Moving on up... Uni/CollegeS5/S6/S4/Work

[Groovee]

Hey everyone

It's that time of year... school returns within the next week or 2, others will be preparing to start college or uni. Some will be moving out. Some will start work... so here's the thread for those in that position.

For me Dd is going into second year at Dundee Uni. She did a fantastic first year. She's off to be a mentor to those starting uni this year. Ds has just gone into S6 and has the world to consider in the next year.

Me... I need to find a job after losing my job in June! Done in quite a callous way that I am taking my time to be kind!

Thanks for the congrats and replies. Unconditional at HW is computing science, Glasgow conditional is electronic and electrical engineering. St A is computing science and joint computing and physics and Aberdeen is engineering. DS goes to state school but nowhere near ‘disadvantaged’ .

Not feeling all that confident he’ll get his AB. He’s doing maths and physics at advanced - 6 out of 26 pupils got over 40% in their prelim, he was one of them at 43% down from 98% at higher! He got 65% in physics but teacher has already said she’s concentrating on her Higher students (composite class) because he and others have got a place at uni already . They're not doing the practical work they’re meant to and not getting much tuition in general. Crashing computing Higher and got 85% but that will count for nothing

I'm not sure about CS at St As. I went to a CS talk at the open day with my younger son and they said they only had 50 places available for Scottish students. They made more offers than this of course, as many will not accept.

Let us know how he gets on, as it will be useful info for my DS and probably others too applying over the next couple of years.

Good luck!

DS1 applied for computing science in various forms (one with engineering I think) with AAABB. He got unconditional offers from Glasgow, Dundee, Heriot Watt and Strathclyde. Heriot Watt and Strathclyde also gave offers for starting in 2nd year (which he didn't do). he didn't apply to St Andrews and he got a rejection from Edinburgh as they wanted an A in Maths and he missed that by one point. He's currently in 2nd year at Strathclyde and has now switched to do the Masters but can revert back to honours if he wants to over the next year or so.

Congratulations to all those who are receiving offers and fingers crossed to all those still waiting. Have been through it twice before so remember this time of being in limbo very well!

My youngest is in S4 and at the point of selecting S5 Higher Subjects. It’s an Independent and they offer a mix of GCSE and Nat 5s in S4 and a mix of mainly Highers but also some AS and A Levels in S5/S6. Up to this point it has not been an issue due to subject choice however they have now developed a strong interest in a subject that’s only offered at AS or A level crash next year. I think the crash would be a lot less enjoyable although we have been told HoD would support it. The school has a blanket policy of only allowing 5 Highers.

So fast forwarding, UCAS application will likely show 4 Highers achieved plus an AS which we are aware are no longer counted by English Unis.

Does anyone have any recent experience of their child applying to Scottish Unis under similar circumstances? Current favourite is St A’s for a competitive course and my instinct is they will not offer either an Unconditional or a conditional under these circumstances. Other choices would be Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, possibly one English Uni. The School are offering assurances about it not having an affect but we are not really convinced. Going to contact the Admissions Departments directly but wondered if anyone had any recent experience of this?

The subject they've developed a strong interest in, is that the subject they will be applying to Uni for? I've no experience of using A levels etc but I think the answer to my question maybe is key here.

Personally I would play it safe and just go for the five expected Highers which are what Scottish and English universities seek from high achieving independent school candidates.

I'm surprised your school did not offer any Highers in S4. My sons' state school can offer Highers in S4 for music, art, drama and languages if the student is capable (classes are often mixed in age during S4-6). My elder son ended up with 6 Highers by S5 with all unconditional offers at Scottish Unis as well as conditionals at Oxford and Durham for entry this year. He worked conventionally within the system though, which may have helped and the extra higher by S5 may have made his application stand out, as well three Advanced Highers in sixth year (one of which was a crash Advanced Higher). The crash AH was a risky strategy though which paid off thankfully.

