The Student Room Group

What's your firm/insurance?

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(edited 1 year ago)

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Reply 1
I firmed Durham for PPE (AAA) and Exeter for PPE with study abroad (BBB)

Good choice for choosing Bristol, its a great Uni.. not sure what to say about who to insure though, have you been to open days for them? Usually if you do, you can just feel which one is right
I've firmed Cardiff for Maths (AAA) and put Nottingham (AAB) as my insurance choice, for Maths again.
Reply 3
Hmm.. thats a bit sticky, I’d cross Swansea off the list so its between Cardiff and Southampton…

For me I was quite lucky because all 5 of my choices were places I’d love to go, luckily it just worked itself out. Durham was supposed to be A*AA but they reduced it to AAA, Exeter was supposed to be AAA but it was reduced to BBB, Warwick increased their grades to A*A*A because I’m retaking so i crossed that off, kings college only gave me an offer for philosophy instead of PPE and Bristol was my planned insurance (ABB for Economics and Politics) but Exeter got back to me with lower grades and with the full course I wanted.

But when applying, reputation mattered to me since I want to go into Politics/Economics/Journalism so how prestigious my education background seems is quite important. I love a city with character, I wouldn’t enjoy a city that lacked history and didnt have a decent art/music scene (although for Durham most of this would mean travelling to Newcastle), I was hesitant about Warwick since it lacked such even in surrounding towns/cities but their reputation would’ve balanced it out. I also looked at modules, its important their flexible with how many modules from each branch I can choose, in the event I didn't enjoy philosophy for example could I supplement it by taking more in economics? For Durham and Exeter thats a yes. Study abroad opportunities were also important, I really want to do a year in Canada since I love canada and have family there who could get me work experience in a bank and public offices.

Had Durham, KCL and Warwick all come back with A*AA, Exeter with AAA and Bristol with ABB I would’ve 100% insured Bristol for grade security and I would’ve weighed things up, London is an amazing city and i had my heart set on it but KCL didnt offer study abroad in canada, Warwick vs Durham would’ve been tough, had Durham given me an offer of A*AA but still at University College (my preferred college) I think I would’ve chosen that. So my preference was KCL > Durham > Warwick > Bristol > Exeter. But it just kind of worked itself out and I’m 100% happy with my choices knowing they have a good reputation, good study aboard opportunities, vibrant cities, module flexibility and are asking for realistic grades. It sounds like you’re focuses are on distance from home, vibrant city and year in industry opportunities? Based on that + reputation I would go for Southampton.
Reply 4
ALSO for me, insuring Exeter was a ++ because if i dont get into Durham at least I’m guaranteed a year abroad with my course so I can rest in knowing I’ll have a great year in Canada where as at Durham its a bridge I’ll have to cross when I get to the end of my second year
It's good that you sort of know! I'm struggling to pick between UCL and Nottingham for my firm.. :frown:
I think we have, haha. I need a place where:

1) I would enjoy myself - Notts seems the best as I love sports, and has great sports facilities, but UCL's sport facilities are pretty decent also.. I don't party so UCL is arguably a better scene for me, but I'll meet plenty who don't party at both. I haven't been in London for more than 2 days so can't judge UCL negatively for life as I haven't experienced it, and Notts looks lovely with its campus, but UCL looks great too..

2) I would enjoy the course - Both again look great on paper, but UCL seems so hard with all the maths in it - seems like I'm going to be doing a maths degree as opposed to economics! But, both look intellectually stimulating and doable, but more likely going to get a 2.1+ at Notts than at UCL.

3) There's a bit of prestige-ish/great career opportunities - UCL is the best undoubtedly. 7th in world, lots of employer links, but Nottingham is pretty good too with lots of people from there getting into the industry I want to get in, more so at UCL, however. But I don't want to end up getting a 2.2 from UCL where I would be struggling for jobs, but it's rep could help out. Notts rep isn't as prestigious, but still a great uni.

