[EpiCDayo92]

Right so basically I have wasted 2 years of university education doing a course I was never interested in and didn't really want to do.

Go back 2 years ago (August 2010) and I just got my a-level results and I didn't do too well (C,C,D - is that 200 or 220 UCAS points) anyway I panicked and thought I was gonna have to go through clearing. However the uni (LJMU) contacted me and offered me a course (Applied chemical and pharmaceutical sciences) and I jumped at it mainly as a reflex reaction. Got to uni, made lot's of friends, enjoyed the student life but I never ever enjoyed the course and even the career prospects don't excite me. So why bother wasting anymore time with it?

Anyway I've been looking at other courses at other uni's and found some that I really want to do. The downside is that they are at entry level - 280 points and i'm short either 60 or 80 not too sure. The foundation year linked courses don't apply to this course in particular either. So my query is what do I do next? Wait for clearing? Contact the uni in question about the course? Boost my UCAS points and how do I go about that? I would be grateful for any help/imput.

Hope I haven't bored you with that, I just wish I took a gap year at 18 tbh I mean when I got to uni I found that me being 18 was unusual (at LJMU anyway) alot of my course mates, flatmates etc were all 1, 2, 3, 4 even 5 years older than me lol!?

[TheSownRose]

(Original post by EpiCDayo92)
Right so basically I have wasted 2 years of university education doing a course I was never interested in and didn't really want to do.

Go back 2 years ago (August 2010) and I just got my a-level results and I didn't do too well (C,C,D - is that 200 or 220 UCAS points) anyway I panicked and thought I was gonna have to go through clearing. However the uni (LJMU) contacted me and offered me a course (Applied chemical and pharmaceutical sciences) and I jumped at it mainly as a reflex reaction. Got to uni, made lot's of friends, enjoyed the student life but I never ever enjoyed the course and even the career prospects don't excite me. So why bother wasting anymore time with it?

Anyway I've been looking at other courses at other uni's and found some that I really want to do. The downside is that they are at entry level - 280 points and i'm short either 60 or 80 not too sure. The foundation year linked courses don't apply to this course in particular either. So my query is what do I do next? Wait for clearing? Contact the uni in question about the course? Boost my UCAS points and how do I go about that? I would be grateful for any help/imput.

Hope I haven't bored you with that, I just wish I took a gap year at 18 tbh I mean when I got to uni I found that me being 18 was unusual (at LJMU anyway) alot of my course mates, flatmates etc were all 1, 2, 3, 4 even 5 years older than me lol!?

First of all, CCD is 220 points.

Contact the university now and discuss it - you may find that what you've done at university already counts for something; unless the courses are very closely linked it's unlikely to be transfer, but it may be that saying "I've achieved X grades at university" compensates for the short fall in UCAS points.

Even if they say no, I'd still make a UCAS application and submit it straight to Clearing (apply after June 30th) so you can contact them again if they are in Clearing. Having already shown an interest (so you're not just someone whose never really considered the course before phoning up in desparation) may swing a bit of favour in your direction if they're looking to fill the course up. The downside is, if they aren't you've lost the UCAS fee ... but you may see something else you like in Clearing, you never know.

The easiest way to get some more UCAS points is to push your grades up - gain an extra grade in each and you've got it (assuming they don't change the requirements in the meantime.) However, I'm not sure if retakes are going to be viable - the specifications may have changed, so check it. Be warned, some places don't accept retake years. You could also get more A-levels, but again it comes with a warning - some places want all qualifications in the same sitting or limit how many subjects the points can come from. The most acceptable way to meet the requirement is something else to discuss with the university when you phone them up if attempts to get in this year don't do well. Another alternative is to take a bit of time out and do an appropriate Access course instead ... but check that this would over-ride the A-levels.

As a side note, have you given thought towards funding? There are people who know far more abouts the ins and outs of SFE and student finance, but I believe you're only going to get another two years and will have to fund the first year yourself? Make a post in the student finance section or phone SFE up to get the full extent to the financial situation.

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And gaming scores absolutely are life achievements. No one ever accepts it when I say I've been busy gaming all day...

[EpiCDayo92]

Thanks for the advice buddy, really helped alot and gave me alot to have a think about. I will also endeavor to find about my student finance situation too.

[laura1234]

Contact the uni, at various unis their entry requirements lists sometimes say things along the lines of 'relevent experience' if the course you want to do now is similar (or even if it isn't) its still worth a shot). If you have relevent experience plus your A level grades and contacted the uni direct there might be a way