visiting unis
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Re: visiting unis
quasimodo wrote:We also were able to eliminate and select Universities off our equation by arranging visits with students at certain Universities.
When a colleague of mine was doing a masters and his wife was doing the final year of her PHD at Green Templeton College and Gonville and Caius in Oxford respectively I was able to go for a weekend visit with my cousins daughter and her dad.We were able to get a good look around the University which gave my cousins daughter the passion to make her application and to eventually get a place.
When it came to my eldest daughter my cousins daughter replicated at Oriel College and we found it wasn't right for my daughter as the course she wanted was extremely competitive with a 8 and half per cent success rate and she wanted to be able to go abroad for a year.She didn't think the University suited her and she didn't think she would be able to cope academically.So we didn't waste our efforts.
She wasn't prepared for the sake of going to the University to try and get a place on a less competitive course like anthropology for which she had no passion or enthusiasm or develop a passion and enthusiasm over a 12 month period prior to the applicatio
It doesn't do any harm in planning from an early age if you have the contacts just to get a feel for the place.
Like your DD, DS1 wanted something not offered by Oxford or Cambridge, namely an integrated year in industry; again like your DD, he wasn't going to try for a place anyway just for the possibility of an Oxbridge offer. Others will have their own opinions on that subject, but I have to say that it was and is an attitude fully supported by both of his parents
. Having both visited Birmingham with him, we are happy with his decision and the reasoning behind it.(That being said, I will still hanker slightly after weekend visits to Southampton or exploring more of the menu of a rather nice Turkish restaurant we found in York, the transitory favourite before the return visit to Birmingham
).Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Re: visiting unis
Open Days are a far cry from when I trekked around the country by coach on my own many years ago! I'm sure this reflects increased parental involvement (financial & otherwise, & no judgement either way intended). This is simply my experience. My DD is in Year 13.
My DD made a long list of about 10 universities, based on a real mix of things - some a parent would consider sensible, others not
as well as looking at the detail of the course (phew - that did get a look in!) & usual offer, she thought location important (no London or northern ones were considered!); proximity of halls to lectures; the standard of her favourite sport; and the distance of said sport to halls!
The 10 were knocked down to about 6 & we initially visited two. Completely overwhelming & difficult to extract detailed information - but we had a lovely time, doing the two visits back to back & combining with a girly weekend away. It was great to spend some one on one time with her. However, she decided she didn't like either of the ones we visited. Not only that, she decided visits were a total waste of time & she would just apply & then go on post-offer days. So we eventually went on two of these and they were completely different to the general open days - small numbers / much more detailed / opportunity to tour in small groups / meet lecturers etc. After the two, my DD decided that she loved one so much she would make it her 'firm'. For her 'insurance' she chose the only lower offer she had (one she hadn't visited!) - all the others wanted the same grades.
So, if your nerves can stand it, I would suggest holding out for the post-offer days which seemed much more useful to me. As your DS is doing his research carefully, this might be more worthwhile than attending multiple open days as some do. I'm not sure if everywhere does post-offer days though so if opting for this approach it might be wise to check
My DD made a long list of about 10 universities, based on a real mix of things - some a parent would consider sensible, others not
as well as looking at the detail of the course (phew - that did get a look in!) & usual offer, she thought location important (no London or northern ones were considered!); proximity of halls to lectures; the standard of her favourite sport; and the distance of said sport to halls! The 10 were knocked down to about 6 & we initially visited two. Completely overwhelming & difficult to extract detailed information - but we had a lovely time, doing the two visits back to back & combining with a girly weekend away. It was great to spend some one on one time with her. However, she decided she didn't like either of the ones we visited. Not only that, she decided visits were a total waste of time & she would just apply & then go on post-offer days. So we eventually went on two of these and they were completely different to the general open days - small numbers / much more detailed / opportunity to tour in small groups / meet lecturers etc. After the two, my DD decided that she loved one so much she would make it her 'firm'. For her 'insurance' she chose the only lower offer she had (one she hadn't visited!) - all the others wanted the same grades.
So, if your nerves can stand it, I would suggest holding out for the post-offer days which seemed much more useful to me. As your DS is doing his research carefully, this might be more worthwhile than attending multiple open days as some do. I'm not sure if everywhere does post-offer days though so if opting for this approach it might be wise to check
Re: visiting unis
Tense - we did not find the Open Days overwhelming. There were separate things on for each course and then subdivided further so we were in a group of 10 or so. Students had 'hands on' activites and parents got a different tour.
So I think the message is - find out what the Open Day consists of - if there are subject specific tours then that is better.
So I think the message is - find out what the Open Day consists of - if there are subject specific tours then that is better.
Re: visiting unis
I think you are right about the parental involvement.In my time over 30 years ago I had no parental involvement in anything I did it all on my own apart from the help of one tutor to whom I shall always be grateful who eventually became the principal of the sixth form.This was partly because my parents were uneducated in English and were manual workers and partly because they lacked understanding of the education system other than to fully support each child in their endeavours.At that time I only went to view a couple of universities on my own on public transport.The expense for any more would be too great in monetary terms and time.tense wrote:Open Days are a far cry from when I trekked around the country by coach on my own many years ago! I'm sure this reflects increased parental involvement (financial & otherwise, & no judgement either way intended). This is simply my experience.
