The trials and tribulations of Uni Apps for 2018.

[WaxOnFeckOff]

Just thought I'd start a wee thread for those with DC applying for uni for next year (or indeed applying for themselves) in ase anyone was up for sharing knowledge/support/venting etc.

I have DS1 applying for this year. Still doesn't know where to or what for .

Not done any open days yet and lots now clashing so can't do them all. He wont go alone and wont ask anything or tell us anything about it if he did, so looks like it might be family days out for the next month or so. Dragging DS2 with us as he is currently doing Highers and given his poor Nat 5 results, he needs some motivation to pull his finger out if he wants to go to Uni.

How is everyone else getting on?

If you are driving, avoid the rush hour. That M80 is murder polis

Parking in Dundee city centre is expensive . Locals park on the street for free 10 mins walk out from the town.

Train is easy but expensive unless you have a railcard.

Good luck, I hope she likes it.

I have a blue badge. From what I can see that makes it free for us?

It's a Saturday, will it still be busy?

She really liked it when she went for her interview.

No worries about parking then 👍🏻 (as long as some bastard isnt in your space ) . Just go early and brazen your way into the campus car parks

Dundee is much cheaper than Glasgow or Edinburgh for students. Flat shares or private halls are about 320-350 a month and there are plenty flats in ok areas about 15 mins walk from both unis . No need for bus fares most of the time.

Of course it doesn’t have that big city buzz but not everyone is into that.
DD is a country girl and it’s quite enough city life for her.

I don’t know why my “ thumbs up “ has turned into a funny wee shape

So is that everyone heard now then? Still no decision been made here , off to Strathclyde tomorrow.

Still waiting to hear from St Andrews about maths.

Hopefully not too long now 1nut

DS1 liked his visit to Strathclyde today and think that's him decided now.

That's good @WaxOnFeckOff has he got any others booked?

Nope. He's discounted Ďundee and Heriot Watt as he doesn't want to live out so that really leaves Glasgow and Strathclyde as the two that are reasonably travel-able. He missed the Glasgow day but we had been to the open day. I think after the specific Science event at Strathclyde yesterday he's decided that it's the one. He's just headed out to do his driving test, a lesson first though, so keeping everything crossed!

That's good that ds has apparently made his choice, Wax

Ds is refusing point blank to look more closely at Strathclyde. We couldn't go to the information sessions at the weekend/last night and he claims not to know when the PIR specific sessions were/are.

I'm ok with that as I think it will be good for him to go away and that he will enjoy it. Dh is slightly more ambivalent.

I think it's good that your DS is happy to go away and I do think it's good for them but my DS just not biting. He hasn't ruled out moving down maybe next year onwards.

I've said he still needs to make an effort and stay and go to pub etc after classes etc rather than rushing straight home and that he should join at least one club or society.

After not living a proper city for so long, it just all feels dirty and noisy and busy to me now which is probably why I preferred the calmer atmosphere of Glasgow but the people at Strathclyde were really nice, there is a lot of flexibility in the course and great links with industry. Also less rigid in the use of the labs. In Glasgow for 1st year they were only allowed to use one lab and only during "office" hours.

Sorry Wax - wasn't meaning to suggest it was wrong for your ds - that's why I added "and would enjoy it"

Your ds really isn't comfortable with the idea of leaving and therefore it would be wrong to push him. The solution you've come up with is a really pragmatic one.

No sorry required, I didn't take it in that way at all. I'd rather that he was home and happily getting on with Uni than going away and getting himself in a state. I actually think it might have been the making of him but we'll never know. Sounds like your DS has also made up his mind and I'm sure he'll thrive as he seems to be looking forward to and not worried about it.

Waxon I am glad your son has settled on Strathclyde. I did a very similar degree to the one your son applied to at Glasgow many moons ago and then went on to do a postgraduate degree at Strathclyde. I much preferred Strathclyde - more practical/less abstract, good links with industry and a lot of project/ group work plus we were more of a class even with the different options offered so socially I preferred it too. Tried to persuade my own DS2 to choose Strathclyde over Glasgow but failed.

Was talking about Unis with my dad yesterday. He'd been talking with a neighbour who has lots of dealings with Unis across Scotland, and he was saying that Edinburgh's standards are not what they were and that it is increasingly resting on its laurels - and that Glasgow was at risk of going the same way.

He said the teaching (especially at undergraduate level) and pastoral care at Strathclyde is much better - so that's another positive for your ds Wax

Thanks both it's nice to hear some love for Strathclyde. I definitely think it was the best option for him. They said that the course that you are accepted on doesn't really matter as the CS, the masters and the Software engineering are effectively all the same for the first 3 years so depending on progress you'll be able to switch between them. So, if you don't want to do the year out option that SE has or also switch to the masters even if you didn't meet the initial criteria (which DS already does) if you are showing good progress. I thought it was a good way to look at it. the Glasgow course was also really flexible but it seems they do a selection at the end of 2nd year and not everyone is allowed to progress (i.e. you need to be top % to complete regardless of whether you are actually meeting the standards to gain your degree). I have no doubt that DS would be well capable but I'm not sure he would feel comfortable with that uncertainty. I am sure failure to progress would lead to the same outcome in other unis but maybe not so overtly stated.

