Accepting an unconditional early but then changing your mind
Starting from the beginning, I decided around October last year I wanted to go to Uni for many things, independence, being away from home, the experience, and most of all the qualification I would get. Before I wasn't sure.
I managed to conclude that I wanted to do an IT related degree, and visited a few open days, but I was too lazy/stupid to travel to ones far away, 2 were close and one was around 80 miles away. I ended up tunnel visioning on one university because of the fact a teacher recommended it to me, and it was the only open day I actually liked(because I barely went to any).
This university is an alright one(Bournemouth), and there are ones that are better I could have(or did in fact) gotten offers from. I applied in November, and out of the four I applied to, I had only been to one of them, I was literally too lazy to travel to the others.
A week after applying, I get offers from all of them, and I received an unconditional from Bournemouth. Me being stupid and incredibly naive, I decided to accept this offer a week after receiving it.
The dilemna is that I now realise while Bournemouth is not the worst, I could probably do better. But because I have accepted the unconditional, I have no insurance, so I am pretty much tied into going there.
The only options I have seem to be:
-go anyway, and if it is not great, try to transfer to a better one
-don't go this year, and do an apprenticeship instead
-cancel the place and enter clearing, but there is no guarantee I would get anything at all, not even neccesarily better than Bournemouth.
What should I do? I'm sorry this may have been badly worded
I managed to conclude that I wanted to do an IT related degree, and visited a few open days, but I was too lazy/stupid to travel to ones far away, 2 were close and one was around 80 miles away. I ended up tunnel visioning on one university because of the fact a teacher recommended it to me, and it was the only open day I actually liked(because I barely went to any).
This university is an alright one(Bournemouth), and there are ones that are better I could have(or did in fact) gotten offers from. I applied in November, and out of the four I applied to, I had only been to one of them, I was literally too lazy to travel to the others.
A week after applying, I get offers from all of them, and I received an unconditional from Bournemouth. Me being stupid and incredibly naive, I decided to accept this offer a week after receiving it.
The dilemna is that I now realise while Bournemouth is not the worst, I could probably do better. But because I have accepted the unconditional, I have no insurance, so I am pretty much tied into going there.
The only options I have seem to be:
-go anyway, and if it is not great, try to transfer to a better one
-don't go this year, and do an apprenticeship instead
-cancel the place and enter clearing, but there is no guarantee I would get anything at all, not even neccesarily better than Bournemouth.
What should I do? I'm sorry this may have been badly worded
Scroll to see replies
Original post by askayoi
Starting from the beginning, I decided around October last year I wanted to go to Uni for many things, independence, being away from home, the experience, and most of all the qualification I would get. Before I wasn't sure.
I managed to conclude that I wanted to do an IT related degree, and visited a few open days, but I was too lazy/stupid to travel to ones far away, 2 were close and one was around 80 miles away. I ended up tunnel visioning on one university because of the fact a teacher recommended it to me, and it was the only open day I actually liked(because I barely went to any).
This university is an alright one(Bournemouth), and there are ones that are better I could have(or did in fact) gotten offers from. I applied in November, and out of the four I applied to, I had only been to one of them, I was literally too lazy to travel to the others.
A week after applying, I get offers from all of them, and I received an unconditional from Bournemouth. Me being stupid and incredibly naive, I decided to accept this offer a week after receiving it.
The dilemna is that I now realise while Bournemouth is not the worst, I could probably do better. But because I have accepted the unconditional, I have no insurance, so I am pretty much tied into going there.
The only options I have seem to be:
-go anyway, and if it is not great, try to transfer to a better one
-don't go this year, and do an apprenticeship instead
-cancel the place and enter clearing, but there is no guarantee I would get anything at all, not even neccesarily better than Bournemouth.
What should I do? I'm sorry this may have been badly worded
I managed to conclude that I wanted to do an IT related degree, and visited a few open days, but I was too lazy/stupid to travel to ones far away, 2 were close and one was around 80 miles away. I ended up tunnel visioning on one university because of the fact a teacher recommended it to me, and it was the only open day I actually liked(because I barely went to any).