That is why I didn't understand the number visits I was required to make by my eldest dd for University.But she wanted us to make them and she wanted me to go on them. But then again then I had a full grant and this time round it is a huge expense for the family.
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Re: visiting unis
I'm sure that for the majority of students who don't visit potential choices before they apply everything works out fine. But you don't have to look very hard on sites such as The Student Room to find those who found out very little about the place they opted for and are now totally miserable due to wrong course, wrong uni, wrong location. I feel sorry for their unhappiness, but little sympathy for the ones who chose their uni on perceived / actual ranking (does this sound familiar, folks?) without giving a thought to its suitability for them. e.g. someone who chose St.Andrews then posted a rant about how small the place was and how non-existent the nightlife etc
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Re: visiting unis
Sounds like a few posts I've read somewhere ... hmm .. now where was it? Some people never learn to go and look for themselves ...ToadMum wrote:I'm sure that for the majority of students who don't visit potential choices before they apply everything works out fine. But you don't have to look very hard on sites such as The Student Room to find those who found out very little about the place they opted for and are now totally miserable due to wrong course, wrong uni, wrong location. I feel sorry for their unhappiness, but little sympathy for the ones who chose their uni on perceived / actual ranking (does this sound familiar, folks?) without giving a thought to its suitability for them. e.g. someone who chose St.Andrews then posted a rant about how small the place was and how non-existent the nightlife etc
Re: visiting unis
Thanks for all your replies.
DS has filtered his list down to 6, from which he needs to choose 5. He has booked into Liverpool one day followed by Lancaster the next, so that is a lot of travelling in 2 days, but at least we don't have to go up and down twice! He has also booked Birmingham, decided to visit Durham if he gets an offer ( really likes the look of the course, so prepared to put it on his list) and will visit Southampton in September. Tesco club card points have come to the rescue re cost to a certain extent - paying for a student rail card for him travelling am during the week, and a 2together card for the 2 of us travelling in the afternoons or weekends (he has asked me to go to give him someone to bounce ideas off of, which I am quite happy to do, but it does make it more pricey). Plus we also have some red spotty hankie (or whatever it is called) vouchers to help pay for train fares.
Now he has to decide whether to go for Oxford or Cambridge. Oxford open day doesn't need booking, but we need to wait and see if he gets a place on the physics course at Cambridge which clashes with Oxford open day. We could visit Oxford in September, but his choice of uni will probably determine which A level he drops.
Too many decisions to make whilst trying to revise for AS levels and prepare for several concerts!!
DS has filtered his list down to 6, from which he needs to choose 5. He has booked into Liverpool one day followed by Lancaster the next, so that is a lot of travelling in 2 days, but at least we don't have to go up and down twice! He has also booked Birmingham, decided to visit Durham if he gets an offer ( really likes the look of the course, so prepared to put it on his list) and will visit Southampton in September. Tesco club card points have come to the rescue re cost to a certain extent - paying for a student rail card for him travelling am during the week, and a 2together card for the 2 of us travelling in the afternoons or weekends (he has asked me to go to give him someone to bounce ideas off of, which I am quite happy to do, but it does make it more pricey). Plus we also have some red spotty hankie (or whatever it is called) vouchers to help pay for train fares.
Now he has to decide whether to go for Oxford or Cambridge. Oxford open day doesn't need booking, but we need to wait and see if he gets a place on the physics course at Cambridge which clashes with Oxford open day. We could visit Oxford in September, but his choice of uni will probably determine which A level he drops.
Too many decisions to make whilst trying to revise for AS levels and prepare for several concerts!!
Re: visiting unis
regarding Oxford and Cambridge, note that Oxford want good GCSEs and Cambridge good ASs, so if your not good in one or the other that may determine your choice.
Re: visiting unis
Though if he's looking at physics then the course differences between Cambridge and Oxford and significant, which might be even more important...
Re: visiting unis
He has always wanted to go to Cambridge as he prefers the place and a lot of the research done in the past which he has read about was done at Cambridge, but he has found revising for chemistry AS really tedious over the last few weeks so he is not sure he really wants to do it for A2, let alone a year at uni, which he would have to do at Cambridge. He comes alive when talking about physics, and I think he is beginning to think that Oxford would be a better choice - he would be able to do all maths and physics, although there is the small hurdle of the PAT to get through!
12 A* and an A at GCSE should be ok for Oxford, and he has an A in AS maths with good UMS, and predicted high UMS for his other AS and a A* for Maths A2 so Cambridge should be an option too as long as all goes well in a few weeks time!
12 A* and an A at GCSE should be ok for Oxford, and he has an A in AS maths with good UMS, and predicted high UMS for his other AS and a A* for Maths A2 so Cambridge should be an option too as long as all goes well in a few weeks time!