Corona Cohort’s Year 12 adventures

[FoolsAssassin]

We’ve made it into year 12 and rapidly approaching the end of the first half term .

Lots of challenges we could never imagined as we started the year but we’re all keeping on keeping on and this thread is for anyone who would like to jump on board to share the rather unusual journey this is turning out to be.

Thread

Previous Thread

just not really sure : lack of module variety, I suppose. Some of the courses seem a bit one note in what they offer and maybe a bit old fashioned but can't really put my finger on it.

@Heifer you don't have to do Chemistry for Biology at St Andrews, I just looked and it is Bio plus one of (Chem, Phys, Maths). DS1 is there and it is very friendly and intimate - the size universities were when I went many years ago. In normal times they are the top university nationally for the student experience and there is lots of stuff like academic families, subject mentors and traditions which help to draw all students in to a social life. He absolutely loves it in spite of everything!

@sandybayley I am sure you are doing the research, it is worth keeping an eye on The Student Room to see who got interviews at Edinburgh this year. Last year you needed pretty perfect academics if you were RUK, so I think she has all 8/9 GCSEs, but I would not consider it unless she had predictions equivalent to at least AAA, a UCAT score over 2,900, probably 3,000, with a band 1. The good thing about the admissions stats they released was that there was a very high offer/interview rate, think it may have been close to 90%.

Sorry to hear about bad Bristol experience @FoolsAssassin, I went there and loved it and, like many of my cohort, stayed. DS1 and his friends all intend to come back to Bristol to live eventually because they love the city.

Re actual grades for courses, @JustHereWithMyPopcorn there is a wealth of historic data on actual UCAS points etc on discoveruni.gov.uk (used to be Unistats).

Many thanks piggywaspushed for mentioning Unifrog

I just dropped it into a chat with dd, who said 'oh yeah, I'm meant to do some stuff on that over half term' - she's looking for the email with the link as I type

She'd have forgotten if I hadn't mentioned it - this is what I mean about organisation!

Miranda I hope the cat is ok.

TheyseeherRowling I haven’t any recommendations I’m sorry but you are near us I think. Encouraging in a way that she wants go further away but understand how you feel. Friend’s DS at Southampton as needed to come home regularly and that has worked well for him. I was impressed when went to a science day there, had a great feel about the place that I didn’t feel at the time I went for my interview there back in the day.

Cardiff is a great place to be a student depending on the course. Rent is cheap for second and third year and compact so can walk everywhere and don’t have to pay for any transport . The Union is brilliant .

I hope I wasn’t too negative about Bristol earlier. I love the city and university but I don’t think it is for DS. Many of my friends went as students and never left as love it - known as the graveyard of ambition!

Monkey didn’t see your post when I typed mine ! I am hoping to be a Bristol returner in next few years, though probably would be outside rather than in the city so not surprised your DS1 planning to return. One of the DC who had bad experience is from where I am now and it’s very very sheltered here so I think Bristol was a huge culture shock for her which played a big part and always going to be tricky.

That’s an interesting point @FoolsAssassin. Background and where you come from should be taken into account. Dd is a city girl, with a very wide range of friends and acquaintances from across the West Midlands. A lot of her socialising has been done in the city centre from age 12ish! There seemed to be quite a large group of ‘party kids’ from a cross section of mainly private and grammar schools getting up to all sorts of stuff from about year 9/10 onwards and lots of talk of drugs at parties. Thankfully she’s never been in that crowd!

Thanks @Monkey2001 - she has all 9s at GCSE but who knows what her IB predicted score will be? It's looking good at the moment but we're only half a term in.

I think we will be keeping all options in mind until we have more information in about how she'll present as a candidate. Maybe we'll even be able to visit some medical schools to narrow the list down...

I think background combined with individual personality play a role Crazycrofter. Really hope by the time ours apply they will be able to look around places to get a feel for them . Must be very hard for the year 13s to be doing this at the moment without being able to get to a lot of places.

DS had his first proper RE essay back and he did really well . For once he planned it and put effort in and it paid off - it was comfortably an A and he is very pleased. Am hoping this inspires him to keep up the good work.

Not sure on cat as we have to try and get a sample and take her back tomorrow morning. She was too sore to let the vet examine her properly and they want to be able to check her kidneys. The vet said that it could be something that was already there and the fight triggered it? Am trying not to google but it’s difficult

Good news on the essay Miranda.

Agree not to google with the cat and hopefully isn’t anything sinister. One of ours has kidney problems and has responded very well to change on diet if that helps to hear at all 💐

DD is still torn between Med and Vet Med so is creating two separate portfolios of work experience. Completely ridiculous.

