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List of Universities and their entrance requirements

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Original post by TenOfThem
I was going to pretend that mine was LSD but I am not quite that old

I recall the form being green

Not even I'm that old, and I've got a couple of years on you. Green rings a faint bell. I do remember there was no ps on it, and just a line for listing hobbies. I didn't have any and made something up. I put coin collecting, because I'd done it as a kid when decimal currency came in. Dear god. Can't believe I got any offers at all.
And if you made a mistake on the form you literally had to beg for another one while the careers teacher made you feel about 2" tall. Was the PCAS form pink? I didn't do one of those but I vaguely remember UCCA was green and PCAS was pink.
Original post by KittyKattyKaity
And if you made a mistake on the form you literally had to beg for another one while the careers teacher made you feel about 2" tall. Was the PCAS form pink? I didn't do one of those but I vaguely remember UCCA was green and PCAS was pink.

Yes, I think the PCAS one was pink, although I didn't encounter that until I was a teacher and giving them out to students myself. A school only got a very few spare ones and you weren't allowed to photocopy them iirc, so they really were given out reluctantly.
PCAS was after my time too

Re the whole system
I remember the key differences were

> No-one owned a prospectus ... we just used them from the library (we currently have 20-30 on our coffee table)
> The idea of visiting pre-application was unheard of (we just spent 5 weekends in July at various open days)
> Interviews .. I had interviews at all 5 of my universities
> The luxury of a matriculation offer :smile:
Original post by TenOfThem
PCAS was after my time too

Re the whole system
I remember the key differences were

> No-one owned a prospectus ... we just used them from the library (we currently have 20-30 on our coffee table)
> The idea of visiting pre-application was unheard of (we just spent 5 weekends in July at various open days)
> Interviews .. I had interviews at all 5 of my universities
> The luxury of a matriculation offer :smile:

I did go to open days, actually. Didn't even READ a prospectus - had no idea that English courses differed at different universities. I assumed it all worked like A levels and used the same syllabus. No interviews for English even then. Spouse is so old he got an offer for Oxford just based on his entrance exam. They didn't even care if he took A levels at all.
I had 4 interviews and one straight offer from UMIST based on me having chatted to the admissions tutor at the (one and only) open day that I went to. Interviews were consecutive days starting on Monday with Newcastle, then Birmingham, Southampton and Bristol. Was a VERY full week on my own training it around England :smile:
Original post by KittyKattyKaity
I had 4 interviews and one straight offer from UMIST based on me having chatted to the admissions tutor at the (one and only) open day that I went to. Interviews were consecutive days starting on Monday with Newcastle, then Birmingham, Southampton and Bristol. Was a VERY full week on my own training it around England :smile:

I think you must be very much younger than me to be able to remember the detail. It's all a fog to me now. I'm the same age as Madonna.... (The resemblance stops there. For a start, she hasn't got a degree....)
I think that all my interviews were on Wednesdays

I can recall some of the questions asked at them and even the responses I gave

But then I am only a Demi Moore :smile:
Original post by TenOfThem
I think that all my interviews were on Wednesdays

I can recall some of the questions asked at them and even the responses I gave

But then I am only a Demi Moore :smile:

Just you wait.....:frown: (Do you have a toyboy?)

I think they did their interviews on Wednesdays because that was sports afternoon and so no one was teaching. That's something I feel I know, although I don't know how, as I didn't have any interviews. Open days were then for that reason, I think.
(edited 11 years ago)
Times have changed. University entrance is now far more competitive than it was 25 years or more ago, when parents of current applicants were applying. In a much more competitive environment those whose parents have no previous experience of university are at a disadvantage.

I have no knowledge of the school the OP's child goes to. I do have experience of school's who think they are good at this sort of thing - and aren't.
Original post by carnationlilyrose
Green rings a faint bell.


The UCCA handbook (tall and thin like a Michelin guide) had a green cover in my year. I have no recollection of any cost as ours were dished out for free, but £3.50 (ahem, £3 10s) would have fed my family for a week or two.
Original post by parentlurker
In a much more competitive environment those whose parents have no previous experience of university are at a disadvantage.


Such candidates are at a significant disadvantage no matter how competitive things are.
Original post by Good bloke
The UCCA handbook (tall and thin like a Michelin guide) had a green cover in my year. I have no recollection of any cost as ours were dished out for free, but £3.50 (ahem, £3 10s) would have fed my family for a week or two.

It was a nasty tan colour in my year. Pocket diary size, since there were so few universities and courses. The last time I saw a paper Ucas handbook it was the size of several phone books stacked together. We had to pay for ours and were then told to claim the money back from the education committee, who turned us down because it was a direct grant school.
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Original post by parentlurker
Times have changed. University entrance is now far more competitive than it was 25 years or more ago, when parents of current applicants were applying. In a much more competitive environment those whose parents have no previous experience of university are at a disadvantage.

I have no knowledge of the school the OP's child goes to. I do have experience of school's who think they are good at this sort of thing - and aren't.

Not sure that your last sentence of para 1 is true. I have no experience of universities but I found out so that I could encourage son to go. It is all about will and choice.
Original post by parentlurker
Times have changed. University entrance is now far more competitive than it was 25 years or more ago, when parents of current applicants were applying. In a much more competitive environment those whose parents have no previous experience of university are at a disadvantage.


This is soooooo true ... I know that my current knowledge is a great support to my daughter


Original post by parentlurker
I have no knowledge of the school the OP's child goes to. I do have experience of school's who think they are good at this sort of thing - and aren't.


The OP and I share a school :smile:
Original post by olddad
Not sure that your last sentence of para 1 is true. I have no experience of universities but I found out so that I could encourage son to go. It is all about will and choice.


Your son is lucky

But the sentence still stands as those who are already familiar will have started ahead of you

TBH the children of any parent on this site are lucky and will all have an advantage over their peers :smile:
Original post by TenOfThem

TBH the children of any parent on this site are lucky and will all have an advantage over their peers :smile:

Think mine would just cringe and disown me if they knew..
Original post by carnationlilyrose
Think mine would just cringe and disown me if they knew..


There is nothing in this world half as embarrassing as a parent. Unless it is a child, of course.
Original post by Good bloke
There is nothing in this world half as embarrassing as a parent. Unless it is a child, of course.

Indeed so. They deserve each other.
Original post by Good bloke
There is nothing in this world half as embarrassing as a parent. Unless it is a child, of course.


I work very hard at being the embarrassing one in our relationship

it works well

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