Picking your universities?

I'll be applying to university soon and I'm not sure about the whole application process. I know you pick 5 universities for UCAS that you want to apply to but what i'm unsure about is:

1. Is it stupid to pick 5 prestigious universities ( such as Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial etc). and not pick others that have lower entry requirements?

2. Do universities prioritise those who have them down 1st on their list and opposed to people who have placed them 5th?

Any help appreciated :smile:

Reply 1

Piggy's Glasses

1

1. Depends on how ambitious you are really. Although I think it would be sensible to select at least one university which is likely to give you a lower offer, just in case you receive disappointing grades.

2. Universities cannot see your other choices and there is no ranking system on UCAS.

Reply 2

MadnessRed

1

1) Depends what you expect to get. If you are confident of a certain grade you don't need any insurances a lot lower. Also there will be a cut-off point, eg, I don't want to go to universities with offers less than AAB, I would rather retake.

2) You don't prioritise officially, there is no 1st choice, 2nd choice ect. Unis don't even know where else you applied. So a uni has no way of knowing, whether they're you first choice or last. (Unless you apply before the oxbridge deadline, which usually implies that you are applying to oxbridge.

Reply 3

grape:)

22

Pick a range of unis, so that you can have a good insurance/back-up.

There is no 'ranking'

Reply 4

nuodai

17

1. If you got DDEU at AS then it'd be stupid, but if you got AAAA then it wouldn't. It's normally a good idea to have at least one uni with lower entry requirements though... but you should only apply to unis you actually want to go to. [You don't have to apply to 5 for the sake of it!] If you're only happy with a select few, then only apply to those... either you get in or you don't.

2. You don't put in a preference until after your offers are given and you choose your 'Firm' and 'Insurance' choices. They're listed alphabetically on your UCAS form, and the unis you apply to can't see which other unis you applied to until after you've replied to your offers, so it has absolutely no influence on your application.

Reply 5

JohnnyR

I think I am right in saying you can only apply to one of Oxford and Cambridge, and also that the universities do not know what order they are ranked in in your choices.
I'd put down one or two prestigious ones down if you think you want to go there, such as Oxbridge and Durham, but dergees from most Universities in the Russel group are very highly rated by employers.
Have a look round a few and see where you like, and what courses appeal to you most, and good luck picking!

On a side note, to help me I drew a line on a map where I wouldn't go south of, so that I would be able to get home on short notice, if need be.

Reply 6

PercyChatsworth

10

jaheen22

1. Is it stupid to pick 5 prestigious universities ( such as Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial etc). and not pick others that have lower entry requirements?

Not if you don't mind a gap year if it doesn't work out.

jaheen22

2. Do universities prioritise those who have them down 1st on their list and opposed to people who have placed them 5th?

The universities you pick are put in alphabetical order by UCAS so they don't know what order you ranked them.

Reply 7

toxik_apple

1. Yes, very.

2. No.

Reply 8

RamsFanNo1

11

Piggy's Glasses

1. Depends on how ambitious you are really. Although I think it would be sensible to select at least one university which is likely to give you a lower offer, just in case you receive disappointing grades.

2. Universities cannot see your other choices and there is no ranking system on UCAS.

This

Reply 9

Piggy's Glasses

1

RamsFanNo1

This

Off-topic note: hope you're ready to watch Adel Taraabt annihilate Robbie Savage on Saturday. :smile:

Reply 10

Glen_Nichols

12

Yes, it is stupid to pick 5 prestigious uni's - what are you going to do in the likelyhood of 5 rejections? Most people pick one 'back up' lower grade req. choice.

Reply 11

erasethisworld

8

like everyone else says, it depends. I picked ..three 'prestigious ones' and two not prestigious ones. Got offers from them all, then rejected everyone except one prestigious which was my firm - I had no insurance. I knew I didn't want to go to a uni that wasn't very highly regarded - that was my own personal choice. So you have to think. Why bother applying to somewhere like Reading if you wouldn't want to go? Think carefully.

Reply 12

RamsFanNo1

11

Piggy's Glasses

Off-topic note: hope you're ready to watch Adel Taraabt annihilate Robbie Savage on Saturday. :smile:

I'm prepared mate trust me. I just hope we play like we did against Leeds, although even so QPR are on fire atm and I'm going for a 2-0 defeat :frown:

Looking forward to when we go to Loftus road though, I love going there!!

Reply 13

Piggy's Glasses

1

RamsFanNo1

I'm prepared mate trust me. I just hope we play like we did against Leeds, although even so QPR are on fire atm and I'm going for a 2-0 defeat :frown:

Looking forward to when we go to Loftus road though, I love going there!!

I understand you're playing some attractive football this season, though? Signed a couple of talented youngsters from the lower leagues? Should be an interesting encounter. With Taraabt we are very dangerous going forward - although at the moment we're lacking a proven goalscorer so we tend to miss a lot of chances.

Anyway, better stop talking about football before we get told off by the mods :biggrin:

Picking your universities?

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you