Starting Y13 (y12 support thread contd)

[AtiaoftheJulii]

Well, I filled up the other one, so here's a nice new one to get us through dropping subjects, Uni open days, personal statement writing, and UCAS applications

Plenty of and and (nicely-intentioned) s available!

That's a shame.

History is included & I notice that you only have to be predicted three A's. I wonder if they make the offer to everyone who applies with a three A prediction.....?

Which other places make these offers, apart from Birmingham?

I have never heard of them apart from in my day when Oxbridge offered 2 Es to people who had done well in the entrance exam. In my defence, DD has only just started Y12, so I am not up to speed yet ,,,,,,,,,

Just back from Southampton, long day.
DD not impressed at first (probably through not being that pretty, as others say) but liked it more as the day went on, so looking like added to list. Very impressed with music department and course flexibility. Accommodation not the best we have seen, but OK. Saw one lot that was a 10 min walk, another a 10 min bus ride, both with their own bar.
Problem is, campus wise she is still comparing everything to Birmingham which she fell in love with last year. Think the catering card option impressed her as much as anything else.
On the plus side, it is making her rethink more on one or two of the others she had been over critical of.

Horsemad Curious to know what your DS thought of Southampton if he didnt like Birmingham.

Leicester certainly made unconditional offers within the last cycle. DS1 and at least one other at his school had an unconditional from them - albeit in the same subject, so not sure how wide a range of subjects was included. Whilst DS1 liked Leicester he did not choose it as either a firm or insurance, nor did the other DC who received one. That however should not be taken as a poor reflection on Leicester rather both DCs had others which they preferred more and had the luxury of high AS grades and UMS so accepting high offer firm / insurance was less of a risk.

Article from last year here re unconditional offers.

'Experts said many more universities were looking closely at unconditional offers without publicising the move.'

Does anyone have inside knowledge? Which ones?

Thanks.

B'ham admissions told me they might possibly give unconditional offers in more subjects (inc Comp Sci) at some point.

circular - DS didn't think B'ham sold Comp Sci particularly well on the Open Day. Have to agree with him, although like I say, I loved the campus.

He liked the buildings at Soton! He doesn't like 'traditional' (in his words, 'old fashioned' buildings). He was also impressed with the course/facilities and labs at Soton.

Horsemad Ahh so it is the buildings. DD likes the more traditional buildings, and also not too many roads! Bit of a tall order lol.

Yes circular, although he said he'd go to Oxford without even seeing the place!

My dd2 asked me if someone could put Oxford down as an Insurance choice, which made me . Wonder if anyone has done this?

Ha ha, that would raise some eyebrows!

can I join? ds1 just started yr13. He did very well at AS and did Maths A Level in a year.

He's not yet fully in the "back to term" mode! He's loads of work due in tomorrow, and hasn't done much of it yet.

Welcome Roisin, the more the merrier! Where does your DS want to study? Has he done any open days yet?

Hi Horsemad! He plans to study Biochemistry and will be applying to Oxford and others, so needs to finish off his UCAS form pretty soon - all the decisions are made, or nearly made.

He's visited 5 unis, but not all at formal open days. He will be applying to some unis that he hasn't visited at all. His logic is that Open days are very subjective and you just get to meet a few individuals, see a few things, which may or may not impress you. Whereas there's so much info out there on the web, which is less selective and less subjective, so you can make a more balanced decision. Hmm...

What's your ds planning on studying?

Hi all, we went to Exeter open day yesterday and dd loved it, it's made her list. She has three on her list now but am I right in thinking that she has to narrow it down to two?

I thought she could put up to five choices and possibly get offers from all of them but then I watched that video clip and he said just two choices, one firm and one insurance

She only has to narrow it down to two later on (once she has all her offers on UCAS). So if like my dd1 (last year) one university takes forever and a day to get back to her (think it was April ) then she can wait until then to make the decision on which two to keep for Firm and Insurance choice.

They really vary on when they give offers out - between October and April, with many coming back around January / February....

So she can apply to five now & narrow it down later.

Ah, thanks little, that makes sense now. We're going to look at one more, then she will decide the order of her choices.

Roisin, he wants to study Computer Science. He's been a bit of a nightmare regarding visits, he's been to 6 and only likes 2 so far...
We will be bankrupt at this rate with all the fuel/hotel costs

ds1 mentioned Queens Belfast as an option today...! :-o I hope he's joking. I've mentioned that it will be expensive and time-consuming to get there.

roisin, Ulster is on our shortlist. When I mentioned to my DD that it would be expensive and time-consuming to attend the open day, she said 'Why?'. She had absolutely no idea where it is.

We now have a map of the UK blu-tacked to the kitchen wall. Better late than never.

Bath this Saturday. DH has confided to me that he doesn't think DS1 will get any offers because his AS results are mediocre and he's applying to places that want all A grades.

I think he'll get a couple, depending on his school ref and PS (still unwritten )

We (DH & I) have a bottle of wine riding on this - I will need a bottle by the time next Aug arrives.