This university is an alright one(Bournemouth), and there are ones that are better I could have(or did in fact) gotten offers from. I applied in November, and out of the four I applied to, I had only been to one of them, I was literally too lazy to travel to the others.
A week after applying, I get offers from all of them, and I received an unconditional from Bournemouth. Me being stupid and incredibly naive, I decided to accept this offer a week after receiving it.
The dilemna is that I now realise while Bournemouth is not the worst, I could probably do better. But because I have accepted the unconditional, I have no insurance, so I am pretty much tied into going there.
The only options I have seem to be:
-go anyway, and if it is not great, try to transfer to a better one
-don't go this year, and do an apprenticeship instead
-cancel the place and enter clearing, but there is no guarantee I would get anything at all, not even neccesarily better than Bournemouth.
What should I do? I'm sorry this may have been badly worded
From what I can gather, if you're within the 14 day period of accepting an unconditional you can opt out. I remember seeing something along those lines on UCAS track. If that isn't an option, I think you should try the apprenticeship instead. Based on what you've said, you don't particularly want to go and it's clear. I wouldn't try getting anything through clearing as IT is relatively competitive from what I can gather. Don't go for the sake of going, that's just going to be a waste of your time. If you can get an apprenticeship or possibly a foundation year at a local college, try for that. Not an expert, it's ultimately up to you though.
Original post by askayoi
Starting from the beginning, I decided around October last year I wanted to go to Uni for many things, independence, being away from home, the experience, and most of all the qualification I would get. Before I wasn't sure.
I managed to conclude that I wanted to do an IT related degree, and visited a few open days, but I was too lazy/stupid to travel to ones far away, 2 were close and one was around 80 miles away. I ended up tunnel visioning on one university because of the fact a teacher recommended it to me, and it was the only open day I actually liked(because I barely went to any).
This university is an alright one(Bournemouth), and there are ones that are better I could have(or did in fact) gotten offers from. I applied in November, and out of the four I applied to, I had only been to one of them, I was literally too lazy to travel to the others.
A week after applying, I get offers from all of them, and I received an unconditional from Bournemouth. Me being stupid and incredibly naive, I decided to accept this offer a week after receiving it.
The dilemna is that I now realise while Bournemouth is not the worst, I could probably do better. But because I have accepted the unconditional, I have no insurance, so I am pretty much tied into going there.
The only options I have seem to be:
-go anyway, and if it is not great, try to transfer to a better one
-don't go this year, and do an apprenticeship instead
-cancel the place and enter clearing, but there is no guarantee I would get anything at all, not even neccesarily better than Bournemouth.
What should I do? I'm sorry this may have been badly worded
I managed to conclude that I wanted to do an IT related degree, and visited a few open days, but I was too lazy/stupid to travel to ones far away, 2 were close and one was around 80 miles away. I ended up tunnel visioning on one university because of the fact a teacher recommended it to me, and it was the only open day I actually liked(because I barely went to any).
This university is an alright one(Bournemouth), and there are ones that are better I could have(or did in fact) gotten offers from. I applied in November, and out of the four I applied to, I had only been to one of them, I was literally too lazy to travel to the others.
A week after applying, I get offers from all of them, and I received an unconditional from Bournemouth. Me being stupid and incredibly naive, I decided to accept this offer a week after receiving it.
The dilemna is that I now realise while Bournemouth is not the worst, I could probably do better. But because I have accepted the unconditional, I have no insurance, so I am pretty much tied into going there.
The only options I have seem to be:
-go anyway, and if it is not great, try to transfer to a better one
-don't go this year, and do an apprenticeship instead
-cancel the place and enter clearing, but there is no guarantee I would get anything at all, not even neccesarily better than Bournemouth.
What should I do? I'm sorry this may have been badly worded
You have a fourth option. If you liked any of your other offers then you can ask your universities to agree to let you “swap my replies” - if you contact them and explain “I declined x university but want to swap my replies to make it my firm” (plus if you wanted to keep Bournemouth or have another offer as an insurance say that too). Once all the universities and you notify ucas that they agree then ucas can swap your replies from firm to decline and decline to firm.
