Rejected from Hertfordshire's 2d animation course

Is there a reason you didn't consider Bournemouth Uni? (different to AUB!) as they also have a great, well established 2D animation course. They see a lot of successful grads and I have heard they have a reputation for being reasonably competitive too.

Right, yeah- it's not a 2D course (Sorry, you're right - I should have been more specific & elaborated on that one more. That's also probably why OP didn't consider it) My mistake there. I hadn't looked at the course details for that one in a while and it's much more 3D heavy than I remember.

I think they also used to have a Computer Animation Art course which seems to have been scrapped. Pushing heavily down the VFX/3D route now

Hey OP. You picked some solid options for Animation and I think your other choices will likely set you up well too. I think, while I can absolutely empathise with you wanting to go to Hertfordshire, it's absolutely not a prerequisite to being successful in an animation career either. You're looking at other good, reputable, competitive courses - you're clearly highly motivated - you want to succeed - you're already thinking about your future employability. I think that goes a long way and will be clear in your work.
Is there a reason you didn't consider Bournemouth Uni? (different to AUB!) as they also have a great, well established 2D animation course. They see a lot of successful grads and I have heard they have a reputation for being reasonably competitive too.
While choosing a university plays a big role, a huge amount of studying your degree is about what you put into it. If you're really applying yourself and going above and beyond - doing work outside of your studies, formatting that work professionally, being proactive in jobsearching and advocating for yourself and your work - that will really go a long way and (at least from my perspective) is more important than what university you went to. But that's also not to undermine any of your other choices, since I think you've made some well-informed picks and they all have good rates at setting people up to go into industry. I know Escape have had some recent success sending 3D animation grads to Industrial Light and Magic. AUB have plenty of grads at BlueZoo - probably (one of) the most prolific 2D animation studios in the UK.
I think if your heart was really set on Hertfordshire (i.e. you really could picture yourself there, you liked the course but also the location, it had a big impression on you, etc.) that's a good enough reason to want to take a gap year and work on your portfolio, but I would encourage you to have a plan for if you don't get accepted second time round either - since I think that can be particularly discouraging - and I think if you want to do it moreso just to "prove that you can get in" - that's not a good enough reason (IMO) and you're better off channeling that energy into really succeeding elsewhere. You might also want to look at online communities for animation (maybe on discord etc.) where professionals and educators, more experienced animators etc, might be willing to give you some direct feedback.
I know SR user @moid is an animation lecturer at Hertfordshire who may be able to give you some of the specific portfolio advice you're looking for. I can only give you my two cents from lots of friends who've done animation and working in an adjacent industry 🙂 My specific review of your portfolio might be less useful.

Hey thanks so much for the response it really helped. I guess I was so dejected on writing the post that I wasn't really considering that wherever I went there would still be the chance to succeed but I do think you're right about the other unis being just as good.
I do still think I'll try again but I'll remember your words about applying myself outside of school and being proactive. I'm also still happy to DM you my portfolio link if you want to have a look. I'll never say no to an extra pair of eyes

So I applied to Hertfordshire's 2d animation course and was rejected without making it to the interview stage. I know they're competitive and all, but it's put me down in terms of thinking I could realistically make it in the industry. I think deep down I knew my skills weren't good enough and thought about taking a year out before applying so I could improve. I was encouraged by the people around me to attempt it at least, and worked my ass off and made it into 4/5 of my choices ( AUB, Escape Studios, Teeside and Staffordshire), but I still feel so defeated I wasn't able to get into the most prestigious one of all (from my perspective anyway, I know AUB and Escape are pretty good too).
Now I'm stuck thinking over my options. I could take my initial route and take a year out and try again, or I could just accept my portfolio wasn't good enough and go to AUB. It might still be possible for me to carve out a successful career if I attend, but there's a part of me that wants to prove that I'm good enough for Herts. I wish they gave feedback on rejected applicants, so I could at least know what to improve on. I know my weak areas, but I'd appreciate more knowledgeable people reviewing it instead. Ugh, and I also really want to know if I was genuinely considered or rejected flat out.
I get that it's asking the impossible since they receive loads of applications, though. My main questions are if it's possible to get in contact with admissions or one of the leads for the course to ask for feedback, or any person in the field or currently studying animation to get them to quickly look over it. I'm not expecting a lot of feedback, just a second pair of eyes to scan over and go ' Oh, that's not great, maybe work on it'. I'd just really appreciate anyone reaching out with some advice, please, because it's bothering me a lot. Thanks (first time poster be nice)

So I applied to Hertfordshire's 2d animation course and was rejected without making it to the interview stage. I know they're competitive and all, but it's put me down in terms of thinking I could realistically make it in the industry. I think deep down I knew my skills weren't good enough and thought about taking a year out before applying so I could improve. I was encouraged by the people around me to attempt it at least, and worked my ass off and made it into 4/5 of my choices ( AUB, Escape Studios, Teeside and Staffordshire), but I still feel so defeated I wasn't able to get into the most prestigious one of all (from my perspective anyway, I know AUB and Escape are pretty good too).
Now I'm stuck thinking over my options. I could take my initial route and take a year out and try again, or I could just accept my portfolio wasn't good enough and go to AUB. It might still be possible for me to carve out a successful career if I attend, but there's a part of me that wants to prove that I'm good enough for Herts. I wish they gave feedback on rejected applicants, so I could at least know what to improve on. I know my weak areas, but I'd appreciate more knowledgeable people reviewing it instead. Ugh, and I also really want to know if I was genuinely considered or rejected flat out.
I get that it's asking the impossible since they receive loads of applications, though. My main questions are if it's possible to get in contact with admissions or one of the leads for the course to ask for feedback, or any person in the field or currently studying animation to get them to quickly look over it. I'm not expecting a lot of feedback, just a second pair of eyes to scan over and go ' Oh, that's not great, maybe work on it'. I'd just really appreciate anyone reaching out with some advice, please, because it's bothering me a lot. Thanks (first time poster be nice)

I'm sorry for you, but the truth is that we get a gigantic amount of applicants to the 2D Animation degree (over 400 this year, and that course will hold 40 people in the first year cohort) so we can be extremely selective. That doesn't mean you don't have talent (getting into some of the other courses you mentioned shows you are serious), you were just beaten by others who had perhaps been studying the subject for longer or who had extra advice / crits to help them improve.
If you decide that you do want to apply again for us next year, you can tell your other offers that you will accept one and defer it for a year to have a gap year between school/college and university, then apply again, and if you don't get in to us, you will at least know that you have a fall back place secured. If you decide to go to this route please email me at [email protected] with a link to your portfolio so I can go through it and give you focused advice on what to improve. I am going to be horribly busy with marking and the last applicants until the end of May, so if you could hold off sending that until June that might be best (or send it before, but I doubt I will be able to get to it until June; I have quite a backlog of emails from rejected applicants who all want advice for re-applying next year)