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Stressed&overwhelmed about university choices

Hi, if anyone could help me I’d be really grateful.

So I’m in year 12 and I know I don’t have to pick what university or course I want to go to/do for ages, but I’m feeling completely overwhelmed. I have been preparing to do English Lit at Oxford for the past 2 terms but recently realised that I don’t want to English Lit at all and am unsure if I even want to go to Oxbridge.

Now all I’m sure about is that I want to do something involving politics. I don’t know whether to apply for HSPS at Cambridge, PPE at Oxford (or if I even want to go to Oxbridge), Politics BA, Politics &French BA, a three-year politics-related degree and an MA in journalism afterwards... I’ve always really wanted to go to uni but it’s like a different planet for me, I know absolutely no one who has been and would be the first person in my family to go. My school gives us a lot of help but I still don’t really know what universities (esp Russell Group) expect of you? I need to make a decision about Oxbridge soon because I have to prepare well in advance to have a chance of getting in. If anyone has any advice or has been through something similar please help me out! :smile:
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Doones
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Original post by MJ1148
Hi, if anyone could help me I’d be really grateful.

So I’m in year 12 and I know I don’t have to pick what university or course I want to go to/do for ages, but I’m feeling completely overwhelmed. I have been preparing to do English Lit at Oxford for the past 2 terms but recently realised that I don’t want to English Lit at all and am unsure if I even want to go to Oxbridge.

Now all I’m sure about is that I want to do something involving politics. I don’t know whether to apply for HSPS at Cambridge, PPE at Oxford (or if I even want to go to Oxbridge), Politics BA, Politics &French BA, a three-year politics-related degree and an MA in journalism afterwards... I’ve always really wanted to go to uni but it’s like a different planet for me, I know absolutely no one who has been and would be the first person in my family to go. My school gives us a lot of help but I still don’t really know what universities (esp Russell Group) expect of you? I need to make a decision about Oxbridge soon because I have to prepare well in advance to have a chance of getting in. If anyone has any advice or has been through something similar please help me out! :smile:


Sounds like a gap year might be a good idea - there is no requirement to go straight to university and it's important to find a course that you actually want to study. Indeed that's much more important than the university.

Also Cambridge has a Shadowing Scheme which you've missed for 2019 but could be a good idea for 2020 to give you more of a feel for Oxbridge student life
https://www.applytocambridge.com/shadowing/apply/

Edit: also look at masterclasses and tasters at local universities in topics that interest you:
E.g.
https://london.ac.uk/2019-taster-courses-are-now-live
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by MJ1148
Hi, if anyone could help me I’d be really grateful.

So I’m in year 12 and I know I don’t have to pick what university or course I want to go to/do for ages, but I’m feeling completely overwhelmed. I have been preparing to do English Lit at Oxford for the past 2 terms but recently realised that I don’t want to English Lit at all and am unsure if I even want to go to Oxbridge.

Now all I’m sure about is that I want to do something involving politics. I don’t know whether to apply for HSPS at Cambridge, PPE at Oxford (or if I even want to go to Oxbridge), Politics BA, Politics &French BA, a three-year politics-related degree and an MA in journalism afterwards... I’ve always really wanted to go to uni but it’s like a different planet for me, I know absolutely no one who has been and would be the first person in my family to go. My school gives us a lot of help but I still don’t really know what universities (esp Russell Group) expect of you? I need to make a decision about Oxbridge soon because I have to prepare well in advance to have a chance of getting in. If anyone has any advice or has been through something similar please help me out! :smile:

Bless you, you sound a bit overwhelmed with it all at the moment. I think it would be a good idea to book yourself on a couple of Uni Open days - they often have them around June time. You don't have to know exactly what course you want to do, you could book yourself onto the PPE talk, for example, as well as the straight Politics talk and find out more about both options. It might also help to reassure you that the other potential applicants are just like you - most people are a bit nervous and confused about uni in Year 12 but start to feel more confident as they go on. There's nothing magical about Russell Group - they are just research heavy unis that will seem perfectly friendly when you visit them. They tend to ask for high grades (A/B) but I'm guessing this is not likely to be a problem for you since you are considering Oxbridge. So I would just find 1 or 2 Unis that appeal to you for whatever reason and see if you can visit them over the summer - even if you end up discounting them you will have become more knowledgable just through attending the Open Day, listening to the talks and chatting to other young people there who are also thinking of applying.

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