DD has higher than expected predicted grades- any ideas for a ‘stretch’ option for economics?

[LysistrataSusanCarter]

DD had a list of three universities she liked in her expected grade range and two insurance options. Her favourite is York, which asks for AAB.

Predicted grades have come back today and hers are A, A, A for economics, classics and maths. I think that York would still be her first choice, but she is being encouraged to at least consider a couple of more ambitious options too and she is now also a little worried she is undershooting. Her interests are more in health and development economics than in finance.

However, we are a bit stuck about other options. She doesn’t want to be in London, wants a campus university and no more than a couple of hours from london on the train. She is autistic and dyslexic, and would need good support around neurodiversity. There are several (e.g Warwick, Cambridge) where an offer is highly unlikely. The only other options we can think of are Bath and Exeter (not sure she has high enough GCSE grades for Bath- they were 6-8’s.) it’s not the end of the world if she overshoots and doesn’t get an offer somewhere as she loves both York and Sussex.

Before we go back to the drawing board, I wonder if there are any other suggestions?

I agree resilience needs to be cultivated, and very selective programmes will always reject the majority of qualified applicants. It is the opaqueness I object to.

For all the criticisms their admissions policies attract, some of it justified, Oxford and Cambridge are relatively transparent about the criteria they use.

I strongly support contextual admissions.

Also would point out that Birmingham has a course “liberal arts and science” and you can pick any pathway - it’s super flexible eg can choose economics with health / development courses feom
other departments.

Birmingham is a campus uni - really worth a visit.

They also do PPE which at Birmingham is Social Policy, politics and economics.

I will caveat that with this being the course my DS switched from because it was disorganised and the workload was not managed. But I am sure it has improved form there. It had lots of focus on things like global politics, health and disability etc.

Has your DD looked at social policy at all?Can be combined with economics at several universities.

Following up on this, in general I think there is a lot to be said for getting a fairly broad education at the first degree, and specialising for the MSc.

This qualifies you for more entry level graduate jobs, and it seems that many jobs specifically in the realm of Health Economics require an MSc. At the UG level, it seems thar mostly you can just take a small number of HE course units within a broader Economics degree programme. Any economist with a good degree is well qualified to do an MSc in HE.

Posted prematurely: I feel sure that PPE degree would be a good degree for an HE MSc also, but this is easy to check with MSc admissions tutors.

Just to add the Joseph Rowntree foundation massively targets York graduates in sociology, social policy, economics, politics, history in its recruitment rounds.

I know it's a bit further and not Campus but how about Durham? The collegiate system is very supportive.

@Piggywaspushed Joseph Rowntree has only 150 employees in total across 4 offices! One of which is in York. There is no way they massively target York for anything! They are not a major employer of the grads you mention at all - they are simply too small.

Ermm, yes they are. But I am sure you know better. They are a major social research charity. They also do internships. Obviously they target York what with it being Rowntree and all that. I didn't say it was huge numbers of people , just that they recruit actively at York University . This organisation is linked to the OP's DD's interests.

I don't make stuff up you know.

Just like the Stuart Hall internship DS did at Birmingham which was offered to Birmingham students.

Bristol does have a bad reputation for learning support and reasonable adjustments. The majority of universities don’t provide much in-house learning support beyond helping students to apply for DSA.

My DD has been predicted the same as yours (no maths though) and has chosen Newcastle for economics with AAB offer. She was also offered Leeds with AAA but decided she liked the 'vibe' of Newcastle more.

She' just done her exams and thinks she's really screwed one up so is pleased to have a little flexibility and not need those straight AAAs. Shes not the type to take the gamble.

We won't know til August what she will actually get though! Fingers crossed...

It must be really interesting to see behind the scenes of the selection process. I often wonder how Uni's manage the numbers if one year there is a sudden popularity surge and loads of offers become acceptanced. Or vice versa.

