A level results

[Aidan]

Anyone else got this today?

I'm working from home and wish I was in Scotland or somewhere

Step son doesnt seem bothered, his mother is on tenterhooks.

We don't think he's got the grades he needs for his first choice, because of what it says on Ucas, but of course we arent yet sure.,  and hes just been kicked out of the house to go get his results.

I can see a day of wailing, teethgnashing, pain , suffering and angst ahead, because even if he gets his required results, he is then going to have to face some financial realities.  We have already told him we cant support him totally  through Uni ( we already partially support his sister)  and that we will help where we can but he needed to get a job through the summer and get money saved.  Has he done this? has he buggery, he's sat in his room sleeping and playing with his PS3

We think he has about £200 in the bank which will last him three weeks if hes lucky.

I have brought this up on a number of occasions, but it has caused domestics, so I backed off.

Chickens coming home to roost methinks.

I can see a fun day ahead

[Zoidburg]

Today of all days is entirely the wrong day to be chasing/nagging him about having a job etc etc.

Just don't, not today.

[Aidan]

Today of all days is entirely the wrong day to be chasing/nagging him about having a job etc etc.

Just don't, not today.

I agree, but , firstly I may not be able to stop his mother, and secondly , if we done put a rocket up  his arse he wont get anything done and he'll mis his insurance choices too

[Aidan]

Yup...
Son in line for the moment of truth today...
Needs AAA* !

Only one little problem - he was very ill before and during his final exams. Steady deterioration during the exam weeks and went straight from his last exam into hospital for 10 days for a course of IV drugs and TLC...  

At least he's got a proper excuse

[russellm]

As a university admissions tutor I'm on the other end of it.

If your dearest offspring haven't met the offer, it's still worth them ringing the University to see whether they still might take them, especially if there are any extenuating circumstances like pdm's.

[Aidan]

As a university admissions tutor I'm on the other end of it.

If your dearest offspring haven't met the offer, it's still worth them ringing the University to see whether they still might take them, especially if there are any extenuating circumstances like pdm's.

Does PS3 playing count as extenuating


Any results he gets are from the work he put in.  He's a bright lad, but I think because of that he has a tendency to rely on being bright rather than hard work.  He assures us he did put the work in, but there wasn't as much evidence of this as we would have liked.  If he's only slightly off then a phone call to his first choice will be made very quickly.  We know he has been accepted at his second choice already( and its a good Uni, so he's not in a bad position.  Finances are another issue.

[pdm]

Relief! He has his place! 

[Wascally Weasel]

Relief! He has his place! 

Good news and well done (to him)!

[Ham]

Been through an interesting few years with our daughter and found out a lot more about the running of uni's etc these days.

I really question strongly the current obsession with sending everyone to uni, and the mantra that it is best for everyone. Our daughter, who is bright, is still in my view a borderline case. She passed her first year (after doing 1/2 a first year, changing uni and course completely) with reasonable colours, and is likely to do well but if that had not been the case it would not have been the end of the world. I've been watching what has been happening to all her friends with interest, the outcomes thus far are not all entirely what you might have expected.

If your step son doesn't have the motivation to get off his own @rse now, are you convinced that uni is the best place? Is it really worth saddling him with all that debt? What I am saying is not that as he doesn't do anything he shouldn't go (unis would be empty, then) but maybe step back and consider the pros and cons at each stage without the base assumption "Uni Must Be Good". It's up to us to guide our children through what is really a turbulent time for them, we should do it with as open mind as possible.

[clarion]

We haz A level resultz.

[arabella]

... I really question strongly the current obsession with sending everyone to uni, and the mantra that it is best for everyone.  ...

I'd agree.  One of the best decisions I made was not to go to Poly until I had the motivation to do so.  It took a couple of years of an uninspiring job* to get me to that point though, plus I'd have had to wait another 2 years to go on any of the internal training courses to get higher up those particular greasy poles.
*so I was self supporting

[mrcharly-YHT]

I went to uni because it was 'expected'.