Spending this weekend volunteering with St John’s ambulance and next week shadowing an equine vet. MAKE UP YOUR MIND, GIRL!!!

Hope DCat is OK. I also hope she is insured? I learnt the hard way...

@KingscoteStaff the shadowing sounds fun

Yes you’re right @FoolsAssassin, personality comes into it too. I hope we’re able to visit universities in the summer.

That’s impressive @KingscoteStaff! My dd isn’t so mature or ambitious - I can only imagine what she’d say if I suggested she get work experience in her holiday! Thankfully she’s not looking at a vocational course now so no need! Hope the two weeks help her clarify her preference.

DD wants to read Classics with a view to doing a law conversion afterwards.
She’ll have a punt at Oxford and has been quizzing her teachers about which colleges are the ‘party colleges’
UCL and Warwick are on current list as they offer a year in Italy. Exeter also in mix so looking for number 5.
Durham - even though I did my degree and postgrad there- not in mix as too close to home and she wants to have a ‘moving away’ experience.

DD has worked backwards in identifying what she doesn't want to do, and where she would not want to to study. Bit arse about face but the upshot is she cannot see herself reading a straight single subject, and that the UK may not be the place for her undergraduate studies, but needs to keep options open.

So she's preparing for both UCAS and international applications, that will be so subject to costs and potential financial aid, visa rules, Brexit negotiations etc etc. Lots of tests have been made optional for 2021 entry but still required for 2022 so SAT exams being sat in December, on the basis that she'll sit once only and will review where that may allow her access to, alongside her wider CV of stuff that UK unis are less interested in.

@Monkey2001- unforunately DD isn't doing either Chemistry, Physics or Maths A level. She wasn't strong enough in those subjects to do really well at A Level. So opted to take Pyschology as her 2nd science. To be fair she should be able to get on a course good at a good uni - just maybe not top 15/20.

Genetics at Glasgow is an option though

@Heifer ds1 didn't want to go to university when he first started A levels. Then towards the end of year 12 he decided he wanted to study biology at university. As he'd not thought about university and subjects needed, he wasn't doing maths or a second science. He got A's in all gcse science subjects so could have done A level. But he's never been a mathematician. He only did foundation at gcse. So maths A level wouldn't have been an option anyway. Though he did find foundation level easy. He wanted a university near to home, UEA and UE both accept no second science/maths. I'm sure several other universities do too. He had an offer from Sussex too.

DCat is insured - last September she had an incident with a car and we were very glad she was insured as she had a number of operations and now has metal in one of her legs.

I am suspicious that DS has fallen asleep...

Glad to hear it. One of our DCats got a small cut on her leg last year which got infected. Nearly £1000 she cost us. Bigger DCat got grass stuck in his throat. £200...

I hope your cat is ok @MirandaWest

When do uni applications have to be made? Is it this time next year? DS still has no idea if he wants to go to uni and even less of idea what to study if he does. Every one else on here seems to know what they want to do or at least have an idea

In the middle of a two week half term here, he’s done a bit of homework. He does no self learning at all though

@Fiddlersgreen DS has no idea yet and I’m not concerned.

Standard applications need to be made by 15th January 2022 and Oxbridge and vet and medical applications by 15th October 2021. So a while yet

@OrangeCinnamon1 and @Comefromaway another music degree DD here too. Thanks for the info on various places. She’s thinking classical/performance orientated with Leeds Conservatoire being the favourite so far as they have a classical music degree.

Conservatoire applications are the earliest deadline - it was 1st October this year so guessing it will be around then so less than a year to go scary. May take a year out first though but plenty of time to decide yet.

Glad it’s now half term for DD. She’s got a day playing with the county youth orchestra tomorrow in person in bubbles for the first time since lockdown so really looking forward to that, then she has an online music course mon-fri so so much so are time before back to school but it’s what she loves so all good.

Report home today just with effort grades of 2 excellent and one good, with no late assignments so DD pleased.

@ealingwestmum has your DD considered Scotland. I know about St Andrews, but I think Edinburgh is the same and I don't know about others. They do a 4 year degree starting with 3 subjects in the first year, which can be cross-faculty, so I think you could do Classics, Biology and International Relations in the first year if you had the right pre-requisites. Some people start with one degree and end up with another - eg get accepted for Maths, study Maths, Physics and Management in Y1, then move into Management and IR in Y2. May be worth looking at Scotland, I assume Europe is going to be tricky for UK students and they will be International, and USA is very complicated.

@ProggyMat St A is also a common second choice for Oxford Classics applicants.