Applying in 2011

I'm guessing it's one of the reasons you're applying isn't it? haha

I originally started looking at unis in the UK because of my anglophilia.

That's me right there...I've been going strong for 2 years now and have shown no sign of stopping.
I'd say that even our activity on this forum is a pretty good sign of our being anglophiles.

I totally agree, the culture (or what I've seen of it thus far) is so much better than what we have here. I stopped watching TV a year ago for my New Year's resolution but I do relapse sometimes and watch British programming on TVO. Haha, I've even stayed up till 2 in the morning listening to CBC because they switch to BBC programming overnight.

Haha, no way! I didn't know that. I'll look sometime. I have Rogers so I watch the two BBC channels regularly. They are the only two channels I watch actually, lol. Though, Showcase often has British programming in the evening and late on weekends. You could always try that, too.

Haha, wow, we sound so lame . Thats okay though.

How is the anxiety about going to uni in the UK? If I started planning as early as you, I'd be anxious and off the walls excited to the point where I wouldn't be able to stand it because it would seem so far away.

Right now, I'm totally freaking out! It's going to be so exciting moving there in literally a few months time!

We canceled our cable because no one in our family really bothers with television anymore. But, I do watch BBC News World at friends houses (to their horror)...

I'm just glad I can mention this to someone without them thinking I'm mental for being in love with a country I don't even live in.

Anxious is putting it lightly. I'm quite literally counting down the months. I've talked about it to my family and friends so much that now they hardly bother listening to me anymore.

I would absolutely kill to be in your position. You are so lucky.

Aha! Trust me, I know what you mean. I never talk about it to anyone. A couple of friends noticed my fascination and were weirded out. I can't help it though! Only, like, one of them understands. Well, he understands a tiny bit, but that is only because he is a mild anglophile. Not as severe as me though so, at a point, he starts thinking I'm weird, too, lol.

Ha, well, calling me lucky is arguable. Sure it is months until I go, but I'm about to go through hell just to get there. My parents are pretty firm in them not wanting me to go. Actually, its more my mother than anything. My dad says nothing simply because he doesn't want to feel her wrath which doesn't make sense because they are divorced. I'm pretty firm in my decision though. I'm definitely doing it. If my mother tries to stop me, I'm giving my dad sole custody of me . It'll all work out. I'm just not looking forward to the intense battle that is to come, lol.

If your mother doesn't let you how are you going to fund your way, it's really quite expensive-but of course you know that.

My dad. He is the one who will have custody of me so he'll be able to control the money that was intended for my education. It works out quite nicely. Plus, if I said I was giving my dad sole custody, she will just give in and let me go. At least, I hope she will. Either way, I have to do this. I've spent my whole life making decisions based on what other people wanted and expected of me. It is about time that I do what I want and what is best for me.

Exactly! University is such a life altering thing and if you let others make the decisions for you then you might regret it for your entire life. But it sounds like everything's going to work out fine.

You get it! I wish my mother understood, too. You should have seen how she was trying to push me even before I brought up the idea of studying in the UK. Constantly pushing me to apply for courses I didn't want or nagging at me to apply to certain schools I wasn't interested in (Speaking of which, yesterday I got into Carleton! Doesn't help in terms of going to university in the UK, but it certainly is exciting because it distracted me from my Track obsession ). Got so much worse when I told her I wanted to go abroad. With university being so life altering, like you said, I can't make decisions just because other people want me to make them. I don't want to be miserable for four years. I know if I stayed here, I would hate it and I would be regretting it forever. Plus, going to university there makes my secret plan of living there after university much easier, hehehe. 'Cause a) I'd be living there already, and b) I think it'd be a lot easier to get a job there if I went to university there.

Thanks .

Not only would you be miserable for four years here, you'd probably have to live here upon graduation, and get a job related in your field...If worst came to worst, it would kind of ruin your life :|
If you get in, go. To hell with what everyone else says, because they're going to have to come to terms with it eventually.

LOL I want to live there after graduation too!

We clearly make great life decisions.

Exactly! It would make getting a job there a whole lot more difficult. Sure, it'd be possible, but still more difficult. Last thing I want to deal with is difficulty. Plus, if I went to uni there I could make some good friends and actually be able to have them in my life. If I went to uni here, I'd make friends, but then I'd move there and be all alone. Doesn't sound very appealing.

Haha, thanks for the encouragement .

Oh, really? haha, great minds think alike .
Anywhere in particular you are interested in moving to, or haven't thought about it yet?

No problem.

I'm opting for the London because that's probably where I'll be practising...But, I do adore the countryside so I guess I'm going to have to invest in some sort of country house if finances let me. How about you?

And btw, I was wondering, other than Worcester, where did you apply to?

Other than Worcester, I applied to Birmingham and Wolverhampton. My heart is set on Birmingham though. I'm absolutely in love with it. The city, the campus, the course, everything! It seems perfect for me.

That actually leads into where I'm thinking of living afterwards. I'd love to stay in Birmingham. In my opinion, London is overrated :P. Not that it doesn't seem fantastic! It truly does. I'd just like to see other places. Plus, its quite expensive to live in London I hear. Birmingham on the other hand is less expensive in terms of living, yet it is still a huge city. I'm definitely a city person. A lot of other factors have come into play as well, though.

Haha, you're just reaching for the stars, aren't you? Living in London, but also having a country house. Nothing wrong with that. Best of luck! Would be quite nice to have a country house to stay in every once and a while. Good to get away from it all.

I chose London because I want to work in larger firms ( I'm scared about working 50+ hours a week though) and the country house is just a mere fantasy that will probably never happen. Maybe a weekend in the country is more realistic. I too am a city person and I need lots of people around me or I feel cut off from everything...

I requested a prospectus from Birmingham! It sounds like a great place...And I think Birmingham is the second largest city in England?

I just have another question, all of the universities say that they need "6 courses at U level" or something along those lines. I go to a semester school and we only take 4 subjects a semester, so how are they going to see my other 2 courses its really quite confusing...

It is the second largest! Yet, from what I can tell (mostly from videos on the Birmingham website), there is a lot of greenery everywhere. Looks so nice. Seems to have a great community feel, too, which I like a lot. I wouldn't want to go anywhere else to be honest .

Ah, yes, i go to a semester school as well. Well, the same thing goes for university here. You need to have six U courses. All they will do is give you a conditional offer which they will expect you to meet. After you have completed the courses and can prove that you have done six U courses via your transcripts - or in some cases, just your dimploma like was requested by Worcester - you just send it to them and they will see that you have all six. At that point, your offer becomes unconditional. Simple as!

Do you know what they would write on the conditional offer?

Would it be something like

"You're expected to achieve

xx in English

etc, etc? "

would they do it for every single subject, or average it out?


(sorry for all the questions, I just have no one else to talk to )

To be honest, I don't think unis in the UK really know or care much about overseas qualifications (at least not from Canada ) because their offer letter was practically broken English. This indicates to be that they have no idea about our qialifications because they clearly cut and paste what was written in my application. I'll paste here what exactly was said in my letter.