Applying as an individual even though studying in college?

You need a reference from your college..and also it helps if you apply through, they can help you with your application.

Hello everyone,

First of all I'd like to say 'hi' to everyone on here and that I am new on here so please be understanding. Thank you

I'll start with a brief description of my circumstances and then get to the point. Basically, I'm in my last year of my A-levels. I am doing Maths, Physics and Spanish (although this doesn't seem to be relevant in this case, I'm pretty sure). From the start I didn't want to go uni in September 2014 as I was thinking of taking a gap year or maybe even do something completely different instead. Anyway, no matter what the other options were, the circumstances have changed and now I am thinking of applying to uni. And yes, I do realise it's already past the deadline of 15th January, however I still want to apply as I have heard of many successful applications submitted after this deadline in the previous years.

I have been assigned to a non-UCAS tutor group in my college because I made it clear that I do not want to go uni. Now, as I started considering uni as an option, it seems a bit late to let my college know that I have changed my mind.

This means that I seem to have two options. One of them is to actually do tell my tutor that the circumstances have changed and do it through college and the other one is to apply as an individual and do it all without getting the college involved at all. I wouldn't mind letting the college know, however I would prefer to avoid it and for that reason I would like to learn more about the second option.

Now my question is: how is applying as an individual different to when applying through college? Also wouldn't that look weird to the universities that I am applying as an individual rather than through college? Basically, any thoughts about this way of applying and whether in my circumstances it would be acceptable to do it like this?

Thank you very much in advance

Dom

The universities will regard it as curious that you are not applying through your school and they will certainly wonder why you aren't using your teachers as referees and what you are hiding.

Yeah I thought this might be the case. So do people not really tend to apply as individuals at all then? Could I not apply as an individual yet still get the reference from my teachers or tutors? It's just to save the hassle in college really as I really don't necessarily want to join a UCAS tutor group now when they've done so much already and I have had bad experiences with schools understanding my specific circumstances and I really don't want to be going through all the 'why didn't you do it in the first place?' or 'I did tell you to apply just in case back in September' because they just don't seem to understand certain things.

So does that mean that basically it would look very silly if I was to apply as an individual if I am actually in college? It's just that I guess it'd look very weird if I told college that I've changed my plans after already having two talks back in September/October about why I don't want to go uni.

People do apply as individuals but that's because they have left school and don't have the backing of their teachers. Your teachers won't give you a reference and leave you to do it on your own. You should not put your application at risk because you don't want to talk to your teachers. Speak to them like adults and they will return the favour.

Thank you very much for your help. I will go and speak to my tutor tomorrow and will tell her about how the circumstances have changed and I hope we'll get it sorted. It's just because I really wasn't planning on going uni and that's why I really had no clue about how the application process even works etc. Once again thank you.

Alot of people change their minds, it is okay,

Thank you for your contribution too. I know they do, but they usually do it before the deadline and college seemed to have made a REALLY big deal about the 15th January deadline and it is only just past it now and I thought that they won't only be annoyed but actually might not offer much help. Thank you