University interviews

Gloomendoom

arbrighton wrote: »

Open days, yes, Interviews, NO! By all means help with transport but then go find a brew somewhere and wait for them to come back

Even if they arrived together, you wouldn't normally interview a prospective student with their parents present. Although, as most are likely to be under 18, I suspect that it would be hard to justify refusal if they insisted.

Person_one

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Even if they arrived together, you wouldn't normally interview a prospective student with their parents present. Although, as most are likely to be under 18, I suspect that it would be hard to justify refusal if they insisted.

I suspect it would massively affect the student's chances of acceptance though!

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I work at a top university where we have ten applicants for every undergraduate place. There is no "correct" answer to the type of questions that are asked; they are mainly looking for enthusiasm about the subject.

For this subject your son should be able to talk about which designers he likes (or doesn't like) and explain why. And of course discuss his portfolio; what inspired him, how he'd approach it differently a second time etc.

The interviewers know they're talking to 17 year olds who've never done anything like this before so they don't expect polished perfection.

missbiggles1

barbarawright wrote: »

Universities expect it and since parents are likely to be contributing financially, why wouldn't they want to be involved? Nobody said it was essential but the university application system has changed a ,lot since the 1980s

I've been involved in university applications as a student, as a college tutor and as a careers adviser since the days of UCCA - the university application system has only really changed in as much as far fewer interviews are offered than used to be the case, because of increased student numbers.

What has changed is the increase of helicopter parenting and the subsequent inability of so many young people to be independent at this stage of their lives.

indiepanda

It would never have occurred to me to take my parents to a university interview or open day with me.

I was going to do the course, I was going to live in the town, they trusted me to do the right thing for me.

Whatever money they were going to give me was going to be the same where ever I went, so I ruled out any London universities on the grounds living costs would be too high. Any debt I got into was mine to pay off, and I did.

Gloomendoom

Person_one wrote: »

I suspect it would massively affect the student's chances of acceptance though!

I'm not so sure.

It's a bridge that I have never had to cross, but as long as the parent sat at the back and kept their mouth shut, I would try and ignore their presence and base my recommendations on the strength of the student's particular merits.

If they couldn't keep their mouth shut, I would ask them to leave,

Andypandyboy

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I've been involved in university applications as a student, as a college tutor and as a careers adviser since the days of UCCA - the university application system has only really changed in as much as far fewer interviews are offered than used to be the case, because of increased student numbers.

What has changed is the increase of helicopter parenting and the subsequent inability of so many young people to be independent at this stage of their lives.

To be fair, what has also changed is the grant/loan system, and with it the perception of the student/parent about their roles. Now, both parties are "customers" not purely "applicants".

When you are watching your offspring choose a university and pay £9000pa for it, as parents you do want to help them make the right choice, get value for money, get academic excellence. Additionally, you may also be paying over a considerable chunk of yor own income to supplement the loan system. So, whilst the system exists where parental income has a bearing on loans then parents will want input, and I don't think they should be villified for that.

In the case of our youngest son he narrowed his choice down to two universities and was leaning towards one. We looked at them both and it was clear to us that the other one was by far the better bet for him in terms of state of the art facilities, teaching and prospects (for his particular subject) due to a specific reason. He was aware of the issue but did not realise its significance/possible impact to the degree that we did. When we discussed it and explained our reasoning he agreed that it was the best choice. Two years on and he is very glad we had that input.

We didn't have that level of input with our older kids probably because their outlay in terms of repayable SF was £1100 per year for tuition fees for the one and £3000 for the others. That has changed over the last ten years and so we have rightly imo become "picky consumers" wanting the best bang for our buck.

missbiggles1

Andypandyboy wrote: »

To be fair, what has also changed is the grant/loan system, and with it the perception of the student/parent about their roles. Now, both parties are "customers" not purely "applicants".

When you are watching your offspring choose a university and pay £9000pa for it, as parents you do want to help them make the right choice, get value for money, get academic excellence. Additionally, you may also be paying over a considerable chunk of yor own income to supplement the loan system. So, whilst the system exists where parental income has a bearing on loans then parents will want input, and I don't think they should be villified for that.

In the case of our youngest son he narrowed his choice down to two universities and was leaning towards one. We looked at them both and it was clear to us that the other one was by far the better bet for him in terms of state of the art facilities, teaching and prospects (for his particular subject) due to a specific reason. He was aware of the issue but did not realise its significance/possible impact to the degree that we did. When we discussed it and explained our reasoning he agreed that it was the best choice. Two years on and he is very glad we had that input.

We didn't have that level of input with our older kids probably because their outlay in terms of repayable SF was £1100 per year for tuition fees for the one and £3000 for the others. That has changed over the last ten years and so we have rightly imo become "picky consumers" wanting the best bang for our buck.

I take your point but, I think I'm right in saying, you and/or your partner have some expertise in this area, which most parents won't have - taking advice from experts makes more sense than just listning to parents.

Also, although many people forget this, even in the days of grants, parents still had to contribute to their children's maintenance - IIRC, even more than happens at present.:)

Andypandyboy

missbiggles1 wrote: »

I take your point but, I think I'm right in saying, you and/or your partner have some expertise in this area, which most parents won't have - taking advice from experts makes more sense than just listning to parents.

Also, although many people forget this, even in the days of grants, parents still had to contribute to their children's maintenance - IIRC, even more than happens at present.:)

I take your point too, and, yes, we have do some expertise in this area but in this case our advice really just stemmed from common sense, life experience and being able to extrapolate information. With regard to the bolded, we have found so called "expert" advice somewhat variable.

I know you were involved in the careers advice field but today that field seems to be populated by very recent graduates with little or no life experience, and even less experience of applying for jobs in industry yet they make prescriptive statements to the students they advise. Students who believe they know what they are talking about which leads to problems downstream.

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Dird

Interview for something besides oxbridge? !!!!!!....reckon they're doing it as they think it makes them look better