Help me narrow down to my 5 uni choices!

Its impossible to make a decision for you as what impresses one person might not another. Some factors you need to consider are how far from home you wish to be, whether you want to be in a big or small city, whether you want a campus university.

I think the first issue is Durham and I believe Warwick wont accept the Welsh Bac. Very few Welsh students will apply to Aberdeen due to the distance involved and the same might be true of UEA. Durham is a very small city with a college system and is an outstanding university and would be one of my aspirational choices but they will not accept a dropped grade so it depends whether you actually believe you can achieve AAA. Dependent on how you view the course and where you live I would probably apply to Cardiff. It is a very good university in an excellent student city if you do not see the city as too large. It is likely you will get an offer there and they also tend to accept lower grades on results day. Why are you not applying to Psychology there. In terms of everything these are the 2 aspirational choices I would suggest but like already said you need to look and decide what YOU prefer.

For target unis I would apply to Aber and Swansea and if you feel comfortable with the distance UEA. If not Bangor in place of UEA. I wouldnt go as far as Aberdeen. It is very difficult to get to.

Reply 3

Further to my earlier reply if you dont feel you can achieve the Durham grade I would probably apply for Nottingham as long as you are comfortable in a sizeable city. In your circumstances I would avoid York as if you fail to achieve your Maths grade you would be a week after everyone else trying to get accommodation in your insurance university.

Reply 4

User135792468

Original post by GoogGooglyMoogly

Hello! My Name’s Jon and I’m currently a Y13 Student hoping to apply to study Psychology this year. I’ve been looking at different universities and to be honest I’m not really sure on what to apply to yet so I’ll list them down and if you guys can post what your 5 for me would be.

INFO -
GCSE’s: 1A* 2B’s 4C’s 4D’s (C in Maths so I’m resitting)

I’ve resit a year.

A-Levels: Psychology (A*) Maths (B) English Lit (B) Welsh Bac (B/A)

I qualify for a contextual offer (school is ranked 200+/212) and live in a Polar 4 quintile 1 area for HE.

Now on to my Universities:

Aspirational - Some require B in GCSE Maths
Durham: BSc Psychology (AAA)
York: BSc Psychology (AAA) Conditional will ask for a B in GCSE
Warwick BSc Psychology (AAB) accept my A-level in place of GCSE
Nottingham: BSc Psychology (AAB) will accept A-level Maths in place
Southampton: BSc Criminology and Psychology (ABB)
Cardiff: BSc Human and Social Sciences (ABB)

Target unis:
Aberdeen: MA Psychology (BBB)
Bangor: BSc Psychology with Clinical and Mental Health (BBC)
Swansea: BSc Psychology (ABB-BBB)
UEA: BSc Psychology (ABB)
Aberystwyth: BSc Psychology (EE) Yep. I completed their summer school which gives a reduced offer of two A-level passes.

Now that’s the long ass list I was hoping to do 2 Aspirations and 3 targets. So if you can keep to that format please do.

Thanks in advance!!!

This is a difficult process and we can’t really tell you where to go. Use The Complete University guide to see the universities highly ranked for psychology but also look at other important indicators such as graduate employability. Then investigate these universities by searching through course modules to shorten it down to 5 universities.

Just arrange like 1-2 hours to research and you should be fine. I don’t know why you would want someone else to pick the universities for you. And don’t forget, visit open days!

Reply 5

OP

Original post by swanseajack1

Its impossible to make a decision for you as what impresses one person might not another. Some factors you need to consider are how far from home you wish to be, whether you want to be in a big or small city, whether you want a campus university.

I think the first issue is Durham and I believe Warwick wont accept the Welsh Bac. Very few Welsh students will apply to Aberdeen due to the distance involved and the same might be true of UEA. Durham is a very small city with a college system and is an outstanding university and would be one of my aspirational choices but they will not accept a dropped grade so it depends whether you actually believe you can achieve AAA. Dependent on how you view the course and where you live I would probably apply to Cardiff. It is a very good university in an excellent student city if you do not see the city as too large. It is likely you will get an offer there and they also tend to accept lower grades on results day. Why are you not applying to Psychology there. In terms of everything these are the 2 aspirational choices I would suggest but like already said you need to look and decide what YOU prefer.

