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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No @ProggyMat but I've always marveled at how ancient it is!

Ds doesn't know what he wants to do. A few months ago he wanted to go to university. His favourite subject is history...but he also enjoys religious studies/philosophy/ethics. His other 2 subjects are film studies and business studies. He needs to drop one of those at the end of year 12. He doesn't like business...apparently it's boring but easy. But he thinks film would be best to drop. But maybe film would be a good A level subject if he studies history at university.

But then last week he saw an advert for an apprenticeship at an HR company where they can do a degree alongside the job (I think it was in Sunbury) It was apply now to start later this year after A levels...so obviously a year too early for him. He said he'd much rather do something like that. I did tell him that there may not be many jobs like that and that there would be many applicants. I suggested applying for a university place, then looking for a job like that too. I said he can drop the university place if he found a job...whereas hoping to find a job then not finding one would mean no job and no university place. I'm not sure how jobs like that work accommodation wise. Whether the company take on several people and they can live together or whether he'd have to live alone somewhere. It wouldn't be that nice in a strange place all alone.

Ds certainly needs to have a good think at what he wants to do. I think I'll suggest a virtual tour of a university. Perhaps it might help. He was thinking of Sussex university. They do have several history type degrees.

DD is dead set on Medicine. She's very keen on Oxford (DS1 is there) and they place weight on good GCSE results (which she has). Other than that it's all tbd. She has romantic ideas of Edinburgh (where DH and I went) but the plan is not yet fully formed. Still researching and hoping for some visits in the early summer...

I’m hoping for early summer visits. Have been watching our college year 13s go through it all and it must be so hard not being able to look. I walked into department of where I went and just felt really at home.

Imagine that @FoolsAssassin - some lovely early summer university visits. Sitting on the grass on a sunny day in a different city. Seems like a dream...

I was earlier SandyBayley and thought the same ...

DD said her exam went ‘fine’.

🙄

I’m just glad she has had the opportunity to do it!

Best of luck to your dd directionerforever, the whole BTEC situation has been so fraught and last-minute - it can't have helped!

@ProggyMat DS has ruled out Sussex for it being in the middle of nowhere too, I wouldn’t mind but there’s only about four unis that do his course so not sure he can be quite so picky!!! 😂

[quote JustHereWithMyPopcorn]@ProggyMat DS has ruled out Sussex for it being in the middle of nowhere too, I wouldn’t mind but there’s only about four unis that do his course so not sure he can be quite so picky!!! 😂[/quote]
It's not too far from Brighton by Bus or Train...there are certainly less exciting towns to be near!

@sandybayley

DD is dead set on Medicine. She's very keen on Oxford (DS1 is there) and they place weight on good GCSE results (which she has). Other than that it's all tbd. She has romantic ideas of Edinburgh (where DH and I went) but the plan is not yet fully formed. Still researching and hoping for some visits in the early summer...

I remember she got fab results. I'd love to be pootling around Edinburgh this summer. Who knows if we will get to go on these trips

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn
I reckon they’re both wanting to ensure that they can be in a Jarvis- esque field somewhere that ‘adds’ to their degree?

ican , loads of history degrees these days have film units so it's a good one to have some background in.

proggy, I hail from Glasgow.

rowling, lots of the academic Film unis are campus (Warwick has an amazing reputation for film) but Manchester is v good?

@Piggywaspushed yes thanks. I thought that too. Film was a subject he didn't particularly want to do but was the only subject in the 4th A level column he could do. But he quite likes it now. Ds1 also did film for the same reason with every intention of dropping it after AS. But he dropped geography instead.

Ds1 is very uni keen all of a sudden, looking at different unis. He took the initiative to speak to his careers advisor, which I was very impressed/pleased about.

Piggy I nearly went to Warwick myself and was so impressed with it - I'd be v happy for dd to go there. But can she overcome her campus-based prejudice? Dot dot dot.

Film has that power ican

It is also very good for teaching about other cultures, increasing cultural capital and broadening the mind : and has coursework. All good for personal statement! I ma teaching 'Selma' at the mo which goes brilliantly with history.

Some students do seem to have campus beef! I loves a campus, me.

I went to City Uni, London for a year...hated it. Knew it wasn't right for me when I went to offer holder day. I would have been much happier in a campus environment I think.
Dd worried about being near a McDonald's or Kebab shop 🙄.

@Piggywaspushed ds2 so far is doing the same films as ds1. So we have most of them on dvd. I'm
assuming he will do all the same films. Ds1 did go to look round Norwich university of the Arts with his friend who is really into film studies. The friend went on to start his film degree there. But ds1 decided to stick with biology.

Haha @ProggyMat DS1 is at St Andrews and LOVES it. He also thought he wanted a place with night life as he loved clubbing, gigs and festivals in sixth form. His top choices on paper were Cambridge and Sheffield, but he fell in love with everything about St Andrews. He is in the first year and nothing has been as expected for them, so I am pleased and relieved that he is so happy there. In normal times St A is top for student experience in lots of league tables. Over on the first year University thread Lancaster seems to have managed the covid situation best.

Sheffield is very popular - excellent university, lovely location with nightlife and countryside, young population in city, lots of students, low cost of living.

Main reason Edinburgh is front runner for DS2 is because he would not have to decide which subject he was going to do until second year.

I think most students are happy wherever they end up!

Dd is unusually resistant to thinking about what comes next. We had lots of discussion in years 10 and 11 about career options/degrees but now she won’t engage. I think she’s really settled into sixth form and her new friendship group and doesn’t want to think about moving on.

I’ve done loads of research into unis/cities/costs etc ! But really, she needs to decide on broad career plans and areas of interest. I can’t do that bit!

That might be a selling point for Edinburgh for DS if he gets a bit more time to decide ! I was originally going to give Scotland (DH went to. Scottish University)a bit of a push but the whole Covid thing made me wonder if closer to home might be better. We didn’t see DD for 8 months last year as she was locked in Wales.

Whatever happens with open days, as long as we can travel this summer we’ll go and look at some of them to get an idea of the feel of them. He’s undecided whether to give Oxford or Cambridge a go, I’d prefer Oxford if he does as think STEPs results in the summer sounds immensely stressful and have only just got over the 6th form application process which took months of going backwards and forwards.

Think he would do well with a campus so Warwick in my radar, Bath possibly and Exeter and wondering about Durham. Southampton maybe too.

I had thought physics was off the cards as had gone quiet on that front but apparently it isn’t. Computer science may now be a runner but he wants to look at how much theory involved and maths still in the mix.

And I think he should look at somewhere where he could do an integrated Masters because of the funding benefits.