GCSE summer 2020 thread 6 - Carry on Corona Cohort, Further adventures aboard the Corona Charabanc.

[FoolsAssassin]

The summer of discovidtent for the Corona Cohort trudging on towards results day.
Ofqual have done them a little video to explain their results:

Please feel free to join us to see what twists the next bit has in store for us all.

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Jokes aside, I was hoping to visit at least one of DDs current Uni choices this summer as most are a fair hike from where we are.
I guess a lot of current Yr12 parents are in the same boat if they didn’t do any visits last year.

Proggy so does your DD know what she wants to do and her choices of university? DS hasn't got much of a clue about where to go, every now and then airily suggests Oxford or "abroad" but that's it. (In the nicest possible way he is very unlikely to get into Oxford but let's see what results day brings.)

Singing in terms of what subject she’d like to read at Uni then yes it’s Classics.
She will have an aspirational punt at Oxbridge but has also looked at potential other Unis.
She quite likes the look of Warwick as that offers a year abroad at an Italian Uni and accelerated Italian.
Exeter and UCL are also in the mix, for now
She’s ruled out St Andrews as she doesn’t think it’s ‘nightlifey’ but Edinburgh is another on the list to look at

DS wants to do engineering and will probably go for Cambridge as the aspirational choice, but has not started to look elsewhere yet. DH is an engineer, so knows lots of people who can talk about their experience at various places.

The virtual open days are a brilliant way of getting a "quick dip" into a university with very little cost/hassle, so would be very good for getting a shortlist of places to actually visit when you can.

@ProggyMat DS was unsure about social life at St A until he visited, but he loved it and ended up choosing it over Sheffield although he is a club/festival sort of person. It comes top of the charts for student experience, which is generally acknowledged to be one of the more reliable measures in the league tables.

Proggy
Great that she has found out about courses already, I think that might be very motivating when it comes to working hard for A levels. DS is currently leaning towards neuroscience but so far all he knows is that UCL is supposedly best for it. He reckons he's got loads of time but I think the next year will go in a flash.

Monkey
Virtual open days are a good idea, I might suggest that at one of his more receptive moments.

@Monkey2001 if it were me, I’d keep St As in the mix too!
That said, I think we’d have to visit so she could see that there was a good social life to be had -if that makes sense?
@singingstones it’s really scary how quickly time is rattling on and worrying that it may not be possible to visit all potential Unis from a temporal perspective let alone a financial one!

DD is aiming for medicine. She likes the look of Edinburgh and will also give Oxford a go. Not sure what else will be in the list but given that applications for medicine need to be quite strategic I suspect the list will narrow down when she has GCSE results in hand and we have some insight on BMAT and UCAT.

We're hoping to get to Edinburgh in the Autumn but if not she'll be there next summer to perform on the fringe (postponed from this year),

I am hoping he might avoid Scotland, partly because of the expense of travelling to open days and partly because if he did go there he would be (sob) so far away. But let's see..

@singingstones - I agree but DH and I met at Edinburgh and DD's godfather studied medicine there. I think we may have talked it up somewhat.

I've just signed up for the 'advance ticket' alert for train tickets and am thinking about booking a hotel which can be cancelled if needed.

@sandybayley DS1 is starting medicine at St A in September, and my brain is stuffed full of medicine application info. He thought he would like to apply to Edinburgh, but was utterly underwhelmed by the course talk when we visited although he loved the city (who wouldn't!) He thought the Leicester talk was much more inspiring so switched Edinburgh for Leicester. It is a particularly good idea for medics to attend the virtual presentations for as many medical schools as possible - we had a 4 night mini-break to see St Andrews and Edinburgh, which was only possible because he was on a gap year.

@Monkey2001 - I spent many a happy weekend in St Andrews as a student. Good idea to try and combine a trip with one to Edinburgh. I wonder if DD would find it a bit slow paced after growing up in London.

Getting ahead of myself a bit..,

We had a virtual info day for college recently and a Q and A session with two of the current year 12. They seem to be very much in the thick of University applications and it did bring it home to me that this time next year ours will and with how time is flying by it will come roujnd before we know it.

DS not keen to discuss it at the moment and I will leave it to College as Is one of their strengths and I think he will take it better from them than me. When he last spoke about it pre all this kicking off it was Maths or Physics.

Starting to think about getting bits ready for him for Sept as we can take the first load of stuff on enrolment day Which is coming round fast. It’s all a but stressful as still don’t know what is happening for DD’s year out, there are leases to be dealt with and two people,needing to know what is doing to be able to sort their accommodation. She needs medical screening for her visa application, She’s had to apply for accommodation at host university l if they decide to do online then she’ll be up really late due to to,e difference.

