APPLYING TO UNIVERSITY

APPLYING TO UNIVERSITY ADVICE & GUIDANCE SHEILA KAY May 2008

ADMISSIONS at RGU WHO, WHAT & HOW • WHO WE ARE • WHAT WE DO • HOW WE CAN HELP UCAS AND HOW TO APPLY • APPLICATION ADVICE • PERSONAL STATEMENTS & REFERENCES • INTERVIEWS AND SELECTION VISITS • OFFERS, CLEARING & LATE APPLICATIONS • POINTS TO REMEMBER

ADMISSIONS • WHO WE ARE • A team of 11 staff, working as a central support department to all 3 Faculties • Aberdeen Business School • Faculty of Health & Social Care • Faculty of Design & Technology • Receive applications for all taught courses • Undergraduate – UCAS & CATCH • Postgraduate • Full-time, Part-time, Distance Learning

ADMISSIONS WHAT WE DO • Answer enquiries relating to course entry • Assess and make offers on many of the applications to courses at RGU • Work closely with the course Admissions Tutors to ensure offers are fair and transparent • Assist with interview scheduling and selection visits • Communicate offers to UCAS

ADMISSIONS HOW WE CAN HELP • Often the first point of contact for applicants and their advisors • Entry requirements • Help understand what happens during the application process • How to accept an offer • What to do if you change your mind • What to do if you don’t meet the conditions of offer • Know about alternative routes into University • Degree Link • Summer School • Access Programmes • Advise on the interview or selection process

APPLICATION ADVICE WHERE TO FIND OUT ABOUT COURSES • Lots of information and advice at www.ucas.com on preparing an application for • Guidance Teachers/Careers Advisors • Applicants • HEI staff • How to decide which courses to apply for • Entry Profiles • Prospectus • University websites • Unistats • Students/Alumni

APPLICATION ADVICE THE APPLICATION FORM • More and more questions seems to get added to the application form each year • Important to Government, UCAS and universities to get a wider picture on who applies to go to university • Helps plan for the future • Online applications give scope to provide far more information to support applications • Keep it relevant • Make it positive • Don’t go into too much detail

APPLICATION ADVICE THE APPLICATION CONSISTS OF • Personal details • Residency • Parental education • Personal Statement • Education & experience • Qualifications • Work experience • Reference

THE PERSONAL STATEMENT WHAT TO INCLUDE • Why are you applying for this course/courses • Motivation • Subject interest • Relevance of qualifications • Aspirations • Long term goal • Work experience • Responsibilities & People Skills • Other interests

THE PERSONAL STATEMENT REMEMBER • High demand courses can expect the statement to be completely focused on their subject area • You can provide more than one statement • Keep it positive • Highlight strengths • Make it personal • Pay attention to grammar

THE REFERENCE REFERENCES SHOULD INCLUDE • Suitability to chosen courses • Extenuating circumstances that may have affected a candidate’s application • Predicted grades REFEREES SHOULD • Avoid repeating information provided in the personal statement • Be pertinent to the course applied for • Provide a character and academic reference • Make every statement relevant to the applicant • Provide contact details

INTERVIEW or SELECTION VISIT WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? • Interviews • Find out more about the applicant • Assess portfolio (if relevant) • An opportunity to find out more about the course and the University • Selection visits • Group activities • Knowledge of subject/profession • Find out more about the applicant • An opportunity to find out more about the course and the University

INTERVIEW or SELECTION VISIT WHICH COURSES INTERVIEW? • Art & Design courses – Route A & B • Journalism WHICH COURSES HAVE SELECTION VISITS? • Physiotherapy • Occupational Therapy • Diagnostic Radiography • Social Work • Nursing & Midwifery OTHER COURSES MAY INTERVIEW IF NECESSARY

PREPARATION IMPORTANT QUALITIES • WHAT TYPE OFSKILLS DO WE LOOK FOR? • Communication skills • Talent and commitment • Self-motivation • IT skills • Ability to work in a team as well as alone • Interpersonal and observational skills

