holds an offer for Warwick too but she prefers the course at Exeter over all of them. There is so much scope to tailor your degree to your own interests with an impressive list of optional modules. The course is a huge part of it for DD of course. But I think it’s just the whole vibe of Exeter that she likes.

@PumpkinKnitter sounds like you’re in a similar position to us then! Remind me which course your DD is going for?

@jaxx there is an Insta feed mouthfulofmarys which has a daily menu feed, I think most of the Durham colleges have the same menus...

We missed the Durham offer holder day in March so are going to Durham & Liverpool in April, DS has already submitted his choices with Durham first & Liverpool as insurance...a bit rash before looking again but he knows what he wants!

We are now into the two week Easter break. DS will be 18 on Thursday so I anticipate a few days break in the revision, although the exams feel very close now.

@Rollergirl11 Neuroscience. DD has had her heart set on Edinburgh for a couple of years so this is a bit of a curve ball! She much prefers the course at Exeter as it specialises earlier, whereas Edinburgh focuses on broader biomedical sciences for the first two years, and she was very taken with both the city and the uni. The St Luke's campus where she would be based has a very college-y feel which she liked. The department seems very supportive and friendly, and they actively encourage a placement year. Also they gave her a slightly lower offer than Edinburgh. Firming Exeter would leave her with no real insurance (only Bristol with the same offer) but it should be very achievable as it is well below her predictions and was meant to be an insurance option. Edinburgh, on the other hand, is higher on subject rankings, has various brain institutes and research units (only London has more), offers a year abroad and has some really interesting elective modules. She also loves the city and choosing Exeter would be letting go of a dream. Tough call, but she has two great options.

Has your DD decided on Exeter over Durham, or is she still weighing it up?

Same here ref offer. Her Durham offer is A*AA whereas Exeter is ABC (standard offer is AAA). It effectively leaves her with no insurance as all her other offers are higher. Lancaster was originally to be her insurance at AAB but now Exeter is lower. DD’s predicted grades are much higher so it would mean that she’d be pretty much guaranteed a place which is something not to be sniffed at.

DD really loves the city centre and much prefers it over Durham. She feels like there is a better night life with more clubs and bars whereas Durham social life seems to be centred around the college bars. Plus there’s an open air pool on campus and it’s close to the beach (DD likes to swim). She also prefers the accommodation. Finally it’s closer at 3 hours away from home rather than 5 1/2 hours and the other end of the country to us.

I think DD is pretty much decided but she hasn’t brought herself to officially firm and insure yet. We will see what this week brings.

Seems a no brainier then @Rollergirl11!

Exeter is a great uni and DS also had an offer for neuroscience which he was seriously considering - it was his second favourite but same grades as his firm so got ditched. He also liked it because it was neuroscience straightaway rather than a general bio year first, which many places have. I remember Warwick was discounted for that reason.

Btw a friend's DS was at Moberly and really liked it - I think it's a bit quieter than some of the more central halls, but that was a definite plus for him, the opportunity to engage with or retreat from the hustle and bustle / lairiness 😂

Ds went to Exeter to do physics, but found it (the course) very challenging and swapped university and course after a year.

He loved the city but did find some of the, not sure how to put it, cliques maybe? difficult.

He went to an ordinary comprehensive and definitely found the majority to be private school educated. His accommodation was fine- one of the houses near the station.

He ended up at UEA doing a completely different subject and was a lot happier all round!

@Rollergirl11 it’s a complete no brainer – honestly worrying about minute differences in prestige between universities is a waste of time, much more important to go somewhere the way you love the vibe AND love the course structure! English at Exeter is very good indeed. and tell brilliant to go into A-levels with a very achievable offer.

@mondaytosunday History and Ancient History

Thank you @mondaytosunday and @Umbilicate, I think you’re both right!

Good to hear some feedback ref Moberly @stoneysongs. DD does like a bit of a party but also really likes her sleep and won’t appreciate being woken by noise in the early hours which sounds like it could be the case in some of the others.

And I totally get where you’re coming from @LameyJoliver ref cliqueyness.

DD3 was very taken with Exeter yesterday. She liked the look of the course (though she thought the classics presentation was much more engaging than the history one) and the campus and the location - we had a look round Holland Hall and the views are stunning!

So I think that will become her insurance rather than the Scottish unis, which is a lot more convenient for us logisitically too.

@Rollergirl11 She feels like there is a better night life with more clubs and bars whereas Durham social life seems to be centred around the college bars

Re Durham, that was very much the case when I was there - the town centre had a few nice pubs and 2 clubs (Rixys and Klute) but you didn't venture into any of these from Thursday to Saturday, due to the locals not liking students that much. I doubt much had changed in 30 years. Plus the college bars/bops are so cheap.

Exeter seems much different - DS and his crowd socialise in town any/all nights of the week and he says he always feel safe (albeit he's probably always had a few/many drinks which probably diminishes his risk radar)

@legosnowqueen thanks I will take a look - but St John’s catering isn’t part of the university central catering.

@BiancaBlank funnily enough my son preferred the History to the Classics academic session. Yet more evidence of different strokes for different folks.

@Rollergirl11 Exeter does seem to make more sense for your daughter - league table position/prestige isn’t that important - it is an excellent university.

@lastdayatschool I think Durham has changed somewhat since you were there. Dd and her friends go out any / all nights of the week and there is nothing conflict between locals and students. Durham has 5 clubs which whilst they are very different from some of the “cool” clubs in places like Manchester (I have a child also at Manchester) where they are open to 5am or later I imagine the Durham Clubs are similar to those in Exeter and other provincial cities with a more mainstream music offering. Some of the clubs are free entry and there are often themed nights (eg Taylor Swift etc). I would say that unless you want the cool, alternative club vibe of say Manchester then Durham is just fine. The Library (pub) and of course spoons are v popular with students. Dd and her friends go to their college bar a fair bit (it’s often shut to students not from their college) but don’t tend to go to others unless it’s a Bailey bar crawl prior to going to a club.

What Durham 1st years at dd’s college don’t do is have flat parties which is a staple in most unis as they don’t live in flats as they are a catered hall and live in 6 houses - I guess the JCR and to an extent house kitchen fills that gap. I guess it’s different in the self catered colleges.

Overall I would say that both my children have very similar social lives in terms of the things they do - the main difference really is that in Durham everything is no more then 5 mins walk from college.

Dd feels very safe in Durham and everyone at college looks out for each other. She finds the locals friendly and welcoming although has been saddened by some comments she’s witnessed from groups of boys from a different college which did little to dispel some of the more negative stereotypes of Durham students.

@KittyMcKitty obviously I bow to your superior knowledge relating to all things Durham.

However, in my defence, my parents do now live in Durham City (I grew up about 30 miles away in the west of the county) and, through their voluntary work with the Cathedral, where a lot of the other volunteers are university staff; they do report that there is still a Town vs Gown division of sorts.

Hopefully, it's not as extreme as in the 90s, when "student bashing" was a thing. However, I'd be willing to bet that most students still steer clear of North Road on a weekend.

5 clubs though - that's certainly a positive.