Is it 'too late' to send my application off mid November?

I know the deadline isn't until January but I'm confused as what to believe. Some people say universities will consider ALL applicants until the deadline others say its a first come first serve.

Is mid November too late?

Any advice would be appreciated. :smile:

Reply 1

>Username<

OP

19

Original post by returnmigrant

Urban Myth #289b - There is a small bucket of offers and once they've all gone, the admission staff go on holiday for the rest of the winter.

Wrong. ALL applications before the mid-January deadline get 'equal consideration'. Universities are all scrupulous about this fundamental principle of UCAS admissions. No exceptions. You stand exactly the same chance of an offer in early January as you do in October.

I rang up a university and they said they give offers on a first come first serve basis. Plus teachers have said the same thing. :s-smilie:

Its so confusing when everyone says different things. :s-smilie:

It seems unfair to simply give out offers before the deadline...

Reply 2

goonermk

10

I started getting my Application ready on 23rd September, and I'm 99% done so no, it's not too late at all.

Reply 3

returnmigrant

21

Original post by >Username<

I rang up a university and they said they give offers on a first come first serve basis.

Which University?

Reply 4

returnmigrant

21

Original post by >Username<

It seems unfair to simply give out offers before the deadline...

I and several other people have explained this issue at length several times in the last few months but clearly I need to do it again.

Universities have worked out over the vast number of years they've been processing applications, how many applications they tend to get for each course. From this they give out offers based on required grades, strength of PS and reference. They know this will give them an approx number of Offers (ie. of each 100 applications, a certain % will be worthy of an offer. Again this is based on data from umpteen previous years.)

They know (again from past experience) the vague % of these offers that will go Firm, go Insurance and from these, approx how many students will actually get the grades and walk through the door in October.

Trust us. We've been involved in University admissions a great deal longer than any of you have. There is no University in Britain that 'runs out of offers' before the January deadline.

Reply 5

>Username<

OP

19

Original post by returnmigrant

Which University?

Bristol, Birmingham, Keele.

:s-smilie:

Reply 6

CoffeeAndCake

Original post by returnmigrant

Which University?

Original post by >Username<

Bristol, Birmingham, Keele.

:s-smilie:

I was told the exact same thing by Admissions staff at Edinburgh and Durham.

Reply 7

returnmigrant

21

Original post by >Username<

Bristol, Birmingham, Keele.

Who exactly did you speak to at each of these Universities who you say told you that they gave offers out 'on a first come, first served basis'? Did they explicitly tell you that anyone applying near the January deadline would not get an offer because of this? Can you remember exactly when you phoned them?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 8

returnmigrant

21

Original post by CoffeeAndCake

I was told the exact same thing by Admissions staff at Edinburgh and Durham.

Who at each Uni told you this, when, and what did they actually say?

[I'm trying to establish whether you (and others) have actually misinterpreted them saying something like 'you have to apply before the January deadline to be certain of getting an offer?']

Reply 9

CoffeeAndCake

Original post by returnmigrant

Who at each Uni told you this, when, and what did they actually say?

[I'm trying to establish whether you (and others) have actually misinterpreted them saying something like 'you have to apply before the January deadline to be certain of getting an offer?']

Edinburgh Arts Admission Office, at an October Open Day in 2013:
'If you're a good applicant and get your application early, we would expect to give you an offer early. We offer on a first come, first serve basis, but we do hold some borderline candidates over until after the January deadline.'

Durham, St Chad's College, at an October Open Day in 2012:
'We're very oversubscribed and the majority of very good candidates apply to us early. If you decide to apply closer towards the January deadline, there's a good chance we won't even see it'
In fairness, he could have been referring to his specific college, as opposed to the university as a whole, but it was very ambiguous...

Neither specifically said the phrase 'you will be disadvantaged if you don't apply early', probably because they're not allowed. But the way they phrased their responses and their general tone very much suggested that that was the case, and it was definitely what they were insinuating.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 10

returnmigrant

21

Original post by CoffeeAndCake

..

Thanks for the info.

I'm going to do some test calls tomorrow as if this is what is being said to applicants, UCAS need to know who is saying it!

Reply 11

CoffeeAndCake

Original post by returnmigrant

Thanks for the info.

I'm going to do some test calls tomorrow as if this is what is being said to applicants, UCAS need to know who is saying it!

