Sunday 24 November 2013

University Life #2 - Picking a University.

Obviously having been through the daunting process of UCAS (or what have you) and having been through the selection process etc I thought I would write a little (maybe not so little) post on what the application process was like for me and some advice for you. 
And hopefully help you not to make the same mistakes I did!


Applying to university is scary. 
There is no doubt about it. 
From writing your personal statement to trawling through all your old GCSE grades it is a scary and not to mention stressful process! 
So here are some hints and tips which I would have found helpful when applying to university. 
Obviously they will apply to my course (predominantly) but they are quite generalisable and should be helpful to you all. 

#1 - Choosing your university and course. 

Before you even think about your personal statement or application you need to figure out which universities you want to apply to. 
My biggest tip here is to go on open days and research your chosen universities as much as possible!!
For me university was quite a last minute decision (in comparison to people who had been researching their universities for years!) so I didn't leave myself  a lot of time to choose in comparison with everyone else. And when I did choose I didn't go to any open days. 
No matter where you are applying you need to go there at some point to see what it is like!
It's all well and good applying and making it your first choice and then getting in for you to get up there to find you don't like the area you're in. Or you don't like the course or your tutors. 
This leads on to the point that you need to research which course you want to do!
If you're at 6th form or college then there's a good chance that you already knew what you wanted to do when you picked your subjects of choice. 
But still you need to know what you're getting yourself into. Because it is for the next three years. 
I cannot stress enough how much you need to have a passion for your chosen subject. 
If you're not passionate about it the likely hood is that you won't like it. 
You need to think long term about this. You're going to be making a career out of this (possibly) so you need to know what you're getting yourself into. 

I didn't research enough. And if I had then I would have known that there was a university relatively close to me that has a specialist art college that I could have gone to as opposed to one practically on my door step.
So just know your options. 

#2 - The Application Process: Personal Statements and Numbering Your Choices.

My personal statement was probably the easiest part of the whole application process. Its basically you saying WHY you want to study what you want to study.
It's basically like a tiny essay explaining a bit about yourself; your hobbies, your interests and, most importantly, what makes you stand out from the 100's of other applicants.
My main bit of advice for this is to try and remember EVERYTHING you have ever done that was good.
For example, although I study Fine Art, I put on at the end of my statement some athletics awards that I had won. I tried to demonstrate that I have interests outside of Art (which is a tiny lie).
You don't have to be the most arrogant, egotistical person in the world to write it, just know what you're good at.

Now numbering your choices isn't particularly important at this point... If you go through UCAS (most students tend to) then you pick 5 universities to apply to.
However further on when you get around to accepting your offers, that's when choosing is important. 

#3 - The Waiting Process: Offers and Interviews

For Fine Art all of my uni's required an interview. One university even required an online portfolio before they even offered me a face-to-face interview.
This was a crucial part of my university process as it basically meant that they liked my application (they were impressed with my personal statement, grades and references) BUT that they needed to see what I was capable of before they offered me a place.
In my opinion the interview was essential because it gave me a chance to see where I would be working, to meet some other students and to meet my tutors. It also gave my tutors the chance to see my work and whether or not they felt I had potential.
For those of you who have interviews my bit of advice is to be calm. they want you to be calm and quietly confident in what you speak about. They will ask you questions about your work, why you want to go to the uni and what you plan to do with your degree afterwards.
I had already covered most of the questions in my application so they were fairly easy for me to answer.
Just don't be too nervous. I think the most backhanded piece of advice I could give is that they only want to see whether you'll represent the uni well and in all honesty they're not interested in you as a person yet.

Now offers. They come in thick and fast and take you by surprise. Uni's don't really mess about when it comes to offers. They'll either give you one or not.
Now don't be nervous about this. Remember you have 5 universities you (I hope) want to go to, so there's quite a high chance you'll get an offer from one. My next bit of advice is don't be scared by the offers they ask of you. By that I mean they will give you a "grade requirement" that you must meet in order to get on the course. For example: AAB. This means you must get at least 2 A's and a B to get on your course.
I should add here that uni's prefer you to have a predicted grade of B or higher of your chosen subject to get in.
However, and this is a big however, these don't particularly matter...
Most courses have low numbers (especially given the rise in the prices of uni) so even if you don't meet the grade requirements there's a good chance you'll still be considered.
My English teacher used to tell me of her son who got a D in History but then got accepted onto his chosen in course. I'm not saying try to do your worst and you'll get in, God no! Do your best! But if you don't do your best you have options.
The next reason is clearing. If you don't meet the requirements of either of your top 2 uni's then you are now eligible for clearing. And can apply to another university and have an almost "second chance" at it.
Just try not to panic about it. Schools, colleges, uni's and UCAS are all so helpful when it comes to this.

#4 - What To Put In You Portfolio?

