[LewisS911]

Hi there, I've recently just finished my A-levels so am now in the long summer waiting for my results. But i've been thinking over the last few weeks, I'm really not 100% sure about if I want to go to university anymore and I feel a bit stuck because I've gone through all the effort of applying and everything.

I've applied to do MSci Biological Sciences at Birmingham University and I am predicted A*AA At A-level.

Not only that, but i've been contemplating a completley different career path aswell.

Am I throwing away a huge opportunity here? What should I do?

P.S. Ignore my sig it's old.

[Tenfield]

Talk to people close to you about it, get some advice and make sure you're certain before you make a final decision.

I went to Uni when I was 19 purely because I had nothing better to do. I lasted 3 months and spent 6 years doing very little. I'm now going back to Uni this september, because I know this time it's what I want.

My point is you need to be as sure as you can be that you're doing what YOU want to do. Otherwise you'll end up with regrets.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[JTeighty]

I understand your aggravation. I myself applied to medicine and receiving a place I seriously contemplated whether that is what I wanted because there were other things I found also interesting. The way I dealt with myself was that I asked myself what else I wanted to do and why I wanted to do it. I asked myself is this realistic or some craze I had gotten on my mind and would regret giving up my place. I asked why did I apply in the first place was it peer pressure or because I was genuinely interested and that's where my passion was at the time. I spent a long time thinking about this and decided that medicine was indeed the right choice for me and i can honestly say i dont regret my decision.

One thing you must bare in mind is that most jobs nowadays require degrees. So if you give up your place will you be putting your future on the line.

Regarding your past application: don't be bound by your past. Ok you applied and went through all the hassle but that's not a reason to continue. There may be many reasons to go but that isnt one of them.

Albeit not all of the above applied to me but this is some of the advice i offer to people in your situation.

Also you havent actually told us what you would do instead. Remember the most important thing in life is to be happy so make sure you will enjoy what you chose.

Gluck

[LewisS911]

(Original post by JTeighty)
I understand your aggravation. I myself applied to medicine and receiving a place I seriously contemplated whether that is what I wanted because there were other things I found also interesting. The way I dealt with myself was that I asked myself what else I wanted to do and why I wanted to do it. I asked myself is this realistic or some craze I had gotten on my mind and would regret giving up my place. I asked why did I apply in the first place was it peer pressure or because I was genuinely interested and that's where my passion was at the time. I spent a long time thinking about this and decided that medicine was indeed the right choice for me and i can honestly say i dont regret my decision.

One thing you must bare in mind is that most jobs nowadays require degrees. So if you give up your place will you be putting your future on the line.

Regarding your past application: don't be bound by your past. Ok you applied and went through all the hassle but that's not a reason to continue. There may be many reasons to go but that isnt one of them.

Albeit not all of the above applied to me but this is some of the advice i offer to people in your situation.

Also you havent actually told us what you would do instead. Remember the most important thing in life is to be happy so make sure you will enjoy what you chose.

Gluck

Well I've always been fascinated by game design / programming and It is still something I would really love to go into. I was initially going into it but then i heard it is very competitive to get into, but I think to myself if it's really what I want to do I should go for it no matter how competitive. But i'm not sure because , as you said by 'putting my future on the line', I feel like I won't get anywhere without going to University.

[TheSownRose]

(Original post by LewisS911)
Hi there, I've recently just finished my A-levels so am now in the long summer waiting for my results. But i've been thinking over the last few weeks, I'm really not 100% sure about if I want to go to university anymore and I feel a bit stuck because I've gone through all the effort of applying and everything.

I've applied to do MSci Biological Sciences at Birmingham University and I am predicted A*AA At A-level.

Not only that, but i've been contemplating a completley different career path aswell.

Am I throwing away a huge opportunity here? What should I do?

P.S. Ignore my sig it's old.

A lot of people feel this way - it's like cold feet. It's suddenly very near and feels very real, and that can be scary and make you question what you want to do. Also, the idea that you may miss often leads people to try and convince themselves they don't really want it so the pain isn't as bad. The difficulty is figuring if it's real doubt or fear doubt...

You don't have to rush to do anything. Even if you meet your offer, there is no obligation on you to go there or to university at all this year. So don't feel pressured to do anything right now. See how you feel when you actually get your results - you may feel completely different; if you feel really glad you've met your offer or really sad that you haven't, you were probably on the right path. If you still feel apprehensive about it all, you should start considering if you want to do it.

