Will universities ever &quot;negotiate&quot; on offers?

OP

Original post by claireestelle

An unconditional offer is generally a marketing tool when used it that way so not she can't negotiate with the other university for one.

Thanks. I know that Nottingham do sometimes offer unconditionals though...

Reply 3

Reality Check

22

Original post by MJ6987

Hi,
This may be a daft question but I'll ask anyway...

My daughter has been offered the Unconditional Offer Scheme for Lancaster Law (she'd have to make it her firm choice though) plus a financial scholarship if she does so.

However, she also has a conditional offer (AAA) from Nottingham, which is a better Uni for Law.

She has an "outstanding academic profile" (Lancaster's words not mine 😉) and is predicted all A*s at A Level.

If she contacted Nottingham and said something like "Lancaster have offered me this.........would you be prepared to offer me an unconditional offer if I make you my firm choice" would they ever negotiate like this? Or is the offer the offer and that's that?

Thanks 😀

There's a lot of applicants with 'outstanding academic profiles'. They're ten a penny.

Nottingham is unlikely to 'negotiate': they don't need to. They have a surfeit of well-qualified applicants to chose from.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 4

claireestelle

22

Original post by MJ6987

Thanks. I know that Nottingham do sometimes offer unconditionals though...

If they wanted to I think they would have done so already,I d say don't let it sway your daughter and if she can get all A*s then she could go anywhere she wanted to anyway.

Original post by MJ6987

Hi,
This may be a daft question but I'll ask anyway...

My daughter has been offered the Unconditional Offer Scheme for Lancaster Law (she'd have to make it her firm choice though) plus a financial scholarship if she does so.

However, she also has a conditional offer (AAA) from Nottingham, which is a better Uni for Law.

She has an "outstanding academic profile" (Lancaster's words not mine 😉) and is predicted all A*s at A Level.

If she contacted Nottingham and said something like "Lancaster have offered me this.........would you be prepared to offer me an unconditional offer if I make you my firm choice" would they ever negotiate like this? Or is the offer the offer and that's that?

Thanks 😀

No, a lot of universities will try to draw candidates in by lowering offers or giving out unconditionals. Nottingham will attract candidates who will achieve AAA, for Law especially, so don't need to do this.

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Reply 6

Maker

20

If your daughter is predicted all A*s should she not apply to Oxbridge, LSE and UCL as well as Lancaster and Nottingham?

Reply 7

jonathanemptage

Original post by MJ6987

Hi,
This may be a daft question but I'll ask anyway...

My daughter has been offered the Unconditional Offer Scheme for Lancaster Law (she'd have to make it her firm choice though) plus a financial scholarship if she does so.

However, she also has a conditional offer (AAA) from Nottingham, which is a better Uni for Law.

She has an "outstanding academic profile" (Lancaster's words not mine 😉) and is predicted all A*s at A Level.

If she contacted Nottingham and said something like "Lancaster have offered me this.........would you be prepared to offer me an unconditional offer if I make you my firm choice" would they ever negotiate like this? Or is the offer the offer and that's that?

Thanks 😀

no that never ever happens unis may make an offer below their entry requirements and may also accept you even if you miss your offer bay a grade or so but if you phone up looking for a better offer they most likely won't budge particularly if the exams go a bit pear shaped.

Reply 8

OP

OK, fair enough, was worth asking as it's a bit of a dark art this UCAS stuff!

Reply 9

OP

Original post by Maker

If your daughter is predicted all A*s should she not apply to Oxbridge, LSE and UCL as well as Lancaster and Nottingham?

She has applied for Oxford and Durham as well although she hasn't heard back from either yet and Oxford is insanely competitive for Law (15% applicant success rate).

She didn't apply to the London ones due to high living costs.

Reply 10

#ChaosKass

4

There's a reason Lancaster hands out unconditionals willy-nilly - they're not a competitive uni and are struggling for bums on seats.

Your daughter sounds intelligent and should be able to get the grades for Nottingham so I'd ignore the cheap tactics from Lancaster and go for Nottingham.

Reply 11

Doones

Original post by #ChaosKass

There's a reason Lancaster hands out unconditionals willy-nilly - they're not a competitive uni and are struggling for bums on seats.

Your daughter sounds intelligent and should be able to get the grades for Nottingham so I'd ignore the cheap tactics from Lancaster and go for Nottingham.

Lancaster "uncompetitive"? Yet their average UCAS tariff in 2015 was 423, Nottingham was 424. Hardly any difference.

Oh and Nottingham also give "Unconditional If Firm" offers.

Try again...

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 12

RogerOxon

Original post by MJ6987

She has applied for Oxford and Durham as well although she hasn't heard back from either yet and Oxford is insanely competitive for Law (15% applicant success rate).

I assume that Oxford is her first choice. What's her second?

Given my assumption, I wouldn't ask for an 'unconditional if firm' offer if she wouldn't firm it immediately. With the grade predictions, it seems like an odd request anyway.

Reply 13

OP

Original post by RogerOxon

I assume that Oxford is her first choice. What's her second?

Given my assumption, I wouldn't ask for an 'unconditional if firm' offer if she wouldn't firm it immediately. With the grade predictions, it seems like an odd request anyway.

Durham second choice but not much in it between them and Nottingham I think. Like I said, Oxford is very difficult to get into (and she is not confident about the idea of an interview as she has Aspergers) so she is thinking of different scenarios I guess.

Reply 14

RogerOxon

Original post by MJ6987

Durham second choice but not much in it between them and Nottingham I think. Like I said, Oxford is very difficult to get into (and she is not confident about the idea of an interview as she has Aspergers) so she is thinking of different scenarios I guess.

Has she watched the various videos of mock Oxford interviews? They're far less scary than many think. Law is very competitive, but with those predicted grades, I would expect that she has a better than average chance. Which college?

It's very easy for applicants to get extremely stressed about offers and universities not replying quickly, and imagine all sorts of unlikely scenarios (my son has applied this year, but I'm the stressed one). Admissions tutors are very busy at this time of year, so I'd advise to wait for all the decisions before attempting to negotiate offers, if she still wants to.

Reply 15

OP

Original post by RogerOxon

Has she watched the various videos of mock Oxford interviews? They're far less scary than many think. Law is very competitive, but with those predicted grades, I would expect that she has a better than average chance. Which college?

It's very easy for applicants to get extremely stressed about offers and universities not replying quickly, and imagine all sorts of unlikely scenarios (my son has applied this year, but I'm the stressed one). Admissions tutors are very busy at this time of year, so I'd advise to wait for all the decisions before attempting to negotiate offers, if she still wants to.

Thanks - that's good advice and I think she's definitely going to wait until she's got a decision from all before making any decisions

She's applied to LMH as she did an outreach (Uniq) Law residential there in the summer and loved it

She hasn't watched the mock interviews yet as she doesn't want to think about it until she gets called (if she does) but she will do

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 16

RogerOxon