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]

My son got an Aber scholarship! He is chuffed with his unconditional offer and £1000 in his first year. Absolutely over the moon, and ridiculously proud 😊

Brilliant news! Congratulations! My DD got an unconditional offer from Aber after the exam. So happy for her.

@llareggub that is so cool! Well done to him, and also to @sandytoeswales DD. V impressive!

Well done to both your kids, it's starting to get real now!

Amazing! It’s such a relief, isn’t it? Well done to your DD.

@llareggub @sandytoeswales what fantastic news! Congratulations to both your DC 🥂

DD is wobbling 🙈 Doubting her course and her uni choices. DS did the same this time last year, and did change via early clearing, and he’s very happy. On the upside, at this rate I will have so many grey hairs I won’t need to pay for highlights 😂

If she's still hankering after MFL at Aber I'd imagine it would almost certainly be in Clearing again this year.

Well done to your offspring @sandytoeswales and @llareggub !

@SockFluffInTheBath its stressful isn’t it?! Ds is in Cambodia, not due back now til late June so after the deadline to make choices, He’s not visited any of them and each time we speak about it he has a different view. He’d suddenly got fixated on trying to get Loughborough in clearing but from what I’ve read that’s highly unlikely, especially with BBC. I’ve suggested he just firm one of his offers and then visit them all in early July in the hope that they’ll all pop up again in clearing!

I was Whats Apping with DD tonight and during it I asked "Are you glad you chose this one? " to which she replied "Yeah, it's actually gone better than I expected."

Which translates as "It's really good"

I've finally got DD to firm and decline offers. Apparently Lancaster open their accommodation portal in April for people who've put them as firm so this gave her a kick up the arse!

There was a local news item about all the cherry trees being in blossom at Keele Uni, I said I'd love to go and see them as it's not far from us and DD said 'Nooo Mum, I declined them, you can't just turn up!' She really liked Keele when we visited but they don't do the course she wanted so I suspect visiting it when she knows she isn't going there would make her a bit sad.

DS is holding off firming anything until he's done the offer day at Liverpool on the 26th. We are pretending not to notice all the accommodation emails dropping into our in-boxes for now as he has no idea whether he should be looking around Notts or Liverpool for now. I am not quite sure how to advise him as I don't want to end up scrabbling at the last minute as we did with DD.

DD ended up at MMU through clearing and I honest to god believe to this day that we got the last student room in the whole city. It was a nightmare.

I'm glad that DD decided early on that she wanted Lancaster (after visiting Keele, Cardiff, Aber, Bangor, Warwick and Lancaster (thrice!)). She still found declining three weirdly hard, and said it felt like a major step.

I'm not even sure if Lancaster is first come first served accommodation wise but she also has to choose a college so has got to do a bit more research then just choosing a room type.

Lancaster isn't first come first served. You just indicate college preference and type of accommodation preference and then they allocate all at the same time after results day.

All of the colleges are broadly the same and the students are fiercely loyal to their own college. There is lots of inter college competition. The colleges have different accommodation types though.

Thank you. DD doesn't want to pay for ensuite so that rules out certain colleges I think. I hate the idea of the Bowland Tower (just because I hate tall buildings!) and she's not keen.

Bowland is the largest college and most of its accommodation isn't in the tower. The Bowland Tower accommodation isn't available to first years anyway so you don't need to worry about that. It's only available to students from Year 2 upwards. She would be in Bowland main or the old Lonsdale college which is virtually identical to Bowland main (Lonsdale moved location from North spine to South spine). Bowland is a really sociable college and probably one of the easiest for mixing because of the layout (long corridors) and the shared spaces.

@Sweetpeasaremadeforbees just wondering if you or your yp know anything about the townhouses. Dd has finally firmed lancaster and likes the look of them!

I think the townhouses were mostly in the County college? DD received details of how to set up an account a few days after firming Lancaster. She basically filtered the accommodation down to sharing kitchen and bathroom and then it gave her a list of the college options that offered that. She had to choose two colleges, I think she's gone for the £142 ones in Bowland and Furness. The townhouses were more expensive because obviously you're only sharing a bathroom with one other person, but you have to clean all of the house yourself I think.

I've made that sound really complicated but when you look on the portal, it is actually quite straightforward!

@Sweetpeasaremadeforbees thanks that really helpful, will await the email not had it yet but only replied on Wednesday night and it's Easter! She's not really too fussed as all the accommodation looks ok.

It’s been a while, hope all the YP are ok and not stressed.

How are we all doing? On countdown? I’m looking at what’s coming through online. Making a list, counting it twice, and hoping we don’t need it if the grades come out right!*

*Sorry. It doesn’t quite rhyme. No matter how much I want it to.

DD has definitely enjoyed her first year at Aber very much.

I have my concerns about next year. Not only will the modules start counting but the French ab initios will be joining with the post A Levels which their tutor has told them will be "tough".

She's made some money over the summer and a cleaning job turned into an offer to cover for the receptionist which was lucky.

There are obviously going to be some good Deald in Clearing again this year.

DD was looking at clearing earlier as she’s decided she doesn’t want to go to her insurance. She asked if she has to go to her firm if she gets the grades, seems she found some other courses she likes the look of. She did switch courses quite late on, so it was a bit of a rush, but it’s not so far off the path to the ones she’s looking at now.

How are you all seeing what’s in clearing already?

A few unis have released their clearing grades.