Levitate Student: How I made my Uni Choices

Guest blog by Connor Brown Year 13 student

Connor

I personally started researching Unis earlier than most of my friends, perhaps around the start of year 11. At this stage I was just using University league tables like the Complete University Guide to get a list of the sort of Unis I might want to look up. For this I looked at how high Unis ranked in the subjects of German and French as luckily I knew this would be what I would want to study, but you can use these guides to look at student life, accommodation or a host of other criteria. Next came visiting the Universities' actual websites to look up the course content (for me this became the main way that I managed to narrow down my list, with Universities like Oxbridge and Exeter offering very traditional, literary-heavy courses that I really didn't fancy).

By the start of year 12 I had visited my first Uni outside of an Open Day when me and Mum went for an informal look around UCL. This sort of visit was enough for me to get a feel for the Uni but in truth I wouldn't recommend it as you don't get to find out much more about the course/accommodation without Open Day staff being there to talk to you. Nevertheless I knew after this visit that I could rule out UCL; for me it felt too small to offer what other Unis could.

By the middle of year 12 I had only four Unis that, based on League Tables and course content, I felt I wanted to see on an Open Day. All of my Open Days fell at the end of June/early July so as I had finished my AS exams by this point I had no trouble getting the time out of lesson. Where I was focusing on course and just the general 'vibes' I got from a place, my Mum was much more interested in accommodation, something I personally found difficult to judge having never lived away from home for any extended period of time.

Before I went on the Open Days my preference had changed quite a lot: UCL had been my favourite before I went to visit, and then Durham had been top for a long time until I received my prospectus and realised that the focus was yet again on literature. Here it's worth noting that you should order your prospectuses as early as possible as they do provide more information than you can find on the website (I personally felt a lot of the websites needed quite a lot of work doing to them). Also make sure you book your Open Days early as certain talks run out of places quickly, though on the day it's always worth turning up even if you couldn't book onto a talk/tour as they're often happy to let you in. 

By the time I visited Sheffield (my first Open Day) Newcastle had become a very strong contender. For me Sheffield ranked particularly highly for student life, having the best ranked Students' Union in the country, and the course was very flexible which was just what I was after, however the accommodation seemed pretty standard to me, with a strong emphasis on 'communal living' (a term which was to me oddly presented as a positive). However after my visit I could certainly see myself living there for 3 years of my life.

The next stop was Newcastle and as the Open Day was on a weekend I had enough time to explore the city. Newcastle seemed to combine the security and community of a campus with the diversity of a city, being a good next step between the town where I grew up and the big bad world. Newcastle ranked highly across the board but had particularly  special language facilities including a whole language library building offering language learning in 150 languages (including Klingon!). From this point I had decided that Newcastle would be tricky to beat, and the next day when we traveled the short distance to Durham I was in a way relieved that I found the course and the collegiate system a bit too traditional for it to challenge Newcastle (I actually walked out of a college tour when our guide started talking about the odd blindfolded dinner on offer), although it couldn't be denied that there were less concrete monstrosities on Durham's campus compared to Newcastle.

By the final Open Day which happened to be Lancaster Uni I was convinced I had my firm and insurance Unis settled. Lancaster did have a modern beauty about it which surprised me - the architecture fit perfectly with its rural surroundings (Mum thought it looked like Center Parcs) - however I felt I would miss having a city on my doorstep and I might feel quite isolated. Then, however, I went to speak to the languages teachers. The languages talk had been interesting but had told me little new, so I would always recommend actually speaking to the teachers and coming prepared with a few questions. My main question was unsurprisingly about literature, and I was delighted to hear that if I took a third language I could miss it out almost completely.

On to the accommodation tour and it was clear that Lancaster had had a revamp, although I'm looking forward to hopefully going back again on a post-offer day to try to find some of the older rooms to see if they're just as nice. By the end of the day (and of my Open Days as a whole) I had my top 2: Newcastle and Lancaster. Although Newcastle stayed my top, this was still quite a departure from UCL and Durham which had been my favourites in year 11. The fact that I had changed my mind so much proves the importance of Open Days. My parents' top choice? Me and Dad were in harmony but Mum thought Lancaster would at least offer her peace of mind, with me being secure in a campus where compared to Newcastle I wouldn't even have to cook for the first year if I didn't want to.

Shortly after my Open Days the arduous process of UCAS began. Regardless of the amount of money they put into the site it remains confusing (I had to watch some of their videos describing what you have to do on each page), with the section adding all your qualifications being particularly time-consuming. The personal statement that goes along with UCAS will take hours to complete and several redrafts, having to fit why you would be the perfect student, what you 

love about your chosen subject and why you want to go to Uni in the first place into only 4000 character (with spaces) seems impossible at the beginning, but keep calm and eventually you'll manage it. Just remember that it's not the be all and end all, your grades are still what count.

Now I'm at the stage where, as long as I get the offers, I have made my University choices, and that is a huge relief! You get to choose 5 Unis to put down at the first stage (for this part there is nothing wrong with putting down Unis that you haven't visited), and then by March you have to decide on your firm and insurance choice, the insurance usually asking for a least one grade lower. Almost everyone changes their mind along the way which can be pretty stressful but is also really exciting, and having had a look around 3 Unis which I could happily go to I can't wait for this next stage in my life.