Uni Planning: The University of York

As some of you will already know, I am currently at the oh-so pleasant stage of trying to decide what I want to do with my life for the next 4/5 years. I've been sifting through University prospectuses now for what feels like a lifetime, and although I am pretty much set on the course that I would like to take, trying to decide exactly where I would like to study seems impossible. In the past month, I have managed to visit three Universities around the UK, and although it has been super useful for helping me decide on which Universities I do and do not like, it's also been so much fun to explore parts of my country which I have never seen before. I absolutely love travelling and seeing new places. The first University I visited was the University of York, and it was the most beautiful place I think I have ever seen. As my family live up North, I'm so surprised I've never been to see the charms of the city before, but whether I get into York Uni or not, I will most certainly be visiting the city again.

The day began with a gruelling 4.30am start, as it takes around 3 and half to 4 hours to drive up to York, and we had specific times that we had to be at the Uni for. My Dad, Lena and I made it to the newly built campus at around 10am, and I felt like I was sold on the Uni as soon as I saw it. It seemed to be secluded from everything else, and was surrounded by lakes and greenery, with modern, homely buildings. It was everything I dreamed it would be, especially as York was always my favourite University just from reading through the prospectuses. 

We then proceeded to take a short bus journey to the main campus, which was slightly older but nevertheless, still very beautiful. I particularly loved how the University was surrounded by lakes and beautiful parks. I could so easily imagine myself sitting down to read and do work on the grass next to the lakes. It all just looked so perfect. 

We attended various seminars on different topics such as accommodation, finance, the History course itself etc. and the more I was told, the more deeply in love I fell with the University. I also loved having my Dad attend the open day with me, as he was pretty much clueless about all things Uni until then, and was quite sceptical about me going to Uni, but it put his mind at ease, which I was so thankful for. 

Once we had done everything we needed to at the Uni itself. we took another bus ride into the city centre, and I don't think I can quite put into words how incredible it is. It featured everything I love about historical cities, and seemed to tick every single box. It was stunning. 

We strolled round the city for the next 2 hours which included a visit to a Church converted bar (which I highly recommend visiting if you ever find yourself in York - it's called 'The Parish' and is awesome!)and a visit to the mighty Cathedral before taking a wander over to the cliché attraction of the Shambles and taking a walk across the huge wall which surrounds the city centre and has stood since the age of the Romans. I think that the city was the cherry on top of a perfect cake for me, especially as I want to study History, and the city features so much background itself.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that I will be able to study at York, especially as it does have high grade boundaries which I am not sure I will be able to meet, however, the city will always hold a piece of my heart, as I fell so deeply in love with it, and I will be sure to visit again sometime soon!

Stay posted for my blog post on my weekend visiting Southampton and Portsmouth Universities which will be available to read over the next week!

(SHOUTOUT TO MY DAD FOR BEING A FAB PHOTOGRAPHER/TAXI DRIVER FOR THE DAY)

What cities do you treasure?

I must not forget to apologize for my absence and lack of blogging over the past month or so! I wish I could say I have been up to lots and that I have many stories to tell, but in all honesty, I have quite enjoyed winding down and doing nothing much at all! I will be sure to make up for it, and have lots planned to write about! :) 

UCAS Convention 101

Every year, thousands of students all over the UK begin the gruelling process which is to be known as applying for University. For many, this is a really exciting time in their lives, but it can also be a very stressful period. It is not as simple as picking a few names out of a hat and sending off an application to then just sit and hope for the best. There is SO much more to it; sifting through hundreds of Universities, ordering prospectuses, open days, narrowing down your choices to just 5 options, getting the grades to go where you want, personal statements, just to name a few. It can be quite daunting, and being somebody who is in the situation currently, I know just how stressful it can be, however, after visiting the UCAS convention at a local University today, I feel a lot more comfortable and understanding of the whole situation.

The UCAS convention is held all around the country at different Universities and it should be within reasonable reach of almost everyone in the UK at some point or another. Universities from all over the country come together in one place, and present themselves at little stands dotted around a circuit at the location. Each stand will have a few reps from the University in question, who can answer any of your questions about the University, the area, accommodation etc. It is really useful for building your knowledge about the University itself, however, it is not guaranteed that the reps will know exactly everything about the specific course you want to do, so the information that can be given is limited to an extent, although it is very helpful to know what the University itself and life in the area
is like.

