Corona Cohort - Year 12 - 2021 - NO 'Self isolating' please.

[Oblomov20]

We just want our kids in school. Please. If at all possible.

And driving lessons. And good Mental Health. And happiness.

In-and-amongst all this Covid nightmare and lockdown debacle.

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@Directionerforever I would have thought end of year 12 but ds1 left it later and into year 13. So we didn't have much time for looking.

Fab thank you, DD has no idea what she’s going to do next so it would have been really helpful for to have a look around campuses and get a feel for them and speak to lecturers in subjects that she’s interested in. Hopefully by the summer it might be a possibility 🙏🏻

Have a look online . Birmingham and Sheffield are doing loads at the mo so I am sure lots of unis are.

DD did her first open day last weekend. As they are all virtual it seemed like a good time to start thinking about it. Have another one booked next week which will be good to compare with. She’s going to apply to some conservatoires for music and the deadline is early October this year so can’t leave it too late.

This popped up on my social media the other day if anyone's interested (re. university virtual open events)

russellgroup.vfairs.com

Ah yes, @PaddingtonPaddington I remember! Is she applying to academic courses too? Dd still wants to go down the Music route but she wants a degree that covers performance and education and musicology and music business and possibly therapy .

Thanks @TheySeeHerRowling!

@orangecinnamon yes going to apply to both conservatoire and unis for performance and still also considering a gap year. Sounds like your DD has a nice list of requirements. Will have to share info

That’s great thank you @TheySeeHerRowling will definitely be worth a look.

I hadn't even thought they were supposed to be properly looking yet. DS has a specific course in mind so he's limited to which unis do that course.

My DS left it mainly to the beginning of Y13 (partly because he ended up dropping subjects which meant he had to change ideas as to what he was going to study) but I think it was really a bit late. If nothing else, many open days were on weekdays which meant missing school which wasn't ideal at that stage!

DD attended some virtual open days during the summer holidays just to try and get a feel for things. They are not the same as an actual visit but it does give an introduction to the differences between similar courses at different unis etc. We were going to do some self guided things over Oct half term, but several of her favourites were in Wales, which had already imposed travel restrictions so that never happened. I'm hoping that things may have relaxed a bit by the end of the Summer term so at least we might be able to visit the towns/cities and maybe walk round a campus or two. Maybe some sort of real life open day might be possible by next Autumn.

Checking in

We did the on line Edinburgh open day and plan to do more this summer. DS1 was medicine so had the early deadline, which meant he needed to shortlist early. With other subjects, even if you apply for Oxbridge you can add the other choices up to 15th Jan, so no rush.

Apparently DD's school is starting to advise on UCAS during General Studies.

We really need to do a couple of virtual open days now...and hope to see the real thing soon.

Still toying with a gap year so things settle before DD goes to Uni.

DS won’t talk about it. He’s just helped me look over someone’s CV and was actually very helpful so I thought he might be receptive to a discussion but no he wasn’t.

DD has gone into school to do her BTEC IT. I hope it goes ok!!

I havent thought any further about the future with DS - it is a struggle just getting him to work tbh. I think the idea of doing some self guided stuff in the summer term is a good one.

Best of luck to her @Directionerforever

The problem is it all comes round so quick!

Universities love to put their open days on at the same time too.

Dd has further whittled down her list after extensive searching of web pages looking at course content and applying criteria such as 'my gut is telling me no' or 'it is too far north and will be cold' , then she has got rid of central London Unis, then those that don't find performance lessons, oh and the Uni I work for (even though it is really quite good for Music). We are still left with about 10 choices! She is aiming for ABB and most course entry requirements fall in that category, or slightly above or slightly under. I suspect she has her heart set on two, I know one for definite is her dream, but would really like her to visit and fall in love with a place.

A bit like wedding dress shopping I guess

@ChristopherTracy

I havent thought any further about the future with DS - it is a struggle just getting him to work tbh. I think the idea of doing some self guided stuff in the summer term is a good one.

I do wish we had a post results system. It would give the a bit more time to make up minds if /where they would like to go/do. Our whole education system seems to be feared towards these ridiculously early decision making at certain points in their studentship.

Geared not *feared

Yes I agree @orangecinnamon we haven't had any indication of any expected results yet so quite hard to know where to aim for anyway.

Just had another talk with DS and his reluctance to discuss is because he just doesn’t know at the moment, is between 3. Suggested he has a think about where he might be interested in going and if it’s a campus he is after etc.

orangecinnamon love the analogy with wedding dress shopping.

Dd knows she wants to do something English-y, maybe a joint honours with something like Philosophy or Film/Media, and she's decided she doesn't want a campus university, but that's about it.

Her other stipulation is that it isn't too near home - but given that she has no plans to learn to drive or own a car, it can't be too far away either!

From my point of view, I'd like accommodation and cost of living to be manageable too, as I can imagine her blowing her termly budget on new clothes and make up in the first week...

DD knows which subject she wants to read at Uni and has shortlisted 4
Number 5 is proving ‘troublesome’ 😂
She’s categorically ruled out St Andrews as she ‘doesn’t want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with no nightlife’
I think Glasgow may suit her ‘requirements’ and am wondering if anyone else’s DC are considering Glasgow?