Scamming EMA!

DanielJ_2

liquidlives wrote: »

Won't just be that if you're planning on visiting universities. I've spent more money on national train services this year than I have in my whole life! It's plain ridiculous, even with the young persons railcard.

well that is a little while from me right now.

Oldernotwiser

liquidlives wrote: »

Won't just be that if you're planning on visiting universities. I've spent more money on national train services this year than I have in my whole life! It's plain ridiculous, even with the young persons railcard.

You could save money by only visiting the universities that offer you a place, particularly if you have to make a choice between institutions. I don't see much point in "window shopping" around universities just on the off chance that you might like to go there. If everybody did this they'd all be spending a fortune on rail and coach trave and wasting a great deal of time when they should be studying.

Personally, I think that doing things this way is an illustration of a consumerist mentality and, to be frank, Open Days are mainly marketing opportunities for the universities to sell their product to you.

liquidlives

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

You could save money by only visiting the universities that offer you a place, particularly if you have to make a choice between institutions. I don't see much point in "window shopping" around universities just on the off chance that you might like to go there. If everybody did this they'd all be spending a fortune on rail and coach trave and wasting a great deal of time when they should be studying.

Personally, I think that doing things this way is an illustration of a consumerist mentality and, to be frank, Open Days are mainly marketing opportunities for the universities to sell their product to you.

I can see your point but I don't want to waste my time applying to a uni in an area I'm going to hate if I end up there. The courses at some of these universities seem so similar I don't know how else I'd know which five to put down on the application form.

amethystdove wrote: »

A tutor at school has now decided she shouldn't be taking two days off school for this! What else can we do, is she to be limited to only going to a uni nearer to home? Or choose sight unseen and spend 3 years regretting it?
Any ideas how we pay for the other trips, please post.

My school only gives us 3 days off over the whole two years of 6th form to have a look at universities (plus days off for interviews).

What I think is silly about EMA is that different schools have different criteria for whether or not you get your payment. At some schools in my borough, you only have to turn up 3 days a week. At mine, it's every single day (or a note if you had a legitimate reason). I don't have a problem with this really, it's just when for some reason I haven't been in registration I have to wait a whole week more to get it sorted out and get my payment, when kids are getting money without having to go to their lessons. It's daft. I want to learn.

Here's a statistic; there are more people working for the govt to administer EMA than people who actually receive EMA. No idea whether it actually is true, my mate found this out.

C_Ronaldo

i would have thought the same criteria to get ema would be the same throughout all the schools and colleges

liquidlives

C_Ronaldo wrote: »

i woudl have thought the same criteria to get ema would be the same throughout all the schools and colleges

Well the means-testing is the same across the country, but schools can decide whether or not someone gets a payment, and I think they can also decide how much the bonuses you get are and what you have to do to qualify for a bonus.

Oldernotwiser

liquidlives wrote: »

I can see your point but I don't want to waste my time applying to a uni in an area I'm going to hate if I end up there. The courses at some of these universities seem so similar I don't know how else I'd know which five to put down on the application form.



My school only gives us 3 days off over the whole two years of 6th form to have a look at universities (plus days off for interviews).

I think the amount of time off your school allows indicates that they think you shouldn't go zapping around the country all the time.

I do appreciate that many courses can seem similar, but there are many ways that you can narrow down your choices without actually visiting, particularly by using the internet.

Geographical; how far do you want to be away from home and/or be near some particular area?
Leisure interests; being by the sea for sailing, big city for music/theatre.
Finance;can you afford to live in London/Oxford?
Expected grades; why waste a choice on a place that wants top grades when you're expected to get Cs?
Environment; do you want to be in a big city or would you be happier somewhere smaller?
Work;opportunities for part time work and/or permanent work after finishing your degree.
Accommodation; what's available and what does it cost?

This is without looking at the degree content itself, job destinations for graduates,league tables.

If you apply yourself to analysing your requirements and what's available in a rational fashion, you're more likely to end up with a happy match of student and course, rather than having the university marketed to you and looking round to see if you fancy the area. Your heart does come into the process, of course, but your head should be doing most of the work!

(Not just aimed at you, thought it might be of use to other people in your situation.)

melancholly

the other good option can be a university fair, where you can talk to people from most uk univs and pick up lots of extra info on accommodation/activities etc etc. that way in one day you can get all the information you could ever want, and then narrow down the choices of where is worth visiting.

liquidlives

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I think the amount of time off your school allows indicates that they think you shouldn't go zapping around the country all the time.

I do appreciate that many courses can seem similar, but there are many ways that you can narrow down your choices without actually visiting, particularly by using the internet.

Geographical; how far do you want to be away from home and/or be near some particular area?
Leisure interests; being by the sea for sailing, big city for music/theatre.
Finance;can you afford to live in London/Oxford?
Expected grades; why waste a choice on a place that wants top grades when you're expected to get Cs?
Environment; do you want to be in a big city or would you be happier somewhere smaller?
Work;opportunities for part time work and/or permanent work after finishing your degree.
Accommodation; what's available and what does it cost?

This is without looking at the degree content itself, job destinations for graduates,league tables.

If you apply yourself to analysing your requirements and what's available in a rational fashion, you're more likely to end up with a happy match of student and course, rather than having the university marketed to you and looking round to see if you fancy the area. Your heart does come into the process, of course, but your head should be doing most of the work!

(Not just aimed at you, thought it might be of use to other people in your situation.)

Good advice there, and that is exactly what I've done but I'm still left with institutions that are very similar. I personally would just have to see the area to know if I'd want to spend three years studying there.

Oldernotwiser

liquidlives wrote: »

Good advice there, and that is exactly what I've done but I'm still left with institutions that are very similar. I personally would just have to see the area to know if I'd want to spend three years studying there.

I wasn't suggesting not visiting them if you want, just waiting until you've been offered a place before doing so.

melancholly

liquidlives wrote: »

Good advice there, and that is exactly what I've done but I'm still left with institutions that are very similar. I personally would just have to see the area to know if I'd want to spend three years studying there.

the thing is, most people would be happy at most universities..... there are so many different things to do and different groups of people and options on where to live.... there are exceptions - e.g. if you hate small towns or big cities, but you can rule them out without visiting.

i know that's not a popular suggestion, but i've moved around 3 unis - one very traditional, one on a campus and one spread out in a city - they all have their ups and their downs but overall, i've been happy at all three!

i second the suggestion of waiting until you have offers to visit places, especially if you have a relatively short list.