Great post to read, keep us updated - I go to a university ranked similarly for physics (just finished year 1) and am really interested in how someone from a route siginificantly different to my own gets on. I must be honest, my initial knee-jerk reaction was one of intellectual snobberu, almost sneering, which I'm not proud of. However, on reflection I feel you show great motivation and dedication to get what you really want - some of the key tools for university life. I would be very interested to know how you get on.