The event welcomes everybody, whether you are looking to study at University or not. Even if you are just looking to do an apprenticeship, a gap year or an internship, you will most certainly find something that will be of use to you. The convention includes stands from all different professions, and there are also talks held on useful life skills, such as writing a personal statement, which is a very useful skill to have whether you apply for University or not. You shouldn't limit your options, as it is very easy to change your mind on what you want to do in the future. Come results day, you may have very different ideas about what you want to do, or even in 10 years time, you may eventually decide that you would like to do a degree, and so you should make sure that you are educated on the topic.

Tips and Advice on Attending a UCAS Convention:

• Make sure you have some sort of idea of the courses and Universities that you are interested in. It will be a waste of time to speak to Universities who have no relevance to your future plans because of a lack of preparation, so spend some time in the run up to the convention looking around at different University websites. I did this by looking up the top ranking Universities for my chosen course here, and then researching further into the Universities that took my interest on their websites and different student blogs, to get a reliable opinion and review of the Universities.
• Make sure you take your ticket with you to the event. This can easily be done by simply saving it to your phone from the email you will be sent once you have registered. Your ticket will include a bar code which the University stands that you are interested in can scan so that they can send you relevant emails to give you more information.
• Plan a set of questions that you would like to ask the different Universities. This may seem pointless, but once you are actually at the convention, you will all of a sudden seem to loose all inspiration and thought of any questions you desperately wanted answering. By making a list before hand, you can make sure that you use your time at the convention to the best of your ability and leave feeling confident.
• Take a strong, large bag. As you can see from the picture to this post, I brought home ALOT of prospectuses. Every University at the convention will have a prospectus ready for you to take, and as you begin to collect them, they soon begin to carry alot of weight in themselves. Some stands will give out freebies including little canvas bags, but they are not the most reliable, and so to save yourself any embarrassment or frustration, I would highly recommend taking a strong bag. I brought home a total of 15 prospectuses, despite only initially planning to visit 5, so do not underestimate how much you will pick up.
• Visit the Universities you are most interested in first but do not restrict yourself. You will discover many Universities that you have never even heard of that turn out to sound incredible, so make sure you give yourself time to visit all of the stands that offer your course. 
• Don't worry about not having time to visit the seminars. You will be given a timetable of specific talks upon arrival, but all of these talks will be filmed where they can then be found online. It is more important to speak to the Universities at their stands than the seminars, because many of the seminars will not be generalisable to all Universities, and therefore, there is no guarantee that they will be of any use to you (although they will most likely be very interesting to listen to).
• If you are visiting as part of a group/school, don't be afraid to wander alone. Many people won't be planning to take the same course as their friends, so don't waste time by following your friends round to talk about things that are irrelevant to you. As well as being boring, it is a huge waste of time, so take yourself of alone if you need to to make sure that you use your time to the best of your ability.
• Don't worry about getting lost or not having a map. The stands are all arranged in alphabetical order and are positioned in a one way, snake style system, so it is easy to find your way around and get to where you need to be. 
•  Don't be shy! An event like this is not a place for you to be weary of speaking to new people. The reps welcome as many questions as possible, and are more than happy for you to speak to them for as long as you need to. Everybody will be in the same boat, so don't feel nervous about talking to new people! It will be incredibly useful for helping you decide upon your future, so seize the opportunity!
• Don't worry about the Universities of your interest not being there. There is 99% chance that every University you are interested in will be there. There are hundreds to explore. I came across Universities I had never even heard of, and so whether it is a tiny University that nobody knows of, or one of the most popular Universities in the UK, it is almost guaranteed that it will be there. 
• Don't worry too much about time. My Sixth Form spend around 4 hours at the event, and we all agreed that it was far too much time. It is completely manageable to get round every stand you need to in around 2 hours, so don't put the event of if you feel you wont have the time to go/have enough time to do everything you want to - you will have plenty of time!

So what questions should you ask?

This is especially difficult to think of on the spot when you are standing a couple of metres away from the University of choice, so here are some ideas for questions you could ask, which you should prepare in advance!

