No. 5093Anonymous 4th March 2014 Tuesday 9:28 pm5093Changing unis and applying after UCAS deadline
To cut a long story short, I'm in my third year at uni and fucking hate my course. Went into it for the wrong reasons, but in the last year I've worked out what I actually want to do. Applied for that course at my current uni, been turned down - I have ABB, they want AAB. Sent them an email explaining extenuating circumstances that I'm mentally ill and disabled, but not sure how successful that will be.
Seen the course at another uni, requires ABB if you're a mature student (which I will be) and you've got an obvious passion for the subject. Think I got that across on my email to them. Another uni I'm considering wants ABB too. Main problem I can see is that it's past the UCAS deadline. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? Would I have to apply through UCAS? Looking at the UCAS application, it looks like a right ballache to do it again. I don't know what examining bodies were responsible for my GCSEs.
Nott's Uni. I'd recognise those three arches by the lake anywhere.
Anyway, by your third year you hopefully have some contacts with the lecturers; if not, get onto that asap. You can easily find out who came from other UK universities, ask those if they have any contacts. It won't hurt. I transferred Uni in third year (to the same course, so my situation was a bit different to yours) but I'm fair certain the principle is the same. I'm not sure why you're still obsessing about what sounds like A-level results. You should have plenty of uni level exam results and maybe a couple of courseworks under your belt by now. Even if you're changing subject entirely, if you did reasonably well make sure the recruiter at the new place knows about these.
Above all, if you're beyond a notional dead line, Do Not Email. Call. Or send an actual letter. Sit down for an hour or two and practice a call, then call. Just call. The rules for re-applying are different than they are for fresh out of school folks. Ditch the A-level attitude and approach it like the adult you hopefully are: with a don't try, don't get attitude.
>>5094 Okay, I'll try give them a call tomorrow. I've not really built up good contacts, and I've not really done so well in my current course due to illness, so that makes things a bit tricky. Some modules I've got 2:1s and firsts in, others I've outright failed, which correspond with highs and lows in my personal life. Difficult to study with a combination of illness and not actually enjoying my course. I've said that one of the reasons I want to transfer is to be closer to home as that way I'll be able to keep my mental health in check a bit better, so hopefully they'll take that into account.
I didn't think A-levels would be important, but apparently they are because I've done them in the last 5 years. If I didn't, they would just consider me on an individual basis I believe.
>>5095 > I've not really built up good contacts, and I've not really done so well in my current course due to illness,
The way you phrase things, you sound like you're talking about depression. That was exactly my problem, so don't despair, though the solution (I've since had the help of therapists) requires you to put yourself out there. I'd barely spoken to any of the profs (by the by, see if you can speak to them in person) yet still they were helpful. I had the exact same profile: excelled in some, miserably failed in others. Capitalise on the one's you've done well and spend a few days (this helps you more than recruiters) figuring out what you enjoy. It may give you some confidence talking to recruiters. Nott's has some decent mental health first aiders (they suck for long term help, but blame the NHS) so do take advantage of those. Don't be me. Don't dive under at 22 and stay under until 32. You owe can do better.
>>5096 I think it's depression, that's what the GP said, but I'm seeing a specialist in a couple of weeks (after a months and months of waiting) because they suspect it's actually schizophrenia.
I'll try speaking to professors and whatnot. I got in touch with the disability support person at uni, to see if she can vouch for me with regards to flexible admissions - they can reduce A-level requirements if you suffer personal issues, but won't take into account illness and disability unless someone can vouch for me that I wasn't receiving support for them at the time I took my A-levels.
And over the past few months I've decided that I want to do psychology. Always had an interest in it, but never pursued it because my parents pressured me not to and I listened to them like an idiot. Want to go into mental health, due to my own experiences really. Treatment for mental illness is relatively poor, with ridiculously long waiting lists, and not enough people get the support they need. Reckon psychology is the best way for me to be able to pursue a career where I can give these people support. I've put that on the emails I sent to my uni and the other one, but more eloquently, and kind of hoping that will show them that despite my unsatisfactory grades I actually have a desire to study and do well in this subject.
The other unis I contacted are no longer taking people on, and my uni wouldn't flex to let me do psychology. Have got the requirements for sociology and criminology though. Think I'll do that, and then I can do post-grad study in psychology. Think that will all tie in well with mental health.
>>5099 Never had much to do with that building apart from some admin, rpg soc meetings and a few exams. I was mostly on jubblee campus. Many a night was spent sat at the lake in front of those arches with a few tinnies, though. Sosumi. Sageru for blog post.
>>5109 An anonymous site for anonymous people. Slightly more than a decade ago. If you weren't part of a.f.p. or part of the inaugural meets of anime soc we won't have met.
OP here. Decided on changing courses but staying at my own uni. However, I've changed course once before, so in three years at uni I've done 1 year of one course, 2 years of another, and I'll be here for another 3 for my new course. The uni say I can change, but the main issue here is student finance. They will only fund the final year of the degree I change to, unless they accept compelling personal reasons so hopefully they accept the claim.
Pretty scared though, because though I want to change course, I can't help but feel like a failure. I'll be 24 by the time I graduate, if all goes according to plan. That's 6 years of uni to get a bachelor's degree. I doubt that will look good to potential employers, and I know my family will be disappointed too. I want to stay in uni, and I think I need to as well, as I'm not grown up enough for the real world yet, and these last few years have hardly been the uni experience due to being fucked up by mental health issues. But then I think I might be best cutting my losses and dropping out, though I don't know what I could do then. Barely slept the last three weeks, constantly suicidal, I fucking hate this shit.
>>5226 Alternatively, failing twice but managing a degree third time round could be seen as showing great perseverance. Most people would have said fuck it by now I imagine. And at the end of a day a degree is a qualification, you're better off having one after 6 years than not having one at all.
My advise would be to make a schedule and stick to it. I find this helps in not falling into bouts of depression.
>>5093 will you really be so much happier in your course as to justify restarting everything from the beginning and spending another 3 years at uni?
you're, like, halfway through your final year
i get you hate it
but you've got, what, one term more to go through? will three more years of uni, and the upheaval it involves, and the money it costs, really be better than spending one more term on a course you don't like?
>>5236 If I continue with my current course, I'll probably have to retake the year, and then I've got another year (if not two if I stay on for the integrated masters), so realistically it's only adding one (or maybe even zero) year on to my time at uni.
