Applying for different degrees or reapplying?

[Autumntreesss]

I posted awhile ago but application is getting closer and I am concerned about DD limited choices.

She wants to study Design Engineering at Imperial. Second choice is Product Design Engineering at Loughborough University.

That’s all as she can apply for; Bath has Integrated Design Engineering but needs Physics which she isn’t doing.Strathclyde has Product Design Engineering but needs physics. Other Product Design Engineering courses are not accredited.

Shall I persuade her to apply for other courses: Bath and Sheffield have other engineering degrees and courses which don’t require physics: Structural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science and artificial Intelligence.

Or should she apply for what she wants? And if she doesn’t get an offer, take a gap year, do physics, some work experience and reapply again?

She is predicted 3 A stars, but likely to be 2 or one A star and the rest A. But can’t really tell yet; let’s hope for at least 2 A stars

Central St. Martin. Bristol. Maybe check course modules because it could be under a slightly different name.

I’d be inclined to go with the second option - although I’m a big advocate of gap years for all kids! I am certain that physics will be helpful in her degree, without it she may struggle.

How competitive is the field of Design Engineering?

With those PGs, it appears that Imperial/ Loughborough are reasonable choices for a Firm and Insurance place. If both offers fail to materialise, it may be for a reason that is not related to PGs or easy for DD to fix. Applying next year with excellent but slightly lower grades in hand would not address this point. Therefore if DD has any enthusiasm at all for other degree programmes, it would be prudent to apply now. She can always decline.

Also, if she decides to make Loughborough her first choice, she will need an Insurance choice with a lower offer. She needs this less than most candidates, but stranger things have happened. Again, she can always decline later. That’s hugely preferable to realising belatedly that you should have used your 5 choices.

At this stage, is it an either/or?

Presumably she can apply to imperial and Loughborough for the courses she wants, and also three of the others that don't need physics. There's no down side to doing that, is there? (Unis only see the application to them, they won't know she's applied for other courses).

Then she can see what offers she gets, be able to go to offer holders events and make a more informed decision about which, if any, of those offers she accepts.

Whether doing any other type of engineering without physics is a good idea, I'm dubious about tbh though. What A levels is she doing?

You can add universities to UCAS in stages so maybe initially she could just have her 2 preferred choices and then depending on if they offer or not adjust the other 3, as long as it's before end of Jan deadline it's fine. The only thing is some universities are slow to offer but it does buy some time at least.

Thanks to PPs for using language more precisely than I did. I too only meant that I think DD should apply to other programmes during this cycle. Sometimes it easier to do it all at once; against that I am highly optimistic about Loughborough. DD also seems a good candidate for Imperial but one never knows

As pp says, you never know with Imperial. Applicants with higher than required predicted grades get rejected with the reason given that they do not have space. I guess that's true - the courses are oversubscribed with applicants who all have predicted grades exceeding those required, Imperial often don't interview so reject just based on the application and it can seem hit or miss if a place is offered.

PP advice to apply to those two then add three more later is good. You never know what your DC will feel about things in a couple of months' time. But there is some rule or other about doing that after receiving a rejection that you should probably double check.

Your DC might want to take a year out, but taking A level physics in that year out is a different matter, and I guess there's a reason it wasn't picked the first time, and as the threads about retakes often mention, getting a high enough grade is not guaranteed, and that's a year gone.

Or should she apply for what she wants yes. Degree course selection should come down to: are you good at the subject and are you interested in it. If the student isn't that interested then they won't want to do the work, no matter how good they are at it. Student motivation at university works in an unpredictably different way to school.

Thank you all. We are going to see Bath this weekend and check other courses she may be interested in.

She is doing DT, Maths, Chemistry. Didn’t pick up physics as said she didn’t enjoy it as much but got a 9 in GCSE.

She has to put all options by the deadline? I guess she won’t have heard from IC or Loughborough by then?;her school submits applications in December.