Original post by askayoi
Starting from the beginning, I decided around October last year I wanted to go to Uni for many things, independence, being away from home, the experience, and most of all the qualification I would get. Before I wasn't sure.
I managed to conclude that I wanted to do an IT related degree, and visited a few open days, but I was too lazy/stupid to travel to ones far away, 2 were close and one was around 80 miles away. I ended up tunnel visioning on one university because of the fact a teacher recommended it to me, and it was the only open day I actually liked(because I barely went to any).
This university is an alright one(Bournemouth), and there are ones that are better I could have(or did in fact) gotten offers from. I applied in November, and out of the four I applied to, I had only been to one of them, I was literally too lazy to travel to the others.
A week after applying, I get offers from all of them, and I received an unconditional from Bournemouth. Me being stupid and incredibly naive, I decided to accept this offer a week after receiving it.
The dilemna is that I now realise while Bournemouth is not the worst, I could probably do better. But because I have accepted the unconditional, I have no insurance, so I am pretty much tied into going there.
The only options I have seem to be:
-go anyway, and if it is not great, try to transfer to a better one
-don't go this year, and do an apprenticeship instead
-cancel the place and enter clearing, but there is no guarantee I would get anything at all, not even neccesarily better than Bournemouth.
What should I do? I'm sorry this may have been badly worded
I managed to conclude that I wanted to do an IT related degree, and visited a few open days, but I was too lazy/stupid to travel to ones far away, 2 were close and one was around 80 miles away. I ended up tunnel visioning on one university because of the fact a teacher recommended it to me, and it was the only open day I actually liked(because I barely went to any).
This university is an alright one(Bournemouth), and there are ones that are better I could have(or did in fact) gotten offers from. I applied in November, and out of the four I applied to, I had only been to one of them, I was literally too lazy to travel to the others.
A week after applying, I get offers from all of them, and I received an unconditional from Bournemouth. Me being stupid and incredibly naive, I decided to accept this offer a week after receiving it.
The dilemna is that I now realise while Bournemouth is not the worst, I could probably do better. But because I have accepted the unconditional, I have no insurance, so I am pretty much tied into going there.
The only options I have seem to be:
-go anyway, and if it is not great, try to transfer to a better one
-don't go this year, and do an apprenticeship instead
-cancel the place and enter clearing, but there is no guarantee I would get anything at all, not even neccesarily better than Bournemouth.
What should I do? I'm sorry this may have been badly worded
Is it the reputation of the universities that you are concerned with? What is making you want to switch?
Original post by emiloujess
Is it the reputation of the universities that you are concerned with? What is making you want to switch?
Bournemouth is good, but I feel I can do better basically
Original post by askayoi
Bournemouth is good, but I feel I can do better basically
Where are you thinking of.What subject. What are your grades.
Original post by askayoi
Starting from the beginning, I decided around October last year I wanted to go to Uni for many things, independence, being away from home, the experience, and most of all the qualification I would get. Before I wasn't sure.
I managed to conclude that I wanted to do an IT related degree, and visited a few open days, but I was too lazy/stupid to travel to ones far away, 2 were close and one was around 80 miles away. I ended up tunnel visioning on one university because of the fact a teacher recommended it to me, and it was the only open day I actually liked(because I barely went to any).
This university is an alright one(Bournemouth), and there are ones that are better I could have(or did in fact) gotten offers from. I applied in November, and out of the four I applied to, I had only been to one of them, I was literally too lazy to travel to the others.
A week after applying, I get offers from all of them, and I received an unconditional from Bournemouth. Me being stupid and incredibly naive, I decided to accept this offer a week after receiving it.
The dilemna is that I now realise while Bournemouth is not the worst, I could probably do better. But because I have accepted the unconditional, I have no insurance, so I am pretty much tied into going there.
The only options I have seem to be:
-go anyway, and if it is not great, try to transfer to a better one
-don't go this year, and do an apprenticeship instead
-cancel the place and enter clearing, but there is no guarantee I would get anything at all, not even neccesarily better than Bournemouth.
