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!

It is @SeaofTranquility my son was going to apply to Imperial and UCL but once he visited York, Leeds and Aber he just wasn't interested in even visiting them - happy to stay in the north or go to the wilds of rural Wales and knows there are many routes to your goal. I just want him to be happy with his choice and the style of teaching.

From the other side, I have had lots of students who didn't get into Oxbridge as an UG but go there to do a postgraduate qualification and most of my best/most successful PhD students went to universities that wouldn't be consider aspirational on here as undergrads and were taught extremely well. It is such a shame that students are made to feel they have somehow failed if they don't get into to Oxbridge.

It is such a shame that students are made to feel they have somehow failed if they don't get into to Oxbridge.

Are students really made to feel like that though?

I think some parents have a bigger issue with the rejection than the students.

I think with paramedic science its hard because they're basically interviewing you for a career and checking a prospective students suitability and motivation, which is tough on an 17/18 yr old.
The paramedic science student i know took a year out after a levels and got in, ditto for the another young person now doing a nursing degree.

Still nothing from Liverpool - FGS hurry up and put her out of her misery. Also still waiting on Bath and hoping the guaranteed offer actually materialises. Offer holder day invites to Nottingham and Cardiff.

Well done to those of you with offers... and fingers crossed for those still hanging on.

I went to Warwick (as an Oxbridge reject) for History many years ago and loved it. The campus is a world within itself and does take some getting used to but it has (or used to have) a lot of farmland to one side, the lakes, plenty of halls and a lot of student housing - lots of people go to Leamington Spa. The library was fantastic too. The only thing I wasn't that keen on was Coventry itself but I think that's improved in swathes over the last few years and Birmingham is almost on the doorstep.

Still waiting on Bath here too. I wish they'd hurry up and get their act together!

DD just got an offer from Birmingham! Very happy.

@WriterOfWrongs that's brilliant news

Hear hear! @Mytholmroyd
And congrats @WriterOfWrongs on the offer!

@WriterOfWrongs great news. I went to Birmingham myself, it's fantastic. So they offer came through on UCAS on a Saturday?

Thanks all!

@lizkt yes it came through this afternoon, I asked DD when it came in because I was surprised it would come on a Saturday.

She says that this morning she got a “we’re still processing your application” email from Birmingham, which must have been automated, as she then later got the offer from UCAS.

Congrats to your dd @WriterOfWrongs. May I ask what she's wanting to study? Birmingham is a great uni.

Thanks @QueenMabby She’s applied for International Relations (or Politics & IR depending on the university).

Congratulations to all those that have had offers lately.

Well I am obviously not party to why they may feel like that but the expectation must be coming from somewhere - parents, school, peers? I certainly get that impression from reading threads on here. But academic staff don't think that at all.

My point wasn’t why they feel like that, it was do they even feel like that. Because that’s not my impression from reading on here, although you have a different view, so maybe we haven’t read the same posts.

I also don’t get the impression the posters who DC got rejected make them feel like failures at all.

DC will naturally be upset when they get an Oxbridge rejection, and their emotions will be heightened. It seems to me from reading that this doesn’t last for most. Practically all who go on to elsewhere are really happy with where they are.

A few DC will set their heart on it and may feel like a failure if they don’t get in, but there are always going to be students who put that pressure on themselves.

A large part of it comes from the sheer effort it takes to make the application.

This is something I hadn't appreciated until my son decided to apply.

The preparation for the test and then interview if you get that far is all consuming and it takes away from the time they have to concentrate on the A Level work.

If DC didn't want to go there there would be no point in putting in the effort. For some DC the weight of expectation comes from everywhere, themselves, their peers, grandparents and school itself.

Most will quickly get over it. My DS has but he was never a serious candidate in the sense that it wasn't an option until his year 12 exam outcomes.

For others, whose identity is built on academic success it is harder.

I just want to clarify something, not all DC who are disappointed by the Oxbridge outcome will have built their identity on academic success, most are much more rounded than that. But some do and the weight of expectation of others is also a factor.

One of my nephews was also unsuccessful, he said he was more bothered that he'd disappointed the expectations of others, including his school teachers, than he was about the actual decision. Schools, in particularly should know there are no guarantees and imo they are wrong to make YP feel like this.

Agree about the sheer effort @lifeturnsonadime - that was precisely my point the other day as to why I understand that not getting an offer hits hard for students & parents alike.

Shame your nephew felt a weight of expectation from his teachers. I agree they’re wrong to make YP feel like that.

Anyway, this has all got a bit too Oxbridge-centric, sorry for my part in that!

DD definitely feels the weight of expectation from 2 of her teachers because they have been telling her she is Oxbridge material since she was in Year 9. It has come from a good place and they have been nothing but encouraging and supportive but DD feels the pressure all the same. I don’t think these teachers ever expected for DD not to apply but I’m not 100% sure DD would have off her own back. But that’s potentially because she has never felt good enough on her own. If she doesn’t get an offer on the 24th she will feel like she’s let her teachers down for sure.

I echo that the sheer amount of effort in applying means that you can’t help but get invested.

Fingers crossed for your DD @Rollergirl11 that she gets an offer from the university she really wants to go to and feels would be the best fit for her, whether that’s Cambridge or elsewhere.

Thanks @WriterOfWrongs. Thankfully she has already had a really great offer from Exeter which is one of her favourite courses and she would be over the moon to go to. So that definitely takes the weight off!

Oh that’s great @Rollergirl11 !

@WriterOfWrongs meant to say congratulations to your DD earlier, if it wasn't our local university I think my son would have applied to go there.

Fantastic university and Birmingham is an underrated city in many ways.

DS has received an offer from imperial last Thursday and he didn’t check his email until Friday morning. His head of college congratulated him on Thursday and he had no idea why, he thought was for the Manchester offer which he has received in October.

Amazing, well done to your DS!