University of Reading: Parents and Carers Thread

Welcome parents, carers and other guardians of young people that are thinking of applying or have applied to the University of Reading!

This thread is for you to ask any questions you have about the application process, the University itself, or anything else that you can think of. Our student ambassadors will be happy to help in what can be a daunting time.

We look forward to hearing from you!

- Izzie (UK Recruitment) :smile:

Reply 1

UniofReading

Official Rep

Hi everyone! I'm Millie, a second year International Development student at Reading and I wanted to share some tips on how you might support someone through the university application process! 🙂

1)I would suggest encouraging early research of different universities, courses and opportunities. This may include looking into what interests your child, course content, campus facilities and even extracurricular activities. Starting early means it is a lot less stressful and gives you more time to make informed decisions!

2)Personal statements are a key part of the application process. It may be helpful for you to help your young person applying by reading through their draft or offering constructive feedback. This will encourage them to show their interests, motivations for applying and relevant experiences!

3)It may be worth helping out with organisation during the application process! By working together with your child to set reminders for key dates such as UCAS application deadlines, open days etc, it can feel less stressful for both of you!

4)If possible, I would suggest attending open days! Open days are a great way to get a feel for the university and see if it is a good fit! If you cannot attend in-person, then lots of universities (Including Reading) offer virtual tours of the campus! It is worth encouraging your child to ask questions about the course, facilities and student life to make sure the uni is the right fit!

5)Staying positive and encouraging is also really important! There may be challenges along the way, but this is all part of the journey! Sometimes it is worth remembering that applying to uni is a really exciting opportunity to learn and grow and it is all worth it in the end! 🙂

I hope these tips help! I know they really helped me when I was applying to Reading! 🙂

Good luck to everyone applying and don't hesitate to reach out with any further questions about student life at Reading!

All the best,
Millie 🙂
BSc International Development

Reply 2

UniofReading

Official Rep

Original post by UniofReading

Welcome parents, carers and other guardians of young people that are thinking of applying or have applied to the University of Reading!
This thread is for you to ask any questions you have about the application process, the University itself, or anything else that you can think of. Our student ambassadors will be happy to help in what can be a daunting time.
We look forward to hearing from you!
- Izzie (UK Recruitment) :smile:

Hello,

It is always great to be able to support students with their university applications, as this is a very daunting time for your loved ones.

The best advice I want to provide is supporting your students, ensuring they will be happy with their university choices, and knowing how the process works. If you are unsure of the UCAS process, you can find a detailed outline here.

Similarly, ensuring the applicant knows how to do basic household chores, such as cooking, cleaning, and laundry, will help them make the transition from home to university.

Alternatively, it is a great idea to discuss commuting to university for the 1st year or the entirety of their university course, if this will make the student more comfortable, you can read the pros and cons of commuting on my blog.

If you have any questions, please let us know and we will be happy to help.

All the best
Ella 😀
BSc Ecology

Reply 3

UniofReading

Official Rep

Original post by UniofReading

Welcome parents, carers and other guardians of young people that are thinking of applying or have applied to the University of Reading!
This thread is for you to ask any questions you have about the application process, the University itself, or anything else that you can think of. Our student ambassadors will be happy to help in what can be a daunting time.
We look forward to hearing from you!
- Izzie (UK Recruitment) :smile:

Hi everyone!

I hope you're all doing well.

I was incredibly fortunate to feel very supported during my application process for University. I thought I would compile some of the things that my loved ones and teachers did for me which helped me to feel so reassured during this process.

The first one was showing a genuine interest in what I was doing! They knew what course I wanted to do and what University options I was considering. They helped me to objectively weigh up the pros and cons of each one, and tried not to let their own personal opinion influence my decision (e.g. my mum did not try and deter me from further away unis, despite the fact she did not want me to live too far from home). They also helped me to consider factors I might not have thought about individually such as employability beyond graduation and public transport links.

Another thing they did really well was to show interest in my journey, but without putting huge amounts of pressure on me. If I felt slightly overwhelmed about the process, they would make it clear that they could be a listening ear, but did not try and force me into talking about it. They also tried to gently remind me about things such as UCAS deadlines, without making me feel stressed and pressured about them.

Something else which I really appreciated was the hundreds of times all of my friends and family read my personal statement! I found it so incredibly useful to have different viewpoints from different people with different backgrounds. I applied to a healthcare course so I asked my mum (a healthcare worker), dad and sister (both went to uni) to read through it to get their views.This is also really helpful if you need to cut down on words as it is often easier for someone else to spot where you might be using extra words you don't necessarily need to.

The final thing, and arguably the most important, was that they constantly believed in me and told me I was capable of doing anything I put my mind to. At times during the application process, I second guessed myself and thought I would never make it into uni, but my friends and family always reassured me that I had as good of a chance as anyone and that I needed to keep my head up and stay positive. This really kept me going!

I hope this has been helpful, and please do pop any questions into this thread if you have any and one of us will try and answer them.

Hattie😊
4MSci Speech and Language Therapy