It was a bloody stupid thing to do. I chose courses that I wasn't really interested in and flunked out in two years. Then had the sense to do something vocational and marks jumped to mid 80% in everything. Unfortunately, I'd buggered up doing a full-time degree by then and didn't have the patience to continue with part time.

Eldest stepson arsed about, playing computer games. Then suddenly at 20 started working, quickly ended up managing a large Habitat store. Just as suddenly announced he'd realised what he wanted to study, chucked in the job, and went to Bangor uni. He's doing really well.

If he'd gone straight to uni, he'd have stuffed it up like me or worse.

[David Martin]

Lots of wise words there.

If you don't know what to do, putting it off by buying three years worth of debt at University is a pretty poor way of proceeding. University success requires motivation with an appropriate attitude and is *not* another three years of slightly advanced school + beer.

As for borderline cases, by all means call but hold no great hopes. We are not taking *any* borderline cases and are oversubscribed for this coming year. Clearing? What is clearing?


Whilst I passionately believe that university access should be universally available to anyone and everyone with the ability to make use of it, I think we send too many people to university and would be better off developing vocational qualifications that can be attained in conjunction with work. Getting a job for a while, learning to be responsible and working out what you want to do is a good way to spend the next few years. Then look at University if that will take you where you want to go.

..d

[1gear]

Mine are still sat at my school. Ill go pick them up some time.
Ive got what i wanted, ive got a full time job that ive been doing for a couple of months now.
If it was my own choice i would go get my results and leave them in a cupboard till it comes to a time of needing to alter my cv. My mum is desperate to know what ive got and so is my GF. The excuse is people will ask and what do they say? My reply was, what will u say when u tell them my grades and then say im not going to uni.
Ive never wanted to go to uni, and my mum has pushed and pushed to try and get me to go but its never worked.
If your child has done bad then dont have a go at them. Even if you think they dont realise how much of a mistake they are making. Deep down they will know how bad they have done and be dissapointed. They will also be feeling bad that tghey arent going to uni and their friends are.
I pretty much failed last year and the year just gone i doubt i have done much better, no matter how much you nag or tell them to work harder they wont, or if they do it wont last long. There was quite a few people in 6th form who did well at GCSE, then failed their first year or just passed. The second year, even after saying they are going to work hard it didnt last, they are going for a 3rd year.
Im happy in work now, happier then what i was in 6th form.
Some older people might be thinking im stupid and should just go to uni, try harder. Ill be thinking the same at your age, or maybe i wont, who knows.

[Julian]

I think you're making the right decision, 1gear.  You can always return to uni as a mature student if you get mindcrushingly bored at work - my sister was in a similar position to you after A levels, and instead of going through clearing and taking what she was given, which wouldn't have really inspired her to enjoy uni at all, she went and got a job for a couple of years. 

She did decide to go back to uni later, but it was on her own terms and not as an extension of school which she'd hated, and instead of having parents and teachers nagging her to do her work she was motivated to do it herself and enjoyed the debates / seminars much more than she would have done aged 18.  She ended up with a Masters degree!

And if you don't ever want to study again - fine.  Once you're eighteen you're the best placed person to know what you want to do.  If working suits you, get stuck in.  You'll enjoy the next three years anyway, whether you're at uni studying or in the 'real world' working. 

[mrcharly-YHT]

The only thing I want to add to 1gear's thoughts is; don't rule out uni forever.

I deeply, deeply regret not putting another 18months effort in to finishing my degree. It's too late now, and not having the degree has cost me jobs, regardless of my experience. I would love to teach, and not having a degree bars me from that.

Obviously it depends on the profession.

[Aidan]

He wants to go to Uni, and although we encourage this he hasnt been pushed into it, we just have to goad him occasionally to actually move (or speak, or walk, or pretty much anything else! )

Its just teenage lethargy, without pushing him he doesn't do anything.

Take this afternoon, he still had a conditional offer at his 1st choice but wouldnt ring them.  It wasnt until we sat him down and made him that he did.  Result, he now has a place on another course , which he is still keen on doing, and at the Uni he wanted and he's happy now.

