The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

Students should apply for Uni after they get their A level results...

I've been saying that for years! It's never made sense that they were distracted while they should be revising .... not to mention the wasted time/effort of attending without knowing what you could do ... and it'd put off those with fewer means as it's all so expensively speculative.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6589377/Students-apply-universities-getting-level-results.html

I think a lot of it was due to the time factor.

When I took A Levels, it was in July, so not very long to get everything marked, results received, offers made, and arrangements set in place for accommodation, grants, etc. to be set up.

These days, A Levels seem to be taken a lot earlier, so there might be time to wait for results before applying, but with so many more students applying these days, compared with when I did, it might still be difficult to get everyone processed in time.

PasturesNew

Pyxis wrote: »

I think a lot of it was due to the time factor.

When I took A Levels, it was in July, so not very long to get everything marked, results received, offers made, and arrangements set in place for accommodation, grants, etc. to be set up.

These days, A Levels seem to be taken a lot earlier, so there might be time to wait for results before applying, but with so many more students applying these days, compared with when I did, it might still be difficult to get everyone processed in time.

As the article pointed out - new students could start in November - and we're the only country that uses this strange guessing/hope system. Other countries offer places based on results.

suki1964

PasturesNew wrote: »

But you can always say that when you're present


I can't afford to be there ...
I have been wondering whether to go one county to the west... but I thought I'd stopped "running" .... so am not keen to cross the border since I've picked this county.

It's so hard when you don't feel any sense of place
I'd have liked to still be living in the house I was born in.... I do like continuity and stability, but I've never achieved it in any part of my life.

I know that feeling so well

Yet I moved 500 miles to NI, only ever having been there for three days in my life before, and have never felt so at home in my life before

Where I am now is so completely different to my previous life as a Londoner, with career prospects etc etc, but I can put hand on heart and say Ive never in my life felt like I belonged like I do here

michaels

Pyxis wrote: »

I think a lot of it was due to the time factor.

When I took A Levels, it was in July, so not very long to get everything marked, results received, offers made, and arrangements set in place for accommodation, grants, etc. to be set up.

These days, A Levels seem to be taken a lot earlier, so there might be time to wait for results before applying, but with so many more students applying these days, compared with when I did, it might still be difficult to get everyone processed in time.

When you were whittling the top 10% using interview questions such as what sort of tree would you be?, and those who didn't get the grades would just go to Bristol and Durham rather than Oxbridge the system probably made sense, not so much now everything is industrialised.

GDB2222

That's an easy question. I'd be an oak, and I could go on for five minutes about why, but I won't bore you.

LydiaJ

Pyxis wrote: »

I think a lot of it was due to the time factor.

When I took A Levels, it was in July, so not very long to get everything marked, results received, offers made, and arrangements set in place for accommodation, grants, etc. to be set up.

These days, A Levels seem to be taken a lot earlier, so there might be time to wait for results before applying, but with so many more students applying these days, compared with when I did, it might still be difficult to get everyone processed in time.

They're not much earlier. The exams are mostly in June, with results coming out usually in the third week of August.

There are exams that take place in May, but they're mostly AS levels. IB exams are also in May.

It's also not true that no other country does it like this. Our students apply to universities all over the place, including plenty to the US, and they apply to the US before taking their A levels, and we have to write references for them with predicted grades.

zagubov

Another reason I always bang on about how they should have expanded the OU years ago is because their academic years run from January to December, so students could apply after their exam results.

Pyxis

GDB2222 wrote: »

That's an easy question. I'd be an oak, and I could go on for five minutes about why, but I won't bore you.

As thick as two short planks?





Sorry!:o

If it's any consolation, I just lurve oak! I love the grain, love the colour, love its age and durability, so am I forgived?



I have some giant bonsai oaks that I grew from acorns and kept in large pots outside. They are about 4ft tall and are now nearly thirty years old.

chris_m

Pyxis wrote: »

I have some giant bonsai oaks that I grew from acorns and kept in large pots outside. They are about 4ft tall and are now nearly thirty years old.

Surely that's a contradiction in terms?

Pyxis

chris_m wrote: »

Surely that's a contradiction in terms?

No, because they are 4ft tall, but have been pruned to maintain that size,and not grow any taller.

True bonsai are a lot smaller.

So, mine are giant bonsai.

So there.