Starting Year 13 (number 4!)

[Mindgone]

I just thought I'd get us started up again!

Leeds2 - she did three A2's and the EPQ in year 13 (wouldn't recommend it with 4 A2's as it would be overload). It was relevant to her language degree, so was very helpful for writing the personal statement. The main downside is that PS's take up a lot of time. The students have to do a presentation at the end (so good experience at standing in front of an audience). Teaches them to do referencing too.

mumslife - we have the opposite, as daughter has the most fantastic history teachers and loads of advice for the course work. I guess you win some and lose some!

sorry, I meant EPQ's take a lot of time!

Thanks for all the good wishes

There's no benefit to firm/insure early from what I can see. I'm hoping by asking him to wait a few days and chatting with him, he'll maybe hang on a bit longer and have a really good think about his choices.
He is booked onto an applicant visit day at Warwick at the end of Feb so that will be cancelled if he firms/insures Soton and Nott'm. I'd like him to hold fire until after that but I doubt he will.

He's actually started his student finance application this evening, totally unprompted
It's as if now his final offer has come in he wants to get on with it all at breakneck speed

Just thought I'd let you know that DD had an offer from Durham last night so huge relief here. I posted on the "still waiting to hear from Durham" thread in HE. I asked about the Durham college system as I'm not sure if DD has to firm her offer before receiving a college or not.

Exciting to hear everyone's news, it's all getting rather close now!

well done Horsemad to your DS and Ryansbeat to your DD.

DD not done EPQ, school offers it in 2nd term of yr12. First routinely to straight A students, then if places left, others considered. She never applied in the end, in some ways wish she had as could have done a performance. And would have made up for lost 4th AS grade.
That said, all her offers were at the lower end of the typical ranges advertised, but she did have tons of other quite impressive stuff in her PS.

Soton was the only Unl we came across that give reduced offers offers for A grade EPQ. A friend of DDs has a BBB offer for History, but she was an Oxbridge candidate. Same DC also has an unconditional for Birmingham, but don't think that's EPQ related.

I Would have thought than an EPQ would be looked more favourably on with a dropped A2 grade on results day, and admissions are considering the bigger picture. So something else to have in a tiebreaker situation. But would have thought stuff like DofE, sport, music etc works well in that situation too. Had a friend a couple of years back (when the AAB cap was still on) that dropped 2 grades at A2 from her offer for a competitive course at an RG UNI. Kept the place, but did have gold DofE and played a sport to County level.

I think where the EPQ also does benefit, is the research element standing them in good stead for start of Uni courses. At a recent meeting at DD2s school, they mentioned introducing a cut down version at KS3 to start them off early on research skills.

Re EPQs - At DD's school they all have to do it in final year. However some of those doing 4 A Levels have refused.

Some of her friends at another school do it in AS year to get it out of the way. As some unis will reduce offer grades with an A in EPQ (Southampton) this can be very useful.

They do not necessarily have to do a presentation for an EPQ - I guess it depends on the school.

It is best to do one in a subject your DC in interested in. If it is relevant to the A Levels all the better but doesn't have to be. In DDs Cambridge interview they were fascinated by DD's EPQ subject but it wasn't particularly relevant to what she planned to study - just showed an enquiring mind perhaps?

Both DDs had EPQ periods at school but they pretty well did them on their own. They were used more for getting advice and being given time frames

DD1's school makes them do the EPQ. Plus 4 A2s (actually 5 but they do gen studies in Y12 - the AQA Bacc requires that, they also do gen studies and crate thinking AS in Y11). DD1 is doing 4 essay heavy subjects, plus the thing she really needs to spend time on is preparing for auditions - I think it's all way too much. :(

Critical thinking. Not crate thinking. There is nothing about crates in the exam as far as I'm aware. It's also nothing to do with dismissing everything as bobbins which was my hope, she'd have been good at that (having learned at the knee of a master).

Something else - I think for those DC with offers based on points as opposed to grades an EPQ counts as half the number of points as an A Level. While a lot of unis do not accept points from General Studies, they do from EPQs - but you have to check with each one

have been told firm and insure quite early to allow good chance of getting accommodation you want and a correct grant in time. Anyone else heard this?

It depends on the uni - for some you apply earlier for the accommodation
you want and for others it's all allocated at the same time - they are all different. Re the loan and grant, anytime from now really. If applying for a grant there is more to do as proof of parental income is needed. Just applying for a loan is easier if parental income is not being taken into account.

Does anyone have a link to any sort of calculation site where we can find out if it's worth including parental income? Sorry if it's been posted before, I must have missed it. Or is it simply an income cut off point regardless of outgoings?

www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator

Can try different income amounts and see whn the loan amount stops reducing.

Oh thanks circular, will have a look

Had a quick play on the calculator. Min loan of £3731 kicks in somewhere between £60k and £65k income. That's with answering 'none' to the other questions.

Well done to everybody's DCs with offers.

My DS has an interview/open day at Sheffield during half term week - hopefully that will result in a 4th offer, then he can decide.

Aaarrgghh, DS has firmed and insured
Well, my talk on mulling things over worked, didn't it?!

Thank you for all your advice on EPQs.

I sort of wish DD's school had offered it in Year 12.

Great news ryansbeat??. I'll bet she is pleased.

Does DD have to have a bank account set up before she can start her student finance application? She hasn't got one yet and I had mentally pencilled it in for half term but she's keen to crack on with the application this weekend.