University of the Arts London

London

Doing a foundation year if it means starting uni at 20?

I'm currently deciding whether to do a foundation year in fine art at Leeds or to just apply and hope for the best? I'm already a year older that i should be (long story but basically didn't have enough gcses so had to retake) and i'm worried that everyone will be 18 and i'll be 20 and feel like a failure. My birthday is the end of august so only just 20 but still.. I just don't want to be the odd one out :frown:

Posting here because Camberwell is one of my dream places to to go to.

Reply 1

Raquel_G

Original post by sallyalice234

Posting here because Camberwell is one of my dream places to to go to.

You can always try applying to both things just in case you can't get directly in a BA. I don't think you would look like a failure if you are 20 and doing a foundation; in fact, I'm doing foundation right now and a lot of people in my class are 20/21.
If you want to go to Camberwell just try and, if I am not wrong, even if you have applied to a BA but they think you would fit in better in a foundation, they can offer you a place in one at one of the UAL campuses.
So just give it a go, you have nothing to lose :smile:

University of the Arts London

London

Thank you

I'm going to be starting my degree in September (maybe at Camberwell) and i'm 23! I think there will be a lot of older people on the course.

Reply 4

sallyalice234

Original post by Hannahprizeman

I'm going to be starting my degree in September (maybe at Camberwell) and i'm 23! I think there will be a lot of older people on the course.

Oh that's good to hear thank you :smile:

Kind of worried that I'll be inbetween the 18year olds and 'older people' though. Think doing the foundation year will be good for me, and even though i'll worry about the social side I'm an introvert anyway and i don't want to regret not doing an extra year.
Might as well spend as much time in education as i can haha

Reply 5

DeadEnd_96

Original post by sallyalice234

Posting here because Camberwell is one of my dream places to to go to.

Are you joking? Loads of people start uni in their 20's. Nobody will even notice you are 20 because there is hardly any difference between you and other 18 year olds. There will be a lot of people a lot older than you so don't worry. Why would you feel like a failure if you start at 20? :s-smilie:

Reply 6

sallyalice234

Original post by DeadEnd_96

This actually made me feel a lot better about it thank you

Yeah i didn't mean failure exactly.. it's mostly because I didn't get many GCSEs so had to do a Level 2 course before level 3, so I've got this thing about people wondering why i had to do level 2, like was i not clever enough to go straight into level 3? Tbh the teaching on level 2 was a lot better and I got a lot out of it, + loads of people are my age in my class but anyway... clearly i worry too much about what people think! I've definitely overthought this aha

Reply 7

germanyone1

Original post by sallyalice234

Don't worry, I'm like you I've overthought a lot of stuff aswell! I'm entering a science foundation year in September and I will be 20 on a foundation year so yeno. It's something I think should be done because we will be working till were 70 so might swell do it to get on a course you enjoy

Reply 8

Seanmhc

A lady I talk to on my course is in her 50s! I myself started my first year at 23, I do feel pretty far behind in terms of the people around me but when I look back to where I was in my life during the previous years I realise I've made a hell of a lot more progress than I give myself credit for. It's all about comparing yourself to where you were before, not to those around you. If you look at things with this perspective you'll feel much better about everything! Stay away from the world of work for as long as you can, it's definitely a trap! We're all odd ones out once we grow up.

Reply 9

sallyalice234

Original post by germanyone1

Yes good point! don't think i will regret staying in education as long as possible

Reply 10

sallyalice234

Original post by Seanmhc

Thank you for this! i need to remember to compare myself to my past self and not to other people so much

Reply 11

sophiefk

I found myself at a similar position as you and I decided to reject a place at a CSM foundation course because I didn't want to start uni later. How wrong was I, a career in the arts field isn't mean to be a marathon, it takes time to progress.