Uni advice

[L'espoir]

Hi,

Im having a bit of trouble over my uni application, so I was wondering if any of you guys could help me out!

1) I had one offer from lincoln for psychology with child studies... but they have then stopped offering the course. Now they have said they will consider me for other psychology courses but Im not so interested in the other ones. Im thinking of asking if they will consider me for mental health nursing....... if i ask them to consider me for it, is this official and does it mean I wont be able to apply to another uni's course? I'm really unsure of what I want to do and I dont know if I have a time limit. I applied before the deadline but obviously this has passed now and im worried that if I did change to a course at another uni then I will have less chance of getting an offer because, although its not my fault, it is past the deadline.

2) I have had a rejection from De montfort for speech and language therapy. This was going to be my first choice.... they have said its because I dont meet the entry requirements (BBB). Now I have predicted grades of BBB so it can't be that. Could it be my grades from last year that they are talking about? I had a BDE, which were low because of mental health problems which really interrupted my college & exams. I have re took the exams last week though, but now I think about it I dont think i mentioned it in my application and maybe I should have? I dont know. Im really confused but would it be worth either me or a teacher ringing up to ask them to re consider me?


Any advice whatsoever will be appreciated, I obviously dont have any experience of this stuff so am a bit lost about what I should do

thanks

[Dopey]

1) Phone the uni's admission office, they will be able to give you the answers for this question. Went I didnt get on the course of my choice the uni let me choose any other course that still had places available. This was in the summer and after all applications had closed (basically I was choosing a place from clearing), so the situation some what different to yours. However, as it is the uni that has cancelled the course I would reckon they will do what they can to help you out. Good luck!

2) Basically there is no harm in trying. However, don't count on them reconsidering. I can't speak for the uni obviously, but given my own experiences I would have thought that they offer you a place on a different course. However, if it is the course, not the uni, that is your priority then would you consider reapplying again next year?

So, my advice in a nutshell is, phone both unis, get the correct advice from them. That way you will be in a much better position to make a decision. If De-montford wont reconsider, then I would suggest trying to defer your place at your second choice course, applying to the speech and language again, enjoy a year out and see how it goes. Then again I dont know if you are allowed to apply while you have a deferred place. Something you will have to check out. I hope this makes some sense...

But from personal experience, you need to decide whats more important to you, the uni or the course. I thought it was the course, until I didnt get into my first choice uni, then I realised that the uni was more important. I spent 3 yrs doing a course I wasnt that interested in. But I have no regrets about that. At all. I loved everything else about uni and know I made the right choice for me.

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

Originally Posted by L'espoir

1) I had one offer from lincoln for psychology with child studies... but they have then stopped offering the course. Now they have said they will consider me for other psychology courses but Im not so interested in the other ones. Im thinking of asking if they will consider me for mental health nursing....... if i ask them to consider me for it, is this official and does it mean I wont be able to apply to another uni's course? I'm really unsure of what I want to do and I dont know if I have a time limit. I applied before the deadline but obviously this has passed now and im worried that if I did change to a course at another uni then I will have less chance of getting an offer because, although its not my fault, it is past the deadline.

I'm not in England but I see no reason why you couldn't apply for more than one course/program. You can phone and ask if they would consider you for mental health nursing, although I suspect the answer would be for you to apply for that course/program. However, you did get an offer from this university, which is better than a rejection. If it is possible, take the offer and once you're accepted, see if you can switch to the nursing course/program. By accepting the offer, you avoid having no place to go.

Originally Posted by L'espoir

2) I have had a rejection from De montfort for speech and language therapy. This was going to be my first choice.... they have said its because I dont meet the entry requirements (BBB). Now I have predicted grades of BBB so it can't be that. Could it be my grades from last year that they are talking about? I had a BDE, which were low because of mental health problems which really interrupted my college & exams. I have re took the exams last week though, but now I think about it I dont think i mentioned it in my application and maybe I should have? I dont know. Im really confused but would it be worth either me or a teacher ringing up to ask them to re consider me?

Universities tend to list the minimum requirements, meaning even if you have them, you still may not be accepted if there are many other applications with marks superior to yours. Assuming your calculations are correct, the university's rejection statement likely means you met the minimum requirements but your marks were still insufficient. This happened to me when I was applying to university, the program/course had a minimum entry of approx. 80% and I had I think near a 88%, so obviously I was above the minimum, however, there were so many other applicants with marks much higher than mine, I was rejected from the program. That said, I wasn't rejected from the university because there was a similar program with slightly lower minimum requirements that they gave me an offer for, so I took it then transferred to the initial program I wanted.

If you ever had a period of low marks, it is crucial you explain any outstanding circumstances. I'm applying for my Masters degree and part of the applications for several universities has a section where I can explain why I had low marks in certain areas.

A teacher would be of no help because they are not affiliated with the college or university, so they can simply speculate. Instead, phone the admissions office at the university and see if they will provide an explanation. When I tried phoning them to see why I was rejected even though I was 8% above the minimum requirement, the person asked if I had the rejection letter that briefly stated why. I confirmed that and the person said that's all the explanation I'm getting. Perhaps you'll fare better with getting an explanation.

[L'espoir]

Thank you for the advice. I rang UCAS this morning and they said I would just have to ring universities myself to tell them why my application was late (because my original course had been cancelled).... so I rang round a few and they said they would consider me, but only as a late applicant. Personally, I think its reaaaaally unfair because Lincoln didnt tell me that the course was cancelled until it was too late, but I know Im just going to have to deal with it all the best I can. I think I am going to apply for the mental health nursing at Nottingham, it seems like a good uni, I meet the entry requirements and they said I definitely have a decent chance there as they have quite a few places left.

Guess I'll just have to wait and see!

[Dopey]

Good luck with it all. It is unfair that Lincoln pulled your course without enough notice to apply to other course, but at least other unis have said that they will consider your late application.
Nottingham is a great city, and I've visited the uni a few times. Lovely campus, good student union and excellent teaching. Hope it all works out for you