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The Review Online
A tense time
19th January 2010
So you’ve filled out your UCAS form, had several emails from the careers department complaining about spelling mistakes but finally it has been sent off to your universities. Let the wait begin!
It will be a very tense few months as gradually you receive the offers you’ve hoped for. The advantage we gain from the Careers departments’ early deadline is that our applications arrive earlier than a lot of others. This means we can be given offers sooner and do not run the risk of universities running out of places. Do not despair, however, if you have yet to receive an offer or interview as the latest date by which universities can reply is March. There is plenty of time between now and then for them to read your personal statement and realise just how much they want you.
Added pressure also comes from not knowing what grades your offer will consist of. It will affect how happy you are with an offer, the universities you will choose as your firm and insurance places, but most importantly how hard you work between now and July. We must not forget that the university offer isn’t everything, we still have to achieve highly in both our January and June exams.
Here are some useful tips to help with the stress of applying to university and to help you make the right decisions:
- Do not worry that your friend has five offers and keeps boasting about it. Different courses and different universities reply to applications at different times and with different offers.
- Do not forget to keep revising for your exams otherwise your university offers will be a complete waste of time and effort.
- Wait until you have received decisions from all your universities before you make your firm and insurance choices.
- Make sure your insurance university has given you lower grades than your firm choice just in case you do not do as well as hoped.
- Lastly, do not forget your university application doesn’t end at the offer; you have got to put the effort in and work your socks off when you’re there!
If you get a place at your desired university you will be glad you worked so hard, you’ll enjoy making friends and occasionally doing some work but most importantly your degree will act as an excellent foundation to work from for the rest of your life. Here’s to success!