Almost a year ago, UCAS opened. That's the platform used for university applications in the UK, for the uninitiated. Not every university requires a UCAS application - Brighton, for instance - but all the prestigious ones do, and as such off I went, at my school's command, to apply for courses.
I was going to apply for chemistry, though initially that wasn't entirely correct - I was going to apply for Natural Sciences at Cambridge, but I didn't in the end for several reasons. Otherwise, it was entirely chemistry focused. I intended to stay in London, but opted for some variety just in case I randomly changed my mind. At times this seemed like it would have been a mistake, but luckily it turned out alright in the end.
The application bit is surprisingly easy; a set of questions which need to be filled in, with both academic (what are your grades) and personal (what is your ethnicity) style questions. The section on nationality was rather frustrating, though, considering that you need to know your citizen status and the like, and you need exact dates and all that. However, after intense scouring, it all turned out well in the end.
The most daunting box is likely the personal statement. 4,000 characters about you and why you want to study the subject. I personally didn't consider it to be too tricky, considering that I reach that tally regularly on my blog even in the hazy days of 2024, however I still ended up going through about seven revisions.
The intricacies of chemistry have always fascinated me, in part due to how elegantly it can explain just how complex the world is on the atomic scale, I wrote as my first sentence of my first revision. Towards the end, the whole thing had been mutilated and reanimated like a pointless Frankenstein. Somehow, it was eventually sent off, and it clearly pleased some people, as I will discuss in a moment.
Apparently they're doing away with the personal statement, or at least updating it for the next generations - now you will have to answer three questions on why they want to study their chosen course, which I personally dislike since I'm all for a simple essay discussing your thoughts and opinions without being restricted by an arbitrary restriction like a specific question. I'm probably in the minority on that, though, since my personal statement was almost exclusively focusing on my chemistry blogposts - I have no sport achievements or the like to mention.
About the Cambridge mention...I have mentioned at least twice on this blog that Oxford rejected me. You can't apply for both, so why did I change my mind? Well, it was out of practicality. Cambridge require an admissions test for natural sciences, the ESAT, and this year it was its debut. I applied for the ESAT the first day I could, prepared for the worst to come, but eventually I realised that Oxbridge wasn't everything - personally, I thought that I could get just as good a university experience elsewhere, and didn't need to venture outside of London to do so. I loved seeing Cambridge when I visited, I will admit, but I didn't even know which college to apply to.
In the end, my ESAT test wouldn't be sufficient, I had applied to too few modules (only Maths 1 and Chemistry, I needed more and foolishly didn't realise this at the time). So either way I wouldn't get into Cambridge at this rate - so I decided to cut my losses and cancel the ESAT, with a refund in the process, and likely avoided being scathed in the actual assessment. One of my friends told me it was terrible, and I feel very fortunate that I didn't experience the same fate.
But I applied for Oxford because...I wanted to, and I had a keen interest in knowing how far I could go. With no admissions test, and having applied to other universities which intrigued me more than Oxford had, I was willing to take the chance. I had never been to Oxford, and the only things I know about the city is the Thames flows through it, Radiohead are from there, and they have a massive camera. If I managed to, I'd have travelled to see Millwall play Oxford United away, to get a feel for my possible future home, but alas I couldn't see them draw 1-1.
So it was a massive shock to get through to the interview stage. I had applied for Magdalen College, a prestige college with a massive deer park and rivers flowing through it, so I was willing to do well. Unfortunately, the interviews themselves largely consisted of me making poor social decisions, like erasing something I wrote on the virtual whiteboard and later getting a dressing down over the computer by the lecturer. And yes, interviews at Oxford are now all virtual, so I wouldn't have got a chance to see the city anyways. Afterwards, I knew I wouldn't get in, unless I did, so I opted to look forward to Christmas and an upcoming holiday instead.
As the offer day came, I didn't mind what would happen. When I found out I had been rejected, I moved on with my life because it ultimately wasn't my first choice anyways. Sometimes I regret applying in the first place, because I was by this point down to just four possible unis, and the one I really wanted to study at hadn't got back to me yet.
That university was Imperial College London, who I have already blogged about. And only a few days ago, they stated that they will give me an offer. I guess all the blogposts on random elements weren't in vain after all! If all goes to plan, I'll be studying there, and maybe still writing posts about South London in the process. If not, clearing always exists.
In the end, I spent more time focusing on how to apply to universities I didn't even want to go to. I suggest that applicants don't do that because that's foolish, as it just gives you more unwanted stress and that could be put to better use anyways. Luckily it all somehow worked out, which I'm relieved by. Now I can focus on maybe getting to the university, and then I can plan for an unknown future.
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