Advice for mature student

Hi everyone! I am new here and am hoping for some advice. I have applied as a mature student to Aberystwyth Uni ( I will be 26 when I start), I have also applied to do the scholarship exam. I have applied to study business and management and I have also put film and TV down, as this has always been a big hobby of mine.

Since leaving school, I have ran two of my own businesses, and now feel I am ready to go back into education. I am wondering what people think my chances are as a mature student of getting in? As I have said i am new to all of this and any advice would be gratefully received!

Thanks in advance!

Reply 1

josh_v

So have you applied for two courses which are completely different at the same uni?

How did you write your personal statement to cover this? What qualifications do you have?

Reply 2

holywell_matt

Yeah I have, I wrote about how it had always been a big hobby of mine and the things I had done which involved the subject e.g. being involved in an amateur drama group.
My highest qualification is B in AVCE business studies. However when I attended the open day at Aber back in October -I spoke to someone from the department and the way they put it across to me was that I shouldn't be too worried about my grades - they would look more at experience as I am a mature student?.

Reply 3

k8k

Original post by holywell_matt

However when I attended the open day at Aber back in October -I spoke to someone from the department and the way they put it across to me was that I shouldn't be too worried about my grades - they would look more at experience as I am a mature student?.

By the sounds of it, you have answered your own question if the uni said that your life experience count for more than exams.

This year particularly I think that lots of mature students (along with every other applicant) are worried about competition for places before the fees go up but that doesn't mean your application won't be successful if you have got the skills that they want.

Can you ask for sample q's or papers for the exam? It would be good to be able to prepare as much as possible before hand.

Good luck!

Reply 4

bowiewhist

I'm new here too. I am considering applying for a course in 2013. Given that the mature population will need to work for longer I am interested in changing my career which has always been in business to drama. I'll be 50 soon so it is a chance for a turning point to do something creative for the next 15 to 20 years.
Do the Universities offering drama consider mature students (truly mature!)? I have A levels but taken such a long time ago they are not a reflection of my achievements - I have had a play published and achieved some successes in amateur theatre.
What should my approach to this be? I was inspired to read that the actor who appeared in Only Fools And Horses as Del's Uncle was originally a bank manager and got into acting very late in life...so it seems it can be done. I'm not worried about getting work of that nature - I realise something that high-profile and well paid is highly competitive - but it would be an achievement to get some regular work based on having been stretched by a good course and some inspiring tutors.

Reply 5

Jez RR

Original post by bowiewhist

I don't know specifically for drama, but many universities are happy to get applications from significantly older people than the standard demographic - extra-mature students, maybe. They bring a completely different perspective and experience to a class.

I'm not sure how it would work with regard to your existing qualifications. Normally universities want evidence of recent academic study, but this varies considerably. Given that 'mature' now means 21 or over, a commonly quoted figure is something within the last 3 years. But that's not set in stone - I was offered a place having done nothing academic for 9 years, mainly on the strength of my work experience. There are Access courses, BTECs, foundation degrees and suchlike designed for people returning to education, but you may not need one; you'd have to talk to the admissions people directly.

In that regard, the fact that you have had a play published will stand you in good stead. I don't know how flexible you are with regard to location, but look carefully at different universities' reputations within the field, and who the tutors are. No degree is a guarantee of employment these days, but you want to make sure you are going to be inspired by the experience, at the very least.

Don't worry about the age issue, I would say. On my Life Writing MA module at UEA most of my classmates were late 50s, early 60s - in contrast to the Development modules, who were mostly 20-somethings (although we did have one ex-army General).

Advice for mature student

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you