How to choose 5 university options

Im applying to university this year but i have no idea what universities i want to go to. Ive been making a list but i dont know how to shorten it into just 5 for UCAS. What kind of things do i need to consider and how did you choose 5 universities?

Reply 1

mankypablo

I think the easiest to start is decide what you want to do at uni

then I guess you can do some research about some unis and decide whether their modules interest you
you can go to uni open days to find more about certain unis and see if you will like it there or not

Reply 2

swanseajack1

People treat things differently. The 2 key issues are course content and location. Check the courses and pick ones you really want to student. Look at the modules including optional modules and decide which ones are best for you. Have a look at the location of the universities. How far or near to home do you want to be. Do you want to be in a big or small city. How about whether you want to be based on an out of town campus university or in the hustle and bustle of a major city. Do things like sports or theatre matter to you. Check whether universities offer this. Ideally visit the ones you think you will like.

Reply 3

totallyfine

Make sure you factor in grade requirements. Maybe have one or two aspirational ones, at most. And also include one or two lower than predicted grades. This will help cover all eventualities on results day.

Reply 4

McGinger

How to Choose a University - https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/what-and-where-study/choosing-course/how-choose-between-undergraduate-courses-and-unis

How to Avoid 5 Rejections - read it all, but especially the section about grades and UCAS choices : https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/university/apply/how-to-avoid-getting-five-university-rejections

Reply 5

sleep_supremacy

Universities Forum Helper

Typically, you'd choose one uni a grade above your predicteds, two at the same level as your predicteds, and two a grade below your predcteds. This ensures you have a wide range of options to choose from to avoid 5 rejections. Of course, it varies from person to person, and course to course.

Reply 6

Ghostlady

Course and having unis with variable entry requirements. City v town v campus v seaside uni. What the department is like. 100% visit unis to get a feel for them

Reply 7

hallamstudents

Official Rep

Original post by heyidontknowwhat

Hey there @heyidontknowwhat !
The things I did to whittle my list down were as follows:
1- Look at the entry requirements
Check you've got a range of entry requirements on your shortlist to stand the best possible chance of getting into a university you love. For example my sixth form tutors always recommended to me to pick two high-offer universities, two middle-ground universities and then one safe university so that no matter what happened with my A Levels, I'd have a chance to get in.
2 - Look on the course website at the modules
This will let you know whether a course has got exactly what you're looking for. For example, my course is just called 'Media' but for me I hate the filming and recording side of it. I needed to know there'd be opportunities in my course to do things I enjoyed such as the industry stuff and the PR side of the industry. By checking the modules online, I was able to shorten my list down by listing the modules that interested me as opposed to the ones that didn't and shortened it down by getting rid of the courses that had more uninteresting ones than interesting ones.
3 - Get in touch with past students on the course
Find past students on the university's website and get in touch with them to ask them about the course. Keep your questions quite general as they might pick up on something and adjust their answer to what you want to hear.
4 - Go and visit the cities
A big thing for me is that I had to see myself living there. It was the biggest difference for me choosing between my firm and my insurance because I just didn't like the city of my firm choice or the campus so decided to switch. Once I went to visit my insurance choice city (Sheffield), I instantly fell in love with it and could see myself living here long term. Going to visit the city is one of the best things I've done.

Hope this helped! Let me know if you have any more questions...
Lucy - Digital Student Ambassador SHU

Reply 8

University of Bradford

Official Rep

Original post by heyidontknowwhat

Hey @heyidontknowwhat :smile:

How are you?

It's very exciting that you're applying to university this year!

When it comes to choosing the university you want to study at, the campus can be an important factor. Do you want to live close to home? Somewhere in the city? Campus-based university or a city university?

Think about the opportunities on offer at each university, the facilities, societies and sports club - where you can picture yourself enjoying your student life.

Have you attended any open days? I'd 100% recommend you attend some to get a feel for each university, and that way you can chat to current students and the academics who'll be teaching you, take tours of accommodation, the campus, facilities, ask any burning questions you have. If you take a look at each uni's website you should be able to find their open day info :smile:

Also take a look at the support on offer such as academic support, mental health support, careers services, etc.

You can take a look at the rankings, have a look at the university's social media and see a snippet into what student life is like there, have a look for student blogs and profiles and gain an insight into their personal experience. On this note, you can also chat to some current university students directly using unibuddy :smile: