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?

It's getting close to 40 years next year since I started at St Andrews!

Oh - and there is a Nando's in St Andrews now too the only thing apart from the course that ds liked

My DS toyed with the idea of St Andrews for a while, but there aren’t enough football matches or gigs there.

That's funny. DD mentioned today about Kasabian playing in Aberdeen soon. I wonder they get many gigs up there though? Not sure that she'll be able to afford concerts though .

I could make DS apply to St Andrews if that would help? I don't think whatever exists outside his room has any importance. I asked him if he was living away from home, would he just sit in his room for the hundred odd hours a week he wasn't in Uni and he replied "maybe"

Actually St Andrews used to do pretty well for gig all those years ago

Police, Tom Robinson Band, Lindisfarne, UB40, Mud......

The Caird Hall wasn't too far away and I saw Genesis and Thin Lizzy there (and friends went off to Glasgow/Edinburgh to see Ozzy Osbourne, Fish/Marillion, Bruce Springsteen...)

Ds is a keen rugby player, so that is one of the negatives for Aberdeen (although he's checked out the Uni rugby team). He wants to play rugby for one of the Edinburgh non Uni clubs. Or alternatively stay in Glasgow to come back to our "local" club to play senior rugby (after he's turned 18 and assuming the current 1st team coach has moved on).

We'd rather he left home

I'm torn about whether I want Ds to leave home or not if I'm honest. I think going to our local uni would be settling for less than he is capable of, he already exceeds the requirements and now doing 3 AHs in relevant subjects and don't do engineering at all which narrows down his options (not necessarily a bad thing). He could theoretically travel to Strathclyde or Glasgow - Edinburgh is a bit further. On one hand I think it would be great for him to get away and get some independence but my fear is that he spends all the time by himself so he'd be as well being in his bedroom here. I also have to buy in to the thought of not knowing exactly where he is 24/7. I'm not sure if i'm ready for that yet! :o

Aberdeen does have plenty going on in the music scene, a lot of mainstream bands tend to play Glasgow and Aberdeen as their Scottish dates.

Wax I have similar fears about my DS sitting in his room the whole time, and I think he’s favouring Aberdeen as he can come home at weekends more easily. Which might interfere with football and gigs...

Dd has decided on 3 options at Stirling, Dundee and attempting Strathclyde. She point blank refuses Aberdeen on the basis it’s too far away. She really doesn’t want to move out for uni but thanks to Moray house removing the 4 year choice it’s changed the course of her plan.

Stirling on Saturday.

We are no closer to a decision. DS getting quite stressed as school is pressuring him to make his choices.

We are also going along to Stirling tomorrow. I’m hoping not to be there all day 🙈

I was similar. I knew I wanted to go to uni but couldn't decide between 2 areas - ended up going for a flexible degree in one of the areas - taking 2 full subjects and 2 half subjects in my first year. Still couldn't decide at the end of my first year but knew which subject I didn't want so took 1 full subject and 2 half subjects on to 2nd year. By the end of 2nd year I was sure and I'm still working in that area 30 years later. I'm a big fan of flexible degrees.

If your son is trying to decide between computing or engineering he could apply for Strathclyde's Engineering Academy HNC which feeds into the 2nd year of their engineering degrees if he decides to stick with engineering. If he didn't like engineering he would still get full funding to start a computing degree the next year there or elsewhere (might even get 2nd year entry too depending on what computing is covered in the engineering course or at AH).

ttish. Yes, I am going to have to sit with him and work something out using the flexible approach.

I had looked at the Strathclyde thing but I'm not sure it would be right for him. He is pretty academic and is doing 3 AHs at the moment so I'm not sure whether it would be the right environment for him.

There are certainly options he could choose that would give a degree of flexibility and I think he should ignore the location (in terms of being at home/travelling/living away) and pick by the course - the rest is just logistics.

He seemed to show most interest in the Edinburgh informatics if I had to guess, but then that was also the first session he'd been to. He doesn't have the A in Maths they are looking for but is doing Maths at AH. If I was him I'd apply for one of the courses there and do some engineering as his electives if he got in. I'd maybe stick a joint electrical engineering/computing one on the list (maybe HW or Glasgow) which he already has enough to get in. Then maybe something at Dundee or Strathclyde and if he wanted a completely safe choice from lots of perspectives, he could apply for computing at Stirling. He already has an excess in the requirements and he could walk there daily. Strathclyde and Glasgow potentially commutable so even if he chose to live away and didn't like it, he could move home and continue the course. Edinburgh would be living away but in a more familiar city and HW campus living - both those and Dundee would be places easy for him to come home of a weekend if he wanted to. There is more than enough choice across the central belt for him so I don't see any point in Aberdeen/RGIT if he has no burning desire to live there. St Andrews? No idea where that fits into the equation really :)

He's got plenty of time to decide. Iirc from the UCAS Information evening at the school, they only have to submit their applications by the end of January.

I know the schools like to get ahead of the game (ds' school wants personal statements completed by early December - well before their Prelims which are held before Christmas) but they don't actually have to click Submit until into January.

That's what I said to him pb. Not exactly to ignore what school are saying, but just that all he needs to do is have the form completed as far as he can and work on a personal statement that can be generally technically orientated. It's not like he is choosing between History and Mechanical engineering, there is a lot of cross-over.

