Will it be hard to get into other unis next year after dropping out?

This year I went to a good uni- uni of Edinburgh but I hated my course. Love the place and my friends I made but my course made me miserable and I hated going into uni. So I’ve told the uni I’m leaving but I’m worried that my bad grades will look bad for when I apply to other unis next year for a completely different course.

At a level I got BBB and I have a merit in an art foundation course so I’m hoping that’s good enough. For uni modules I got a B, C and one fail. Haven’t had my grades back for this semester yet. But I think they’ll be similar, hopefully I’ll only have failed one module. I studied animation this year but want to study something fashion or film related at a different uni closer to home as Edinburgh was nice but 8 hours away from family. Anyway, will unis like UAL (CSM), Manchester Met, AUB, Kingston school of art be likely to reject me due to getting back grades at Edinburgh? I’m hoping to create a good portfolio as I got into all unis I applied to last year but I’m just a bit stressed. Thanks

Hi there,

I recently graduated from AUB after having a very similar experience to you and thought it might help if I share my journey.

I was studying English Literature at Goldsmiths (a very good course at a very good uni – and what I thought I was supposed to do after leaving school) and after my second year I realised I was completely miserable and something needed to change. I found AUB almost by accident and ended up enrolling to study Photography there. Taking a big U-turn from English Lit, I was worried I wouldn’t even be considered for the course and thought having ‘dropped out’ of another uni would look awful on my application. I can’t speak for all applicants, but my experience was actually the complete opposite of what I feared – my lecturers loved the fact that I was coming in with a unique perspective and some extra life-experience (and in your case, having a foundation course under your belt only adds to this). AUB is a bit of a melting pot, courses overlap and collaborate every day, so coming into a Fashion or Film course with a background in Animation won’t be unusual at all.

I learned that being able to identify when something isn’t working and then acting on it shows a lot of character. These days there’s much less stigma around leaving university and doing what’s best for your mental health and wellbeing. Not everyone is going to find their perfect course at the perfect university straight away and there’s always time to make a change.

If you’d like to talk some more about this, let me know and we can set up a meeting or a call – we also have an open day coming up on 1 July and can put you in touch with any course leaders you’d like to speak with.

Hope this helps,
Harry – AUB

Hello,

thank you for such a detailed reply! Its reassuring to know that you’ve had a similar situation

I would really like to be put into contact with the performance design and theatre costume team at AUB if possible! I found the course recently and think it would be a good fit.

I would also like to add- I have failed 2 modules (1 core and 1 elective) at my previous uni so im worried that would affect my application. I passed the other 4 (2 core, 2 elective modules). I did not complete the resits as I filled out a voluntary form to leave the uni just before the resits.

Would this be an issue with AUB?

thanks