Try and separate your feelings about the course from your feelings about going to university. It's perfectly normal to feel scared about going to university - it's a big change. People feel nervous when they go and, in a good number of cases, don't settle in properly for a while. A lot of universities have a grace period where you don't get charged fees and it's easier to get out of accommodation, so if the feelings are purely about university rather than the course, find our your university's policy and if you don't wind up with much to lose, go and try it. Most people find that the nervousness goes relatively quickly, but if it doesn't you perhaps weren't ready.

If you do decide to not go to Birmingham, don't see it as throwing away an opportunity, see it as pursuing a different one. I rejected LSE to do a completely different course; it comes up relatively frequently on TSR, but in my real life it hardly comes up at all - people mentioned for the first few months, now it's faded. I didn't go there, there's no point in discussing it. What's the different career path? Have you done any work experience for it? This may help you to clear up your feelings about university as well.

[JTeighty]

(Original post by LewisS911)
Well I've always been fascinated by game design / programming and It is still something I would really love to go into. I was initially going into it but then i heard it is very competitive to get into, but I think to myself if it's really what I want to do I should go for it no matter how competitive. But i'm not sure because , as you said by 'putting my future on the line', I feel like I won't get anywhere without going to University.

Firstly, I want to point out that you are fortunate that you have something you are keen on. That's something that is very important.
secondly, I don't know much about game design and programming so I cant advise you too much on that. To my knowledge you need a lot of experience and history in the field to get in to the good companies. You say it is very competitive to get into it but what is 'it'. Are there uni courses for it or is it a diploma offered by another college?

Assuming that this is your hesitation for going to uni, you must ask yourself if there is anyway to do this in your spare time as a hobby or does it need to be full time.

Also you say you applied to Birmingham for Biosciences, does that mean you have a place? Also remember that in uni there are many clubs and societies and it may be helpful to find out if Birmingham have a club for game design. If they do then by joining the society and getting involved you'll come out of uni with a degree so you wont be ruining your chances and youll have experience to go into gaming afterwards..

[LewisS911]

(Original post by TheSownRose)
A lot of people feel this way - it's like cold feet. It's suddenly very near and feels very real, and that can be scary and make you question what you want to do. Also, the idea that you may miss often leads people to try and convince themselves they don't really want it so the pain isn't as bad. The difficulty is figuring if it's real doubt or fear doubt...

You don't have to rush to do anything. Even if you meet your offer, there is no obligation on you to go there or to university at all this year. So don't feel pressured to do anything right now. See how you feel when you actually get your results - you may feel completely different; if you feel really glad you've met your offer or really sad that you haven't, you were probably on the right path. If you still feel apprehensive about it all, you should start considering if you want to do it.

Try and separate your feelings about the course from your feelings about going to university. It's perfectly normal to feel scared about going to university - it's a big change. People feel nervous when they go and, in a good number of cases, don't settle in properly for a while. A lot of universities have a grace period where you don't get charged fees and it's easier to get out of accommodation, so if the feelings are purely about university rather than the course, find our your university's policy and if you don't wind up with much to lose, go and try it. Most people find that the nervousness goes relatively quickly, but if it doesn't you perhaps weren't ready.

If you do decide to not go to Birmingham, don't see it as throwing away an opportunity, see it as pursuing a different one. I rejected LSE to do a completely different course; it comes up relatively frequently on TSR, but in my real life it hardly comes up at all - people mentioned for the first few months, now it's faded. I didn't go there, there's no point in discussing it. What's the different career path? Have you done any work experience for it? This may help you to clear up your feelings about university as well.

Something in game design or game software developing etc. The closest thing I've had to experience is an AS in Computing, I dropped it for A2 because I thought I wanted to go down the science route.

[sophieleannexo]

(Original post by LewisS911)
Hi there, I've recently just finished my A-levels so am now in the long summer waiting for my results. But i've been thinking over the last few weeks, I'm really not 100% sure about if I want to go to university anymore and I feel a bit stuck because I've gone through all the effort of applying and everything.

I've applied to do MSci Biological Sciences at Birmingham University and I am predicted A*AA At A-level.

Not only that, but i've been contemplating a completley different career path aswell.

Am I throwing away a huge opportunity here? What should I do?

P.S. Ignore my sig it's old.