We still need to sort finances, but that'll wait a day or two

In the end he still got an A a B and a C   which is pretty good

[Aidan]

Arent kids funny!

Now hes been offered a place he's depaerate to make sure its certain, and get his halls booked and sorted, He even rang them up off his own bat after closing time,  and got an answer.  Hes got to wait until tomorrow now for a definite though

[rogerzilla]

I remember thinking "arse, I've done better than expected and now I HAVE to go to my first choice university".  I actually wanted to go to my second choice, but since they offered me two "E"s* I couldn't put them above Birmingham on the UCCA form.


*this seems to be routine for the University of Wales if you casually mention during the interview that you're Welsh 

[Zoidburg]

Arent kids funny!

Now hes been offered a place he's depaerate to make sure its certain, and get his halls booked and sorted, He even rang them up off his own bat after closing time,  and got an answer.  Hes got to wait until tomorrow now for a definite though

Suspiciously easy.

I suspect a girl - in which case Mr Winky is now giving the orders.

 

[Polar Bear]

The only thing I want to add to 1gear's thoughts is; don't rule out uni forever.

I deeply, deeply regret not putting another 18months effort in to finishing my degree. It's too late now, and not having the degree has cost me jobs, regardless of my experience. I would love to teach, and not having a degree bars me from that.

Obviously it depends on the profession.

It's never too late and can be very important.   I went to work after A levels and have just finished my law degree this year at the age of 47.   I found that once I'd been made redundant, getting interviews was impossible despite over 20 years experience.   I managed eventually to get a recruitment bastard agent to tell me that I was being rejected because I didn't have a degree;  I was failing at the first filter.      

[Aidan]

Arent kids funny!

Now hes been offered a place he's depaerate to make sure its certain, and get his halls booked and sorted, He even rang them up off his own bat after closing time,  and got an answer.  Hes got to wait until tomorrow now for a definite though

Suspiciously easy.

I suspect a girl - in which case Mr Winky is now giving the orders.

 

He'll have to stop wearing the Star Wars and Nintendo  tee shirts first

[1gear]

I think you're making the right decision, 1gear.  You can always return to uni as a mature student if you get mindcrushingly bored at work - my sister was in a similar position to you after A levels, and instead of going through clearing and taking what she was given, which wouldn't have really inspired her to enjoy uni at all, she went and got a job for a couple of years. 

She did decide to go back to uni later, but it was on her own terms and not as an extension of school which she'd hated, and instead of having parents and teachers nagging her to do her work she was motivated to do it herself and enjoyed the debates / seminars much more than she would have done aged 18.  She ended up with a Masters degree!

And if you don't ever want to study again - fine.  Once you're eighteen you're the best placed person to know what you want to do.  If working suits you, get stuck in.  You'll enjoy the next three years anyway, whether you're at uni studying or in the 'real world' working. 

My mum started uni last year doing a course, which shes really enjoying.
I suppose in a few years i might go to uni to do something, and after the break from education then id be much more dedicated to it.
My cousin has got into veterinary college or whatever it is, which is what he wanted so he is happy.

[Greenbank]

Don't discount the idea of a degree with the OU. Much easier to fit it around part time work (doing it full-time would be very hard on top of a full-time job) which means you can take the part time jobs that other students can't because they'd be in lectures.

You can also continue to scrounge off parents by staying living with them, and you get to socialise with local friends who aren't buggering off to uni.

If you're aged 18-24 and earn less than £16,845 a year you'll pay no fees either (some conditions, see this page): Avoid debt | 18 to 24 | Open University . It doesn't matter if you still live with your parents, their income isn't taken into account.

The OU isn't for everyone though, you have to be quite motivated as no-one is going to chase you for not reading the coursework or handing in assignments (until you've missed the deadlines).

[Gruff]

University success requires motivation with an appropriate attitude and is *not* another three years of slightly advanced school + beer.

I agree it shouldn't be, but I think for a lot of students that's precisely what university is.

Just keep cranking the handle and the 2.2's in Media Studies and Tourism and Leisure keep on churning out.