[UK universities] Dilemma of putting down my final choices

[Vvi]

My dilemma is this: I have 3 universities to choose between. Aberdeen, Leeds and Nottingham. The choice is between Leeds and Nottingham, and they are so close that I can't decide.

So what I was thinking of doing was putting Nottingham for my firm and Leeds for my insurance choice, even though they are both asking for the same amount of points (34). I honestly have no idea what I'm going to get in my exams, I'm assuming more than 34 but you never know. My reasoning behind this is that since Nottingham is ranked higher and is more prestigious, if they don't offer me a place because I don't meet the entry standards then Leeds will, as they are not so highly regarded. I don't want to put Aberdeen as my insurance because they are not ranked that well and employment prospects are only 54% compared to above 65% for the other two. Aberdeen wants a 28 from the IB.

However, both Nottingham and Leeds are oversubscribed universities (they have a lot of applicants) and I'm worried that if I fail to meet my offer, neither will offer me a place and I will have to go through clearing. Last year I checked clearing spots and Aberdeen had my course down as having 5 free spaces. So I could go there, last resort, or find another better university possibly.

Should I put Leeds and Nottingham down as my choices, or put Aberdeen even though I'm not that enthusiastic about going there? Does anyone have any experience of not having reached their conditional offer and still being offered a place? Or any experience of friends that have done so?

[moneyfaery]

Well, what are you being predicted? It's unlikely you'll fall [i]that[/i] much short of your offer, and 34 shouldn't be too tough, if it makes you feel better.

[Sandwich]

Have you had the opportunity to visit them?

In my opinion, Leeds is the nicer place, if you wanted to go on that. I stayed in the Nottingham halls of residence on a course, and thought it was comparatively mediochre. Depends what you want, I guess! Nottingham campus is also reasonably far away from the city-- I don't know if Leeds is more central? I've only visited the city, not paid so much attention to university.

Anyway, yeah, I'd go on location if it were me! Be optimistic about your grades and study hard ^___^

[Vvi]

Our school doesn't tell people what they are predicted, so I can't really guess.

And I haven't visited either one and won't have time to now. My friend visited Leeds and said it was a great place, I also like the fact that it's in the city more than Nottingham. In that case, I would be thinking of putting Leeds first and Nottingham second. Which I'm not sure is smart. So Leeds first and Aberdeen second? Or no insurance at all?

While we're on the topic of choosing, how did people choose their final choices? Did they draw up a list of pros and cons, talk to parents about it, and on what basis did you decide? I've read about 30 reviews for each university from students, pretty similar reviews.

[moneyfaery]

Can you ask your teachers individually? Explain to them the situation and get feedback as to how you're performing, etc.

[Abu]

I'd put Leeds first, and Nottingham second. Since there are ~20% international students, that says something to employers and chances are that there won't be a lot of employment fairs since employers would have to arrange for visas and whatnot. I don't think the teaching quality would be that superb, but that's just my opinion.

Oh and student life in Leeds seems to better, and Nottingham is one of the most crime ridden cities in the UK. Don't think it's that pretty either

[Vvi]

Yeah, my mind just flipped yesterday and I was considering putting Leeds first. Their Student Union is better, 2nd year students don't have to take a bus to get to university necessarily because you can walk most places in Leeds, and various other reasons. The only reason I was really considering Nottingham is because of it's higher ranking and because the Politics course is broader than Intl Relations.

But at Nottingham you can only stay in catered accommodation if you want to live in halls, and I want self-catered. If I went there, I'd be the loser staying in private apartments with no campus life. Ha. Plus their accommodation options don't sound as great as Leeds'. Oh, and apparently there's quite a lot of snobs since lots of Oxbridge rejects go there, and I'm not up for being excluded because of my accent or what shoes I wear.

But is it then smart for me to put Nottingham as insurance? Should I just think "Oh what the hell, I'll put them down and if they don't want me then they can go get stuffed and I'll go find a clearing place at a higher ranked university or apply again next year"?

Edited March 22, 2009 by Vvi

[Sandwich]

If you're at all worried about not getting 34, basically you have to think whether you'd be willing to take a year out or not. If you'd rather go somewhere than nowhere, even if it's not necessarily where you wanted to be, I'd put down your lower offer university as the insurance (i.e. Aberdeen).

After all, if you don't go to Leeds, what's the point of Nottingham has insurance if you won't have the grades for that either?

[Scade]

[quote name='Vvi' post='41408' date='Mar 22 2009, 12:09 PM']Oh, and apparently there's quite a lot of snobs since lots of Oxbridge rejects go there, and I'm not up for being excluded because of my accent or what shoes I wear.[/quote]
That is assuming all the people applying (and getting rejected) from Oxbridge are snobs They do accept proportionally more students from public (that is private in Britain ) schools than from state schools. Shouldn't the rejects then be from state schools hence not snobs?

Anyway, that's beside the point. I think you should put Aberdeen as your second choice. I don't know the exact statistics for Leeds and Nottingham, but generally other universities than Oxbridge tend to over offer a lot. That means that it is very unlikely that they will take those who failed to meet their conditions.