The Student Room Group

Changing Universities- procedure

Well over christmas I had some pretty bad news about a close family member. Basically, she only has a year left to live.

Soo... I sort out my essay deadlines by pushing them back a couple of weeks to the 31st of Jan, as well as filing in a mitigating circumstances form. My personal tutor is fantastic- what a superstar! He basically said "well your life comes first, university second", and has kept in touch all holiday.

The thing is, I suffer pretty badly from depression. When the time comes I don't want to be stuck at a uni 100 miles from home- I want to switch into the second year either at Surrey, Roehampton or Thames Valley. I'm really struggling with this though as there seems to be no clear procedure for this.

Would it be possible for anyone to outline the procedure for changing unis? I've emailed Surrey (awaiting a response) and spoken on the phone to Roehampton and they say that I should apply through UCAS, which is sketchy advice at best.

Help! I did have a look at the "dropping out/changing course/joining the circus" thread, but I couldn't see anything with particular relevance to my position.
PQ
General procedure for entry into the 2nd year of a course.

1) talk to your tutor, explain that you are unhappy and where you want to transfer to. Your tutor may well have contacts at that uni (or have experience of someone transferring there before so will know if the course is compatable) and so might be able to smooth the path a little.

2) contact the admissions tutor for the course/uni you want to transfer to either by email or by phone. Explain the situation, give them some information (A level grades, marks so far in your current uni, why you want to transfer to their uni, what you enjoy about the subject). Ask them if they need any more information and how you could go about applying.

3) when admissions tutor from 2) replies send any information requested (often a detailled course synopsis explaining what you're studying in your first year - this will help them decide if the two courses are compatable and therefore if you will be ok to transfer into year 2). Generally an admissions tutor will ask you to apply through UCAS.

4) Send in your UCAS form including personal statement and if at all possible a reference from your current uni tutor.

5) contact your LEA/Student Loans to make sure they are ok to handle the transfer.

6) work your arse off to get good grades in your first year (partly because you might need a good grade to transfer but also because you'll be studying alongside people who have done slightly different work in their first year so you might need to play catch up in some subjects/modules - having a good first year mark will make this easier).

7) sort out accommodation at your new uni.

This is from the transferring/dropping out/running away to join the circus thread and is the most helpful thing I've found on here about changing university :smile:
Reply 2
I know it's not much help but I know that Roehampton is part of the CATS (Credit Acumulation Transfer Scheme - at least I think that's what it is) so in theory it shouldn't really be a problem for you to transfer into the second year of a course. The best thing to do would be to call again, and ask to speak to someone in the admissions department, or even (if you can) actually go into the university and try speaking to someone in the main office. The Roehampton semester doesn't start again until 5th February, so this time of year isn't great for getting hold of people but you never know.

If you can say what course you're doing and what course you're interested in transferring to then I might be able to suggest someone who you could email directly, to get some more detailled information ... I'm at Roehampton so if you're interested in going there and you need a few pointers, I'd be pleased to help :smile:
Reply 3
Thanks Sazarina, I must have missed that- I'm a bit all over the place at the moment...

I got told by ucas that applying through them was merely a formality for transferring courses into the second year and can be done any time until the 30th June...:s-smilie:

I'm hoping for Surrey uni, Paeony, but Roehampton (so maybe I'll see you there...) is starting to sound like a better option. I'm studying sociology, which in theory shouldn't be a hard one to swap between because the first year is relatively low level.

I've got an appointment with "aware" the academic and welfare people at Bath uni, and an appointment with my personal tutor tomorrow so I'll see what they say. Thanks for your help!
Reply 4
wesetters
Ach, you really needed to do this by yesterday :frown:

not true. :smile: I'm guessing you are referring to the 15 Jan deadline for equal academic considerarion which wouldn't really affect a 2nd year transfer. They are mostly sorted informally at first then processed through UCAS as a formality.
Hey, I'm in the same boat. I'm at Hull university and i hate it. The teaching is awful and im miles and miles away from home. I'm currently studying french german and spanish. I've decided that I would much prefer to go to Birmingham University and do the same couse but not start again just join from the 2nd year. Just got to try and get it sorted, it seems like a lot of hard work and no1 ever emails you back! Thanks for the advice so far.
Reply 6
This is mainly for Melissa, as she's in the same boat as me...

Well, I've just had a bit of good news- I fired off an email to the head of admissions for sociology at surrey two days ago and got no response. I emailed again today from a different account worried that maybe the email had got caught up in a spam filter. A few hours later I called her and we arranged to meet on the 26th Jan. A good sign as it was not an outright no, apparently we need to "discuss the courses" as apparently there are discrepancies between her course and mine in the form of methods.

Well, as soon as I put the phone down I realised what I had done- I had only expanded on my semester one subjects in the email and hadn't mentioned semester two much at all. The issues she's had with my course are studied in semester two. SORTED!!! (I hope).

The weirdest thing was that during the conversation after I said who I was she said "You're from Bracknell aren't you? I remember your application from last year!" Wow. What a memory she must have!

I really hope I get in. Good luck to anyone else in the same situation.
Reply 7
Sorry to ressurect an old thread but does anyone know a rough deadline for when to do this by? I'm hoping to switch from Manchester Met to Sheff Hallam into the 2nd year. Thanks to anyone that can help.
Reply 8
I want to change from brunel University to bath university or Surrey University for my seconde year...Can anyone give me advice about this ? I m doing Electrical and Electronic Eng.. So please can anyone give me advice
Reply 9
Hello! Just wondering if the process of changing university will cost a lot?? I'm going into university this year which is already causing huge financial strain on the family so im worried if i dont like the university im going to now if it will cost a lot to change.

Thanks
Original post by charlzton
Hello! Just wondering if the process of changing university will cost a lot?? I'm going into university this year which is already causing huge financial strain on the family so im worried if i dont like the university im going to now if it will cost a lot to change.

Thanks


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