Tips on Making a University Choice

Hi everyone,

(Reposting this post from last year as many of you are currently making a decision, hope this helps :smile:

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As many of you are starting to make a firm choice on which university to go to in September I thought I would share some advice on how to make those decisions from the beginning stages (deciding on which universities to apply to) to the final stages (accepting your place at a university). I currently study fashion promotion and communication here at Kingston, so some steps are also catered more towards creative degrees 😊

Finding universities
The first steps I took for finding a university was looking at what universities where the best for the particular courses I was interested in. Looking at university league tables can be useful and I also used a website called which makes it easier to find which universities offer which courses, you can also filter by distance and a range of other factors you may be considering.

Also make sure to do further research on the university’s websites.

UCAS fairs and higher education fairs are also great for discovering universities or if you already have some in mind it is a good opportunity to go to them with any questions you may have for the university. The fairs basically have multiple stands with staff and students from a range of universities at each stand to represent the university.

Narrowing down/creating a top choices list
Now you have found a range of options you will probably start making a list of the places and courses you may apply for.

Using The Student Room to hear student experiences and ask questions is of course a great way to find out more! Don’t hesitate to ask reps questions as they are here to help. You can also use the search features to find posts previously done about similar subjects. I often filter my searches to ‘newest first’ to find the most up to date info.

At my college my teacher had a log of universities past students had gone to study at and they would send her their experience and rate the university from a range of factors. So maybe speaking to your current teachers, they may be able to let you know of any students who have gone on to the universities you are thinking of and share experiences.

For creative degrees looking at past student work can often be helpful. Many courses have Instagram accounts that showcase work. You could also visit degree shows and exhibitions, which can often be found online too.

OPEN DAYS!! For me this is one of the most useful forms of research that helped me decide. You can get a good feel of what it is like to live and study somewhere as well as a chance to speak to current students and lecturers. At every open day I learned something new not just about the universities, but what I was looking for in a university. Things come to light that you may have not considered before as a key factor.

Making finalised decisions and firm choice
Often students get to the stage where they are torn between a couple university. Making a pros and cons list can make it clearer to compare the two. It is also important to consider your key factors and priorities that are important to you in a university.

It is also good to plan whether it is realistic logistically. Plan out what a week or a month will cost you, create a budget, can you afford it? Will you need to get a part time job and how easy is it get one? Think about how often you can visit home. Which accommodation will you stay at? Are there societies you want to join? Really try to imagine and plan what your life will look like their and see if that is something that you want and is realistic.

Sometimes talking to friends and family can help by talking it through, they may offer advice that you have not yet considered. This helped me as they could tell which university I wanted to go to before I could.

Overall making this choice can be overwhelming as it is an investment and the next steps in your life. However, if you put in the research, you should hopefully make the best decision for you. And my mum use to tell me that I would enjoy and make the most of wherever I went, because my final two options where both places I really liked.

Here are a few others posts I have done that you may find useful
My Deciding Factors For Choosing Kingston University - The Student Room
Monthly Spending Expenses as a Kingston Student - The Student Room

I hope this helps and feel free to ask me any questions

-Grace (Kingston Rep)