UCAS - The worries..

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This thread is discussing and reassuring people about UCAS (applying for Universities in the UK).

I'm an Engineering student (level 3 - currently at college).
I have applied to 5 universities and there are a few things that are on my mind that makes the thoughts of the future scary for the time being.

I'm applying to do the subject of "Systems Engineering" but there are only 2 universities that do that course. 1 of the universities will not accept my course at all and the other is in the same town as me.
The other universities are related courses but not the same which makes me wonder and worry if the other courses the right thing and many other things.

I worry about interviews for not the interview room but the venturing into unknown places. I don't think its home sickness. I ideally want to go my local university (not because its close, but because it has the course I want and with already alot of knowledge about the people, campus and location makes me feel better if I got in there.. but the grades to get in + the many students/people applying because of the economy makes me worry about getting in)

My other worries are expectations (not relating to UCAS) at college where going from no assignments to many has put me in a struggle to some how manage my time without any support at all, since apparently it has to be booked a month in advance.


Being optimistic I've already got an offer, an interview, an open day invite. No word from the university I hope to go to.
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Well anyway, discuss what you think and also what your experiences might be. Who knows we might have similar stories.

Oh wow lol
I just got accepted unconditionally by dundee university, and my interview was the scariest thing I've ever done. I was so terrified of mucking up my place I forgot all the answers I'd practised and even admitted I didn't know the answers to some questions. However I had the grades and showed them I'd throughly researched the uni and course, and that impressed them.
Go for it

I just accepted my conditional offer from Manchester Metropolitan to do History. It's not the best uni around but at this point I just want to escape from home

Now all I have to worry about is accomodation and student finance.

Hiya everyone, boy am I glad to have found this thread. This is for UK please as it is the UK system I am enquiring about CHEERS!

I am currently working with a 18yr old Aspie who is a sheer genius....but a solitary one. He is very keen to do a Philosophy degree and went off to University last September with many hopes. Sadly the experience even though supported with 10hrs week help, became too much and he had to return home.

He is a very quiet, reclusive Aspie although totally brilliant at many things. He doesn't mix well and has no clue of the value of money, when he is hungry or when he is ill. Obviously he has returned home to mum and is now becoming quite depressed. I am trying to help him with accessing a Open University course or an online one. One thing is for sure that he doesn't live near a uni and couldn't cope with being an on campus undergraduate, it is just all too much for him.

Does anyone have any ideas of how best to help him. He is getting really down about it all and becoming increasingly depressed. He managed 5mths at uni and I think he deserves a medal. Mum of course is worried sick.

Thank you so much,

Yeah it is a UK system.
I've got to sort out UCAS as their system isn't updating online.

The choices for students leaving college are: Job, Apprenticeship (learn and be paid), University via UCAS and Open University (which is usually along side a job).

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What exactly is the trouble?
University covers alot of potential problems if you don't think about them.
Accommodation & Social life or work-load from the course?

I plan to apply for study support for my course; its useful to have and I only see it as beneficial.
As for Accommodation; well that is something I've got to sort out sometime in the future after I've sorted out my current work at college (they dumped all our assignments on us now, so we're against the clock).
As for social life; I know the area quite well and I met some interesting people on the visit day to Universities.

Its the minor things that I think will bug me (such as being a fussy eater), but I think its better to go into Halls than just simply renting a flat.

No sadly it was a uni quite a way away...but then again, where we live, everywhere is quite a way away. Distance Learning is my recommendation for him as the courses at the nearest uni to him are not suitable. He wants to study Philosophy and the course he wants are too far away.

Trying to access him something is proving to be a nightmare!

I wonder if it would be possible to find a philosophy tutor who will converse about philosophy with your student long-distance while a solution is found? That will help with the intellectual curiosity side while the other problems are resolved such that a full credited course (whether by distance or otherwise) can be sorted. MIT has also got some free downloadable degree-level philosophy stuff on its OpenCourseWare site which may be of interest.

Philosophy sounds to me like the type of course that should be relatively easy to study online - after all, it is a subject where it is possible to prove mastery of the syllabus purely through written means. Yet not many places appear to have formal provision for that (I've put the ones I've found in a list in case there are any options you haven't seen yet):

- The University of Wales (Lampeter)'s BA in Philosophy can, in theory, be done without doing a single class or assessment there.

- The University of London (Birkbeck) appears to do an external student programme which may be worth investigating; your student would have to turn up for exams but the coursework and learning is done at home through correspondence.

- You've mentioned Open University and they do appear to have a variety of degrees, though no pure philosophy ones.