University visits - class of 2020

[Nimbus]

So, we went to Lincoln Uni's "Offer Holder day" (or whatever it's called) on Saturday. DD had been to an open day here with her friend but DW and I had visited until this weekend. We had hoped we wouldn't like it because it would help to reduce the options but that wasn't the case. It seemed pretty good - even if it was bloomin' windy and the drive over the Pennines was terrible.

One thing I noticed is that applications for accommodation open in a couple of weeks time. I didn't realise it was that soon! Eek.

[1972]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

So, we went to Lincoln Uni's "Offer Holder day" (or whatever it's called) on Saturday. DD had been to an open day here with her friend but DW and I had visited until this weekend. We had hoped we wouldn't like it because it would help to reduce the options but that wasn't the case. It seemed pretty good - even if it was bloomin' windy and the drive over the Pennines was terrible.

One thing I noticed is that applications for accommodation open in a couple of weeks time. I didn't realise it was that soon! Eek.

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Lincoln is lovely - my daughter has been there since September.

It was the first uni she looked at and fell in love with it and the city. She applied for others, but took her unconditional offer there.

Good luck with the accommodation. Last year it went live at midday on 1st March and the website kept crashing - we were on 3 laptops for 5 hours before my daughter got her application in - it was a very stressful afternoon!

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by 1972

Lincoln is lovely - my daughter has been there since September.

It was the first uni she looked at and fell in love with it and the city. She applied for others, but took her unconditional offer there.

Good luck with the accommodation. Last year it went live at midday on 1st March and the website kept crashing - we were on 3 laptops for 5 hours before my daughter got her application in - it was a very stressful afternoon!

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I was surprised to hear that accommodation is sort of allocated on a "first come, first served" basis. It assumes that the student will have decided what offer to accept as their first choice by the end of this week in order to apply for accommodation. Whereas they don't actually have to submit their choices to UCAS for another 2 months and my DD wasn't going to decide for probably another month or so.

BTW, Lincoln is unlikely to be DD's first choice. She may put it as her second place / insurance option. But she hasn't decided yet.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

I was surprised to hear that accommodation is sort of allocated on a "first come, first served" basis. It assumes that the student will have decided what offer to accept as their first choice by the end of this week in order to apply for accommodation. Whereas they don't actually have to submit their choices to UCAS for another 2 months and my DD wasn't going to decide for probably another month or so.

BTW, Lincoln is unlikely to be DD's first choice. She may put it as her second place / insurance option. But she hasn't decided yet.

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Have a dig on the individual universities websites - each will have this own approach. It is likely to be fairly well hidden but may be under housing allocation policy or similar.

Each one seems to take a different approach but lots seem to.usenitnas a "make your mind up fast because". Driver for kids. FOMO...

See where your kids unis stand and work out your own timescales.

Some do.first come first served, some do.ballots, some don't do them at all until after results day unless you have an unconditional.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by FamilyGWales

Have a dig on the individual universities websites - each will have this own approach. It is likely to be fairly well hidden but may be under housing allocation policy or similar.

Each one seems to take a different approach but lots seem to.usenitnas a "make your mind up fast because". Driver for kids. FOMO...

See where your kids unis stand and work out your own timescales.

Some do.first come first served, some do.ballots, some don't do them at all until after results day unless you have an unconditional.

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I mention it only because here on the DIBB some people were recommending to another DIBBer that they don't rush into choosing which offer to take because they have until the beginning of May to decide. But at the same time it appears there might be a reason to choose sooner rather than later (depending on the University, as you say) in order to secure the accommodation they want.

Anyhoo, I've just looked online at DD's other university she's interested in (Harper Adams) and their accommodation applications don't open until April. Whereas Lincoln's opens on the 2nd March (Monday!). So it looks like each uni has it's own dates.

[1972]

Yes they all seem to have their own dates.

Also some take a deposit on accommodation day - Lincoln doesn't.

At Lincoln, you still won't find out until results day where you have been allocated and only then do you pay a deposit (as each accommodation has different prices and deposit).

My daughter had already decided that she was taking her unconditional offer, but we still made sure she went to her other offer holder days to make sure it was the right decision. These all took place before the accommodation day, so she was ready to decide.

Universities do put pressure on students to choose early, but my daughter said there were plenty of people who didn't put their application in early and still got one of their top choices.

[Ds4ljs]

We are heading to Liverpool today as this is DDs firm choice. It’s an offer day so 🤞. Another early start!

[scoobydooby]

Just to note acc can be a drama. My son was not offered a place at his Uni until well after most other courses due to how they interviewed. The acc options opened up for deposit and allocation before he got his offer. He had to put up with what was left. Read the Uni acc pages they are all different.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by 1972

Yes they all seem to have their own dates.

Also some take a deposit on accommodation day - Lincoln doesn't.

At Lincoln, you still won't find out until results day where you have been allocated and only then do you pay a deposit (as each accommodation has different prices and deposit).

My daughter had already decided that she was taking her unconditional offer, but we still made sure she went to her other offer holder days to make sure it was the right decision. These all took place before the accommodation day, so she was ready to decide.

Universities do put pressure on students to choose early, but my daughter said there were plenty of people who didn't put their application in early and still got one of their top choices.

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It really is dependant on availability. Bristol University has a date that students can apply for accommodation on, but they won’t hear what they have been offered until a day or two after result day. I don’t believe we paid any deposit until then.

My DD got her first choice accommodation and has been very pleased with it this year, it’s excellent accommodation However, there were a handful of students who had to commute from Newport in South Wales for the first few months due to a shortage of student accommodation in Bristol. These students were ones who did not put Bristol as first choice.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by 1972

At Lincoln, you still won't find out until results day where you have been allocated and only then do you pay a deposit (as each accommodation has different prices and deposit).

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Yes. But both Lincoln and Harper Adams say that they allocate students to accommodation on a first come, first served basis. So although the students won't know where they've been allocated until after results day, the university will have already provisionally allocated them a particular accommodation several months beforehand. And if the student makes their application a few months after the process opens then they are less likely to get what they want.

For those of us who haven't been through this process before (well, not as a parent anyway) it's worth knowing that your son/daughter may have to make their decision pretty soon.