Dear _____________ (your name there)
Ahhh…. It’s application season again at our school. After 2 years I believe I have gained a significant degree of knowledge to help prepare you (yes you reading this!) with the application process. As you know, I have been in charge for UCAS since I arrived so I can say with confidence I can surely help you through the application process and give advice on your personal statements. You are free to come see me any time for advice or just to talk about different programmes and disciplines, which includes students who have not taken any of my classes (don’t be shy!).
This year I decided to make a website for my classes but I also added a UCAS section to help you sort through the confusion of applying to British universities. Please check here for updates.
FIRST THING’S FIRST: SHOULD YOU APPLY?
Certainly I would hope you will at least consider it and look at the different programmes, but British schools are not for everyone. Before you start the application process for British universities there are a few things you sincerely need to ask yourself:
- Do I know exactly which discipline I want to study?
- Am I familiar with the discipline and see it’s relevance to society?
- Can I afford to go to university with little or no financial aid?
Many of you are familiar with American universities but British academia is quite different. For American schools you can often declare your major after being accepted or apply for an undeclared major. Schools in the United Kingdom require students to know exactly what they want to study because it is almost impossible to change majors. It is also expected that you have knowledge of the discipline for which you are applying for (this will be necessary to demonstrate in your personal statement and in the interview). If you are uncertain about what you would like to study or have a vague idea, British school’s may not be the best choice for you. However, if you know what you want to study, have passion and dedication to study in-depth in a specialized area, and finances are not an issue, I strongly urge you to research the programmes and schools. If you find a school you are interested in you should start looking into the courses and professors in that department, and begin working on your personal statement and request a recommendation letter from a teacher (Recommendation letters should follow a specific format which you can find in the personal statement section of this website.)
IMPORTANT LINKS
1. List of British Universities and links to their websites.
The Guardian List of British Schools
2. British University Guides all in one document
British University Guidelines/Rankings and Areas of Specialties
IMPORTANT VIDEOS
CONCLUSION
After doing some research and hopefully watching the videos, if you have found a programme and several schools (or even one), I urge you to start the application process. If you have any questions – please do not hesitate to ask me in person.