S5/S6 support thread.

[IHaveBrilloHair]

I know I need it this year with Dd.
Everyone welcome to join in.

For any potential Edinburgh law applicants-

My DS's friend phoned up Edinburgh University law admissions today and asked whether it was worth applying with 3As and 2 Bs at Higher in fifth year. They said last year they only admitted students with a minimum of 5As and not to waste a choice. This is in spite of the fact they advertise that they will consider your application with lower grades.

DD applied to Edinburgh for law in 2017 with 4A and 1B and was rejected but a couple of classmates with 5A did get offers. However when I checked Edinburgh's offer to applicant ratio for Scottish students on Which or the Complete University Guide I was fairly sure dd would be rejected and wasn't surprised. I did think it was a waste of a choice for her but she wanted to apply.

I suspect Edinburgh don't need to recruit Scottish students as they will easily fill their places with English students who are more profitable for them. Although dd liked the feel of Edinburgh on the Open day I was concerned by their slipping ranking - especially their decreasing student satisfaction ratings and wonder if they are resting on their reputation.

For Edinburgh it very much depends on the course. DD has been sitting on an unconditional offer since November which came as a bit of a surprise. It is a science course and she does have better than standard offer grades.

Just don't want people mistakenly getting the impression that it is not worth aiming high. I think for Scottish students it is best to look at the top end of the range of typical offers and any specific subject requirements and assume that is what is required.

For Law I am not sure it is true to say that English students will be crowding out Scottish applicants because I can't see why they would want a Scots Law degree. It used to be the case that the Legal profession regulated the number of places but I don't think they do now as the degree is no longer seen as purely vocational. However, somewhat paradoxically, broadening the degree away from the profession has made it an even more popular choice.

My 2 had a fab time at their Christmas ball. All the effort with dresses and upholstery was worth it. Was lovely to have 2 grown up girls come home buzzing after a great night out with all their mates. Looking at the photos it was really odd to see how grown up the boys have got.

wicked would your DS consider keeping something a bit more arty in his AH portfolio? I am a CA and the thing which always gave me a USP was the ability to write as well as count. It was also the thing I looked for most when working with trainees.

My daughter's application went off on Monday....finally! Lots of rewriting her PS until she was happy with it. She found it very hard to write enough information for each subject for a balanced joint application and just managed to squeeze in a very small amount of extra curricular info within the 47 lines. It's a relief it's done now and we can join the waiting ranks! She's had two acknowledgements from the four universities she's applied for but I'm assuming most will be on a break now until early January.

After my post yesterday, my DS's unconditional offer for law came through from Edinburgh today. I was getting worried as they ask for 5As in fifth year. He has 5As and a B, one of which he took a year early in fourth year so he has achieved 4As and a B in one sitting, plus one early. I know they are extremely fussy and selective and, in their words, this may have disadvantaged him - luckily not enough though! Phew!

I hope offers continue to flow for all.....

Happy Christmas!

Congratulations to your DS Aurea. I was reading your worry between the lines yesterday so it is lovely your DS has his mind at rest.

It is really difficult when the DC all start comparing notes because there are so many variables in play.

Aww brilliant news.

I think anything DS2 gets will be at the Coo's tale as he doesn't meet any of the entry requirements after 5th year so he will be relying on not too many applicants and those being even poorer quality than he looks on paper...

School predicted AA in his two highers but only C in his AH so not sure how this will be viewed. Aberdeen said they would be looking for B in his AH and AB for the new highers, Dundee said AA in his highers and didn't seem fussed about the AH, they just said that would supersede his H depending on the grade achieved. Hoping this is enough to get some conditional offers but we are going to start the process for college applications after Christmas is done.

That sounds quite hopeful for Dundee wax. Got my fingers crossed for him.

Thanks howabout - I really appreciate all the help info and support on here, you are all stars!

My only reservation is that pbs DS got offers from Strathclyde and Aberdeen (with excellent S5 results) but iirc, didn't get an offer from Dundee, so it doesn't seem to fit what they quote on the website as I think their requirements were not as high as Strath.

Oh and obviously they were both talking generically as it will depend on what applications v's spaces they have. i therefore reckon we are in for a long wait as it will be at least after the closing date but probably more likely to be March/April.

Well, just to prove me wrong, DS checked his UCAS and he has a conditional offer (needs 2 Bs) from Aberdeen. We are all chuffed as that was his first choice. So even if he gets no other offers, his fate is in his own hands now and it's a very achievable target and it's an offer he'd be very very happy to accept.

That's fantastic Wax! So chuffed for you both....

That's brilliant news Wax! Your son must be really pleased....and you of course! Really great that his first choice is the first one to get back as well.

Thanks guys. It's totally made our Christmas! well apart from his losing his phone tonight but that's a problem for tomorrow..

Fantastic news @WaxOnFeckOff

Congratulations to your DS2 wax. Perfect motivation for the next few months.

Great news Wax and Aurea.

My DD has decided not to apply this year (S5). She's changed her mind about going down the science route (not loving chemistry/biology at Higher). Thinking about economics (went to a talk at Glasgow last year) and did one of Vince Cables MOOCs and liked it. Would appreciate advice on best AHs to select from anyone whose DCs have studied economics even just as an option in the first couple of years. She's thinking AH Maths and AH English or History and doing the OU YASS for economics ( school doesn't offer economics). Would a Business Management Higher be more useful than the History or English AH?

Clerk I have an economics degree from Glasgow. Would go with AH Maths and History. For a 3rd subject I would advise thinking about where her other interests lie and what other subject combinations she would be looking to study with economics. I have friends who studied joint with politics (PPE route) joint with languages joint with maths etc etc etc. I studied joint with law but it is also a popular ancillary choice with accountancy and business management students. I wouldn't worry about looking for an economics qualification.

Hardly any 1st year economics students will have studied it at school and the 1st year will more than cover anything done previously. Last year only about 300 people got an A in Higher Economics and less than 100 passed Advanced Higher. There were more than 200 students in my 1st year economics class alone.

Suggest having a look at the Uni websites for more ideas on subject combinations.

Thanks howabout. She's been looking at courses but her choices will depend on her H results. If she gets 5As she'll have a shot at Edinburgh and StA but if not she'll try Aberdeen and Heriot Watt (wants to go away).

Can I ask how good your maths needs to be for economics? DDs maths is solid (A1 at Nat 5 and predicted A at H) but she has to work more than DS2 who just got maths naturally. She does work hard and likes problem solving but she's not likely to get an A1 at AH (which last year was 89%+) and might not even get an A. How can tell how mathematical a course is?

That's a good question and worth asking if she goes on open days. Different Universities and courses have different emphases. My course wasn't Maths heavy but I still felt rusty after a year away from it. That's why I would recommend AH Maths just to keep her hand in.

Most of the Maths is optimisation problems (ask her how she feels about the zebra and the crocodile) and statistics (if you go in for econometric modelling).

Just double checked. At a guess I would have said Edinburgh likely to be more Maths focus than Glasgow. The entry requirements back this up as Glasgow specifies Higher English / Humanity plus Nat 5 Maths while Edinburgh only specifies Higher Maths (difference also replicated in their A Level requirements).

Easy enough to do similar comparison for the others and also have a look over course content specs.

Thanks had a quick look myself - UCL is A1AA at advanced higher with A1 in maths so must be supermathsy.

UCL are having a laugh. That is a higher entry requirement than Maths at Cambridge.

Law is also A1, A ,A at AH. I bet they get NO Scottish applicants. They really do not understand AHs!