Should I take a second gap year?

Hi all! Essentially, I took a gap year this year as I chose not to apply last year. I am resitting my A-Levels because of some mental health issues. I got rejected from my top choice university (Imperial) and a lot of other good universities because of my predicted grades (long story, I have regrets). I’m waiting to hear back from University of Bath so this is all hypothetical but I’m not sure if I should take another gap year and reapply again with my actual grades. I’ve been revising the whole year so I’m confident I can get A*A*A* but my mum told me to go to Bath and try and do a master at Imperial. Personally, I would prefer to take another year out but I’m worried it will seem odd - that would also mean that I’d be 20 turning 21 in my first year which makes me feel self conscious. Does anybody have any advice or can any Computing students from Bath help me make a decision?

Hi there,
It's always a gamble to take a gap year in the hopes of "trading up" universities. It's not guaranteed to work, and it it doesn't work, you'll feel like you've waisted a year. And for most degrees, the university you attended to doesn't really matter, what matters is your degree classification, so as long as you do well in your degree you should be alright. Note though that for any computer science degrees, experience is particularly highly valued so while at uni, it's also great to try to pick up experience, apply for apprenticeships, etc etc. So in my opinion, unless you think Bath isn't for you, it's best to take it.
However, taking another gap year wouldn't be the end of the world, so you can decide to go down this route too. You won't be out of place for being 20 and turning 21 in your first year. I am older than most people in my degree, and I'm friends with some even older students which are two or three years above my age. I promise you, nobody ever makes a big deal of this and in fact, nobody can ever tell we're older unless we specifically say it. No one will bat an eyelid

Thank you so much for the reply! Yeah, I think it’d be 10x more devastating taking another gap year and still not getting in 🥲 By experience, do you mean interning at companies?

Hi all! Essentially, I took a gap year this year as I chose not to apply last year. I am resitting my A-Levels because of some mental health issues. I got rejected from my top choice university (Imperial) and a lot of other good universities because of my predicted grades (long story, I have regrets). I’m waiting to hear back from University of Bath so this is all hypothetical but I’m not sure if I should take another gap year and reapply again with my actual grades. I’ve been revising the whole year so I’m confident I can get A*A*A* but my mum told me to go to Bath and try and do a master at Imperial. Personally, I would prefer to take another year out but I’m worried it will seem odd - that would also mean that I’d be 20 turning 21 in my first year which makes me feel self conscious. Does anybody have any advice or can any Computing students from Bath help me make a decision?

Hi there,
I am currently at the uni of bath and I actually switched courses! I started my new course at 21 and will be graduating at 25. I do feel old but trust me age is just a number at university as there is a wide range of ages. Although I am the oldest amongst my friends in my year, I feel no different. We are all studying the same thing and in same year so feels the same. I would say don't let your age stop you for living your dreams!
Some of my friends study computer science at Bath I could ask them

I would appreciate you asking them a lot, thank you for the offer! I’m from London and it’ll be my first time staying in a different city as is the case for many people. How do you feel about the university and city? ☺️