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Five into two does go!

Five into two does go!

Cutting down your university choices doesn’t have to be a minus; it can be a very big plus for your future plans.

BY CHRIS BIRD

Narrowing down your five chosen universities to the necessary two can be an arduous task. Not only will you potentially be living away from home for the first time, you will also be looking for the university that can help you to shape your future.

First of all, it is worth knowing the essential information about the choices process. Here you will find the UCAS process explained, and there are also some dates for you to pinpoint on your calendar!

When you submit your UCAS application, you can apply for up to five courses. UCAS will then send your application to all the universities and colleges you’ve chosen. It is then a case of playing the waiting game. It’s only when all the decisions (conditional offers, unconditional offers or unsuccessful decisions) have come back that you need to make your replies.

You will need to reply to each offer in one of the following ways through UCAS Track:

Firm acceptance

Insurance acceptance

Decline

Firm acceptance: Your firm acceptance is your first choice – this is your preferred choice out of all the offers you have received.

Insurance acceptance: If your firm choice is a conditional offer, you can accept another offer as an insurance choice. Your insurance choice can be either conditional or unconditional and acts as a back-up. If you don’t meet the conditions for your firm choice but meet the conditions for your insurance, you will be committed to the insurance choice.

NOTE: You don’t have to accept an insurance choice – if, after accepting your firm choice you are unsure about the other courses on offer to you then don’t worry, you’re not obliged to accept an insurance.

Once you have decided which offer to accept firmly, and which (if any) to accept as an insurance, you must decline all other offers. If you don’t want to accept any of the offers, you can decline them all – you’ll then be eligible to use Extra or Clearing, depending upon your circumstances.

If you submitted your UCAS application by the 15th January 2013 deadline, you should hear back from the universities by 9th May 2013, although hopefully it’ll be even earlier. UCAS encourages universities to make as many decisions as they can by 31st March. The date that you need to make your replies is determined by when the last decision comes back from your choices, so you may have a different deadline to your friends.


For any more information you may need, take a look at: http://www.ucas.com/students/offers/

Now that you are aware of the process, you can start looking into which university would best suit you. As you may have read in our ‘On the Move’ special edition, we stressed the importance of research when choosing courses. The same principle of research also applies to your university choices.

What does the university offer? Every university has an official website. On this website you can find a wide range of information about the university – whether it be recent news, to student union activities and open days. Simply click on and have a surf!

University open days can serve as a fantastic taster for what you can expect at your chosen university and its location. If possible, try to attend as many as you can. There is so much to do at open days: you will be given a tour of the university (and its accommodation), you can view some student work, and you can have a look at your course department (and maybe try out some of its facilities/equipment first hand!).

As well as exploring the university itself, you can also commute into the local city or town centre to see the sights, or to check out the shops on offer. As you may be campus-based and living away from home for three years, you want to ensure that it is somewhere you believe to be exciting and worthy. Open days are also a great way for parents to get involved!

UCAS research has shown that a staggering 40 per cent of students that drop out of university after their first year had not attended an open day.

 

As mentioned previously, you may be taken on a tour of the university’s accommodation whilst on an open day. If you are to be a campus-based student, it is vitally important to feel settled in your first year. The right surroundings can be an important factor in this. Each university website should also include a section on accommodation.

With the rise in tuition fees, it is now more important than ever for you to get your money’s worth. Useful websites such as www.unistats.direct.gov.uk serve as tools for you to compare university fees at each of your five choices.

If you throw yourself in to this kind of research, you could find that the seemingly difficult decision of cutting your choices down to the final two is relatively easy. It can also set you on your way to a great and enriching three years!

www.unistats.direct.gov.uk
www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk

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