@sandybayley My eldest is a medical student. You are right about needing to be strategic. The first step is applying to unis where you should have a good chance of getting an interview. We had a spreadsheet! She got called to interview at all the ones she applied to (incl Oxford) so let me know if you have any questions.

Y11 ds has very different interests. I think he may end up applying for something like PPE. Will see how the GCSEs go...

After DS who applied for subjects that DH and I were knowledgable about, DD is havering between Medicine and Vet Medicine - her parents don’t have a single science A level between them!

I'm interested to see how the next couple of years will pan out, but at the moment DS considers education to be a necessary evil to be endured rather than enjoyed and is not really convinced that going to university is for him (interested to hear if anyone else's DC is similar - we seem to have a lot of high flyers on this board!).

His ambition for quite a few years has been to join the army, which obviously he can do at 18 without going to university, although he has been advised by a couple of ex-army people we know that he might be better to get some further qualifications first, so university is still on the table as an option. DS is very much a "there needs to be a point to me doing this or I won't bother" type of person, so if he does go to university, I suspect it will be specifically to gain qualifications to further his future career rather than for love of learning per se!

@RedskyAtnight my year 9 ds sounds just like yours and is also talking about army/marines after initially thinking police. He also sees very little value in education beyond getting what he needs, in order to be able to do what he wants to do. He’s bright, at a grammar school, but also has ADHD so studying doesn’t come easily. I’ll be interested to follow what your ds decides to do after sixth form as I can’t imagine ds studying beyond 18, but he might if it was beneficial to his career options.

Dd would be considered a high flyer but I’ve come to realise that ability and interest aren’t always aligned! She’s very much a people person and said recently she can’t imagine doing an academic degree, she’d rather do something vocational. At the moment she’s thinking maybe occupational therapy. However if she likes Psychology A Level, that may be a possibility at degree level if she wants to keep her options open.

I don't know if things are very different now, but I know a couple of people who joined the army young and did their degrees in the army a few years later, so fully funded on full salary. I assume both these boys are in the cadets? There are great opportunities there - DS1 did sea cadets for a while and there were opportunities to spend a week on a ship in the summer holidays doing quite interesting things. There was also a lot of marching, and some shoe polishing and ironing so he dropped out, but we know lots who loved it.

Yes my ds isthe same - no real interest in University so we will look at apprenticeships or an actual job or at a pinch the Navy? He really has no idea at the moment. But he is in computer engineering etc so somethign that ties all of those up.

DS used to like cadets but there was no structure to the progression and he didnt get to do any activities or camps as ours was quite badly run unfortunately so he gave up.

Hi all...username issues so I've added the 1 to my name (i started the first thread for yr10s).

@proggymat if I had my time again I would love to do Classics and the Venice term with Warwick..is Michael Scott still there (not swooning honest )?

It does sound scary to think of Uni applications but there is a certain strategy required for some. Those who have to make early apps may want to be sure of their choices and what to put on UCAS statements by early next academic year. If Oxbridge you don't have to have your other choices sorted of course, but it helps lessen the load. There are also open days to consider...like secondary school open evenings you may find they are on the same day.
I would only say the above if a student is sure about what they want to do. It is tempting to panic if no ideal courses become apparent but we must try to navigate helping them make the decisions independently at the right time for them ...another upcoming challenge, im so guilty of telling my Dd about online open days etc. She doesn't need to go to them just now. I suppose it is because we know what she wants to do (Music) and I work at a Uni so have some knowledge of processes etc. So tempting to butt in and tell her what to do/how to . I need help to stop!

@ChristopherTracy what about Radar with the Navy !? I know someone who did that ...found it very enjoyable.

Yes - I think that is exactly the sort of thing that would be good. I have conflicting opinions about it but it would certainly suit him.

Orange I not familiar with Warwick Uni- it’s at the opposite end of the country to us as are most of DDs choices 😂
She likes the idea of a year (3rd year of 4) in Rome which I think is in the mix with Venice, Bologna and another uni.
Wouldn’t mind it myself except I couldn’t cope with the Latin and Greek

I’ve just received an email from school confirming result day plans! 😬 It all feels quite close!

They are setting up one way system & have allocated time slots on surnames - they’ve also asked for student’s email addresses & all results will also be sent by email at 2pm!

DS doesn’t care really. They have confirmed his A-Level choices...

@OrangeCinnamon1
I'm exactly the same with the "helping". DS hates it (understandably) so I really need to pipe down.