The English system is so much simpler......

Thanks Wax

No, it’s not the subject she’d would be hoping to study at Uni but she would definitely be choosing it in S5 and S6 for Higher and Advanced Higher if those options were available. It is a relatively small independent and it is not one of the main subjects that would have affected many, so I don’t think the school can draw the assumption they have that it wouldn’t affect her chances. I suppose we could ask the destination Unis of recent pupils as well as ask the Unis directly. It’s something she pursues to a high level outside school and will continue to regardless.

I know from one of our older kids how important these S5 choices are, and the consequences of making one wrong choice 😒 and we don’t want to say a simple, “no, choose something else without this complication.” There is another ‘safer’ subject she could select in terms of the likelihood of obtaining unconditionals - all dependent on her results of course! Then the likelihood is she would want to crash the subject at A Level in S6.

Her Options form is due in very soon so there’s not a great deal of thinking time.

It is one of those Aurea but no, they don’t offer the Higher or AH in this subject at all and she didn’t select it as a GCSE subject otherwise she could have sat it in S3 and done AS level this year in S4 and the A Level in S5. Too late now and she does have 8 strong Nat 5 subjects.

She is sensible and wants the results (and unconditionals!) We’ve asked her to mull it over.

The possibility exists to crash the A Level in S6 - her brother did likewise with an AH last year (different school) and it thankfully also paid off with an A. He had his 5 unconditionals though as all Scottish Unis.

It just seems an unnecessary risk. It’s something we knew about though and thought she could dodge with selective choosing.

nolassie I read your post about your son’s offers; I am currently doing the UCAS waiting game with my dd2; she’s applied for electronic and electrical engineering at Glasgow too. She got a conditional offer from Glasgow, needs an A in her crash higher physics.
I wonder if the policy at the universities’ have changed even though the attainment for highers is down this year? I think it’s harder for Scottish students to get places in part due to the cap on numbers. There are a few articles in the Sunday times about this today.
Both my dd1 and dd2 got 5As for highers in 5th year and decided to apply for courses which needed a crash higher in 6th year. Interestingly two years ago my dd1 received an unconditional offer from Glasgow.

Hi Jodri,
Glasgow are still giving out unconditionals to Scottish students who have the grades and meet any additional requirements.
For your Dd course they specifically ask for physics or engineering science as part of the entrance requirements.
My understanding would be you no matter her excellent grades in hand she actually doesn’t meet the entry requirements in full therefore her offer is conditional.
I agree though it can be tough for our DC in securing a place at a Scottish uni with the quotas in place.
Good luck to your Dd.

alittleworth yeah Thanks.
I understand that, but two years ago my dd1 applied for a biology degree (she was crashing higher biology) and she was given an unconditional offer from Glasgow uni; so didn’t meet the additional requirements either. We were surprised at the unconditional offer. I just think it’s getting harder and harder for our dc every year to get into a Scottish university.

Hi @Jodri,
Sorry I hadn’t appreciated a previous dc had received an unconditional without meeting the requirements. I personally haven’t come across this before, but I agree with you it is getting harder and harder for our children no matter how good their grades are.

DS2 found this last year. He only had ABC in his highers due to a number of factors but was predicted highly for his 2 x 6th year highers and to at least pass his AH. The AB and his 6th year highers highers were all relevant to his chosen degree subject. He should also be entitled to a contextual offer due to Dyspraxia. He knew he wouldn't get any unconditionals and obvs didn't apply to Edinburgh, St Andrews and Glasgow. However, he was a bit disappointed to not even get conditionals from Stirling and Dundee which were his back-up choices (I think both were looking for BBB) No offer from Strathclyde which was his Ambitious selection and that was expected. His first choice was Aberdeen and he got a reasonable conditional offer of 2Bs in his new highers from them. He exceeded the requirements and is now studying there. They've done an assessment now and as well as getting to type his exams, he's getting extra time which he didn't get in school. He's having some difficulty with the Uni results app, but so far for his 4 subjects, he has two A5s, at least a B2 but he is still waiting to find out one bit of the result so that could go up and he has no clue for subject 4, that's the one he is most worried about but hoping he can get a pass.