I was in the same boat as you, I applied to go to Northumbria to do Media, Culture and Society and was dead set on going. I had a backup plan just incase I didn't get the grades I needed, which was going to college. I then started to prefer college after thinking a lot about it and now have a place at college. I withdrew my application for university and couldn't be happier. Gives me more time to think about what career path I want to pursue and allows me more time to get work experience. Don't see applying for uni as a waste of time, I felt that way and then realised it will make the process easier when I come to apply again! Dont worry, just sit and think it though.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

Sophie.

[LewisS911]

(Original post by JTeighty)
Firstly, I want to point out that you are fortunate that you have something you are keen on. That's something that is very important.
secondly, I don't know much about game design and programming so I cant advise you too much on that. To my knowledge you need a lot of experience and history in the field to get in to the good companies. You say it is very competitive to get into it but what is 'it'. Are there uni courses for it or is it a diploma offered by another college?

Assuming that this is your hesitation for going to uni, you must ask yourself if there is anyway to do this in your spare time as a hobby or does it need to be full time.

Also you say you applied to Birmingham for Biosciences, does that mean you have a place? Also remember that in uni there are many clubs and societies and it may be helpful to find out if Birmingham have a club for game design. If they do then by joining the society and getting involved you'll come out of uni with a degree so you wont be ruining your chances and youll have experience to go into gaming afterwards..

There are uni courses for it yes, of which I was going to apply before changing my mind. Perhaps, if having a degree is pretty important, I could maybe apply to the different course at a different uni? but then wouldn't that mean I would have to wait a year? What would I do in my gap year?

[LewisS911]

By the way, a huge thanks to all of you, you've all been so helpful

[TheSownRose]

(Original post by LewisS911)
There are uni courses for it yes, of which I was going to apply before changing my mind. Perhaps, if having a degree is pretty important, I could maybe apply to the different course at a different uni? but then wouldn't that mean I would have to wait a year? What would I do in my gap year?

Possibly. Alternatively, you could try to use Clearing. Because you have a firm (and insurance?) you'd have to either miss it or get them to release you. The complication is you don't seem sure about what you want to do, and you shouldn't get released until you're 100% sure you don't want to go to Birmingham - it's quite easy to get released, it's difficult if not impossible to get back in if you then change your mind. If you do feel certain before August 9th, get them to reject you now so you can go straight to Clearing. If you feel certain after your results, ask them to release you but be warned that it may take a bit of time because you wouldn't necessarily be their priority on results day. If you don't feel certain, don't do anything.

If you did take a gap year, there are lots of things you could do. You're possibly going to try and get into a competitive field, so getting some relevant work experience would seem beneficial. Failing that, try getting any work so you can accrue some money for university, or if you already have money travel and see other places.


On another note, I have a friend who did games design. He kept on going on about a university somewhere in the west of England as being really good - I'm fairly certain it was Staffordshire or Derbyshire, but don't hold me to it. But have a look into good universities for games design.

[JTeighty]

(Original post by LewisS911)
There are uni courses for it yes, of which I was going to apply before changing my mind. Perhaps, if having a degree is pretty important, I could maybe apply to the different course at a different uni? but then wouldn't that mean I would have to wait a year? What would I do in my gap year?

To reapply can be risky. You would lose your current place and yes youd have to wait another year. Don't do it unless you are sure on your decision and you have something in mind for your gap year. You dont want to waste the gap year as it can do more harm than good. Do Birmingham offer a course? If so perhaps you can ask them to change your course-my brother did that in UCL (you wouldnt have to reapply).

Even if you cant change still look into if brimingham have a society like that as it'll def help you to get into the field afterwards..

[Y333EEE]

(Original post by LewisS911)
Hi there, I've recently just finished my A-levels so am now in the long summer waiting for my results. But i've been thinking over the last few weeks, I'm really not 100% sure about if I want to go to university anymore and I feel a bit stuck because I've gone through all the effort of applying and everything.

I've applied to do MSci Biological Sciences at Birmingham University and I am predicted A*AA At A-level.

Not only that, but i've been contemplating a completley different career path aswell.

Am I throwing away a huge opportunity here? What should I do?

P.S. Ignore my sig it's old.

Yeah, i'm in the same boat. I can't decide whether i want to go uni or not so i've decided to take a gap year next year to help me decide. I'd say ring up the uni and see if you can defer for a year which will give you time to decide what you really want to do.

[LewisS911]

I think i'll just take the summer to think about it, I'll see how I feel around results time.

Thank you all so much for your help