[Chiseph]

Hi Guys,

Okay, so this isn't as crazy as it sounds, but it's a problem I've been thinking about.

I'm in Year 12 and not only an international student, but also a non-EU citizen, which means that the costs of going to uni in Britain are incredibly high for me. Around this time last year I was set on going to study either in Vienna or in Belgium, because I don't find Britain that amazing (boarding school for 6 years here), the tuition costs amount to very little in comparison, and I could go home more often (Vienna is about 3hrs by train away).

I've decided to go for Oxbridge because of my teachers' encouragement, and Oxford has the course I want to do. The idea of it is exciting, because I mainly just want to be able to through myself as far as I possibly can into what I want to do, and Oxford seems to be the perfect place to force me to take on everything that I should in order to achieve what I want.

The thing is, I don't want to get my hopes up about that place, because I doubt that I'll get in, and even if it's worth the tuition fees, that doesn't mean that I would be able to afford them. Oh, and trust me, I wouldn't be able to get a scholarship. Plus, my brother got accepted into St Andrews a few years back, but then spent two years at home getting his applications for a student visa denied for absurd reasons.

So my dilemma is this: should I apply for 5 universities so that I don't focus only on Oxford (and I know this sounds weird, but I wouldn't want others to know that I'd be applying only to Oxford), should I just apply to Oxford so I don't end up wasting huge amounts of money on a university that's probably at the same level as a few others in Europe, or should I not apply to a university in Britain at all and save myself the trouble?

Please help, and thank you so much!

[ROBBY7896]

(Original post by Chiseph)
Hi Guys,

Okay, so this isn't as crazy as it sounds, but it's a problem I've been thinking about.

I'm in Year 12 and not only an international student, but also a non-EU citizen, which means that the costs of going to uni in Britain are incredibly high for me. Around this time last year I was set on going to study either in Vienna or in Belgium, because I don't find Britain that amazing (boarding school for 6 years here), the tuition costs amount to very little in comparison, and I could go home more often (Vienna is about 3hrs by train away).

I've decided to go for Oxbridge because of my teachers' encouragement, and Oxford has the course I want to do. The idea of it is exciting, because I mainly just want to be able to through myself as far as I possibly can into what I want to do, and Oxford seems to be the perfect place to force me to take on everything that I should in order to achieve what I want.

The thing is, I don't want to get my hopes up about that place, because I doubt that I'll get in, and even if it's worth the tuition fees, that doesn't mean that I would be able to afford them. Oh, and trust me, I wouldn't be able to get a scholarship. Plus, my brother got accepted into St Andrews a few years back, but then spent two years at home getting his applications for a student visa denied for absurd reasons.

So my dilemma is this: should I apply for 5 universities so that I don't focus only on Oxford (and I know this sounds weird, but I wouldn't want others to know that I'd be applying only to Oxford), should I just apply to Oxford so I don't end up wasting huge amounts of money on a university that's probably at the same level as a few others in Europe, or should I not apply to a university in Britain at all and save myself the trouble?

Please help, and thank you so much!

You might as well apply to Oxford and 4 other universities. Even if at the moment you think you probably won't want to go to uni in the UK, you might change your mind. If you don't, then you can always just turn down all the offers you get and go to uni somewhere else. I don't see what you lose by applying, apart from the half an hour filling out forms...

[Renacata]

I assume you'd be applying to other universities in Europe too? There's nothing wrong with only applying to Oxford, and it means you could tailor your PS to Oxford's course (although without mentioning Oxford itself). It's worth making sure you'll be able to afford it before you apply, though - no point doing days of interviews and exams if you wouldn't be able to go in any case (unless you fancy the challenge, of course).

Don't go to Oxford just because your teachers say you should, though - if there's somewhere else in Europe you'd rather be, then apply there!

Your referee would know where you've applied to, as would any admin staff dealing with UCAS at your school, but you wouldn't have to tell anyone else

[Chiseph]

Thank you for the advice, though I'm pretty sure that I'll probably flip a coin or something on the day I guess I don't want to pick a university that I 'might' like, realise that I really want to go there, but then not be able to even after a whole load of effort.

Also, I think I just want to get through to the Oxford interview so I get to release the true nerd within me.... :P

[Aeschylus]

Not the first person I know who's done this. Don't personally recommend it but it's your decision.

[SneakyDoug]

If I was you I would apply to Oxford and maybe a couple others in the UK and then the ones in Belgium and Austria aswell. It seems pointless to only apply to one when you can apply to more. Also you could still focus on Oxford whilst applying to other unis.

[laurie93]

STUPID

[Tsunami2011]

The only benefit is that you can tailor your personal statement to Oxford. The personal statement has limited importance in regards to who is given a place, so don't really see any real point of applying to only Oxford unless you truly aren't interested in any other UK university.

[Juno]

Apply to Oxford. Then you have up to January 15th to add other unis if you wish - and you might have heard from Oxford by then to help the decision. If you do this the other unis will have no way of knowing you applied to Oxford so you won't need to worry about that, and you can have more time to make your mind up.

[Chiseph]

(Original post by laurie93)
STUPID

It's nice of you to that you have an opinion, but how is it stupid? I know people who are only going to apply to 5 universities, whereas I'm probably going to end up applying to at least 7 - and I can keep every offer I get from an EU uni open until I decline. Plus, even if I only end up going to a mediocre university, I'll still probably pay only €800 or thereabouts as the yearly tuition fee.

I'm wondering whether there's any point applying to ridiculously expensive universities....

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App

[Chiseph]

(Original post by Juno)
Apply to Oxford. Then you have up to January 15th to add other unis if you wish - and you might have heard from Oxford by then to help the decision. If you do this the other unis will have no way of knowing you applied to Oxford so you won't need to worry about that, and you can have more time to make your mind up.

And thank you - I didn't know that that was possible, but it definitely sounds like the best option


This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my Galaxy Nexus

[Juno]

(Original post by Chiseph)
And thank you - I didn't know that that was possible, but it definitely sounds like the best option


This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my Galaxy Nexus

If you choose to do that you'll initially pay a reduced fee for applying to one uni, and then when you add the rest you pay an additional amount. You also need to make sure you either add the unis in Track or phone UCAS to do so - don't make a new application!

And assuming you add the rest of your choices by Jan 15th it's fine. You can add choices later but unis don't have to consider your application.