Don't want to go to my firm & mitigating circumstances - what's the best thing to do?

I do realise that in writing this I'm probably going to get a barrage of negative and largely unsympathetic responses, telling me that I'm an idiot or that I'm ungrateful. Nonetheless, I wanted to get some advice from others that is hopefully, a bit more objective than the 'you're an idiot' advice that I'm getting from everybody else I know.

Basically, I got a conditional offer (A*AB) to study English at Cambridge, and due to a number of personal issues happening at the moment, I've had a change of heart and would rather study slightly more locally at Manchester, my insurance (AAA). I have had a string of ridiculously unfortunate extenuating circumstances throughout my whole education (this is probably why my Cam. offer is slightly lower), including bereavement, close family illness, the whole lot, and just at the beginning of my exams, it's happened again.

The issue isn't that they have adversely affected my performance in this case (they have a little bit, but as I say, not the issue here), but that I'd rather stick closer to home because of them. I don't think the high pressure environment, coupled with the massive distance from home is something that I'd deal well with, and ultimately, I'd be happier at Manchester. I'd been having doubts for a while as to whether I'd be happy at Cambridge regardless of this.Now I'm not asking for any sympathy, I'd just like to know the most practical way of sorting this mess out. It is completely clear in my mind that I want to go to Manchester.

Also - would it be worth contacting Manchester regarding the extenuating circumstances? My offer for there is AAA, and the first two As are pretty much guaranteed, but the third is the one I'm a little iffy on.

Thanks for your help.

Firstly, you need to phone up cambridge and withdraw from there now.
Secondly, have you got special circumstances put in for you exams? if so you can tell manchester but they might not be willing to chance or lower the offer much, worth a try though.
I had a grandparent have a heart attack the night before 3 a2 exams so know how awful it is to still have to sit the exams when its the last thing you feel like doing, unfortunately my uni choice wouldnt budge whatsoever on my offer but i did massively miss it any so wasnt expecting much.

Hey, thanks for your reply. Should I call Manchester first and check that they're willing to take me, or call Cambridge straight away?

I think my college are in the process of sorting out the mitigating circumstances for my exams, but I'm not sure Manchester are aware of the previous ones (I was advised to fill in an extenuating circumstances form for Cambridge). It might be worth giving them a call anyway. I don't think I'll *massively* miss my offer, but I doubt I'll be getting the third A.

Really sorry to hear about your grandparent by the way, it really is an awful situation.

I do realise that in writing this I'm probably going to get a barrage of negative and largely unsympathetic responses, telling me that I'm an idiot or that I'm ungrateful. Nonetheless, I wanted to get some advice from others that is hopefully, a bit more objective than the 'you're an idiot' advice that I'm getting from everybody else I know.

Basically, I got a conditional offer (A*AB) to study English at Cambridge, and due to a number of personal issues happening at the moment, I've had a change of heart and would rather study slightly more locally at Manchester, my insurance (AAA). I have had a string of ridiculously unfortunate extenuating circumstances throughout my whole education (this is probably why my Cam. offer is slightly lower), including bereavement, close family illness, the whole lot, and just at the beginning of my exams, it's happened again.

The issue isn't that they have adversely affected my performance in this case (they have a little bit, but as I say, not the issue here), but that I'd rather stick closer to home because of them. I don't think the high pressure environment, coupled with the massive distance from home is something that I'd deal well with, and ultimately, I'd be happier at Manchester. I'd been having doubts for a while as to whether I'd be happy at Cambridge regardless of this.Now I'm not asking for any sympathy, I'd just like to know the most practical way of sorting this mess out. It is completely clear in my mind that I want to go to Manchester.

Also - would it be worth contacting Manchester regarding the extenuating circumstances? My offer for there is AAA, and the first two As are pretty much guaranteed, but the third is the one I'm a little iffy on.

Thanks for your help.

x

Hey. I'm not sure my post is going to help a lot. I was thinking perhaps you could ask Cambridge to defer your offer for next year? Perhaps a gap year would be a great option so you can stay close to your family, stress-free, and that way you can completely focus on that and, if it feels right, go to Cambridge the following year.

Best of luck

Call up Cambridge and Manchester. Changing to firm manchester should be straight forward and if there is a chance that you might miss your manc offer then the sooner you let them know about your situation the better.