From an applicant's point of view, it doesn't really matter whether UCAS allow it or not. Even if they were to get in trouble for saying these things to applicants, they would probably just get a slap on the wrist and continue running their admissions process the way they have been.

Regardless of whether it's 'technically allowed', at some universities you have an advantage if you apply early. Therefore it seems common sense to try to apply as early as you possibly can.

Reply 12

BrainDrain

18

Original post by CoffeeAndCake

Edinburgh Arts Admission Office, at an October Open Day in 2013:
'If you're a good applicant and get your application early, we would expect to give you an offer early. We offer on a first come, first serve basis, but we do hold some borderline candidates over until after the January deadline.'

Durham, St Chad's College, at an October Open Day in 2012:
'We're very oversubscribed and the majority of very good candidates apply to us early. If you decide to apply closer towards the January deadline, there's a good chance we won't even see it'
In fairness, he could have been referring to his specific college, as opposed to the university as a whole, but it was very ambiguous...

Neither specifically said the phrase 'you will be disadvantaged if you don't apply early', probably because they're not allowed. But the way they phrased their responses and their general tone very much suggested that that was the case, and it was definitely what they were insinuating.

Well that looks like a couple of examples encouraging early applications and is enough to make guys wonder what to do for the best

Reply 13

returnmigrant

21

Original post by CoffeeAndCake

Even if they were to get in trouble for saying these things to applicants, they would probably just get a slap on the wrist and continue running their admissions process the way they have been.

Believe me, a UCAS or HESA audit is not what any University wants!

Reply 14

jvc95

9

When would you say to start applying? I haven't even started on my UCAS! Let alone my personal statement...

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 15

jelly1000

21

Original post by jvc95

When would you say to start applying? I haven't even started on my UCAS! Let alone my personal statement...

Posted from TSR Mobile

You really do need to start drafting your personal statement so your teachers have time to look at it and write your reference, they do have other things to do as well.

Reply 16

jelly1000

21

Original post by >Username<

I know the deadline isn't until January but I'm confused as what to believe. Some people say universities will consider ALL applicants until the deadline others say its a first come first serve.

Is mid November too late?

Any advice would be appreciated. :smile:

well I applied mid December in the 2010-11 cycle and got 5 offers still from Leeds, Birmingham, UEA, Portsmouth and Nottingham Trent so I wouldn't say November is too late. Better to apply then with the best personal statement possible and well considered choices than rush things and be unhappy down the line.

Not at all.

Several phone calls later .........

Whilst I appreciate that in principal any University could stick to the official line of 'equal consideration' in public and do something different in private, the results of my phone calls were adamantly 'equal consideration'. This was the same if I was phoning pretending to be a Year 13 teacher or my teenage neighbour was asking, and also how we asked; 'but I was told at the Open Day....' or 'Is it true that ....'. At several Unis we were put through to an Admissions Tutor, at others spoke to Admissions admin staff. ALL (all the ones named here plus a couple of others) were very clear that any application received just before the January deadline would be regarded in the same way as one received now. Courses are not 'closed' (formally or informally) before that point.

Several said that they might make immediate decisions on obvious 'Yes' or 'No' applications immediately and hold the others as a 'gathered field' until the Jan deadline had passed and select the top applications from that group but that no application would be excluded from being looked at even if it arrived in the last few days.

It might interest you to know that several of the named Unis told us they have a centralised decisions making office now - ie. applications are not actually looked at by specific academics in the Depts at all any more - and that therefore this behaviour cannot be some sort of 'secret' since it would be blatantly obvious to managers further up the tree if applications were being disregarded in Dec/Jan. One admitted that this centralisation was in order to stop any possibility of what she called 'maverick' academics exercising their own personal prejudices/habits over applications and ensuring that every application to whatever Dept was assessed in exactly the same way across the University, ie. processes are in place that are designed to stop exactly this sort of thing happening.

When I raised the question of 'but we were told at an Open Day', one Uni could see one way this impression might be given. The word 'early' is a bit ambiguous since they call all applications made before the Jan deadline 'Early' (as opposed to 'Late' - after the Jan deadline), therefore 'If you apply 'early' you are more likely to get an offer'.

I know there will be conspiracy theorists who will not be reassured by any of this, and will still be convinced that all sorts of favouritism is being exercised in a myriad of different ways that will explain exactly why they never got an offer from XYZ University. On the other hand, you could just accept that they didnt like your application.