Hills Road application?

I applied for Hills Road Sixth Form College earlier this year but was unsuccessful due to too many applicants to my subject from people from their catchment area. I'm an out of area applicant and they told me to call on results day to see if they could slot me in.

I got 7 A*s and 4As, but they don't seem keen on letting me in even though I've moved into the area. I've always wanted to go there but now I'm stuck with a not very good sixth form I never wanted to attend. Does anyone have any advice or similar stories? :frown:

Reply 1

username368993

I live fairly nearby and regretted not applying. I sent them an email a few weeks into term but they said they were 'over applied' and couldn't fit me in. It was probably due to my unacademic subject choices at the time (which I have now changed). However, not going was probably the best decision I've made. I've since become much more interested in learning in general and have switched my initial career paths into a more academic route. You don't need Hills to push you :wink:

Reply 2

Raindrip

I guess so :smile:

thank you very much for reassuring me

Reply 3

Prince Rhyus

I went there AGES ago.

Hills Road is one of those strange institutions that reminds me of a description of Windsor in the book "Crap Towns" - where they said that the town was full of lots of old ladies who behaved as if they were members of the royal family, and that the closer they lived to the castle, the more royal they thought themselves. (A number believing themselves to by HM herself!)

It's a little bit like that with some of the admin staff at HR and some of the colleges in Cambridge. (I temped at one of them for a few months after graduating) and noticed that the longer they had been employed by their college or university, the more they saw themselves as academic rather than administrative (mainly female, but not always) staff...the longest serving almost seeing themselves as fellows and the really cranky ones seeing themselves as the Chancellor himself!

My time at HR was plagued by my own lack of courage - basically not asking to switch subjects and not dropping people who I went to school with when it became clear that they wanted to drop me like a stone. (It was made all the more easier for all of us concerned when we went our separate ways after A-Levels). That said, I ticked all the boxes that Aunties Hyacinth and Mildred would have wanted results-wise...

I had more fun at Long Road doing an evening class there during my year out. In part it was because I tried a new A-Level altogether (history - the subject of my heart which I didn't do first time round because of bad advice from my old school...and me not having the courage to tell them where to stick it). As I was also working full-time it was a nice break from a job that I really didn't enjoy and what turned out to be a career path (banking) I wasn't cut out for early on.

The one piece of advice I do have is to make the most of where you are currently heading. Don't allow HR's decision not to let you in ruin what's ahead of you. Try not to spend time dwelling on what might have been. I had a sack load of hopes and expectations of HR and most of them were not realised and ended up leaving the place quite bitter. It was only after university that I was able to let it all go. Kind of strange that I see myself having got to where I have (Government spooksville) inspite of HR and university rather than because of them.

Reply 4

06georgee

Original post by Raindrip

Please colud you tell me how you applied to Hills Road ? :smile:

Reply 5

jess2307

My application for Hills Road is being sent at the end of the month and I'm pretty nervous. I am getting all A's and B's and maybe a few A*'s. I am really struggling with my personal statement for them because it needs to be shorter and I don't know what to cut out. It also doesn't help that I have been ill lately so I've missed alot of school.
I hope to get in but if I don't then I will have to settle with Long Road. The problem I have is that I saw Hills Road and I fell in love with it. I so badly want to go there that I have probably set myself up for dissapointment.

Reply 6

Edwin Okli

Original post by jess2307

I wanted to go there too but didn't get in but I didn't bother writing them to tell them that I was interested in any places that could potentially open themselves up. It was probably all for the best. I'm bound to get the same support from the Sixth Form I'm going to when I'm applying to Cambridge but I won't have to have them looking over my shoulders to check that I'm on course all the time.

In short, if you don't get into Hills Road, it's not the worst thing in the world.

Reply 7

Ineedaplace

Hills Road is not good.... I went there before anyone says I am being biased. I studied Accounting, Economics, Mathematics, Further mathematics, Physics and Critical Thinking.

Some of the teachers were patronizing, some could not speak clear english, some were too monotonic. It is however less full of people who aren't academically inclined. Although in my physics class I sat next to a girl she told me her parents gave her £10,000 to go to Hills Road instead of paying for private school..... I knew from then on I was probably out of place.

My advice to you is don't dwell on it and just do as well as you possibly can at Long Road. The reason for me applying to Hills Road was because I had to cycle less of a distance and everyone was going oooo Hills road, realy regret going even though I obtained good grades. Hated the experience!!!!

I do remember my friends appealing, none of them were successufl.

Reply 8

Edwin Okli

Just a note on the admissions process; if you're in area you can usually get in with the minimum grades (B's in the relevant subjects) but out of area it can be more difficult to judge. Only one of area person from my school got offered a place and they ended up with no A*s at all so it's a bit of a lottery.

Reply 9

GotDaFunk92

It really isnt the end of the world not getting in there. I'm studying there right now and i can tell you it's the biggest jump from GCSE's ever. I got 7 A's and 4 B's at GCSE and admittedly i was slacking then. but at Hills it doesnt matter how hard i try, i just cant jump through the exam hoops and as a result am doing badly in most of my subjects. even in psychology which is my best subject, and the course i hope to study at uni i'm getting only B's. considering i got straight A's in class all last year i have to admit im a bit gutted by this.

basically the way i feel is, no matter how hard i try i just cant please the people there. and because i've been doing badly my tutor and teachers have been on my back about it no end with no regard for my stress levels. im just a statistic and if i dont do well its a bad mark against the college name, which ofc they dont want.

there is a lot of support there but it's mainly for the grades, not for you personally. but on the other hand it does offer some great opportunities, thats not a lie. there have definitely been some downsides to my experience there but i cant say i've hated being at Hills, because most of the time it has been a fun experience.