Is it too late to apply?

Hello everyone,

I sent off my UCAS application last week before the deadline, but have now realised that it may be possible for me to go to Queen Mary (I had written off the possibility before). I decided not to apply to Queen Mary before because I thought that there would be no way that I would be able to afford to live in London, and because it was ranked as one of the worst universities in the country for teaching quality in the Sunday Times university guide.

However, I was talking to someone the other day about their Drama course (I want to do a joint honours degree in French and Drama), and have realised that Queen Mary's French and Drama course might be the course for me. I am now kicking myself for writing off the uni so early.

So, I have a few questions for those who go there (especially if they study French or Drama):

1) Do you think that The Sunday Times University Guide is correct? Is the teaching quality really that awful? What is the teaching like for Drama and languages (especially French)?

2) Is it really as hard financially as people day it is to live in London while studying for your degree? How do you afford it? Do you have to work a ridiculous amount of hours during your degree just to be financially comfortable? Can you ever afford not to work for a period of time so that you can focus on university work, especially during exam time? How do you afford to live in London during the second year when you do not get university accommodation?

3) How competitive is the drama course? Is there any point in me sending them my UCAS application 3/4 days after the deadline?

If it helps, I already have my A level grades (I decided to apply during my gap year) and they exceed the entry requirements.

Any advice would be very much appreciated. The website said that the university would still consider applications that arrive after the deadline, but that there might be some departments that would not. I tried to see if this was the case with the languages and Drama departments (especially Drama, as more people apply for that whereas there is almost always a lack of people applying to study languages, as far as I know), but I couldn't find any more information about it on the website.

Thank you for your time

UCAS shows the course as still open for applications - ring them up this morning to see if they're still open (and to check that the UCAS listing is correct) http://search.ucas.com/course/summary/710392/french-and-drama-4-years?RegionCode=103&Feather=7&Vac=1&AvailableIn=2017&Query=drama&Location=london&IsFeatherProcessed=True&MaxResults=1000&page=2&ret=providers

If you're still open ring UCAS and substitute a choice - you can do this up to 14 days after the date on your welcome email from UCAS.

The QMUL application will be flagged as "late" but that should be fine if they've confirmed they're taking late applicants to you directly. Your other choices will not be flagged as late.

As for competitiveness - 100% of applicants last year got offers: http://university.which.co.uk/queen-mary-university-of-london-q50/french-and-drama-4-years-9000-wr41 so if they're open for late applications then your chances of an offer are pretty good.

You definitely need to take up visit day invitations and research into costs/budgets for QMUL. QMUL is in a cheaper part of london - but speaking to current students in person is going to be the best way to find out how affordable it is.