Hello everyone! Hope you are all having a great summer (despite the poor weather). As I am going into my final year of school, I have to deal with university applications which in the UK is through UCAS.
I don’t know about you but I have always been that kid who would count down the years until I would finally be at university, and away from the confinements of my secondary school. It’s not that I was bullied or anything, I just wanted to be surrounded by people who are inspiring and are devoted to their subjects. But now the moment is finally here, I honestly feel scared. Now I don’t mean I don’t want to move out, but it has hit me that this is the first major decision of my life, everything before this was planned out and all I had to do was follow what I’ve been told. I’m scared that I will make a wrong decision and regret it for the rest of my life. Okay that got intense, alas this isn’t a therapy session let’s get into what I’m doing because despite the anxiety I won’t let it get in the way of my life-long dream.
What are you going to study? Why?
I’m applying for pure Chemistry at all my 5 choices, a decision I’ve known for like 1.5 years now. Chemistry was never my favourite science, I always tended more towards physics but when I had my first organic chemistry lesson in Year 11 I fell in love with it. It’s good that I can write paragraphs upon paragraphs about the complexity of the carbon skeleton because I hopefully can recreate this tone for my personal statement, but simply put, I love it and I am good at it.
Where are you applying to? Why?
- University of Oxford
- Imperial College London
- University College London
- King’s College London
- University of Warwick
Now I know what you are going to say, yikes another Oxbridge applicant that thinks they have it all sorted out and if they get rejected they will have some massive mental breakdown. The truth is that I wasn’t going to apply to Oxford for the most of Year 12 because I didn’t think it was for me, and I still don’t think it is for me (which is why I’m going to visit it on Saturday – watch out for my first travel post!), but I can honestly say that I would rather apply and then rejected than not apply and get caught up with what ifs.
For my other options, Imperial and UCL are probably my favourite choices simply because they fit me to a T. I was born and raised in London, and I love this city so much (plus I would have accommodation sorted out yay), the thought of having to leave it is actually soul-crushing. The universities themselves are great, the courses are perfect and the locations are great. I actually spent a lot of Year 12 at UCL, through their science centre lectures and 6 weeks at the summer challenge. Imperial I had grown up seeing next to the Science Museum, so that had an impression on me, and I attended a campus tour and had a chat with an admission tutor. Although it does have a smaller campus, the facilities are top-notch and they have my favourite course by far. I got to spend a week at King’s and I really enjoyed the campus and the overall vibe, so I would likely put that as an insurance choice, and the same thing would go for Warwick.
What stage of the application are you at?
I have luckily completed everything I wanted to before writing my personal statement, so I am currently on the mission of writing a few drafts before getting back to school. I wrote my first draft on the 3/7 (school wanted an early draft), but only now am I getting really into the re-writes and currently I am on my third draft. Once I have completed it I will write a blog post on advice I have for the whole process. Additionally, I have to take the TSA S1 for Oxford, and I have done 2 past papers, but as I have currently prioritised my personal statement I am going to get more into at the end of the holidays. Plus, I am not that bothered about getting in the top 10% of the cohort because most chemists are interviewed at Oxford anyway.
So that’s about it for my feelings at the moment, if anyone has any advice for the whole process feel free to contact me because God knows how much help I need.
Good luck xx
Studytheist 