Getting into HE: The Applicant Journey

HE provision in the UK305 +40,000 +UCAS is the central organisation through which applications are processed for entry to full-time higher education courses in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.Undergraduate degreesFoundation degreesHNC / HNDCertificate / Diploma of higher education

Universities/CollegesCourses

2012 was a record breaking year for UCAS474,746 Applicants accepted onto a courseRoughly equivalent to the whole city of Edinburgh

End of cycle figures (16 November 2011)

Acceptances in the UK from ROI in 2011 (2010)Scotland 665 (781)

England 1597 (1377)

NI 517 (447)

Wales 236 (251)

The UCAS journey12345678910Potential applicant researches and finds a courseRegisters online with UCAS ApplyCompletes form and processes paymentAcademic reference added by school / collegeSchool / college sends form electronically to UCASUCAS processes form and forwards to chosen HEIsHEIs submit decisions (offer or unsuccessful)Applicant views decisions on TrackApplicant replies to offers on Track (Firm / Insurance)HEIs confirm places when results are released

Summary

Course search- summer

Personal statement - summer

Apply - Sept/Oct

Key features of admissions schemeMaximum of 5 choicesSome choice restrictions:Medicine, Veterinary, Dentistry max 4 choicesOxford or CambridgeSimultaneous considerationInvisibilityApplication fee for 2011 - 21 or 11 for single choice

15 October:Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary and Oxbridge applications

15 January:Deadline for all courses except those with 15 October and 24 March deadline

24 March:Deadline for some art and design courses

However a school may give earlier deadlinesImportant dates

Experiential researchObtain a real feel for the institution, subject, course, career:

HE ConventionsInstitution Open DaysTaster CoursesSubject specific eventsCompose your FutureDesign your FutureExamine your FutureCareer Fairs

Paper based researchBig MapBig GuideUCAS progression guides

Onlineresearch

Hereford College of ArtsEdinburghCollege of ArtUniversity of BrightonUniversity of Abertay DundeeOxford UniversityUniversity College LondonDuchy CollegeUniversity of ExeterWest Thames CollegePost-it isor Post-it isnt

Possible Chemistry HE coursesMedicinal ChemistryChemical PhysicsEnvironmental ChemistryChemical EngineeringBiochemistryChemistry with Patent LawChemistry with NanotechnologyChemistry with OceanographyChemistry for Forensic ScienceChemistry for Drug Discovery

Course research Course search

2012

subject

single subject

entry requirements

other tariff Leaving Cert.

college website

Universities a good starting point

Personal Statement STATS

Maximum characters 4000 Maximum lines47

No bold, italics or underlined Apply times out after 35 minutes of inactivity

No spelling or grammar check

Only 1 PS for every subject

5 most common mistakes . . .. . .definitely avoid these5 very common phrases used in opening sentence try and avoid themUCAS

1 Spelling

2 Grammar 3 Naming one University 4 Just listing activities 5 First attempt is final version

1 I have always . . . .

2 My interest in . . . . 3 I would like to study . . . .

4 I have chosen . . . .

5 My decision to . . . .

Personal Statement - its all about you Your opportunity to tell the institutions about you:What are your academic achievements talk about a piece of work you are particularly proud of How do your current academic achievements link to your chosen subject?

What interests you about your chosen subject area:Why does it interest you?What do you already know about it?What elements of the subject do you particularly enjoy and why?Life after university where will it take you?

Where to start? What makes you unique? It doesnt matter what youve done provided it reflects the skills and attributes that the institution have expressed are important.Here are some example questions that you could use to help

What will the reader be looking for?= relevant (and transferable) skills and abilities

What will make the reader pleased?

Avoid writing listsI play hockey for the school, I sing in the choir, I belong to a drama society, I am taking part in the Gaisce Award, I work in Tesco on Saturdays and I shop for my granny on Mondays after school.

Expand on your activitiesI have been an active member of the School Musical Society for the last three years. This has been exciting as I have had the opportunity to work collaboratively in a creative context with other students, to design sets and costumes for Grease and Footloose. I am sure this experience will prove to be valuable as I study costume design.

Concluding Personal Statements

End personal statement on a positive note, use opportunity to impress

I am looking forward to becoming a psychologist OR I am passionate about working with young children in the future and therefore am highly determined to make the most of my degree and achieve my ambition to become a developmental psychologist.

Activity

Benefit

CourseActivity

Benefit

CourseWhat youve done

What skills it has given you

How these relate to your coursePersonal statement ABC RULEGood

Better

Best

Keep it honest and when Im not working towards World Peace, I enjoy learning languages from scratch, writing symphonies and playing a standard of golf that Tiger Woods can only dream about.

Similarity Detection ServicePersonal Statements are checked against a library of those already in the system, and from a variety of websites and paper publicationsEach new statement is added to the library after processing

Questions

Fees 2012? England 6,000 - 9,000If over 6,000 show how some of the additional income is used in making progress in WPHEIs have not declared their fees to dateWales Basic tuition fees 6,000 - 9000 per annumThe assembly government will meet the cost of extra fees for students from Wales attending any UK university.NI will possibly follow England (has said cannot follow Wales)ScotlandNo decision expected until after elections in May

UCAS Tariff Irish Leaving CertificateHigherOrdinary

GradeTariffA190A277B171B264B358C152C245C339D133D226D320

GradeTariffA139A226B120B214B37

Questions

Not a good idea

To be intellectually pretentious e.g. ranting about a political situation Use misdirected humour e.g. Sarcasm Commit GBH on the English/Irish languagee.g. To be sure, so I will Have spelling or grammar errorse.g. Recieve

Go thesaurus mad

Refer admissions tutors to your website instead of writing a personal statement

Forget to explain how you know it is the right course/vocation for you

Copy, borrow or pay

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Accept 21 to 24 = + 1.8%

Accept 25 yrs and over = + 4.6%

Total acceptances = + 3.1% **********

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