[aalex]

I'm thinking of applying to 5 risky universities: Oxford, LSE, UCL, Warwick and Nottingham. The problem is that I'm not doing A-levels, and it will be harder for me to meet the conditions put by these universities if I receive an offer. For example at LSE I'll need to sit the Entrance Exam, UCL ask for ridiculously high grades in my exams etc. My point is that there is a chance of me not being accepted by any of these universities, and I should have a back-up plan. I could apply to only 4 risky universities and 1 insurance (like Exeter, Essex, Liverpool, RHUL - universities that aren't that competitive and ask for decent grades in my exams). But, after seeing THIS THREAD, I started asking myself: wouldn't it be better for me to apply to these 5 risky universities, and if something goes wrong and I end up with no offers I could apply through Extra to the insurance I was thinking to apply to if I decided to go 4 risky + 1 safe?

[MisanthropicLemon]

Fair question but personally I would not particularly want the stress of having zero offers and applying one by one to further universities. I went for two safe ones which I would change to one if I applied again. Remember Warwick will take a millennia to reply so you'll be left with only a couple of months for Extra, during which time you'll be bogged down with Student Finance and exams and all sorts. Not worth it in my opinion. Also there's no guarantee as to what will be in Extra next year. What may happen is universities didn't fill all their places this year because of the rise in tuition fees, and so they could contract the number of places available for 2013, you can't predict what's going to happen.

So, for the purposes of sanity I'd probably just include one safer option. Oxbridge itself is a nightmare, if I had to do Extra as well I'd have gone insane. That's just my opinion but I'm not you, if you don't want to go to one of the universities in Extra then just apply to your chosen five, especially if you don't mind taking a gap year.

All the best.

[TenOfThem]

(Original post by aalex)
I could apply through Extra to the insurance I was thinking to apply to if I decided to go 4 risky + 1 safe?

What if none of the places that you list as possible insurance choices are in Extra

You realise that only universities that have not had enough applicants will be in Extra?

[hannah60000]

Depends on the course and university I saw in someone sig they got a place in KCL for Chemistry with biochemistry (or something along the lines) in UCAS Extra. It really depends we all have to be realistic maybe 3 to 2 risky:insurance

[tooambitious]

Looks like it could be worth a shot, ll these universities/ courses were in extra on the 3rd June (from another thread - was this the thread you were talking about?):
Just an update for anyone thinking about going through clearing, here are some good courses which are still in extra, and I assume could be in clearing:

Bath
Economics and Politics

Birmingham
All Economics courses

Durham
All Economics courses

Edinburgh
Economics
Arabic and Economics
Economic History
Economic and social history

Exeter
A lot of Economics courses

Manchester
A ton of Economics courses

Newcastle
Economics and Maths
Politics and Economics

SOAS
All econ courses

Soton
A lot of economics courses

York
All econ courses

[carnationlilyrose]

Ucas Extra is an opt-out system, not an opt-in one, and the lists are extremely inaccurate simply because the universities haven't told Ucas to remove them. Anyone wanting to apply for an Extra course must first contact the university to check that the course really exists.

[aalex]

(Original post by TenOfThem)
What if none of the places that you list as possible insurance choices are in Extra

You realise that only universities that have not had enough applicants will be in Extra?

After looking here, you can see that universities like Bath and Edinburgh were in Extra. I'm sure the likes of Liverpool and Essex were/are/will be too.

(Original post by tooambitious)
Looks like it could be worth a shot, ll these universities/ courses were in extra on the 3rd June (from another thread - was this the thread you were talking about?):
Just an update for anyone thinking about going through clearing, here are some good courses which are still in extra, and I assume could be in clearing:

Right, that's the thread I'm talking about. I copy-pasted the content of the thread in the Economics forum and lost the link here.

(Original post by carnationlilyrose)
Ucas Extra is an opt-out system, not an opt-in one, and the lists are extremely inaccurate simply because the universities haven't told Ucas to remove them. Anyone wanting to apply for an Extra course must first contact the university to check that the course really exists.

Ok, but simply the fact that they were in Extra at the beginning (when we can't say they haven't told UCAS to remove them), means that there weren't enough strong candidates for that course, and you can apply for it. Also some of those universities are in Clearing too, and I think they would have told UCAS to remove them if all the places were occupied in Extra. Why wouldn't I apply through Extra at one of my insurances (the likes of Liverpool, Essex, RHUL)? They are very likely to be in Clearing too, not just in Extra. I don't think my chances of getting an offer are significantly lower than if I would have applied normally, with these universities being in my 5 choices.

[carnationlilyrose]

(Original post by aalex)
After looking here, you can see that universities like Bath and Edinburgh were in Extra. I'm sure the likes of Liverpool and Essex were/are/will be too.



Right, that's the thread I'm talking about. I copy-pasted the content of the thread in the Economics forum and lost the link here.



Ok, but simply the fact that they were in Extra at the beginning (when we can't say they haven't told UCAS to remove them), means that there weren't enough strong candidates for that course, and you can apply for it. Also some of those universities are in Clearing too, and I think they would have told UCAS to remove them if all the places were occupied in Extra. Why wouldn't I apply through Extra at one of my insurances (the likes of Liverpool, Essex, RHUL)? They are very likely to be in Clearing too, not just in Extra. I don't think my chances of getting an offer are significantly lower than if I would have applied normally, with these universities being in my 5 choices.

All the courses were in Extra to begin with because that's the default setting. Universities have to tell Ucas to take them OUT of Extra, and a lot of them don't bother. I don't have any opinion on the likelihood or not of your getting a place. I'm pointing out that the places are very likely to be non-existent and to check before you apply.

[TenOfThem]

(Original post by aalex)
After looking here, you can see that universities like Bath and Edinburgh were in Extra. I'm sure the likes of Liverpool and Essex were/are/will be too.

Sigh

(Original post by carnationlilyrose)
All the courses were in Extra to begin with because that's the default setting. Universities have to tell Ucas to take them OUT of Extra, and a lot of them don't bother. I don't have any opinion on the likelihood or not of your getting a place. I'm pointing out that the places are very likely to be non-existent and to check before you apply.

This ^^^

They all start with open courses before they have any applications and have to let UCAS know that they are Closed

[Flip1]

"Oxford, LSE, UCL, Warwick and Nottingham"

The first four are certainly all risky. Ideally, you should have 2 risky ones, 2 reasonable ones and 1 safety .

[aalex]

(Original post by Flip1)
"Oxford, LSE, UCL, Warwick and Nottingham"

The first four are certainly all risky. Ideally, you should have 2 risky ones, 2 reasonable ones and 1 safety .

Read the thread, please. Thank you for bumping it though.