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Which unis should I apply to?

Hi again. I've asked a lot regarding the uni choices on this forum, so you might have seen my previous questions somewhere on here. However, because I'm an extremely indecisive person and I have just received my predicted grades (not my real grades), which are A*AA, I planned to apply to Bath, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Lancaster, and Loughborough. (I also have other uni choices, such as Birmingham, Exeter, or Leeds, and I'm planning to apply for the undergrad course of Business Management with Marketing with a placement year, or Management, it depends on the uni). I'm an international student, and I just want to have some opinions and advice on which five unis I should send my application to as I'm uncertain that I will receive an offer from Bath, St Andrews, or Edinburgh as I know they are extremely hard to get into and also highly competitive, and I don't want to waste any chance as I know we only get to apply to five unis and can only choose two firm choices so it would be lovely if you guys can share some of your information or any guidance for my uni application. Thank you so much!!!
It sounds like you’ve got a fantastic range of universities in mind, and I totally understand your concerns about the competitiveness of some of them. With your predicted grades of A*AA, you’re in a strong position, but as you mentioned, some of these universities are highly selective. Here’s my advice:

1.

Bath, St Andrews, Edinburgh: These are definitely prestigious, but as you rightly said, they’re very competitive. If you feel like your chances might be a bit lower with these, it could be a good idea to apply to one or two of them as your "dream" choices, but maybe not all three. It’s good to aim high, but balance that with some slightly safer options too.

2.

Lancaster, Loughborough: These universities are great choices, and while competitive, they may offer you a higher chance of an offer compared to the top-tier ones. Both have excellent reputations in business-related courses, and Loughborough’s placement year options are particularly strong, which could be a big bonus for your career prospects.

3.

Birmingham, Exeter, Leeds: These are also solid choices with strong business and marketing courses. They’re well-respected universities and may offer a more realistic chance of securing an offer, especially if you want to increase your chances of getting a firm offer.

My advice would be to mix it up a little bit apply to one or two of the more competitive unis (Bath, St Andrews, Edinburgh) for your dream choices, and then balance that with universities where you’re more likely to get an offer, such as Loughborough, Lancaster, or Leeds. It’s all about finding that balance between ambition and realism. Good luck with your application!
Reply 2
Original post by john76778
It sounds like you’ve got a fantastic range of universities in mind, and I totally understand your concerns about the competitiveness of some of them. With your predicted grades of A*AA, you’re in a strong position, but as you mentioned, some of these universities are highly selective. Here’s my advice:

1.

Bath, St Andrews, Edinburgh: These are definitely prestigious, but as you rightly said, they’re very competitive. If you feel like your chances might be a bit lower with these, it could be a good idea to apply to one or two of them as your "dream" choices, but maybe not all three. It’s good to aim high, but balance that with some slightly safer options too.

2.

Lancaster, Loughborough: These universities are great choices, and while competitive, they may offer you a higher chance of an offer compared to the top-tier ones. Both have excellent reputations in business-related courses, and Loughborough’s placement year options are particularly strong, which could be a big bonus for your career prospects.

3.

Birmingham, Exeter, Leeds: These are also solid choices with strong business and marketing courses. They’re well-respected universities and may offer a more realistic chance of securing an offer, especially if you want to increase your chances of getting a firm offer.

My advice would be to mix it up a little bit apply to one or two of the more competitive unis (Bath, St Andrews, Edinburgh) for your dream choices, and then balance that with universities where you’re more likely to get an offer, such as Loughborough, Lancaster, or Leeds. It’s all about finding that balance between ambition and realism. Good luck with your application!

Thank you so much for your advice! They've been extremely helpful and I think I would follow your opinion on applying to only 1 or 2 of the pretigious uni choices.
Original post by MarthaTrinh
Hi again. I've asked a lot regarding the uni choices on this forum, so you might have seen my previous questions somewhere on here. However, because I'm an extremely indecisive person and I have just received my predicted grades (not my real grades), which are A*AA, I planned to apply to Bath, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Lancaster, and Loughborough. (I also have other uni choices, such as Birmingham, Exeter, or Leeds, and I'm planning to apply for the undergrad course of Business Management with Marketing with a placement year, or Management, it depends on the uni). I'm an international student, and I just want to have some opinions and advice on which five unis I should send my application to as I'm uncertain that I will receive an offer from Bath, St Andrews, or Edinburgh as I know they are extremely hard to get into and also highly competitive, and I don't want to waste any chance as I know we only get to apply to five unis and can only choose two firm choices so it would be lovely if you guys can share some of your information or any guidance for my uni application. Thank you so much!!!

Hi @MarthaTrinh
Congratulations on your great predicted grades! I would recommend splitting your 5 option choice to include 2 dream universities that you aspire to go to most, and also include 1 or 2 universities with slightly lower entry requirements to act as safe options.
In terms of Lancaster, we have a wide variety of business and management course including ones with placement years and study aboard options, so I would recommend looking through all the course variations and seeing what types of modules you could expect to study on each course and see which interests you the most Undergraduate Courses - Lancaster University.
Hope this helps, and if you have any questions about Lancaster, feel free to ask!
-Jasmine (Lancaster Student Ambassador)
Original post by MarthaTrinh
Hi again. I've asked a lot regarding the uni choices on this forum, so you might have seen my previous questions somewhere on here. However, because I'm an extremely indecisive person and I have just received my predicted grades (not my real grades), which are A*AA, I planned to apply to Bath, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Lancaster, and Loughborough. (I also have other uni choices, such as Birmingham, Exeter, or Leeds, and I'm planning to apply for the undergrad course of Business Management with Marketing with a placement year, or Management, it depends on the uni). I'm an international student, and I just want to have some opinions and advice on which five unis I should send my application to as I'm uncertain that I will receive an offer from Bath, St Andrews, or Edinburgh as I know they are extremely hard to get into and also highly competitive, and I don't want to waste any chance as I know we only get to apply to five unis and can only choose two firm choices so it would be lovely if you guys can share some of your information or any guidance for my uni application. Thank you so much!!!

You always have 5 choices so u have some that you can apply to, what helped me the most is visiting open days where I choose RGU
Original post by MarthaTrinh
Hi again. I've asked a lot regarding the uni choices on this forum, so you might have seen my previous questions somewhere on here. However, because I'm an extremely indecisive person and I have just received my predicted grades (not my real grades), which are A*AA, I planned to apply to Bath, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Lancaster, and Loughborough. (I also have other uni choices, such as Birmingham, Exeter, or Leeds, and I'm planning to apply for the undergrad course of Business Management with Marketing with a placement year, or Management, it depends on the uni). I'm an international student, and I just want to have some opinions and advice on which five unis I should send my application to as I'm uncertain that I will receive an offer from Bath, St Andrews, or Edinburgh as I know they are extremely hard to get into and also highly competitive, and I don't want to waste any chance as I know we only get to apply to five unis and can only choose two firm choices so it would be lovely if you guys can share some of your information or any guidance for my uni application. Thank you so much!!!

Hi @MarthaTrinh

I would very much agree with the advice given by the other people here. You do get to pick 2 choices, one as a firm choice and one as an insurance so if you don't manage to get the grades for you firm, you will automatically be considered for your insurance if you have the grades etc. All those unis are very good and I'm sure you will enjoy whichever you choose! A tip I'd say is to look at the modules you will be studying and ultimately apply for the unis that have the modules you think you would enjoy studying the most.

Hope that helps,
Rachel - Lancaster University Student Ambassador

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