Starting Year 13 - September 2015

[hellsbells99]

Welcome to Year 13!
Their final year of school;
Applying for university/college/work/apprenticeships;
A year of 18th birthday parties;
Going to their first nightclub (unless they already have fake ID!);
The year they turn into adults!

DD2 has been back at school for 3 days and has lots of work already.

congratulations to those with offers (pouring in!) and interviews - and patience patience to those waiting to hear still. It's very frustrating that some offers come out so quickly and others take for ever.

Uhtred, well done to the fruit of your womb on the offers - my DD is applying to drama schools and it's just incredibly stressful, as I imagine it is with conservatoires for music. The number of auditions she's having to go through is too close to XFactor for comfort. No offers yet, apparently we are only in the foothills...

My DS has just received an interview from Oxford. He had a mock interview at school today with a teacher who previously worked there but they didn't know each other. It didn't seem to go to well, I hope it hasn't put him off too much!

My Dd has her second unconditional offer, from Aberdeen this time. Still to hear from Edinburgh and St Andrews but at least she's got at least two strong choices :-) I'm so glad we're in the Scottish system, our experience is fairly stress-free.

Bucking - I think its a bit like childbirth - you kind of hide the pain and stress from your mind once it's over. The successful outcomes mean that we are all - the whole family - just walking round with big grins on our faces and the stress I know we have all been under for so long just seems like a dream now. Good luck to your DD. I think drama auditions are much tougher than music ones in the sense that, while there are more places to go, there are many more applicants also (especially these days when ordinary people are being priced out of music and denied the opportunity to even explore the possibility of music through the state system) so it's just so incredibly competitive - we know some people applying to the drama schools this year, and a couple applying for MT, and it's so so tough. I think the path up to this point may be tougher for musicians, because the baseline technical level to even apply is so high, but this process seems to be much much tougher for drama people.

Thank you for helpful comments.

Got a letter this morning & he hasn't got an interview.

He got some very high ums (two were 100 & one 97) but one module he did early turned into bit of a disaster - was hoping they would look at good ones & think he was worth interviewing but obviously not. He is a quiet person & tbh I think he would have found interview situation very hard.

He's disappointed but says he'll be fine at Warwick which I'm sure he will.

BethanKate Ah sorry he didn't get an interview. FWIW DS1 had a Cambridge offer for maths but missed the STEP grade. He is very happy at Warwick which was his insurance. The course there is flexible and very challenging and he loves it.

Bethan
TBH Maths at Warwick is a pretty darned good option

dotdotdot
TBH DD's has been v low stress : no extra exams, no interviews 4/5 offers in

TBH DD's has been v low stress : no extra exams, no interviews 4/5 offers in

Yup, dd2's too - and a letter from Newcastle yesterday offering her an unconditional-if-you-firm-us. A thousand times easier than last year's dd1 Oxford application!

Commiserations to those not getting interviews - these kids are generally so bright and successful that it might be their first real rejection, and that's difficult. They will do well wherever they choose instead, I'm sure.

Dotdot - my DS wants to go to Aberdeen (from England) more than anywhere but hasn't heard about an offer yet (has a good one from Sterling his second choice). So congrats to your DD!

Uhtred thanks for your comment - it's got to the point when anyone wanting to do something creative, for the love of their art, is made to feel both stupid ('There's no money in it... no security...do a law degree instead') and vain ('Oh so you want to be famous do you?') yet has to compete like berserkers over a few (eyewateringly expensive) places. I hope and pray that the big family grins currently to be seen at the Ragnorssons arrive chez Frolicks before Christmas.

Thank you for encouraging comments. SecretSquirrels good to know your DS is so happy at Warwick.

DS just needs to work hard now to make sure he gets grades to get in.

Hope all your DC with interviews do really well in them.

Just realised I have made the mother of all F* ups and got mixed up with DDs interview date which turns out to be the 8th not the 7th ! I have booked train tickets and B&B accommodation for the wrong day! I hope it is not too late to change otherwise I am going to be getting up at stupid o'clock to drive her down there.Will probably have to pull other DCs out of school, for the day as there is no way of getting them there without me

YIKES
Can you get the other kids into sleepovers with friends just in case

Sorry about your DS Cambridge application BethanKate. He applied to a very very competitive college. We liked Warwick a lot more than Cambridge tbh

Having seen the calibre of DC from the schools I teach in, and my own DC school, going to Warwick, I have no doubt it is the new Camb. I tried to persuade DS to put it as a choice, but having grown up in London he did not want a campus uni.

Interview city here, three interviews over the next three weeks. All need slightly different prep, and school work, and school production, and winter ball. My DD has not overstretched herself, no, not one teeny, tiny bit, no no no no.......
Good luck all.and to top it off my menopause seems to have given me an alcahol intolerance! Can't even resort to wine therapy....

Oh dear that last post, of course it is all about me!

Woxbridge
Completely agree!

Peaceandl0ve
stand in the garden with the wine, then the hot flush is cancelled by the biting wind

It is not hot flushes, more the one glass and i feel all gone and with the hangover, that is if it hasnt turned me into a monster first. However, this should be on another thread, again apols to all. When threads collide eh!

I know what you mean, Peace: I have turned into Mavis from Coronation Street. One small sherry is about all I can handle now!

Brioche I hope it all works out.

DH & I both went to London uni & didn't really understand whole oxbridge application system & don't think DS's (comprehensive) school had much of a clue either. Teachers will be disappointed, feel sorry for them - they really thought he'd be the one to make it. DS is very bright (read first word at 20 months) & I'm sure he'll do well at uni.

(Alcohol thing has happened to me too - half a glass of wine & room is spinning round. Sugar makes my heart beat fast as well )

Ds goes to comp too and although there is some help, it feels rather defeating when one hears about "personal statement writing teams" and "Oxbridge professors" drafted in ahead of time at some schools.

Ds's friend who is a super-geeky mega-brain has chosen to go to Warwick. It's all about the course for him and he said it knocked spots off everywhere else.

I have nothing but priase for DDs school. Not great on academics but the 6th form staff care very deeply for the students, not just the academic ones from what i can see, also the kids off in all sorts of directions. I am sure there are better school by some measures, but i feel we are lucky in many ways.

DS's school have been great in lots of ways & have really tried to help him & we're very grateful. They just haven't had much experience of getting pupils into Oxbridge. When they suggested he did some Maths modules early we thought it was a good idea & it stopped him being bored but none of us realised long term consequences - although he did very well think he would have got higher ums in Year 12 or 13 & I don't think Cambridge think 'you did that in Year 10 well done' they just look at the figures & they're not quite as good as other applicants. He re-took one he'd taught himself & somehow managed to get a lower grade, which didn't look good, whereas I think if he'd just done it with rest of class he'd have been fine.

When it came to PS different teachers were giving different advice which was very confusing & we didn't know how to help either.

We're all feeling enthusiasic about Warwick anyway.