Applying late

i have had a year off uni because i didn't get the grades i needed last year, so i am applying again this year individually. i started the ucas application and left it to today to see the "reference" section. In here will will i be able to get the college i attended last year to do me a reference just as they did last time?. And if i do get a reference off them now will it be too late as its the 12th and the deadline is the 15th, will it take them a while to do the reference or will they be able to use the same one they did last year?

also if i cant get my application sent until next week will this mean that some of the university's that i have applied to wont bother looking at the application?

and since i got all my grades in august can i get a unconditional offer when applying late? as i read on the ucas site that university cannot give unconditional offers to people that apply late.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 1

khronos45

I'm in a similar position to you this year, all though it's because I wanted to withdraw from my university to go to my dream school.

First thing's first: yes, you can ask your college to reuse your old reference, but they do not have to do this for you - they have a right to refuse (all though I don't see why they would) as you are no longer a student. You need to phone or e-mail your college as soon as possible to ask whether or not they can do this for you - I would suggest first thing tomorrow morning, or tonight if they're open late. My college agreed to treat me as though I was still a student there, reusing my old reference in addition to checking over my application and submitting it on my behalf. Yours should do the same. This was all done in one day for me, but my application was in within days of UCAS opening. With a bit of luck and persuasion, you might just get your form in on time.

You have left it very late in the day, however. You certainly can still submit your application after the January 15th deadline, but your odds of getting a place will drop dramatically. You can apply until as late as June 30th - however, most admission guidelines dictate that offers will be made to late applicants only after offers have been made to those who submitted their applications on time. You may end up having to apply through UCAS Extra in February/March, when universities declare their remaining vacancies. You do have a slight advantage over other students in your grade range who also applied late or go through Extra, though, in that you all ready have your grades, assuming admissions tutors are satisfied with what you're doing in your gap year - it's much safer to make an offer to you than someone who is only predicted to get the same grades as you.

As for unconditional offers, as a gap year student with all of their grades, I imagine you should be exempt from that rule. No university can make you a conditional grade-based offer - usually gap year students get unconditional offers (all five of my offers this year were unconditionals), because the university is either accepting or rejecting you and your grades outright. If you were going into the application without your grades all ready known, then no, a university would almost certainly not be willing to make you an unconditional offer after the January 15th deadline.

Reply 2

smitysmit

thanks alot for the reply, but luckily my tutor from last year got my email from ucas ,did my reference and i sent my application today.

just have another question.
on my ucas application i put all my grades onto it, how will the university's know this is correct, do they check or will they invite me for an interview or something and ask for certificates?

i just realized i forgot to put my btec registration number on my application does anyone have any advice on what i should do about this?