Continuing Year 13: January 2016

[Needmoresleep]

Only two more terms at school. Let's support each other support our DC in getting through to the end.

Its depends..mainly on how competitive the course is and perhaps whether they interviewed.

I know of one boy who dropped a grade in each subject and still gained a place at a RG university on a competitive course. I assume the University decision is whether it is better to take a known candidate rather than one through clearing. But its impossible to predict who will have places in August, and who will discover they have over offered and so will stick strictly to offer grades.

My guess is that it is worth a shot. If they won't consider him, he ought to find the rejection on UCAS at the same time as he gets his results, meaning he is free to try clearing.

That's true - nothing actually to lose! I will pass it on. Thanks Needmore

Exeter would take lower grades such as ABB/AAB for certain science subjects - they are not particularly strong in some sciences.

mygrandchildren Because her offer is 2 Es.

UhtredRagnorsson in that case perfectly understandable!

Disquit, how are Exeter viewed for maths? I thought they were quite high up the rankings, so I'm surprised that sciences aren't also ranked higher.

Exeter typically sits between 12 and 18 in university league tables for maths. It came 23rd in the 2014 REF assessment of maths departments. Outside the very top few, UK maths departments can't afford to be so selective that they won't accept dropped grades at all. Similar story for many other sciences.

Exeter is perceived by parents and students as stronger than it actually is for sciences, based on reputation for humanities.

Remember STEM subjects are not over-subscribed at universities, so far more highly respected courses are willing to drop a grade or so, and to go into Clearing, than for over-subscribed subjects.

Thanks Gloria. I had a word with Ds last night and he was very pleased to think it was worth putting them down as an insurance. It was like a weight off him, I think because he likes them and wanted them there as a possibility still, however remote.

Thanks, Disquit. DS really liked the number of options available for maths at Exeter, so it's now his insurance with Warwick as his 1st choice.

Time to get on to the student loans website...

Need some advice.
My 17 year old grandson is possibly coming to live with us. He left school last year and started studying accountancy at college. Owing to illness he has missed most of his first year and is not going to finish. However, he wants to complete his education so how do I go about getting him a place locally. Who should I approach.

Any hints would be very welcome.

Hi all. Just caught up. All these firms and insurances makes me aware of just how our DCs are moving along this path that sometimes feels more like a conveyor belt, to me.

My DP works at Warwick it's weird to see how popular it is among you folks.

DD just had Rada recall which she said went badly. It's hell!!

Granny70, you would probably get more advice if you started a thread yourself with your question in the title.

I'd guess phoning your local colleges would be a start. Your grandson could restart the course, or a similar course. Not usually a problem. It can be a problem with funding if you want to restart at the original college, I believe, but usually ok if you move colleges.

Thank you Ellenjanethickerknickers

Appreciate that and if I have no joy I'll do what you suggest and start a new thread

Got a few worries here.Firstly DS has ahd flu and missed a lot of the ISA work in physics and now will have to go in on a lunchtime for the remaining 4 days of term to try and finish it.Not ideal because lunchtime is when you are supposed to be resting your brain not doing A level course work.
Second worry is that they have not finished syllabus by Easter! They will be on the last bits but still!
Third thing is that I don't think DS does nearly enough work, and his concentration is often split between the computer and his homework.

Maydancer, many sympathies, the early Easter is a killer. DD decided she would keep up her fifth A level as she really enjoyed it, but the combination of late interviews, rushing to complete the syllabi, three sets of coursework , no offers and another rejection are proving challenging. She is resilient, a gap year would not be a bad thing, and we will get through it somehow. But it is no fun.

My question of the day is why does maths have coursework? She explained but I still don't understand.

My DC is doing OCR maths which doesn't have coursework thankfully

A lucky escape. I think ours is OCR MEI, though no idea what that means.

Needmoresleep- is she a medicine applicant?

Yes, so not the only one of her friends still to be waiting. Unfortunately others don't have the same coursework logjam and are happily sitting on offers they want. I'm thinking back guiltily to when I was at the same stage and had five offers. I am not sure I showed any sensitivity at all to less fortunate classmates. One advantage is that she is taking sciences where grades are more predictable. Humanities students seem to run a much higher risk of unexpected missed grades. So if it all works out for her I will remind her to reach out to others in the summer.

It's a tough introduction to the adult world.

I hope your Sunday is proving fruitful. I would not worry about the lunchtime sessions. My understanding is that the lab time is mainly to collect data, so not too arduous, it just takes time. And that the physics coursework write up is reasonably straightforward. (OCR B here)

What is yours wanting to do?

Needmoresleep it seems cruel to the point of incompetence to make the poor medic applicants wait so long. Surely your poor DD can't have to wait too much longer?
DS's Chemistry and Biology are not going to be finished much before May I think, although they are nearly done with Maths.

I dont think they need to reply till May, though one is promising a response before mid-April. The problem seems to be the interviews, plus their need to get numbers right. I think they get fined if they take too many or too few. Last year's Student Room threads has example of students being given offers after earlier rejections, or of being offered bribes in August if they agree to take a gap year.

There are lots of Plan Bs and things will work out. But it is awful to see DD go through this. Hopefully one set of coursework is finished today. In some ways I am glad the school have set a deadline.

In the meantime I hope things are good for the other Yr13 DC. Once the offer is firmed it becomes quite exciting.

Sympathies Needmoresleep, it's so tough for the medics. One of my good friends has a DD going through it too-no offers yet for her. It's such a long time to be in limbo.

DD has broken up for the holidays and is already knee-deep in revision. She's doing 4 humanities subjects and although on the face of it her Oxford offer of
3 As should be achievable she's very conscious that the marking can be unpredictable. Carrying on with all 4 to A Level theoretically gives her a safety net but of course also increases the workload. But she really didn't want to drop any of them so it is what it is.

Good luck to all the DC for the final push!

here we've started the student finance application, although the Current Year Income form won't be available till April (for first timers - that's where you estimate that your income for 16-17 will be at least 15% lower than your tax return figures for 14-15; any differences are added to/subtracted from the 17-18 award. Useful for self-employed folk. Also worth knowing that the 16-17 figures are used for all three years, so for eg DD1 ended up with loan + grant as her first year coincided with us setting up a new business, so lowish income, but that was still used for Y2 & 3, even though our income had changed).

Plus accommodation applied for, even though there's still this week's post-offer day(s) at Durham.

Chemistry coursework might be finished finally this afternoon, then EPQ presentation at the end of the week. Revision starts at the Easter weekend allegedly