He's a doubly happy bunny today as he passed his driving test which I meant to say earlier :)

I think it is very subject dependant in terms of the best fit Uni, given that it's tech type stuff that DS was applying for then I think Strathclyde, Heriot Watt and Dundee were probably the better options.It's easier to get a bit of clarity when you aren't caught up in all the offer madness. I had felt before the visit that he was "settling" for someting due to convenience rather than picking the best option for him. I was wrong I think. It was good for me yesterday as much as it was for him. I didn't stay for the parent event in the evening as it would have meant hanging about for a another few hours and I'd already had a long day.

DS2 has been referred for laser treament for his scars but consultant says it's really hard to get now though he has a good case in terms of the severity and his chances on the NHS are 50/50. Looks like we may need to go private at the cost of £0000s - that's his Uni fund gone! And that is just for his face and he is also concerned about his back but he'll have to just learn to live with that. They did say a chemical peel/dembrasion may help and that's at least a bit more affrdable. DS1s back and chest are worse than his so that'll end up adding up too!

Well done to your son for passing his driving test @WaxOnFeckOff.

We're away tomorrow for a few days. Looking forward to a rest.

In my line of work I come across LOTS of recent graduates from many of Scotland’s Universities and I would dispute what your father’s neighbour anecdotally says about Edinburgh University.
I think every higher education institution has its pros and cons for each applicant.
Of course you are entitled to your own opinion and justification in choice of university and course for your child.
Unfortunately it comes across as a bit of back handed slagging off to the applicants who have accepted a place at Edinburgh (and Glasgow) University, with this misinformation.

My dd1 is a recent MSc graduate of Edinburgh ( undergrad MA at Dundee) and when she was applying for English teaching jobs in China she'd been offered 12 jobs within 48 hrs of posting her CV ....so obviously the Chinese are happy with Edinburgh's reputation

Of course it is anecdote: I didn't personally experience it - as is your account just anecdote to me. You do a LOT of work with graduates across Scotland - so does he. And as I know him in real life and what he does, that is actually a more "reliable" opinion to me.

To add to the anecdotes, a friend advised her son not to go to Edinburgh Uni to study Maths, as she, as an Edinburgh Uni Maths graduate, did not rate it. Of course, her ds didn't listen to his mum (), went to Edinburgh to study Maths and then realised his mum had been right . He ended up changing to something else (Chemical engineering?).

Personally, I'm more concerned about the teaching experience and support, since that is what will make the difference to individuals. Comments in The Student Room and been previous posters on this thread who have expressed some concern about Edinburgh (although not sure which subjects; there are no doubt some subjects which are outstanding)

But the more important point is that we have to encourage our children to be happy with their choices. I never said a word to ds "against" Edinburgh, while he was waiting to hear from them, as I knew he had his heart set on going there (but not so much for quality of Uni reasons - more to do with where he wanted to play rugby ). Now that he's not, it's my job as his mum to ensure that he is happy with his choice and doesn't have regrets.

League tables can be manipulated according to what you measure (and across subjects), so that you will see all sorts of different rankings for all sorts of Unis, from different organisations, depending on whether they are ranking (and how weight they weight them) overall experience, undergraduate teaching, student experience, research, graduate prospects immediately post graduation, graduate prospects within 6 months of graduation ..... soooo many variants!

And I say that just as an impartial observation: I went to St Andrews and loved it (and it come out very well in some rankings and it's also very good at galvanising social media to good "student experience" scores) but ds hated the feel of the place (for very valid reasons the same reasons I'd loved it-- ), even though he acknowledges it has an excellent course. He also chose not to apply to Glasgow as he felt that Strathclyde was the better of the two courses for his specific interests and he's turning Strathclyde down anyway. At the end of the day, our children will perform best if they go somewhere they will be happy.

I think we should be proud of the quality of Universities we have in Scotland. I don't think any of them are poor. Some suit some students better than others and some courses in some will be better ranked than others. Often it's failure to gel with a particular lecturer or not bonding with the fellow students or simply the environment that makes one place more suitable than another. If you are planning to spend 4/5 years somewhere I think it's important to try to find the best fit.

Every open day presentation we went to - and there were many - quoted which awards they had won in which years, so we simply decided that they all must be good!

I think we should be proud of all of our DC for their achievements and their choices and where fate has led them. No-one will really ever know if it's the best choice as this isn't ground hog day and no-one gets to go to the beginning and experience the alternatives to see which one was in fact the best choice. There are no alternative realities.

Hope and peace to all!

I work in a university and there is no indication that the standards of Edinburgh or Glasgow are falling at all.

In terms of league tables there really isn't much that can be manipulated, the unis at the top are at the top for a reason.

The university has no input in NSS results (and staff will get pulled in and given a very hard time over poor/falling NSS feedback in my experience!) Similarity results in research come from the REF and you can't fake or manipulate world class research.

At open days universities will always showcase their best ares, it would be foolish not too.

We do have some fantastic universities in Scotland.

I'm sure all our kids will do well whichever route they decide to take.

Ds has pressed the UCAS button accepting Aberdeen.

We now need to get him to recognise that having an en suite is not worth c£40/week. That would be his food and drink budget We're trying to get him to see that the mini flats in Grant Court would be better value. Either that or he gets a job to make up the difference, ie he will be responsible for covering the difference in cost