So he is repaying the faith that Aberdeen had in him and is, quite rightly, chuffed with himself.

I hope all those waiting for offers get what they are looking for :)

It certainly is changed days Alittlewornout (and apologies for typo on your name in my last post)
I remember two boys in my year at school (comprehensive, small town) in the early 1990s got unconditional offers for medicine after achieving AAABB and AAAAB In S5 from Aberdeen university and both were crashing higher biology.

Great results for your ds2 WaxOnFeckOff
and I’m glad your son is getting the right support at university too, it can make a huge difference. Uni is very different environment from school.
My dd2 also got a conditional offer for rgu (C at higher physics). She’s also applied to Aberdeen university (hasn’t heard yet) and is really keen on the city of Aberdeen.

Thanks Jodri, it's been a struggle (and still is) to get him to engage with the support team but we are getting there.

He's loving uni life but has had a few health issues and despite having gone back 2 weeks ago, has been back home since Tuesday with a serious does of tonsillitis but the antibiotics have kicked in and he's off back up today with a lift from dh. He already had freshers flu plus a few colds and sore throats.

It's apparently too expensive to drink out so lots of social stuff done in the flats.

Seems to be a really nice atmosphere and a decent bunch of DC, he's really happy and glad to go back which is the main thing.

Hope your DD gets the offers she is hoping for.

Dd seems to be plodding on, it's hard to tell.
She went to see terrifying mask people Slipknot last night, and her and BF were at the chocolate cafe again today.
Her BF is doing well, aces everything, he's a total brain box, Dd is not!
She's looking for a job, any job really to pay for next year, but she has positive noises for work experience in her tattoo/piercing studio she uses, which she's excited about, though as I've told her, that won't pay the bills.
Good luck to everyone waiting, and it seems they're all settled.
It could be worse I tell myself, it could be the Nat5 maths again!

Glad to hear that Brillo, she'll find her way :)

...and don't talk about Nat 5 maths - glad to see the end of that here too :)

Many thanks for the replies - very interesting. I’ve gone back to look at the entry requirements and must admit I don’t understand . DS has As in maths , physics , chemistry and human biology and a B in English.

I’ve just looked at my old art college to see their entry requirements and was shocked to see you need ABBB -it was CCC in my day! (88) My BF got an unconditional from Aberdeen and conditional from Dundee Medical schools with AAABBB highers, no CSYS And no interview - I know that’s unheard of now so maybe I’m being very unrealistic.

I’m officially old and Out of touch 😫🤣🤣

Unconditional offer received yesterday from Aberdeen for engineering so just waiting for St As now ...

Well done to your lad nolassie fab news! Dd also waiting for St Andrews for maths it’s a long haul. Hoping we will finally be put out of our misery in the next 2 or so weeks.

Waiting for StA too for economics (and Glasgow - only applied to 3 as she thought she'd get a quick offer from Glasgow but 12 weeks on she is still waiting). Luckily got an unconditional from Edinburgh within a week so has something which she's happy with.

Fingers crossed for offers from both for your dd Clerk. St As is such a long wait. Is it her preferred choice?

Yes I think StA would be her first choice but chance of offer is low for her subject. I think Edinburgh might suit her better in terms of shops, going out, sporting hobbies and ease of finding part time work. She works 12-16 hours a week and loves the money!.

Can anyone with children at different unis comment on living expenses differences? I actually think DS won't get into StA since its higher requirements than Glasgow and he said they don't do conditionals? but ever hopeful he's concerned about a much higher cost of living there - rent / Tesco's with inflated prices/ generally well off students able to pay higher club fees etc and with such a small centre I guess jobs are scarce?