What should I do? I'm sorry this may have been badly worded
I managed to conclude that I wanted to do an IT related degree, and visited a few open days, but I was too lazy/stupid to travel to ones far away, 2 were close and one was around 80 miles away. I ended up tunnel visioning on one university because of the fact a teacher recommended it to me, and it was the only open day I actually liked(because I barely went to any).
This university is an alright one(Bournemouth), and there are ones that are better I could have(or did in fact) gotten offers from. I applied in November, and out of the four I applied to, I had only been to one of them, I was literally too lazy to travel to the others.
A week after applying, I get offers from all of them, and I received an unconditional from Bournemouth. Me being stupid and incredibly naive, I decided to accept this offer a week after receiving it.
The dilemna is that I now realise while Bournemouth is not the worst, I could probably do better. But because I have accepted the unconditional, I have no insurance, so I am pretty much tied into going there.
The only options I have seem to be:
-go anyway, and if it is not great, try to transfer to a better one
-don't go this year, and do an apprenticeship instead
-cancel the place and enter clearing, but there is no guarantee I would get anything at all, not even neccesarily better than Bournemouth.
What should I do? I'm sorry this may have been badly worded
See what unis are in UCAS Extra which opens next month?
If you see that there are lots of better options than Bournemouth you could ask them to release you and then you would be eligible to apply
https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/after-you-apply/types-offer/extra-choices
Original post by harrysbar
See what unis are in UCAS Extra which opens next month?
If you see that there are lots of better options than Bournemouth you could ask them to release you and then you would be eligible to apply
https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/after-you-apply/types-offer/extra-choices
If you see that there are lots of better options than Bournemouth you could ask them to release you and then you would be eligible to apply
https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/after-you-apply/types-offer/extra-choices
wouldn't I have to first unaccept the offer before being able to access extra if that makes sense
Original post by askayoi
wouldn't I have to first unaccept the offer before being able to access extra if that makes sense
Anyone can see the vacancies in Extra, so you could access them in that way and you could phone the unis to check whether they would encourage you to apply or not (which would largely depend on your predicted grades). If they say that you would be a good candidate you would need to decline Bournemouth before formally applying to them so there is an element of risk. However, you would face the same risk in Clearing, as you would still need to decline Bournemouth before any other uni would make you an offer.
Clearing can be a stressful time with trying to sort out things like accommodation last minute in a new city so I would try to sort it out earlier if you are sure you no longer wish to go to Bournemouth
Original post by harrysbar
Anyone can see the vacancies in Extra, so you could access them in that way and you could phone the unis to check whether they would encourage you to apply or not (which would largely depend on your predicted grades). If they say that you would be a good candidate you would need to decline Bournemouth before formally applying to them so there is an element of risk. However, you would face the same risk in Clearing, as you would still need to decline Bournemouth before any other uni would make you an offer.
Clearing can be a stressful time with trying to sort out things like accommodation last minute in a new city so I would try to sort it out earlier if you are sure you no longer wish to go to Bournemouth
Clearing can be a stressful time with trying to sort out things like accommodation last minute in a new city so I would try to sort it out earlier if you are sure you no longer wish to go to Bournemouth
ok, thank you for helping me to understand dude
Original post by askayoi
ok, thank you for helping me to understand dude
Agree with @harrysbar , but ill add one more thing. Learn the lesson, dont jump the gun again.
I would look at potential unis and email admission tutors first (with a pdf copy of your PS) and all your A-level/GCSE / other relevant academic info and get confirmation they will give you an offer and what it will be, once you have this sorted you can ask Bournemouth to release you from your offer.
(also if your still interested in the other 3 unis who gave you offers, you might very easily get those offers back depending how competitive the course you chose is..)
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by askayoi
ok, thank you for helping me to understand dude
That's ok, Good Luck with whatever you decide to do
Original post by askayoi
ok, thank you for helping me to understand dude
That's silly don't do that, don't think Harrybar has understood... That you have a better offer you would like to take. Do what PQ stated and swap them out...
Bournemouth is definitely not a great uni and i would always advise anyone to get onto the best course they can... Considering the cost and super competitive jobs market.
