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.

BethanKate Yes DS1 very happy at Warwick. He chose it for his insurance even though it was such a tough offer because he liked the course more than anywhere else. He's in second year now finds the course challenging and flexible. Neither of my DC has even looked at London so no idea how Imperial compares.

DD is getting all of the seasonal messages too (for UCAS she used an email address that comes in to my PC)
but NOT the one we want

DD1 has accepted her RCM offer and declined her other offers (and withdrawn from the one application that was still outstanding - York). It's really happening (since she has already met the requirements). We tried to book her accommodation today but the form isn't set up for sept 16 starters yet, annoyingly. I suppose the next thing is student finance and DSA but that isn't ready yet either AIUI. DD1 is very happy though, to have much of the gaff sorted before Xmas.

FAFF not gaff. The gaff is not yet sorted! But it is guaranteed, although the choice isn't guaranteed hence her wish to get it nailed down ASAP.

Wow Uhtred You are organised months before the rest of us. Well done.

well - we had to start earlier too! And this is something DD1 has been singlemindedly working towards for nearly 10 years (she was 8 when she decided that she wanted to go to music college - I spent years trying to change her mind, to no avail). The only reason she didn't push the button last week was courtesy - she wanted her teacher to know which conservatoire she had decided on from her, not from hearing on the grapevine (which she would, probably, have done, had DD1 not contacted her). It is a huge relief to be sorted though. DD1's anxiety issues (not to mention my own!) mean that having things decided is always recommended. Uncertainty isn't good for our health.

Wow, wel, done. Does this mean she wil also be withdrawing from University applications as well? Wasn't she doing both?

Secret, you do understand! trying to sound supportive while preparing for failure is exactly right. She refused point blank to apply to anywhere other than drama schools, so no uni back-up plans for us.

And thanks for the flowers, yours too Uhtred - and well done to your DD, that is fabulous, RCM crickey and to have it all sorted before xmas is just perfect, I'm so glad for you, wow!

Dunlurking I visited notapushymum once and got overwhelmed by it - a child enthused by music/drama is lovely until said child is in final year of school, then it becomes a real worry! Bristol and Exeter are both great unis and great places to study, hope that Exeter offer comes in for you.

Needmore is your DD a drama person too? Where is she applying?

My DD is remarkably sanguine about it; mind you, she has just met her first "Mr Right" who is distracting her mind from everything including studying

Bucking. Not drama but medical school. Not much musical or acting talent in our family. But again something she has been determined to do for a long time. 60% of applicants won't get places. Luckily she has two interviews lined up for late Feb/early March which should take the edge off any rejections before then. And the fall back is a gap year with a chance then to also look at other options.

She will be over the moon to get a single offer. And thankfully it is all taking so long that her focus has returned to school, sport and her social life.

DS1 accepted his firm and insurance offers today, very happy to have it wrapped up before Christmas.

He can concentrate on getting A*AA to get his place!

Pleased for you and your daughter Uhtred.

Hooray for raspberry minor! Can he register for accommodation yet? DD has expressed interest in the type of room she wants at the dedicated hall of residence. The disability people haven't yet contacted her about her needs but hopefully when she has spoken to them that will help her get the sort of room she needs.

Uhtred I don't think he can yet, but am going to check on them both for myself. His insurance also guarantees accommodation which is great.

Raspberry - guaranteed accommodation is such a boon isn't it - although sometimes what you are guaranteed isn't necessarily what you would choose. That's why we are so keen to get DD1 signed on the dotted line even if it means paying out a big sum before student finance kicks in. He challenges make it particularly important that she has accommodation that won't exacerbate things.

Dd1 has also selected her preference for one-to-one tutor (which you can do) so hopefully that will work out since the tutor she has selected is one of the key reasons she chose as she did.

Haven't visited for ages, sorry!

DS1 is doing Maths, FM and Physics, has applied for Maths and has received four offers so far.

Warwick with their standard offer of AAA with A in Maths and FM or AAA and grade 1 in STEP.

Exeter, AAA
Nottingham, AAA or AAB with A in maths and A in FM
Southampton AAA or AAB and grade 1 in STEP and A in Maths and FM.

So nothing much to choose between those three.

Not heard from Birmingham yet, which we were hoping would be slightly lower.

He should get A*AA and who knows what in STEP. Sigh.

DS1 wants Warwick (of course!) but it'll be a stretch for him. His AS levels were good, but FM was a low A. I'm not sure how to advise him. Put Warwick first then one of the above three as back up, but what if he has a bad day and misses AAA? The problem is if he gets a B in FM, (hopefully unlikely but possible) then none of his choices are suitable.

Ah well, see what Brum says and wait until he has done his mocks, maybe?

It's great to see so many others in a similar boat, or in some cases, a completely different boat but with similar worries.

Maths is not particularly over-subscribed so he would have a very good chance of being accepted by all three of the insurances even if he dropped a grade in FM (particularly if it was a near miss). Warwick won't take him if he drops A2 or STEP grades, though. Imo Nottingham and Southampton are slightly better than Exeter for maths.

Thanks, disquisitiones. Warwick is definitely his 'aspirational' choice and I'm loath to discourage him from it, just in case he does pull off an A in FM. If he can possibly make one of the above insurances even with a high B in FM, that would be fantastic. He had one poor exam in his ASs, and it was the FM paper. He'd got 100% on it in a mock but cocked up on the day and got 78%, so it's still possible to get an A if he does as well as he can. He's 'sort of' enjoying STEP, it has the advantage of making the A2 stuff seem easy in comparison.

He might like to check which of his possible insurance universities guarantee accommodation to those who put them as insurance - I think Southampton and Nottingham do, but not sure.

We'll hear tomorrow about Oxford, don't know when but tomorrow is the day! Fingers, toes and everything else crossed in our house!

Yay, I've started a new thread, partly hoping there will be lots of good news on the Oxford/Cambridge front in the next few days. And also for those who have early mocks.