Applying to University - Dispelling the Confusion(Essay: School pupils)

For Scottish S6s -

It's around about this time that teachers announce to pupils to start applying to UCAS for University courses. If and when applying to go to University by the 'UCAS' system, you may be overwhelmed with information in the assembly (or talk from a teacher) about how to apply with this method. Do not be startled - if you are confused about instructions or what you have to do, or ambiguities in the written information handed to you, don't be - it's not just you.

Document every single one of your concerns, read through the information given to you, and raise each and every one to your guidance teacher (or whatever teacher gave the talk, or one you know can help). Find that teacher and schedule this meeting officially with them, to let them know you are serious.

Remember, before doing this, to make it absolutely definite that you have prepared every question you have to ask. You must not leave the meeting with the slightest unsureness about everything, since it may come back to haunt you. Once you are happy that all confusions are cleared up, set about getting information prospectuses (just a great list of subjects the University teaches, and their entry grade requirements) from all Universities you are interested in (assuming you haven't done so already; before the assembly I mentioned happens, there may be events regarding universities, which your school should inform you of - go to them all and pick up prospectuses.)

Choosing Universities/Courses

Now, it's up to you to decide which University courses appeal to you the most. You can choose up to 6 to consider, and choose wisely. These 6 can be all entirely separate courses and at entirely separate Universities; you may also choose several for the same university, and even in the same subject field (computing, maths, etc.). Don't be put off if someone else tries to sugget otherwise.

When choosing these courses, I really can't recommend selecting even one which you don't feel you'd want to do if it were your only option. Be sure that all 6 are ones you'd be happy to take up if circumstances required it.

The online application system

My teachers insisted for us to use an online method of applying to UCAS; for this, you need to go to the UCAS website (www.ucas.com), navigate to the appropriate section on applying through UCAS, and have a username and password. You should get this from the school. If not, make this a question to raise to your guidance teacher at the meeting (it all fits in, you see!).

This, for me, was the most daunting part of applying; the teacher gave us very confusing and severely lacking information on how this works, ending their talk by saying simply, 'it should only take you several hours'. You're scared already, aren't you?

But, don't be. I would suggest you go to this online application section, and browse all the details you have to fill in (yes, all of them). Fill in all the simple ones (you can spell your name, right?), and any questions that confuse you? That's right, document it and bring it up in the meeting with the guidance teacher. Print the page out if you want. As long as you know what to do, and have the information to do it, you can fill in whatever you like on this form at your leisure. Make sure to click the right button to save your details without sending them off or anything. If worried about doing that, again, bring it up in the meeting.

Other things you should know

If your school gives you a strict time limit to have selected all courses and processed all information by, don't be stirred; no matter what they say, your application to courses cannot be refused until a certain date in the coming January (at least, for me; if they demand them in by, say, October, as mine did, it's hogwash). Having said this, however, I still strongly encourage you to do all this as soon as you can, and try to meet the school's deadline. I myself did all this, and was heartily commended by my guidance teacher for being so organised. I believe I was the first and most efficient for getting it all done, so follow my example! Although, to rest your concerns, I found that virtually everyone else in my year didn't really bother doing anything about UCAS until the real deadline started to get close. However, for all the hassle it is at the time, I guarantee it will save you much annoyance and bother in the future, plus you have nothing more to worry about until about half a year away.

Half a year away

Alright, so you're not bothered about this right now. Still, bookmark this little essay anyway, and remember to come back in half a year.

I say half a year, because it's around then that you should have all your offers from your chosen courses, and it's about that far away that you're expected to respond. You will get a sheet to do this with by UCAS, so don't worry about wondering whether you're supposed to take action on this before then - you shouldn't have to.

When your teachers tell you to get an application form to apply to the 'SAAS' for them to pay your tuition fees, ignore their lies (more teacher scaremongering. Sigh...) - there is no rush, you are competing with nobody whatsoever for their service, and as long as you send in the application by whatever time the SAAS itself suggests, you should have no problems.

Once you've come this far, congratulations. It should be almost over now.

Stay tuned and I'll tell you about the various Univcersity course offerings, what they mean, and all the horrid paperwork heading your way from the University itself (don't worry, you've got a good while holiday after your exams before that happens).

A PLEA TO ALL: You really do have no idea as to how happy I am to finally write this UCAS guide. If I could just get this out to more people, I swear this would be the most useful guide to British University applicants in existence! Well, actually, I don't. But I'm pleased with it. Nonetheless, I would like to let anyone, who can and would post this essay on their website or for friends to benefit from, know that I need no credit for it, and this essay is not copyrighted.
In other words, take my guide and do whatever you want with it! All I really want is for it to help people. UCAS can be scary, and pupils need all the help they can get with it.  ¶ 3:11 pm