PREPARATION THINGS TO THINK ABOUT • Why they have applied for this particular course • What they know about the profession* • Remember what’s in their Personal Statement • Be able to answer questions on their Portfolio* • Hobbies and interests • Rehearse interview if possible *only relevant in some instances

OFFERS 3 TYPES OF OFFER • Unconditional • applicant meets conditions of entry • Conditional • applicant still has to meet some of the conditions of entry • No Offer • applicant does not meet the conditions of entry ALL OFFERS CAN BE VIEWED ON UCAS TRACK

OFFERS DECISION TIME • Most applicants wait until all offers are made • If 100% sure of which offer to accept, there’s no need to wait until all offers are made • Make sure a decision is made before the deadline given by UCAS or all offers will be declined by default ALL DECISIONS ON WHICH COURSE TO ACCEPT ARE ENTERED ON UCAS TRACK

OFFERS HOW MANY OFFERS CAN BE ACCEPTED? • Maximum number of offers that can be held is 2 • 1 Conditional Firm (CF) and 1 Insurance (UI or CI) • If an Unconditional offer is accepted (UF) then no option to have an insurance choice • All other Conditional or Unconditional offers have to be declined

CLEARING & LATE WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? • LATE applications are received after the 30 June (Route A) or 12 June (Route B) • CLEARING applications are received before the deadline but the applicant has either • Not been successful in gaining a place at either their Firm or Insurance choice • No longer wish to undertake the course originally chosen

CLEARING AFTER EXAM RESULTS ARE RELEASED What happens when the results are not as expected? Check UCAS Track first Check if Firm or Insurance choice has been confirmed Contact Admissions Application may still be under consideration Alternative offer may be possible

CLEARING AFTER EXAM RESULTS ARE RELEASED What if no offer is given? Automatic entry into Clearing process Check Clearing lists for vacancies Contact Universities directly to find out if a place can be offered Decide which to accept Return Clearing Passport number to the University Look at alternatives – College, Degree Link programmes, resit exams

LATE FOR ALL NEW APPLICATIONS After 30 June Not already in the UCAS system for this cycle Must approach Universities directly to find out if an offer can be given Informal offers given Decide which offer to accept Complete the paperwork Useful for applicants who did better than expected in 5th year exams

IMPORTANT DATES ROUTE A September – UCAS start processing applications for the next admissions cycle 15 January – First deadline for receiving applications All applications received by this date will be given equal consideration Applies to all UK/EU applications Applications will still be forwarded to institutions until 30 June Offers made at the discretion of each University 26 February – UCAS Extra starts For those that have already submitted an application via UCAS but have decided not to accept or were unsuccessful in being offered a place

IMPORTANT DATES ROUTE B September – UCAS start processing applications for the next admissions cycle but are not referred to Universities until Round 1 begins 12 February – Round 1 starts with last date for applications advised as the 7 March 24 March – Applications received by this date will be given equal consideration 28 March – Round 2 starts 23 May – Round 3 starts 12 June – last date for applications to Route B

HELPFUL INFORMATION COURSE CHOICES • Can choose up to 5 courses – Route B has a maximum of 3 • Make the most of the 5 choices • Avoid making multiple applications to courses within the same area of study / same entry criteria • Research courses to make sure the Academic criteria is appropriate to the applicant’s current subjects PERSONAL STATEMENT • It should be the applicant’s own work • UCAS let institutions know of any statement that is more than 60% plagiarised • It is up to each institution as to how they view these statements

HELPFUL INFORMATION OFFERS • Universities don’t know what other institutions that the applicant has applied to when the offer is made • We check every conditional offer when the results are published COMMON MISTAKES • Spelling, grammar and incorrect date of birth • Applying for the wrong UCAS course • Reference, name and/or address of referee omitted • Missing qualifications • Information entered in the wrong section

WHERE TO FIND US ADDRESS: ADMISSIONS DIRECTORATE OF STUDENT RECRUITMENT THE ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY SCHOOLHILL ABERDEEN AB10 IFR EMAIL: admissions@rgu.ac.uk TEL: 01224 262728

APPLYING TO UNIVERSITY