David and I are off to Leicester University today and I am very much enjoying venturing into this totally unknown territory and trawling the campuses. I missed out on university as I was fortunate to have a job offered on a local rag as a cub reporter straight from school. That doesn’t happen much these days. Looking back, I wish I had gone.
Thanks to everyone for the really helpful comments following our recent visit to Nottingham University, I shall bear them all in mind.
Leicester University certainly seems keen and I have had half a dozen texts and emails reminding us about the open day, as well as a fast track number for registration. I have been told there is a waiting list for places if we can’t make it today.
Something interesting I was told last week was that if two students with exactly the same results applied for one available place, and one student came from a good school and the other from a poor school, it would be offered to a pupil from the poorer school as it is assumed that he or she would have worked harder to get there.
I hope that same criteria applies to David who has dyspraxia and has worked twice as hard as other kids to get the same results – those were the words of his primary school teacher. I used to volunteer as a parent helper in his class to monitor his progress as I could see his constant struggle, he always seemed to be the only child whose work was never good enough to be displayed on the wall, and I was fobbed off repeatedly by his head teacher. But that’s the past now and David hopefully has much to look forward to.
Wave to De Montfort Uni, down the road, for me 🙂
I started work on my local rag at 18 too, after an A-level mishap or three, and kind of feel I’ve missed out. Have tried OU but couldn’t fit it around the job. Never mind, will try again with art history course at Birkbeck later in the year – foundation, not degree. I really do believe that we can still learn, absorb, as we get older and am looking forward immensely to trying.
I think your kids must be a couple of years older than mine – interested to read how you get on as I have this to come.
Good luck to David and to you, Ellee.
It’s a fun time, doing the rounds. I liked visiting universities but the children usually only wanted to visit one or two.
Daughter had her heart set on UCL, got the grades, went there and lasted 3 weeks. Dropped out, took a year out and started again at Cardiff (and graduated with a first).
Happy days! Good luck to you both. It sounds as though David really deserves to do well. (And what kind of teachers never put a child’s work on display? How demoralising is that?)
I am sure David will do very well – you have set him such a great example and given him so much support.
Another interesting day, we are also looking at economics now too. I like the economics dept here, but am not so sure about the school of business which had a very poor presentation. We were told that only 20% of places at their business school goes to students from the UK -the rest are allocated for those from the EU and non-EU countries. That did not seem very fair to me.
We are off to Norwich on Friday. Nottingham is our favourite so far – but I know it’s going to be tough.
Icedink, Good luck with your studies, that’s why I have taken them up too. I am keen to do a research degree and, having written postgraduate academic papers in Applied Social Science Research Methods which I passed with disctinction. I would like to take it a step further and was thinking of OU too for an MPhil. We must have a chat about it sometime. You learn so much by talking to other people about these things. Art history sounds fascinating, I love this subject too. You must go for it. Birkbeck is very impressive.
Hi Elle, there should be enough places for all who want to go into further education.
In the modern economy we live in we should be able to create sufficient job opportunities with training and higher education opportunities for all OUR children (and then some).
Positive discrimation is sometimes necessary to give those trying hardest a helping hand, but for one moment consider the feelings of the mother of the other student with the same qualifications, who does not get the place because your son is favoured.
Alas, human nature, and the maternal instinct – we would kill to feed or protect our children.
But perhaps society should be less ‘competitive’ and more co-operative. In this hypotetical, both mums should be able to provide the best for their son.
But if it came to one or the other, I guess the Admissions Officer would have to use the wisdom of Solomon, or even easier resort to the default ‘guideline’ – gosh, life is full of nail biting dilemmas.
PS – Haloscan has been temperamental, making commenting at my place and other blogs with halosxan comments, a little precarious or even frustrating … cest la vie, mon amie!
I went to Leicester Uni and had a friend who I later house shared with (in Peterborough)who went to Norwich.
We both had great times at our respective places. Norwich used to (I don’t know if this is still the case) have a lot of London-based students because it was within a relatively fast train ride of the capital. I always saw Norwich as being rather an oasis in Norfolk.
‘We were told that only 20% of places at their business school goes to students from the UK’ (Ellee)
Money talks, and foriegn students pay it in bucketloads. Most MBA courses are all Indian and Nigerian students. Foreigners do seem to like studying business here for some reason.
I’d go for economics if I was him, there aren’t many employers that disrespect Economics as a subject, whereas many entrepreneurs left school at 16 and think business studies is a waste of time.
Steven L,
I think you are absolutely right, only David is not sure he wants to pursue maths to A’level after AS and that may not get him on to a good Economics course. The presentation for Economics was very good today. I shall see how I can influence David to think along these lines. He is open minded at the moment, it depends on the admission requirements. I thought the presentation today on this was quite inspiring and fascinating.
You don’t need a degree. Remember me telling you how I outwitted a Phd in history ? (All I have is a CSE grade 2)
The debate took place in a pub in Devon. He was adament that the Celts were an invention of historians to unify and simplify disparate tribes. I said “Well in that case what the hell is this ?” and proceeded to do a jig with my arms stuck firmly by my sides going “Diddley, diddley, diddley, diddley …” I then asked him where Celtic dancing and music had come from – he was stunned into silence I tell yer !
No, Ellee – your boy doesn’t need a degree. Just one of those courses in carpet fitting.
xx
We always feel any slight to our children straight to the heart no? I can ‘hear’ in your ‘voice’ how he must have struggled and I can only say I do believe that it is the struggles in life that form our character. I wish it was the strawberries and cream, but I fear not.
I remember the University Trip with my daughter when we visited her top choices to see which was right for her. It was not at all the one she thought it would be. I highly recommend the campus visits as invaluable. Of course we then sat on pins and needles to see if she was accepted to the university of her choice.
Good luck to your son!
Hi Ellee,
It sounds like you are enjoying yourself on this tour of universities. Too bad that you missed out but luckily your child will be able to enjoy the experience on your behalf.
It’s great that he has overcome his difficulties and I hope that he will be accepted wherever he chooses.
regards
jmb
The university hunt sounds daunting. I don’t know how specialized university studies are there, but here students often don’t discover the specific area they’d like to pursue until several years into college. Maybe he’ll find something that interests him after he tries a few different sorts of classes and gets a feel for what the different courses of work would entail.
Happy birthday, by the way.