Not feeling for what I thought would be my firm; what now?

look at other unis, and talk to whoever is making you choose a different course. what course are you looking at? I didn't click with the uni i put as my firm and couldn't view it (decision was made in covid era of lockdowns, plus my course accreditation mattered and my course is very niche) but i'm thriving there.

i am autistic and can struggle with routine changes too

I’m looking at microbiology; I’m primarily concerned because, with every other establishment I’ve attended across my life, I knew nigh on instantly that that it was the one for me. The fact that I haven’t had that with the university I visited today is concerning me a little

afaik, microbiology isn't a particularly niche course (though my course is so niche that only 4 unis in the UK offer it or similar) so perhaps look at what you didn't like about the uni:
campus/city
modern/old accommodation
etc

make a list of anything you did like about the uni

then look at what you actually want out of a uni beyond the course and look at the unis offering that

So, recently, I visited what I thought would be my firm choice of university (I’d rather not say which one) on one of their open days; I saw the accommodation, visited the campus, and spoke to a few people about the department for my degree.

I didn’t enjoy my time there, and to be honest, I don’t think the university and the course would be right for me. This is where my issue comes in: I’m returning to this university for a summer school in a few weeks, and this summer school is very much a ‘make or break’ experience.

I deal very poorly with changes in routine, so this summer school is a chance for me to see if I could ‘hack’ living away from home for university; if this goes poorly, I will then me made to choose a university much closer to home, which will then mean that I have to change my course to one that I really don’t want to do, since the closest university for my dream course is the aforementioned university. I need this to go well, and the fact that something about me and the institution didn’t gel is worrying me, as I’m meant to go and stay there in a few weeks, and I feel as though me saying ‘I didn’t enjoy staying at XYZ university’ will be seen as ‘I didn’t enjoy the experience of living away at home’.

So, what do I do? Does anyone have any advice?

Hi there

I have two pieces of advice for you:

1. As natural as it is to worry about stuff like this, you're basically putting yourself through it twice if you keep worrying about something that hasn't even happened yet. It's better if you try to shift your focus onto other things until summer school begins. When it does start, make sure you're making the most of your experience there. Socialise with other students, familiarise yourself with the city and talk to the professors.

2. In case your feelings about the university stay the same, it'll be good to have a backup plan. You might want to consider taking a gap year because doing a course that you're not interested in isn't a good idea especially when you're paying more than 9k a year for it. Look into other courses or if you're sure which one you wanna do, look at other unis. Visit more open days and get a feel for the campus. It would also give you a chance for personal development- do volunteering, take up a job or do an online course you enjoy.

Hopefully things will work out for the better and you'll enjoy the summer school

-Himieka (Official DU Rep)

Thank you for the advice