This bit is particular to "art's based students", as I think they are the only ones that are required to present a portfolio of work (correct me if I'm wrong). I had no idea where to start with my portfolio. No idea what to include or anything.
If you are entirely lost on what to do, and I was, I would ask your current teacher to help you. Ask their opinion. Because they've already been through it all.
But I was too scared to do this and just prepared it all by myself. Now I was a little workaholic and couldn't stop producing work at the time so I had a lot to pick from.
One big part of my portfolio that my interviewer's were impressed with were the vast range of contextual studies I had. By that I mean, artists research and my knowledge around working/dead artists from various time periods. Also experimentation is a big thing. They love it if you know about many different processes and can demonstrate how to use them. But don't worry too much about that.
I included all 9 of my sketchbooks from the past year and a half of 6th Form, some big pieces of work, some little sketchbooks of photos and just a bit of everything really.

A main bit of advice is pick pieces you can talk confidently about. Because they will ask you to talk about your work. Also pick your best work only. Don't try and include everything but rather include your best works.
Try to think of it as you're selling yourself (your work) to the uni and you want them to see your best attributes.

#5 - Choosing Your Top 2 Uni's: First Choice. 

Choosing your top 2 uni's can be quite hard. Especially if you get offers from all 5 and love all 5.
But it's essential to have your absolute favourite uni that you want to go to as number 1. And then your next favourite uni as choice 2.
People have different tactics when it comes to this... some will put their favourite uni as number 1, but it might have incredibly high grade boundaries. So just in case they mess up their exams they'll pick another uni with the lowest grade boundaries as choice 2.
As with all of this, it's inevitably your choice. You have to decide where you want to go and what risks you want to take.
My only advice for this section is to pick uni's you feel comfortable going to and you think you're going to get the grades to go to. And take risks you feel comfortable taking.
And I cannot stress this enough:

DO NOT LET ANYONE MAKE YOUR DECISION FOR YOU.

#6 - Exams and Preparing Yourself For Uni.

Exams are arguably the hardest part of the whole process. They're not a direct part of the process but how well you do in your exams depends on which uni you go to.
By now some of you may have done the majority of your exams and only have a few left by May/June. For me, we did modules in January so it sort of cushioned the blow of June exams.
But nevertheless be prepared for these exams. A Level is so much harder than people say, most of my tutors even went as far to say that it's harder than university life.
And looking back I agree. I'm sure the stress of everything at the time didn't help that difficulty but I digress.
Just make sure you study a lot and prepare yourself and remember: at the end of the day you can only do your best.

Now you've applied, sat our exams, got your results and you're into your uni of choice. CONGRATS
Now comes the scary bit.
Preparing for uni can be scary. And if you're moving away, preparing for uni can be expensive.
There are many articles on the student forum about what to take to uni etc so I won't go into too much detail here, but just be aware that it is a massive change.
Be prepared to step outside of your comfort zone.

#7 - Accommodation: Applying and How to Manage Money.
Personally, I didn't go through the accommodation process as it was unnecessary for me to move away. However many of my friends did and some of them had a hard time of it.
If you go through clearing then there's a good chance you won't get your accommodation of choice so just be aware of this.
Most universities require you to apply for your accommodation before you even get your results, so think long and hard about where you want to stay. They're a variety of options, Halls, off-campus housing, staying at home etc.
Also most universities have a variety of "houses" to choose from, so think about where you would like to stay. How close is it to your uni? How far away from town is it? Is it easily accessible? What's security like?
Just some things to consider.

Now managing money is crucial to a university life style.
You are given, what you think, is a large sum of money. But truthfully the majority of this will be spent on rent, bills, food and toiletries etc. So in the end you aren't left with a lot of money to spend.
My advice here is to keep a little book of everything you spend.
I have a lever arch file where all my bank statements, receipts, mini statements, EVERY PENNY I SPEND is wrote down in there. I also have a spare book for stuff I buy online.
It definitely pay's to be organised here! Especially when keeping receipts.
Just make sure you're aware of how much money you have and what bills you have to pay for; then you should be okay.
Also setting up a system where you only allow yourself a set amount to spend is a good idea. 

#8 - Starting University: Fitting In and Starting Your Course. 

If you read my first post in this series then you'll know that I had a tough time settling into university.
To be honest, I think the large majority of my friends had a tough time as well.
You might as well face it now that you're going to be nervous as hell! There's not point in beating around the bush.
But here's the plus side: everyone else is going to be just as nervous (if not more) than you are.
You're all in the same boat.
So just be friendly, make yourself known, try to introduce yourself to people and you should be fine.
The first month or so might be awkward but over time you'll fit in with people and make friends.
Many people say that they don't make friends till the second year... So just give it time.

Now when starting your course be prepared for the work load. At the end of the day you're working for a degree. So it's not going to be easy.
Work creeps up on you and you'll probably spend the majority of your life doing uni work.
But if you want a degree this is what you've got to do.


I know that was a waffly post! But I hope this will help some of you out there who are applying or are at uni or who are now starting.
GOOD LUCK :)

p.s if you made it this far you get a chocolate. 

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