Swapping Firm for Insurance choice on Results Day

[BobtheFrog]

My daughter is in the strange position of getting an AAB offer from York and BBB from Warwick, her 2 preferred unis. Her predicted is AAB, the Warwick course is better ranked

The obvious thing to do is put York Firm and Warwick Insurance, because the other way round doesn't make sense - but she still cant decide, hoping Applicant Days help

But suppose things results day arrives, her grades are down a bit but York offer anyhow. Can she decline York and accept Warwick? Does she have to call Warwick first to make sure this is a place for her, because I assume Warwick will remove her from their 'offer list' as soon as York offer an acceptance

I think from what I remember is that you can't do this.

Unfortunately she won't be able to do this. When selecting your final two universities you enter into an agreement with both of them so if she receives the grades for her first choice, that's where she will go.

Would need to check Warwick still have a place before withdrawing York

Her only option would be to decline both offers and enter into clearing but there will be no guarantee that Warwick will have places as it is a highly sought after university.

If she wants Warwick, why would she not just put Warwick? She doesn't have to have a valid insurance if she is likely to meet the offer of her preferred university. If she is predicted AAB, BBB should be in reach....?

I’d put them as Warwick Firm and York insurance. That might seem crazy. But if worst case scenario happens and she doesn’t get BBB but BBC for example, if Warwick won’t take her, York still might. They are more known for taking applicants who miss their offer…and sometimes by a good margin.

Of course, only applies if Warwick is preferred option.

If W is her preferred choice she needs to firm W! She could put Y as insurance - but it would only be worth doing that if she knew W wouldn't accept with dropped grades and Y would accept with a big grade drop. Otherwise she needs another insurance offer.

If she wants to go to Warwick, she should put it first. I’ve also known several people who have gone to York when they didn’t get their needed grades, and people who have got into York via clearing.

They don't need to make a decision until beginning of June. Visit them again and see if it helps her make her mind up. I do think it is really hard for them to make this decision, there are so many variables and as someone who is a bit obsessive with researching before committing to anything, I don't envy them. DS is in the strange situation of his preferred uni also being his lowest offer - he had a contextual offer, so is unlikely to have an insurance, though I assume he'll put one down anyway just in case.

If she wants to go to Warwick pick Warwick, and then decide what to do from there. But putting your first preference as second choice would be crazy!

No. If you decline a firm offer that has been confirmed by the university on receipt of results, you also automatically decline your insurance offer and go into Clearing. This is why it's important to put your actual first choice as your firm.

We received a lot of data yesterday from our admissions department showing how much Russell-Group universities have been dropping the grades with which they'll accept students (not their published entry/offer requirements: the grades they actually accept). This makes it very difficult for students to know what an AAB or BBB offer actually means, as the AAB might take them with BBB anyway.

In some ways there's no difference between having BBB as your first choice and as your insurance. If you get lower than BBB in theory both could reject you and you'd go into clearing anyway.

Echoing other posters. She needs to put where she wants to go first.

it is unlikely that Warwick will be in Clearing and if they are it’s for a very small number of courses.

Just put Warwick first if that's where they want to go.
I think the accepting lower grades thing is very course dependent at York so depends what your DCs chosen course is. It's my DCs first choice and I can see on UCAS that they the lowest accepted in the past is the same as the contextual offer for their course so not that much wriggle room.
It might be that they should choose somewhere else for the insurance offer.

Does anyone know when the UCAS info will be updated for 2024? I know anecdotally that loads of kids missed offers at lots of top unis last year and still got accepted..

Yes as everyone says, if she likes Warwick best then put it as first choice. If she firms York and gets in she will lose the Warwick offer.

Great offer from Warwick btw - they must really want her. What course, she asks nosily?. My dd loved the Eng lit course at Warwick but sadly didn’t get the grades. It ended fine tho! Good luck to your dd.

You don’t have to have an insurance btw, or for it to be a lower offer. Ds2’s insurance was the same offer as his firm, as he wasn’t so keen on the two lower offers he got. We figured they might wiggle tho it was 2021 so in fact unlikely. Luckily he got his grades).

Thank you - it was the process question I didn't fully understand, UCAS seems to change the rules and not tell

as to how to pick between the two - that just keeps shifting . .

Warwick seems the 'logical' choice - slightly better in a few respects eg course quality, uni reputation, industry connections, employability and nicer campus.

York is more the 'heart' choice - my DD says "it just has a nice vibe", whatever that means. The city is lovely and not far from home, And the work ethic seems slightly less intense

Applicant Days in March should help. Maybe

Ultimately she is in the envious position of having to choose between 2 nice choices, either will turn out fine I am sure

The offer days should definitely help but honestly, she has to choose where she feels most comfortable and where she can see herself living for the next 3 years. It's alright everyone saying choose Warwick but my son just didn't like the feel of it and the location, more to do with 2nd year living, not the campus. He just couldn't see himself there no matter how well regarded the university was.

with you on that :)

My other DD loved Bath from the first visit, she even Firmed it before Offer Holder day (against all advice)

Then at the Offer Holder day the course folks we met didn't really impress and it just didn't feel that great. The final straw came when some of the students we met where deeply unpleasant, if I had know who to complain to we would to have.

Anyhow, she changed her mind, it took some sorting out (and a bit of luck I suspect) but she went to her Insurance choice

It's funny how something like that can put you off isn't it? We had a completely different experience at Bath and it is where my son is now. (All be it not his first choice)