Missed offer- advice

[PinkChaires]

My DD missed her offer for the University of Manchester, which she was really hoping for, and she’s understandably very upset.
She does, however, have offers for Psychology at MMU, Leeds, Sheffield and Liverpool through clearing.
for many reasons she really wants to stay in Manchester and shes saying she will go to MMU. Its a tough pill to swallow given that she was a Law offer holder for UCL and UOM. Will it damage her career prospects? Any positives i can give her? Thanks

psychology is a great undergrad course which allows lots of options in future, including law conversion, clinical / educational psych, marketing, business, all sorts of things.

also, most psychology courses are regulated by the BPS which means that the syllabus and content is very similar across all UK universities. whether you go to oxford or essex, you will be taught basically the same stuff.

that means psych at MMU could be a great option for her. tell her all the positives about it and how it will give her a chance to study a great subject in a supportive friendly place.

OP you haven’t answered any of the questions other than she definitely wants to stay in Manchester. Maybe if you do people can give more targeted advice.

Find out

• where in MMU she'd need to be as in what campus
• how much time she'd need to be on campus.

Leeds to Manchester would be a bit of a pain, but not uncommuntible.

How far off her grades was she? I presume you’ve checked clearing and investigated things like alternative courses at Manchester with slightly lower requirements?
Thats what my DH did many years ago. Missed his grades to do the thing he wanted, got himself on a similar and related but under subscribed course. Switched courses once he was in!! Don’t know if it would still work.
Are you sure she is ready to go to uni at all??

She is , weirdly contextual at any other uni we look at but Manchester. She needed AAA, predicted A* AA and got ABC. So with standard offer shes not got a chance at alternative courses at Manchester.

Manchester are pretty flexible, I did modules in social anthrolology, ethnomethodology (sociology) and military studies. If your DD got into another course she could probably do a range of psychology modules.

Liverpool to Manchester is commutable surely? The others might be hard but that seems possible.

@PinkChaires She really should look at other courses at Manchester. Cannot see why Liverpool is a bad fit if she chose it though. That’s a bit odd. Plus it’s good for psychology.

A word about law though. Jobs in law are very very competitive and a first degree in psychology from MMU might not be very competitive. She’s going up against hundreds of law grads from Manchester and elsewhere and grads from elite unis who convert to law. If she’s fragile in any way, this might not be a great career choice. She seems to have made an odd choice in law at UCL too. Not remotely near home and hugely competitive. How come she applied for law and psychology?

Yes, she will have friends who have all achieved well and are sailing off to their courses. She undoubtedly feels stupid and I had a dd who felt exactly the same. They need to refocus and move on. It’s not impossible and this is day 1. Make a plan and then it feels better. What was her insurance choice? Was that MMU or is that course clutching at straws?

I’m so sorry she’s upset, that must be very hard for you OP. Have you spoken with her tutors? Does she have any idea why she missed her predicted grades?

A lot of employers would strongly judge job candidates based on their place of study and degree. I would be far more likely to hire a Russell group graduate for law than someone who went to MMU, particularly someone studying a nebulous course like psych where a clear career path is not defined.

Being blunt - studying psychology there will hold her back, is a waste of her time and will impact her future finances.

Can she take a year, reapply, retake her exams and do some work for a year? It must be completely heartbreaking for her but best that she takes some time to reevaluate and let it be a temporary setback, rather than put her in huge amounts of student debt for a course that is simply not valuable to her or anyone else.

She panic applied through clearing to liverpool but its not a realistic option. When she applied at the beginning of y13 she thought moving out was possible, but various events occurred that made it clear it wasnt. (These arent just personal to her, they involve the whole family) shes usually very capable in many aspects of life, ive been a bit to laid back i think. Mmu was not on her radar no

is this mainly law thags so competitive? She was moving away from the idea of a career in law to begin with

I’ve taught many students who went on to MMU and have gone on to have great careers however these were business and tech related not sure if it would be different for other subjects. My daughter did her degree at Sheffield but is doing her masters at MMU and absolutely loves it. The level of support and guidance she’s had have been head and shoulders above her experiences in Sheffield, every course and student are different though.

Thanks shes really worried about careers and im not sure that liverpool would be worth her mental health

Honestly I wouldn’t jump into anything. It will feel like it to her but there really is no rush. I say this as someone who took a year out and applied with grades in hand. It was a breeze 3 offers and 3 rejections I then just picked my favourite from the offers. I had 2 As and a D at the time. I did psychology I would say make sure the course is BPS accredited.

Manchester To liverpool/leeds is commutable. If she’s not up to that I’d suggest she takes a year off.

Could she go to uni, whilst also applying through ucas to another? I understand she would have to withdraw from her course to accept an offer if ahe gets one though

I don’t know I’d always planned to take a year out and work. I would recommend it to anyone.

@PinkChaires Law is ludicrously competitive. Many firms now just recruit paralegals and dc stay in this role unless they get the opportunity with their employer to train further. Manchester University is a big supplier of law grads in Manchester and conversion is expensive and no guarantee of anything at the end of it.

Psychology is another one where she needs to think - what career? Vast numbers of grads don’t get grad jobs so she must plan a career. Less than 20% of psychology degree holders work in the field and it’s a huge slog to get qualified after the undergrad degree and also very very competitive. Work experience often needed. Nhs placements are very sought after. There’s no easy route. Planning a career is now vital because few people walk into one. psychology always needs a plan b and plan c. As does law!

Shes planning on doing a masters then phd so she could become a clinical psychologist
she likes teaching as a possiblity as well

@PinkChaires Yes, that’s the route but you don’t just hop onto those courses. They are competitive and you need work experience. My friend has taken years to get into a doctorate course.

With everything you are saying Op it is crying out for a pause and a gap year.
ABC are good results. How far off a B is she - if a couple of marks off consider a review. If it was a bad day and she is usually an A student would she consider a re sit.
If she’s at all interested in law still I woulda’t contemplate psychology at MMU.

She could start at MMU sept 2026 then apply for different uni and drop out and restart another uni yr1 September 27. Student finance will loan the extra money - they get an extra year to cover scenario where change mind but it’s all extra debt to pay back.

yes shes aware and well acquaintanced with competition. Shes not fragile

Shes a couple of B for the C, getting that remarked.

I think ill encourage her to accept the place so she has somewhere to go and then consider options