Hi Everyone!!
I know it’s been a while (again…) but I have been working plenty and trying to enjoy the sunshine and summer while it is here. I suddenly realised this week that first year results are out and I am no longer a fresher which means there is about to be a whole new wave of you looking at universities and courses and beginning the application process.
For that reason, I have finally decided to get another post out about applying for uni with this one specifically focused on the task of choosing the university itself. I thought I would build it around the questions you guys asked me about the application process, lets get into it:
Do you recommend open and applicant days?
100%. This is probably the top thing that I recommend you do when beginning the application process. Everytime I was even slightly interested in a university I would book onto the open day and go and check it out for myself. I think in total I went to around 10 open days for different universities.
The reason these can be so important is because it gives you the chance to be on the campus and meet some of the people you would be around if you ended up there. It is true when people say that you will know when you are on the campus if it is right for you. The open days often give you time to meet lecturers, admissions officers, current students and experience what a lecture in that course could be like. It may also be when they announce new courses and opportunities in the department.
Two of the open days I attended change my perspective quite a lot. I visited the University of Leeds which has a huge History department and lecture sizes of something like 60+ people. This all seemed too much for me and that decided that I wanted something much smaller and personal from my university experience. When I visited the University of Portsmouth, my feelings about being close to home changed. I had never been the kind of person to get massively homesick and the idea of going somewhere far away to study hadn’t really bothered me but visiting Portsmouth felt like the other side of the world and so I again learnt what I was looking for.
What did you look for in a university?
When I started the process I created a list of things that were important to me. This started as: a city university, travel abroad opportunities and a modern based course (Ancient History is not for me at all). Once I started with open day visits and spoke to more people my list changed. When it came to actually applying the most important things for me were: small class sizes, work placement opportunities and the city based campus. Other things such as good library access and easy access to go home and visit my family were also important.
Everyone will look for different things and have different lists but one thing to note is your list should be completely personal to you, no one else can decide what you feel comfortable with or need to get on well. Also don’t be worried if during the process the things you thought you wanted out of a university change or stay the same. Sometimes you will be completely right and know from the beginning what you want other times you will see that actually the process shows you what is really important.
How important are the university rankings and league tables?
Personally, I didn’t really count on the university rankings and league tables, I wasn’t really Russell Group material and so they didn’t seem as important to me as those that I knew that were applying to that league of universities. The only time I used them was at the very start of the process and I selected the table that was specific to the History and Politics courses. This one showed me the list of universities that offer the course and was just a starting point for me to go down the list and read about the university and course.
A lot of the time I found people would get really caught up in where a university was on the rankings and it could often feel like the be all and end all if it wasn’t one of the top. Even teachers would make me feel like it wasn’t worth applying if I wasn’t applying for somewhere at the top but every university offers something different and is good at something different so you can’t rely solely on the national views.
My advice would be to use the tables to give you a list of universities to search through like I did but don’t let them take over what choice you make because they aren’t tailored to an individual and sometimes the best universities are the ones that just happen to be smaller or not as well known. I understand their importance but don’t think they should dictate where you apply.
How did you choose which ones to firm and insure?
After visiting all the universities and applying for my 5 favourites I found I was then unsure of which ones were my top favourites (makes sense right?). I am the most indecisive person and so every time I found another university I loved it made it harder to decide which one I actually wanted to be at. In the end, I knew that being in London was crazy important to me and I couldn’t really imagine being anywhere else so it came down to Southbank and Brunel. I visited Brunel again and that settled which out of the two to firm and insure. I also kept in mind a third one from my list that would be a go-to for clearing should I have to go down that route.
Personally I found the process really exciting, choosing the university for me was almost more enjoyable then deciding on a course to study. I loved visiting all the campuses and seeing what was out there and now love every second of my university experience.
If you guys have any other questions I’m happy to try and help as always just get in contact!!
Thanks everyone and speak soon,
Aimee with a Double E.
xxx
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