Interesting. It's Exeter that made the last-minute offer to me too! Perhaps they don't like mature students very much
. Their website states that their offer holders' days are in the spring, so that adds to the feeling that I'm just an afterthought to them. I discussed uni choices recently with my (Access) tutor and she was quite enthusiastic about Exeter, largely because they're a high-ranked uni. She believes that the important factor is the academic calibre of the department, and their levels of organisation and efficiency are minor considerations. I'm not sure I fully agree with that. My feeling is that I'd rather go to a uni that is sufficiently respectful of their applicants that they take the trouble to make a good impression upon them.
In addition to Exeter, I've got offers from UEA and Kent. I doubt I'll choose UEA - seemed great on paper, but I just didn't get a good feeling when I went to an Applicant Day there. Kent was the reverse. Considered not even going to an Applicant Day, but after making the effort, I really liked the place. I'm fairly certain I'll firm them, but a couple of factors still rolling around in my head are (a) living costs (SE location likely to be more expensive than SW) and (b) I already have friends in the SW area since I lived down in that neck of the woods a few years ago. However, I'm not sure either factor is strong enough to outweigh the positive vibe I got from Kent (as long as the living costs are manageable). For all I know, I might love Exeter way more than Kent, but I just don't think I'm going to have the opportunity to find out. I've booked an Exeter campus tour for next Friday (basically the last opportunity to see the place before my decision date), but tbh, much as you did, I'm asking myself if it's really worth it travelling all the way down there just to get a very limited impression of what I'd be committing to.
Re. understanding topics, it's been an issue for me in terms of Sociology and Psychology, but not so much for my third subject, Literary Studies. I largely enjoy the topics in Psych and Soc, but I don't find writing the essays for them particularly rewarding, and wouldn't want to pursue either subject at a higher level.
Lucky you with regards to not having study skills (SS)! Once I'm on my summer break, I reckon I'll post some ultra long-winded rant about SS on TSR, detailing all my numerous complaints
. In fairness, there were elements of the actual SS sessions that were useful. We did some English language exercises, ran our own seminars, had group discussions, and in general had the opportunity to discuss matters relating to the Access course as a whole, uni issues, or subject-specific issues, all at a time where there wasn't the immediate pressure to plough through course material as there was with the academic subjects' lessons. Oh, and yes, our tutor allocated time to each of us to go through our personal statements individually. The negativity is largely because I hated the SS assignments with a passion!