It varies when you hear, anything from a next day acceptance or rejection to timing out with no response in May for places like LSE. Though worth finding out from others who've applied how quickly they respond, Student Room is good for finding out. Bath for DD was an offer next day, Oxford and offer on 10th Jan, Bristol and offer after a couple of months but it gave her flexibility as if Oxford had not offered might have put different options. It's useful also for the undecided.

Yes, they accept/reject at different time, from within a couple of days.

If the course requires A level physics, there will be physics content at and above A level physics probably, so does your DD want to study things like that?
Have you done this website:
Which Degree Courses Do Your A-Levels Suit? - The Uni Guide

I'm pretty sure it's fine for her to apply to 2 and then add up to three more later within the UCAS deadline. What they can't do is apply to a couple, get a rejection and then apply to 4 more ... it's 5 in total. I think there's an exception if they get no offers from their original 5. But it's all fairly clearly explained on ghe UCAS website.

Has she looked at https://tedi-london.ac.uk/ ? My friend's son is there and doing really well. This is not remotely my field though, so ignore me if it's not relevant.

Didn’t realise some universities offer so early; doubt it will be the case for IC & Loughborough; I think both have interviews,

First child going to uni and DH and I are foreigners so did university somewhere else. Still trying to understand the process.

Will ask her to look at it. Thank you

Didn’t realise some universities offer do early; doubt it will be the case for IC & Loughborough; I think both have interviews,

My DD had her application in early because it included Cambridge. All 5 of them interviewed, all were done before Xmas except iirc one which clashed with another so she needed a later date. They don't wait for all applications in before starting interviewing and offering.

Loughborough (caveat to my comments: DS2 is there!) don't (always) interview - DS wasn't interviewed and neither was his pal who got a place there for engineering (DS does bio). OTOH it was late offering – February IIRC, certainly after he had had offers from his other choices, which were mostly city RG options.

I agree with everyone else – apply for what she wants and then fill in with other possible courses as and when. As long as it's before the Jan 2025 deadline it's fine.

I often say this but it bears repeating: if a student was not sufficiently enthused by a subject too want to take it for A level in and of itself, then I would question if they would enjoy a uni course that required it and presumably included elements of it. So if someone says "I have to take chemistry even though I hate it, bc I want to become a doctor" I would wonder if medicine would actually suit. I suggest your DD looks at courses with no physics requirement or content.

Wrt interviews and offers: DD had her application in early and had five offers well before Christmas (no interviews) – this was for English; DS (biology) was later applying, got his application in about Christmas time and had all but Lboro offering before the end of Jan. Again, no interviews. This may vary for engineering. Or it may not. And of course my story is just one (or two) sets of anecdata and proves nothing.

Thank you all for your input; it has been helpful in clarifying the application process.

I spoke to DD, she is not really interested in other courses; she said she was something with more creativity on it. Design Engineering and Design Technology have been her favourite subject since she started in year 7.

I also looked at Bath Integrated Design Engineering course and is only accredited by the institute of mechanical engineering so probably quite mechanical based, hence the physics requirement so doing physics in gap year is not going to be useful. It doesn’t have other accreditations.

IC and Loughborough are still her only choices. Both don’t require physics and are accredited by IED, IET, IME. So hopefully she will get an offer

With those predicted grades her chances of offers from those two are extremely high. She only needs two.

She only needs one if it's achievable!

If she didn't get an offer from IC would she be happy with Loughborough? Is there an entrance test? You could look at stats for applications to offers which is now listed on UCAS (I believe for most courses).

Sussex?

https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/product-design-with-an-industrial-placement-year-bsc#entry-requirements

It's accredited by the IED. Or does she want something with accreditation by other bodies as well?

Thank you. She wants engineering, not product design only.

We went to see Loughborough. She liked the course too but said she preferred the course at IC, but I think is a good insurance choice.

We are going together to IC on the 14th as the first time she went with a friend and a bit late as she had an exam in the morning

I think IC is 1 offer for 7 applicants and Loughborough 70% chance, will check UCAS

Has she ever considered architecture?