Having read the OP again it appears that you have only used 4 of your 5 chances. Is that right. If so, you have another choice before extra. Try ringing some of the universities you are interested and as @Harrysbar see if they are likely to make offers. You can the decline Bournemouth. As far as I know you might still be able to apply to another university before extra. @PQ are my assumptions correct or will this have changed by accepting the unconditional.
Original post by mnot
Agree with @harrysbar , but ill add one more thing. Learn the lesson, dont jump the gun again.
I would look at potential unis and email admission tutors first (with a pdf copy of your PS) and all your A-level/GCSE / other relevant academic info and get confirmation they will give you an offer and what it will be, once you have this sorted you can ask Bournemouth to release you from your offer.
(also if your still interested in the other 4 unis who gave you offers, you might very easily get those offers back depending how competitive the course you chose is..)
I would look at potential unis and email admission tutors first (with a pdf copy of your PS) and all your A-level/GCSE / other relevant academic info and get confirmation they will give you an offer and what it will be, once you have this sorted you can ask Bournemouth to release you from your offer.
(also if your still interested in the other 4 unis who gave you offers, you might very easily get those offers back depending how competitive the course you chose is..)
I'm not sure any uni would be willing to make a definite offer without seeing the whole UCAS form including the reference but OP should certainly give the unis in Extra or Clearing as much information as possible to help them say how likely an offer would be
Original post by harrysbar
I'm not sure any uni would be willing to make a definite offer without seeing the whole UCAS form including the reference but OP should certainly give the unis in Extra or Clearing as much information as possible to help them say how likely an offer would be
This is true, they likely wouldn't be bound by anything and certainly would double check to make sure their are no red flags in reference, criminal background etc. (but given OP has 4 offers already, I suspect this will be fine... providing where not talking UCL etc.).
Generally speaking I think most admissions tutors are fairly open about if they'll give you an honest answer if you ask about an offer if your asking in good faith.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by swanseajack1
Having read the OP again it appears that you have only used 4 of your 5 chances. Is that right. If so, you have another choice before extra. Try ringing some of the universities you are interested and as @Harrysbar see if they are likely to make offers. You can the decline Bournemouth. As far as I know you might still be able to apply to another university before extra. @PQ are my assumptions correct or will this have changed by accepting the unconditional.
Original post by Realitysreflexx
That's silly don't do that, don't think Harrybar has understood... That you have a better offer you would like to take. Do what PQ stated and swap them out...
Bournemouth is definitely not a great uni and i would always advise anyone to get onto the best course they can... Considering the cost and super competitive jobs market.
Bournemouth is definitely not a great uni and i would always advise anyone to get onto the best course they can... Considering the cost and super competitive jobs market.
I no longer hold those offers because of the fact I accepted the unconditional, and I dont think I can add another option, but NTU gave me an offer which I would rather do because the Uni seems better
Original post by askayoi
I no longer hold those offers because of the fact I accepted the unconditional, and I dont think I can add another option, but NTU gave me an offer which I would rather do because the Uni seems better
Check with UCAS, sometimes they can be more flexible if everyone is on board.
I would ring NTU explain the situation and ask if they still give you an offer again, ring Bournemouth explain the situation honestly and ask if you can move them to your insurance choice (unis arent spiteful, they'll most likely try to help).
If both agree ring UCAS and ask them to manually change it (basiclly what @PQ said earlier), might be some admin faff but best to give it a go and sort going to the uni you actually want to attend, the sooner its done the easier as well.
I am not certain of this which is the reason I have flagged @PQ who has considerable knowledge in ucas procedures but I believe if the unconditional is changed it brings your original application into play. You would then have your 4 choices plus a new one which would class as late but in reality it doesnt make much difference as most universities accept late applications. You would then have a choice of NTU or another possibly better university. Before accepting any offer from anywhere visit to ensure it is the best choice for you. Dont make the same mistake again. If your predicted grades match or are near to the standard offer then most universities are likely to make you an offer. You dont need to firm universities until May at the earliest.
Original post by askayoi
I no longer hold those offers because of the fact I accepted the unconditional, and I dont think I can add another option, but NTU gave me an offer which I would rather do because the Uni seems better
See post #3
If Bournemouth and NTU agree and notify UCAS that they agree then UCAS will swap your replies.
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