UCAS -UCAn do it!

I’d like to apologise for the cheesy and badly punned title, but I thought I’d just write quickly on UCAS. I was actually one of those people who wasn’t going to apply for Uni in the UK and go through the process of UCAS (my first post described my application to study in the states instead), but my head of Sixth Form at school encouraged me to apply as a back up.

And as you can see, it was a good decision to apply.

I sent my UCAS in, very stressed, on the 15th January last year. Aka The Deadline. Within a week, I’d written my personal statement (and cut it down by at least half), talked to my teachers about references and completed all the forms, minus one hitch when I wrote something wrong and got it sent back to correct. Finally I managed to send it off, with a sigh of relief, before the waiting period began.

For those who haven’t finished applying, or haven’t yet decided whether they’ll apply, do not worry. The deadline doesn’t mean you have to speed rush everything, especially your personal statement. Take your time and make sure you go through it as thoroughly as you can – if you make a mistake due to rushing, likelihood is your school may bounce the application back to you, lengthening the time it takes to send it in (which is what happened to me). Talk to your teachers about your personal statement, think about what you’ve done and read that’s been related to your course, and make sure you proofread it. Other than that, don’t feel pressured to use up all of your offers, or apply to places to just fill up the space. Pick courses that you think you’ll enjoy and that you can see yourself doing, or if you honestly don’t know, consider your other options. Teachers and careers advisers, as I’m sure you’ve been told before, are there to help you – speak to them and anyone else you think could have some insight to what you may be able to do. But overall, my biggest thing to say is: don’t stress and rush things because you feel under-pressure. Be wary of time constraints but make the decisions you want to make.

If you’ve already managed to send in your UCAS and receive offers, congratulations! Now’s the time to spend visiting your choices and making your decisions. If you’ve sent in your UCAS and haven’t heard anything back yet, there’s no need to worry! I found that it takes time to hear about all your decisions, it took my first university 2 weeks to respond, and the others came along a few weeks after that (from what I remember). It takes patience but they’ll be here soon if you focus on work. I remember every time I got an email, I hoped it was an offer, but I wish I hadn’t been as caught up by it.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your weekend, no matter what you do – take a rest from waiting for those applications/writing it, go on a walk or just take a breather!

Meredith