Wax You are right about the Engineering academy, DS1s friends went after S5 with 4 Highers mostly Bs and an odd A.

UCAS closing date is Jan as you say Prettybird but with a late Xmas finish/return this (well the LA that I live and work in) and then prelims rapidly after there’s good reason that schools are looking for progress on UCAS applications what may seem excessively early.

I know Wax’s DS’s school have far from covered them self with glory in respect to their cock ups with her DS but as over 90% of a large year group will be applying to UCAS there is a reason for the perceived urgency.

All those applications are accompanied by references which should add value to the personal statement and be reflect the candidate’s skills for the course to which they’re applying.

The teachers involved in these processes (at Wax’s DS’s school) are volunteers who don’t get any additional time for the task. They are matched up to pupils who have put the teacher’s name down as someone who knows them and who will support them in a tricky process. This recognises the strength of the relationship. If everyone in the year group opted to wait it would be chaos.

Not to mention the substantial back up college applications.

I enjoy S6 mentoring but it’s no leisurely task. I spent 2 hours giving input into references today. That’s not even my mentees just pupils who said I’d have a valuable contribution.

Rant over. I’m sure Prettybird and Wax DSs won’t be the ones being chased up the day before closing but spare a thought...

Lidl I do appreciate what they (mentor and referee teachers) are doing, honestly. He has completed everything else and is working on his statement. I suppose I am peeved because they are putting pressure on someone that they already know has anxiety issues and I've been saying for years has difficulty with this sort of thing. I'm not blaming the school for his issues or expecting them to magically fix everything, just that they haven't helped despite being asked and in fact have just continually made things worse.

He will get things in on time. I'm a bit of a control freak and he is a compliant rule follower. :o It's just that laying on the pressure isn't helping. It's not his mentor btw, it's the school in general. He has told them the areas he'll be applying for and he's asked relevant teachers for those areas for the references.

The open days haven't even finished yet!

Anyway, as I said, we are going to spend some time with him at the weekend and work out the best things to apply for that allow him a bit of flexibility. i am sure he will feel better once he has picked so it will be winners all round.

He is just worried about making the wrong choice. I keep telling him that there isn't a wrong answer here and he doesn't have to please anyone except himself, it's just incredibly frustrating all round. I suspect he doesn't want to apply for anything that he doesn't already have the results for but I don't want him to narrow his horizons. For sure you don't want to apply for everything that means you are reliant on specific results, but he can afford to select one or two where he is almost there I think.

We've even thought about him taking a year out before deciding but I don't think that would help.

Probably also coloured by my continued anger and sadness which isn't going away.

Which is understandable, I have followed the sorry story hoping at some point that you’d get resolution or even a satisfactory response.

Just not sure all parents appreciate how much (minion grade) teachers do in the UCAS process in some schools as well as you do.

I have a DD who just started an HND who is also being pressured for her options for next year (doing 2nd year, transferring to uni if so where and what course) and she’s scarcely slept off freshers week . So I completely get where you’re coming from.

But feels like one of those can’t do right for doing wrong. Too hands off deadlines would be missed Personal Statements, References weak and pupils not prepared for interviews etc but set in place a timeline and we’re pressuring them.

It's like all these things lidl, the ones that are likely to meet the issued deadlines anyway are the ones who feel the pressure of the reminders and for the ones that fly by the seat of their pants it's water off a ducks back...

In other news, our complaint was deemed unfounded (as we expected) but they did include in the recommendations what we said we thought should be the only resolution which is to give him the support he needs (albeit too little too late). At the end of the day what happened happened and that can't be changed. It's DS who is important in all this.

So far they seem to be trying and he says the sessions he's been having "aren't a waste of time" which is good. The Careers Adviser contacted him after him refusing to go and speak to her himself. I'm sure he thinks I engineered that but I didn't.

I do appreciate the work that teachers like you do Lidl.

Ds' form teacher also happens to be the head of pastoral care, so I'm confident he's in safe hands. He's always got his drafts in early (she's currently having a look at his 2nd draft).

I did have a when she refused to look at his "1st" draft until one of his parents had a look at it. I was able to make some positive changes and improve his English before he re-submitted it for her to look at.

Not sure I agree with everything he's putting in: he's currently insisting on putting in his Bronze DoE although he justifies it by explaining that that paragraph is explaining what he learnt about himself and how it will help him both cope and contribute at University.

But we've got another month of drafts to refine it!

Can anyone advise, the courses DD is applying for have an optional year in industry and there are separate UCAS codes for this. Is there anything to be gained or lost by applying for this? At the Aberdeen open day we were advised that this is not guaranteed and only the most able students are eligible as it is becoming increasingly difficult for universities to find placements. We were also told DD wouldn't need to think about this now, not until 3rd year.

I am wondering if it is more competitive to get onto these courses, as DD doesn't want to jeopardise her chances, it would be better to get into the course without placement than neither.

DS2 is doing a course with an optional year in industry at Glasgow. He was told not to waste an option applying for the course with and without the placement as the offer would be the same.Like Aberdeen it isn't guaranteed, is competitive and you need have a GPA above a certain level. He decided to go with the UCAS code with work placement. Worth asking how successful the uni is in helping students get good placements if it is a big deal - it wasn't for my DS2.

Thank you ttls. I don't think it's a huge deal for DD but just wondered if the course including the placement was more competitive.