Any interest in a non-Oxbridge/ non-RG parents chat?

[SockFluffInTheBath]

There are lots of threads about applying to Oxbridge and other ‘top’ unis, anyone interested in a thread for those of us with DC looking elsewhere? Not trying to be divisive, but there’s no ‘drop in centre’ thread for other unis, and I thought it might be good to have a space to chat sometimes.

[Title edited by MNHQ at OP's request]

Thanks @HPFA had spotted Swansea but not Bangor 👍

@SockFluffInTheBath DD is doing Human Geog at MMU and loves the course. It really is a smorgasbord of so many things: Geography (obviously), politics, history, sociology, environmental studies, economics and so on. There are modules on all of the above plus planning/marketing/conservation and all sorts. Also lots of transferable and real word applications/skills. It's a great option.

Ds is wavering too @SockFluffInTheBath between PPE and Economics. I think he thinks the latter will make him more employable/attract higher earnings. He also loves a challenge. But he’s really genuinely interested in Philosophy- which I think will also be challenging.

Oh dear @crazycrofter ! I can see the thought process there, it’s very logical. It’s a huge step for them, part of me wants her to just get the blooming form in, but it’s not forever. This time next year she will hopefully be settled and content.

No skin in the game any more, but DD2 graduated from Uni of Leicester in the summer with a Masters in NatSci. Originally rejected from Cambridge after interview, she was interviewed by Leicester then they made her a really good offer. Not long after that, they said that if she firmed them, they would make it unconditional. We went for an impromptu visit and got a tour of the student village. We both got good vibes so she firmed the place, taking all the pressure off her exams. Just before A levels started, they messaged her to say that if she got a certain number of UCAS points, they would give her a scholarship. DD duly did and it paid for her entire y2 accommodation.

It's a very diverse city but not expensive to live in. She received excellent pastoral support and the study abroad team were amazing. She landed a great job using her degree, in particular her lab skills from her Masters project. Definitely a place to consider.

That's great to hear about Leicester as it's one of DS's 5 choices! Went to the open day and really liked the campus, course, halls - and i was pleasantly surprised by how nice the city is.

I went to Leicester 30 years ago and enjoyed it! We were also pleasantly surprised and impressed by the open day we went to why dd.

I did an MA at Leicester. It was part time so had to travel in. That ring road drove me crackers. I’m sure I never reached my destination the same way twice!

Very happy DD here, she submitted her UCAS application last night had has received an offer this afternoon from Essex. BBC for English Lit and Creative Writing. Essex is her insurance choice but we all absolutely loved it, so she’ll be very happy if she ends up there. So nice to have an offer but it all seems a bit real now!

Leicester looked like a good course for DD but they have a min G6 English Lang GCSE requirement for the course she’s interested in. She got G6 in Eng Lit but G5 in language unfortunately. It does frustrate me as it’s not her fault her secondary had the bottom 15% in England gcse results after terrible leadership, and she’s working her socks off at college now with good grades and far better teaching!.

Great news @HebeJeeby ! What is Essex like? And Colchester? We haven’t been but it’s one of ds’ choices

I think Leicester are known to be flexible @Autumn00Storms so it might be worth a try?

DS's school finally submitted his application this afternoon and his first offer came in before he'd even got home!
It's not his first choice but he is pleased that someone wants him 😁

@crazycrofter hi, we didn’t look round Colchester but some of the students we spoke to said it wasn’t very nice and so most students spent their 3 years socialising on campus. As a result they said the campus had a great social life and was very friendly and welcoming. The accommodation was the best we’ve seen at any open day and the campus just had a lovely feel to it. It is like when you buy a house, you just get a feel for it one way or the other. We went to the law and English lit taster lectures and were very impressed with the teaching and the lecturers. There seems to be a real buzz and sense of pride in the place from both students and staff, they are an up and coming Uni (top 30)and are very ambitious to do even better.
The campus is not huge (smaller than Loughborough for example) but very clean and leafy, with well-maintained modern buildings. I also spoke to a few students about the pastoral side of life and they said that the Lecturers check in with them all the time and really care about the students welfare as well as academics.

@MillicentFaucet well done to your DS, it’s so lovely when they get an offer and to know that they will be off to Uni somewhere next year. Fingers crossed for his first choice.

Thanks @HebeJeeby , that's useful!

At the Leicester open day the admissions tutor for DC's course said they can be flexible and asked that applicants contact him to discuss things like not having the standard offer grades.

So it sounds like they could be flexible if your DC contacts them? I think getting a 5/6 in a school with poor results indicates a good performance (compared to a kid getting 5/6 in an outstanding state or private school where they would have had better teaching and more support?)

@Autumn00Storms you should definitely encourage her to speak to the uni about that. I've spent a lot of time with the widening participation people this year (not because of our own DD but our foster daughter, from Kyiv, whose GCSE results in no way match her potential as she only arrived in the UK in June of Year 10) and they are very flexible for lots of reasons, even at the big name unis.

We visited Essex although DD didn't choose the course in the end.

Really liked the look of the campus and it felt very friendly. The accommodation was very well ranged between the mega cheap Towers (which looked like it'd be party time every night) and the posh but expensive. Plus points in between.

It's funny how surprised they are to find out someone loves them other than family.

DD got an offer from Hull which is sadly having financial problems and would probably be willing to make an offer to a pet hamster but she was still chuffed!

I don't think there's many universities that aren't having financial problems @HPFA . I work in an RG and there's a voluntary redundancy scheme ongoing. I think it will affect our dc wherever they go.

At least 80 universities are currently making cuts in staffing..in fact they all are, but some are more open about it. I think we plough on regardless and supporting those under obvious threat. You can go to a so called top.uni and have, as at UCL, a miserable experience because of the sheer quantities of students and teaching by under qualified postgrads.

Thanks for the input on Leicester it’s a really competitive course she wants to do hence taking a year out to get related work & life experience to boost her confidence and her application as she’ll have to interview. They had five English teachers leave in March the year she took her GCSEs and no replacements. The school was falling apart and years of poor ofsted but when you literally have no other choice it’s horrid watching your A grade kid so unsupported. My youngest is now HomeEd for a mix of reasons but we were never going to put her through a repeat of what my eldest had. They do have a new head in place and is making a difference at last.

Poor kid @Autumn00Storms - it is so horrid when things go wrong and you can't stop it. We had problems with two subjects at DD's school in a similar vein, and I felt so helpless- but at least it wasn't core subjects. Sounds like she is very determined - she will go far.

DD1 had her final offer in today (Cardiff) - that's 5 interviews and 5 offers, all before Christmas - very efficient. Foster daughter also has her first offer - a contextual from Manchester that looks very achievable.

Well done to your DD @minisnowballs