For target unis I would apply to Aber and Swansea and if you feel comfortable with the distance UEA. If not Bangor in place of UEA. I wouldnt go as far as Aberdeen. It is very difficult to get to.

That’s a fair analysis. My personal view is I have no inhibition behind how far a place is. My whole Life I’ve spent living in 2 homes around the UK and travelling. In all fairness I’ve been reserved to Wales, London, Oxford Cambridge and areas in that region but I’ve also lived a month in Japan for an exchange and in all honesty I just want a clean start. I don’t mind where I end up as long as It’s a good place with decent modules.

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 6

OP

Original post by swanseajack1

Further to my earlier reply if you dont feel you can achieve the Durham grade I would probably apply for Nottingham as long as you are comfortable in a sizeable city. In your circumstances I would avoid York as if you fail to achieve your Maths grade you would be a week after everyone else trying to get accommodation in your insurance university.

I don’t think I’ll miss GCSE maths but I think it’ll be nerve wracking on results day. Luckily, the university have mentioned to me that they’ll accept me on results day I’ve got my be in A-level maths

Reply 7

Original post by GoogGooglyMoogly

That’s a fair analysis. My personal view is I have no inhibition behind how far a place is. My whole Life I’ve spent living in 2 homes around the UK and travelling. In all fairness I’ve been reserved to Wales, London, Oxford Cambridge and areas in that region but I’ve also lived a month in Japan for an exchange and in all honesty I just want a clean start. I don’t mind where I end up as long as It’s a good place with decent modules.

In that case you need to decide for yourself. Nobody is going to be able to help you as they wont know enough about all the modules at the individual universities. I dont know where in Wales you live but given you attended an Aberystwyth summer school I assume it is in that area. The sheer logistical problems of travelling from there to anywhere is immense. A train journey from Aber to Swansea .nearly 5 hours for 90 miles as there is no direct route. The bus or car is quicker.es There is very little public transport in Mid Wales and no motorways compare to the South Wales corridor. Have you considered how you will get to Aberdeen or Norwich. It is difficult enough to get to Swansea or Cardiff let alone those places from Mid Wales.

Reply 8

Original post by GoogGooglyMoogly

I don’t think I’ll miss GCSE maths but I think it’ll be nerve wracking on results day. Luckily, the university have mentioned to me that they’ll accept me on results day I’ve got my be in A-level maths

This contradicts your earlier statement

Reply 9

OP

Original post by swanseajack1

This contradicts your earlier statement

Yeah, it does doesn’t it? It makes no sense but that’s what i got from the Admissions. I’mm trying to figure it out myself

Reply 10

OP

Original post by swanseajack1

In that case you need to decide for yourself. Nobody is going to be able to help you as they wont know enough about all the modules at the individual universities. I dont know where in Wales you live but given you attended an Aberystwyth summer school I assume it is in that area. The sheer logistical problems of travelling from there to anywhere is immense. A train journey from Aber to Swansea .nearly 5 hours for 90 miles as there is no direct route. The bus or car is quicker.es There is very little public transport in Mid Wales and no motorways compare to the South Wales corridor. Have you considered how you will get to Aberdeen or Norwich. It is difficult enough to get to Swansea or Cardiff let alone those places from Mid Wales.

Luckily I don’t live in Aberystwyth. I live South West Wales but I do understand what you mean the only train from my town to Aber is 6 hours around the whole of Wales. Also that is a point point about Aberdeen the way to get there will be a proble but I hoping to drive up even so it’ll take 8 hours+

Reply 11

returnmigrant

21

As above, its about your needs/comforts/interests and someone else's opinion of a course/Uni isnt the same as yours.
Just make sure you look at the course content (unit descriptions) for all three years of the course - which ones would you choose, and why. Remember its the course you study for three years, not the Uni.

PS. Bristol also accepts Welsh Bac - you can use it instead of any 'non-specified subject' grade - and they would consider your predicted grades.

Reply 12