21 and want to go back to university. (Environmental Studies)

Hi,

I am 21 years old and am currently working full time. I attempted to go to university when i was 18, but personal issues, as well as hatred of the course, got in the way, and i left.

Now I have my life back on track, I have been doing a couple of A Levels - the ones I originally should have done - with the NEC, and take the exams January and June each year. (A Level Environmental Studies and A Level Geography).

I really want to return to university. I have checked with student finance, and I am still eligible for funding. The course i want to do is Environmental Science (4 year sandwich). (F901)

What i want to know is if there is anything anyone can suggest i could do to enhance my chances, and which i can put on the personal statement.

Also, What other universities have good reputations for the course. UEA is the leader with research, asking for AAB. I don't have the skills for any high up university (Oxford, Cambridge), but then, is this course considered by these colleges. :confused:

Sorry for rambling. I'm thinking of questions as i write.

Anyway, thanks for listening (or reading)

JJ :smile:

Reply 1

Jez RR

How have you changed in just 3 years? What did you hate so much about the first course? What if you decide you hate this course too? How did you get your life back on track? What do you expect to get out of this course? What skills and attributes do you think would be useful to possess on it? What interests you about it?

All these questions I would try and pre-empt to a greater or lesser degree in the personal statement. If there is an obvious question which you don't address, they will wonder why.

At 21 you're barely a mature student anyway so don't worry about somehow being too old. Just try to demonstrate how you have learned from the mistakes or bad decisions you made previously.

UEA's a good place. And it counts, in some schools, as being a leader in its field.

Reply 2

ENNGUF

JayJay89

I am 21 years old and am currently working full time. I attempted to go to university when i was 18, but personal issues, as well as hatred of the course, got in the way, and i left.

Now I have my life back on track, I have been doing a couple of A Levels - the ones I originally should have done - with the NEC, and take the exams January and June each year. (A Level Environmental Studies and A Level Geography).

I really want to return to university. I have checked with student finance, and I am still eligible for funding. The course i want to do is Environmental Science (4 year sandwich). (F901)

What i want to know is if there is anything anyone can suggest i could do to enhance my chances, and which i can put on the personal statement.

Also, What other universities have good reputations for the course. UEA is the leader with research, asking for AAB. I don't have the skills for any high up university (Oxford, Cambridge), but then, is this course considered by these colleges. :confused:

I'd use UCAS's course search to see where your course is offered. Is this any use?

Personal Statement is a selling point, there are no definite points you need to mention to check off. Just keep it course related and say why you think you'd be good for that particular course etc. There are general guide books for Personal Statements you buy if you need extra help or a bit of guidance.

Make sure you've researched into this course and that it is the right course for you. Same goes for the universities, only apply to the ones you the course they're offering, the ones you could see yourself happy studying at and the ones where their entry requirements match what is realistically achievable for yourself. And no, Oxford and Cambridge don't appear to offer Environmental Studies as a course.

Good Luck. :smile:

EDIT: Tom's answer is miles better. :sad:

Reply 3

0404343m

How close do you have to stay to home? Because if you look a little further afield, there are good universities out there that look for less than AAB for courses that are fairly similar to what you want to do. I would recommend wholeheartedly looking at Scotland. Yes, the education can take a year longer, but the fees are lower, they only charge you for the same as you could do the degree in England and the lower entry point means generous (apart from Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews) entry requirements and flexible degrees that allow you to pick and drop modules for the first two years. Look at Aberdeen, Strathclyde, Stirling or Dundee University- I've no idea how close they come to your course, but are good universities- certainly around UEA's level on the whole, for much less in the way of entry req.

Reply 4

Tom

Environmental Science (/Studies/Consultancy/etc) is fairly new as a mainstream option to so won't find it offered at places like Oxbridge, no.

From my experience, I'd suggest that looking for a course that includes a work placement option (as a module, for example) can be a really good idea. Helps get a feel for whether the area you're specialising in actually leads to enjoyable work in the real world, and it's easier to arrange a work placement with uni support than find an internship on your own.

As for your PS: if you've been working for a while then you're going to have a fair bit in the way of transferrable skills and evidence that you know how to manage your time etc already, I would think. So I would focus on the enthusiasm-for-the-course side of things if you're looking for an area to bolster. At the bare minimum, I would suggest reading some papers, articles etc in the area you're interested in so you have a specialism (even if it's a bit tentative at this stage) that you can discuss in the PS and perhaps an interview. If you're interested in anything ecology-related then there's also quite a lot of scope to get some volunteering in over the summer, for instance on wildlife monitoring projects or similar.

edit: and TSR runs a free PS-review service (which I help administer) once you have a draft done, if you'd like some feedback. Details here. Lots of general PS-writing advice here.