#ucas apply

After over four years on YouCanUCASToo, it’s time for me to leave here.

I’ve run this blog throughout my entire degree, through ups and downs, from the very beginning of a relationship that 6 months ago turned into a marriage. It means a lot to me, and it breaks my heart to have to go.

However, I’ve just gained a decision making position in university admissions, and to continue this blog could technically now be interpreted as giving insider information, so I can no longer provide support through answering new questions.

I’m leaving the blog up as an archive - all the tutorials, support posts and answered questions will remain here as long as they are needed.

For all you future UCAS applicants - I guarantee you’ll find something here that will help you.

And for everyone who’s stuck with me - you’ve all been so incredibly amazing since September 2012, and I never knew this blog could bring me the happiness and opportunities that it has.

Goodbye, and good luck for the future

One of the most common questions I've been getting lately is a variation on the following: 'I've got xxx grades, and I want to apply to a uni that asks for yyy grades, do I stand a chance of getting in?'

Now believe me, I really do understand the worry and the uncertainty. For a lot of applicants, a UCAS application will be the first time you'll be genuinely assessed on your abilities and given a definite yes or no answer that could change your future. The good thing is, universities understand this completely and they want you to do well, they really do.

Lets say you're being predicted BBB in your A-Levels, and your dream university is stating that their standard offer is BBB-BBC. Obviously, you're well in with a chance there, so applying would be a no brainer. But what if their standard offer says something like ABB-BBB? Would that mean that, as you're predicted at the lower end of the range, you shouldn't bother applying? No way! You're definitely able to apply to a university that states, in their literature, that their offer covers a range of grades including yours. In both of these cases, applying somewhere you really want to should not even be thought of twice, just go ahead and see what happens.

Now, what if your dream university is asking for AAB-ABB and you're being predicted BBB? Does that mean that you'd be wasting a choice if you even tried? Not necessarily. Every university is different, and I'd say if you're not predicted the grades for a place at a university like Oxford or Cambridge then please don't put yourself through that, but a number of universities will consider an applicant with slightly lower grades than the asking offer. In their eyes, you never know if you could get better than your predicted, and they may just take a punt on you. They'll only think about giving you that offer, however, if you have more to offer them. So your grades may be a little lower than ideal, but if you've done loads of extracurricular activities and written a brilliant personal statement, and your teachers have given you a great reference, then you're probably in with a good shot.

My personal rule of thumb here is don't shoot for a place whose lowest offer in their offer range is more than one grade above your predicted grades. If your predicted grades are BBB, then an AAB-ABB university seems fairly in your sights, but an AAA-AAB university is a push. 

If you're really worried about not getting in anywhere, then follow the 2-2-1 principle; apply for 2 awesome universities a little above your predicted, 2 universities with offers that comfortably include your predicted grades, and 1 university with an offer below your predicted grades for that little bit of back up and reassurance. Make sure you'd be happy attending any of the universities you apply to, so do plenty of research.

Now, if you've already achieved your grades, or you have extenuating circumstances as to why you won't be achieving/didn't achieve the offer but that you feel you are able to do the degree, universities are a bit more lenient. Feel free to shoot maybe another grade higher if you feel comfortable doing so, but make sure you have evidence and preferably send an accompanying letter explaining the situation along with your application.

This advice doesn't just apply to A-Level students, but if you need any help with converting your qualifications and relating them to offers send me an ask. If the university you want to apply to makes UCAS points offers, then there is still some leniency but a little less as UCAS points can be made up of lots of different qualifications and grade combinations. Again, anyone who needs assistance, feel free to send me an ask.

I'm sorry I've been a bit lax lately, but my 2nd year of university is turning out to be incredibly time consuming and most of the time I'm just too exhausted. I'm trying to manage my time a bit better and get back on track, so please bear with me! It's been a while since any new content has been added to the site, and I think that maybe continuing with this sort of topic and doing a full 'UCAS Worries' series could be good? If you have any ideas, please leave them as an answer below.

Thanks for always being awesome and patient and lovely

I've been terrible at keeping up with this. Terrible. My inbox is bulging with questions beyond the 7 day mark (thank you all for being patient) and tomorrow is Oxbridge/medicine/dentistry/vet med deadline day and I've barely been around at all.