I'm so confused............ :frown:
Reply 7
I firmed Swansea. I can't wait :smile:
For Law I firmed Kent and put Surrey as my insurance :smile:
Reply 9
I’ve firmed Nottingham (ABB) for Psychology and Nottingham Trent (BBC) for Psychology and Criminology. I really wanted to visit Nottingham but I couldn’t make the offer holder days 😭.
Reply 10
Ahh great minds think alike! A compliment/humble brag :tongue:

Everything you’ve said about Swansea + the fact they want AAA means i would instantly cross them off. If Bristol want AAB you cant insure one with higher grades. So Swansea is 100% off the list, we’re making progress here!

SOTON have a reputation for letting people in if they miss a grade or 2, its quite popular in clearing for a few courses too.. to me it sounds like you know you want SOTON but you want someone to push you and give you confidence in your decision? In which case I would totally back it! Although you might find it more reassuring and encouraging if you discussed it over with family/friends and heard that but based on what you’ve said and my own research firming Bristol and insuring SOTON sounds like an excellent combination. They’re both AAB but Bristol is contextual so are unlikely to barge on their grade whilst SOTON isnt contextual and its common for them to overlook a missed grade or 2.

Durham reduced their offer for me based on my school performance (they have loads of Public school kids especially for PPE, and my school had poor performance for AS and GCSE so it made mine look good/decent) and Exeter said in their email it was because of my schools performance + personal statement + they said they were pleased in my strong interest by firming them last year
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 11
I’ve been to the open day for Southampton and it wasn’t bad. Personally, I thought that the area around the campus had nothing going on (there was a few shops but that was it). I prefer a big city university
Reply 12
Original post by Ze Witcher
I think we have, haha. I need a place where:

1) I would enjoy myself - Notts seems the best as I love sports, and has great sports facilities, but UCL's sport facilities are pretty decent also.. I don't party so UCL is arguably a better scene for me, but I'll meet plenty who don't party at both. I haven't been in London for more than 2 days so can't judge UCL negatively for life as I haven't experienced it, and Notts looks lovely with its campus, but UCL looks great too..

2) I would enjoy the course - Both again look great on paper, but UCL seems so hard with all the maths in it - seems like I'm going to be doing a maths degree as opposed to economics! But, both look intellectually stimulating and doable, but more likely going to get a 2.1+ at Notts than at UCL.

3) There's a bit of prestige-ish/great career opportunities - UCL is the best undoubtedly. 7th in world, lots of employer links, but Nottingham is pretty good too with lots of people from there getting into the industry I want to get in, more so at UCL, however. But I don't want to end up getting a 2.2 from UCL where I would be struggling for jobs, but it's rep could help out. Notts rep isn't as prestigious, but still a great uni.

I'm so confused............ :frown:


The reason why I didn’t apply for UCL (other than my low grades 😅) was because of how the campus was. I didn’t like how the buildings were separated and it wasn’t all together like Nottingham is. Bare in mind that Nottingham still looks good to employers.
Firm:Manchester Metropolitan University

Insurance: University of Birmingham or University of Sheffield.
Firmed Exeter for PPE

And insurance is Bristol philosophy & economics
Firm Liverpool Uni
Insurance Lincoln Uni
Both for biology
I've firmed Durham, and put Newcastle as my insurance - both for Maths :smile:
I think I'll do:
FIRM: Imperial College London
INSURANCE: King's College London
For Medicine.

Trying to choose between King's and Leicester for the insurance choice.
Firm: Exeter (BBB)
Insurance: None. Was going to put Durham (ABB) as my insurance after they lowered my offer, but didn't really see the point.
Original post by Mystelle
Firm: Exeter (BBB)
Insurance: None. Was going to put Durham (ABB) as my insurance after they lowered my offer, but didn't really see the point.


What did you put as an insurance?

What happens if you get something like A*AC and get rejected by Exeter because they are full up with applicants who met their offer. Wouldn't you be kicking yourself if Durham would have accepted you with that?

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