• What are the entry requirements for the course?
• How many places does the course hold?
• What modules are involved in the course?
• What is the ranking/pass rate for the University/course?
• How is the course assessed?
• Does the course offer any additional experiences e.g. study abroad, work placements etc.?
• How do the interviews work?
• Is the University based on campus?
• What is the accommodation like?
• What facilities does the University offer on campus?
• What is student life like?
• What extra curricular activities are available?
• What is the city/town like? 
• How far is it to travel from the Y to Z?
• What is the cost of accommodation?
• How easy is it to find employment after graduation?
• What sponsorships and bursaries do you offer?
• Will I have to buy my own equipment for the course and what will this include?

Also be sure to take down any contact details of the Universities so that you can contact them easily if you suddenly think of any questions after the convention.

Hopefully the thoughts from this post will inspire you to take the next step in the journey to your future, whether it be at University or working as an apprentice. I do highly recommend visiting the UCAS convention, as it can be extremely helpful in helping lead the way to whatever it is that you would like to do in the future. There is something there for everybody, and it will most definitely make the whole process alot easier.

To register yourself to attend a UCAS convention and find your nearest event, please click here.

Have you visited a UCAS convention?

What are your plans for the future?

A Little Encouragement...

As of today, year 12 and my AS exams are finished! Yippeee! I honestly feel like the biggest weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, and I don't know what to do with myself. I got home from my last exam, and I just feel quite lost. I've gotten myself into the habit and routine of coming home, getting into something comfy, working as hard as I can all evening and then going to bed. And then repeating the whole thing the next day. It feels weird that I have the time to sit and watch a movie, or just take a nap without feeling guilty. I don't know how well I'm going to adjust to the whole not having anything to do thing. I quite liked the whole productivity which came with revision.

Although my exams are over, I feel like until I get my exam results, and I've secured the grades I need and want, I wont stop stressing. Although there is nothing I can do about it any more, it will be something that plays on my mind until that terrifying day in August.

However, I came across a really inspiring video a couple of days ago. It gives the message that our futures and aspirations should not be determined by a grade. If you have worked hard, and you know that you have tried your absolute best, you can succeed in life, whether you get the grades you need or not. Exams are merely just a test of how much you can remember in one shot. It's not testing you on your ability to be able to fully understand something. It tests you on your ability of remembering information and regurgitating it. That does not show knowledge. 90% of the things I "learnt" at GCSE are now things that I can't remember at all. Not once have I had to refer back to Pythagoras theorem or the electromagnetic spectrum (what even is that?). That doesn't go to say to go into your exams with a bad attitude; you have to revise for them. Although the whole concept is frustrating, it's just how it is. If you have a bad attitude towards everything, you will never get where you want to be. What I am trying to say is as long as you do show that you are willing to put in the effort, your grades are not the only things that will define your future, which is shown through the video. 

If you are a student, whether it be at GCSE level, A-level or even University standard, you need to remember that you can not succeed at every attempt you make. If you fail in anything that doesn't make you a bad person. We can not be good at everything, and sometimes you have to try new things and find out what you're good at. And if that still doesn't work, just continue trying. There's always another way around things.

Albert Einstein could not speak until he was 4 years old and his teachers told his Mother that "he would never amount to anything". He is now known as a genius.

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He is now known as one of the greatest basketball players.

Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper company because he "lacked imagination" and "had no original ideas". His company and movies are now some of the most successful in the world.

This just goes to show that if you try your hardest, and do not let your failures define you, you will eventually succeed and get where you need to be. A lot of hard work can go a long way, and it will pay of eventually.

Good luck to everyone in the process of achieving whatever it is that you dream of. And in particular good luck to any students who are sitting any exams and are preparing for the upcoming results day! I hope everyone achieves what they deserve and want. Hopefully this post has inspired you and eased any of your worries. I know that watching the video really put my mind into perspective.

"Success in life comes when you simply refuse to give up, with goals so strong that obstacles, failure and loss only act as motivation."

(Sorry if this post is really messy and isn't very well structured. I was just jotting down all of my thoughts as they came to me. If you ever wanted to know what goes on in my head...here it is!)

P.S. If all else fails in your exams, just listen to this. I promise it will make you feel better.