Re contextual - I knew you would be supportive, that's why I couldn't understand the AI response - thanks for clarifying 😊.

(DS received an unexpected contextual offer in the end, so I was curious).

Hi Op
I think your daughter's choices look great. Hope all goes well and she loves wherever she goes.

Doing admissions can be nerve wracking. The worst thing is how Overseas enrolments vacillate with politics: Donald Trump vs our visa policies is something of a wash right now. We could be doing much better, like Canada and Australia but no, we shoot ourselves in the foot just when the sector most needs Overseas tuition income.

Admissions teams are powerless in the face of events. Colleagues only see that they are falling short. Unexpected popularity, which does happen, is much nicer (but then colleagues groan about workloads!)

Was your DS happy about his contextual offer?

@YasminYellow And how is that quantified and what is the evidence for that assertion? I don’t believe that for a minute. It’s very old news and not up to date. What evidence is there?

I do think though, that if an element of a course does not suit a student, they should look at alternative courses at other universities. Some dc won’t because they want to live at home. When does being excused major elements of a degree become ok? It’s hardly fair on everyone else!

I hadn't even considered the Overseas enrollment as so focused on 'home' when I asked. So many variables, can see why nerve wracking! Very interesting insight, thank you

And thanks for asking, DS was overjoyed when the offer finally arrived 😊! The contextual bit was due to school (he hadn't realised) and it was such a boost. I think they track outcomes, but if I can also pass on the tremendous positive impact it had on DS. He was so pleased. Hard to beat the motivation of happiness. By all accounts he loves his course, Uni, friends. Just started internship.

She should stick with York. Sheffield is a great student town and was my second choice when I was at university
Not sure she would get into a straight economics programme at Bristol unless she has a contextual offer . The course at Bristol is very maths based and very demanding and even students with Astars struggle with some of the content

Look at Leeds - it's a great course but too big for my daughter, agree Sheffield has good options, Def York and great for support and also UEA

@LampzadeQuite a few London and home counties dc choose Bristol and Bath when they don’t get into Oxbridge and don’t necessarily fancy LSE. It’s a fairly well trodden route to city jobs from Bristol if dc are interested in that.

Deleted - inadvertently posted re football result on here rather than family WhatsApp group!

Pretty sure Durham asks for A*AA for Economics and is highly competitive.

She has been predicted two A stars and an A, so we might look at Durham. I think the thing that puts her off is the reputation of Durham as being populated by a certain type of public school student. She left an independent school after a hard time, and has thrived in the state sixth form and is a bit nervous about getting back into that milieu.

@LysistrataSusanCarter You really do need to tell her that the majority at Durham don’t come from public schools and she should not be prejudiced. How come she’s against dc whom she’s never met? D
where has this prejudice come from?

She needs to mature a bit. How would she like it if people said they didn’t want to go to university with people like her? How do dc ever arrive at this way of thinking where they haven’t looked critically at intake figures? The majority will be like her. Who cares about anyone else? Will she refuse to with with privately educated dC in the future? University really is a time to put prejudice aside.

@MeetMeOnTheCorner that’s not very fair. Durham has always had this reputation. She knows plenty of people from public schools, many of them she gets on well with and several of whom she is related to. One of her great friends since nursery is at Eton. But unfortunately, she has had some difficult experiences in the context of her independent school community and understandably has impacted on her confidence around a certain ‘type.’ Hopefully not forever, but for the moment. Nothing to do with lack of maturity.

@LysistrataSusanCarter Er no. She’s not being fair and it’s prejudice against a group of students she’s not met. It is immature to judge people based on a few experiences when you are younger. Also, don’t you think other universities have quite high intakes of private school dc too? She’s one - so should state dc refuse to engage with her on that basis? She should meet people first and then decide if they are like you or not. No one is friends with everyone and I can tell you shitty people come from all walks of life!

@MeetMeOnTheCorner Many thanks for your helpful thoughts.