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Applying for highly competitive courses
Whether you are brand new to the university application process, or have been working in the education sector for as long as I have, you’ll undoubtedly have heard teachers, advisers and university staff talking about “highly competitive courses”.
It’s a term bandied about with little thought. On one hand teachers use it to make sure students take their applications seriously, and don’t make assumptions about their chances of getting into university. On the other, it is used by universities to make their courses seem more attractive; the more unattainable a course is, the more people want to get into it!
So, as students, applying through UCAS for the first time, how do you know which courses are genuinely “highly competitive”, and if they are, do you really need to do anything different with your application?
University admissions interviews: What they’re for, what they’ll include and how to prepare for them!
Potentially one of the most intimidating parts of the whole university selection process is the admissions interview.
Most advice I’ve seen on interviews tends to revolve around what questions you might be asked and what to wear. I’ll get to these a bit later, but I’ll start by looking a little deeper into why you are being interviewed, what structures the universities might use, who might be involved in these, and what impact it could have on your admissions. The more you know about this, the more sense the whole process will make, and the better you can prepare yourself.
Top 10 things I learnt at the University of Cambridge Open Day
A few days after I’d been to the University of Oxford Open Day I had a message from a long-standing friend that he’d be attending the University of Cambridge Open Day with his son the following week. Did I want to meet up?
I thought for at least half a second before replying a very positive “yes”. After seeing Oxford, what better than to see their nearest and dearest rival on equal terms. And of course to catch up with an old friend who I hadn't seen for a couple of years (you know who you are!)
So off we went, on a beautifully sunny day to visit the University of Cambridge!
Top 10 things I learnt at the University of Oxford Open Day
At the start of the summer, I was staying with my brother in London, and his niece had booked to attend the University of Oxford Open Day. “Would I like to go along with them?” they asked.
In my 30+ years working in universities, I’ve visited Oxford numerous times, and I’ve shared a stage with University of Oxford admissions tutors even more often. But I’ve never been to an Open Day there, and I’ve never been right inside any of the individual colleges. I couldn’t resist the opportunity!