So, as you may know, every university student in the country has Wednesday afternoons off, so that inter-university sports can take place. I, however, do not need this time, so from now on, unless I am bedbound-ill or have lengthy prior commitments, I will answer every question in my inbox on a Wednesday afternoon.

Of course, if I have time I shall catch up during the other days too, but this is a promise to you, because there needs to be some sort of routine here.

To say once more, in nice big bold letters...

ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS I PROMISE TO ANSWER EVERY QUESTION IN MY INBOX. FROM THE HOURS OF 2PM TO 10PM I WILL BE ABLE TO ANSWER YOUR QUERIES. IF YOU SEND ME QUESTIONS DURING THE OTHER DAYS OF THE WEEK, YOU MAY HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL WEDNESDAY FOR A REPLY. THIS SYSTEM WILL START THIS WEDNESDAY, THE 16TH OF OCTOBER. 

And now I have to get back to uni work, but I will see you all again in two days time.

Thank you all incredibly much for your continued support and patience!

Just stopping in to make this very quick post and let you all know that today is the 1st tumblr anniversary of this blog!

Woo!

It's been one hell of an experience running this ship, and I've learned so much and I really hope it's been a help to you guys.

From the quiet weeks in the lull of the UCAS cycle where I had a lack of questions, to A-Level results day where the only thing that kept me going through a whole day of non stop questions was a lot of caffeine, I have loved doing this so much, and can't thank you guys enough for really making this little idea of mine a success.

Is everyone quite alright? My inbox has been home to tumbleweeds and the occasional dormouse for the past week. I assume everyone is just sorting out for uni now, as I am (so I have kind of appreciated the quiet because packing is tiring).

I spy a lot of you in the UCAS thread getting into a tizzy about your UCAS forms, particularly the personal statement.

Here are some links to all the tutorials I’ve made that take you step by step through filling out the UCAS form.

1 - Getting Started

2 - Additional Information and Student Finance

3 - Education

4 - Personal Statement

5 - Choices

Other tutorials can be found in the relevant link on the sidebar of the blog, including a full student finance form tutorial plus those for UCAS extra and help with making final choices, to name a few.

In 2012, over 50,000 applicants found a university place through clearing, so a lot of people do. You do have to contrast this with the number of people eligible for clearing, which was just over 167,000. Don’t be put off by that, it doesn’t mean 1 in 3 people get a place; a lot of those eligible will decide that clearing isn’t for them, and the courses that are available vary so they may not have been able to find one that suited them.

Basically, yes, people do get to uni through clearing. I know people who’ve done it, including one of my closest friends who is just about to graduate from a degree she got into via clearing, and she probably had the best university experience out of my entire friendship group.

You just need to have a strategy. Wake up early on A-Level results day (when most clearing places are released), have a (preferably landline, you don’t want battery/signal problems) phone to hand and the UCAS clearing vacancies page open. I am also toying with the idea of doing some sort of online help chat thing on that day, but that’s uncertain. Oh, and have a glass of your favourite beverage to hand, you’ll be doing a lot of talking.

I know a lot of you will be apprehensive about having to do this all via phone, but unfortunately there’s no other way at present to get it done. If it helps, write as much as you can about what you want to say down so you have prompts, and take a breather between each call, though hopefully you’ll only have to make the one. Also ensure you have all your grades (and exam board information) to hand, and your UCAS ID number, because all the clearing staff will want those.

I’m making it sound a little stressful, but it really isn’t that bad, and I will be here to help as best I can.

My jury service is over and I have a whole summer ahead of me to keep running this blog, hopefully back at full capacity again.

After a quick perusal of the UCAS tag, I have noticed a lot of 2014 applicants are popping out of the woodwork, so hi there!

This blog is here for you to get help with any stage of your UK university application without ever having to leave tumblr. I've got tutorials and an FAQ page for you to go through at your leisure, and my askbox is always open if you can't find the answer to your query in any of the tags on the blog.

I'm going to go through at some point and tag everything better so it's easier to navigate, and hopefully my other half is going to make me a custom designed theme for this blog which suits its purpose better at some point soon.

In the meantime, take a look around my little corner of the internet, and check out the application timeline for help with spacing out getting everything done before the deadlines.

Oh and there is now a facebook page for this site, but I do need input on what you guys think it should be used for, because I want it to benefit you all as best it can!