Mature students at university

Do universities ask for clarification for why you are late to apply to university? Is a "personal problems" justification enough? Or will they require details about your past?

I'd scared they'd want details about my personal problems

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 1

Reality Check

Original post by NobleLeather

Do universities ask for clarification for why you are late to attend university? Is a "personal problems" justification enough? Or will they require details about your past?

I'd scared they'd want details about my personal problems

Is withholding any personal problems from your tutor etc the most ideal way to deal wtih this?

Reply 2

NobleLeather

Original post by Reality Check

Is withholding any personal problems from your tutor etc the most ideal way to deal wtih this?

I meant applying to university. Worded it wrong.

Reply 3

Kiritsugu

Original post by NobleLeather

I meant applying to university. Worded it wrong.

You shouldn't think of yourself as having been "late" to apply. What's happened has happened and it's in the past. If you want an answer just in the odd case they ask a silly question like that, think in the mindset that it just wasn't the right time for you but now you've really thought it through and are even more motivated and determined than you ever would have been, had you tried before.

Concentrate on what you've done during that time - commitments and work that have increased your skills - what skills? and how would they help you on your course? Why are you so interested in this course? What do you hope to achieve from this course - is your path more clearly defined than before because you're surer than ever about what you want to do - it's okay if you still don't know - the world holds so many possibilities, one can never be too sure.

Reply 4

NobleLeather

Original post by Kiritsugu

Thank you, that was beautifully written.

Reply 5

BigYoSpeck

Original post by NobleLeather

All aspects about you as a person are considered, good and bad. What they ultimately care about is how will you affect their stats and how positive an impact will you have on those learning around you.

If you're demonstrating a serious desire to learn, have some genuinely useful life experience behind you, and you can convince them through your current studies in preparation for uni and your personal statement that you're going to achieve results that make them look favourable then being mature can easily be sold as a positive attribute.

Don't even consider 'personal problems' or 'late to apply'. You're not applying late, you're applying at the right time for you. And there is nowhere on a UCAS application to list personal problems (save for disabilities or access considerations) you should only be selling your positive side.

Reply 6

Trinculo

Original post by NobleLeather

Do you mean "late" in the sense that you are a mature student, or "late" in that you've missed an administrative deadline?

And how old?

Reply 7

NobleLeather

Original post by BigYoSpeck

Thank you, that was very helpful!

Reply 8

paulbarlow

ive started a hnc this year. im 49 soon to be 50. a nuber of students here in the university of the highlands and islands are pensioners. some in wheelchairs. its never to late. imlooking to do anaccounts degree over 4 years. so i willbe 54 by the time ive done, if you want it tell them the truth even if your history is diffrent. even if like me you have physical and learning problems. even if you have a criminal record it rarely stops you. good luck and apply. your future tutors will support you.

Reply 9

RachaelBee

Nobody asked why I applied when I did, they just wanted to know what I'd done in the time between, and I think applying later has actually been beneficial to me. Far from scrutinising people and expecting justification, universities often see mature students as people who have thought more about what they want to do and why, rather than a lot of teenagers not really knowing and just applying because they don't have a clue (not a dig at teenagers, I think the system we have of selecting subjects which potentially determine our career at 15-16 is a bit odd). I included some of my health problems in my application as they were directly related to me doing badly in A levels but other than that I left out any details and no questions were asked.

Reply 10

Schadenfreude65

I was 49 when I started my degree. Nobody ever asked me why I hadn't gone to university when I was younger: it just wasn't an issue.

Reply 11

BigYoSpeck

I had an interview for my access college course and I've applicant days coming up with interviews where I'll likely be asked why I want to study.

And the thing to do is tell them why you want to study now. Not why you didn't before now, but what made you want to now and why you know it's the right time for you and why you're going to succeed.

Positive information should be given at all times, not excuses.

Reply 12

Davman

I'm 51 and finished my degree this year. I started it aged 47 and at no time did anyone ask what I had been doing for the previous years. I said to a lecturer that I wished that I had done a degree sooner, to which she replied better late than never.