what to think about if you're in y13

The ball is finally in your court

This month you’ll probably be getting some offers from universities. You may have some already. It can be exciting — like getting several Valentine cards all at once. It can also be unnerving: frantically hitting refresh on the UCAS website for hours on end and feeling like the only Valentine you’ll get might be from your mum. It doesn’t have to be stressful.

If you haven’t heard back yet, from your uni OR your valentine then calm down. Unis are supposed to let you know by March 31st, though they may take a little bit longer in some cases. Delay is not necessarily a bad sign. Especially with the response to your valentine message you sent on Friday.

You don’t have to tell UCAS what you want to do until May 5th, so if you've got offers, don’t rush.

That said, like all deadlines it’s probably better to know what you’re doing as far in advance as possible. Once you have made your choices, whatever they are, let UCAS know.​

An Extra option: If you don’t get any offers from universities or you’re having second thoughts about the subjects you’ve applied for, you don’t necessarily have to wait another year to go again.

By registering with UCAS Extra you can apply to courses that still have spaces left. The choice will be more limited, so only pick a course through Extra if it’s something that you really want to do. It might make more sense to re-apply next year, rather than study a course you don’t want to, just for the sake of it.

Making the call: Once all your offers are in, UCAS will send you a summary and ask you to accept two offers (one firm and one insurance) and reject the rest. Don’t worry, they won’t be offended. A firm acceptance should be your dream uni, the place you’ll be happy to call home if your grades meet what they’ve offered. Your insurance choice should be a course and university that you’d still be very happy with, but — and this is important, so listen up — it should be asking for lower grades. It's just in case your exams don’t go the way you hope.

Are grades everything? Just because a degree has high grade requirements, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily better or the perfect course for you. If there is a course that you want, at a uni that you’ll love, then put it as your firm option.

Author

ARON TENNANT is  the Talks and Editorial manager for Push. He is originally from South Yorkshire and has a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Sheffield. He also has an MA in Creative Play and Screenwriting from City, University of London and came runner up in Nickelodeon's international screenwriting competition in 2018. Alongside Push he does screenplay work for independent production companies and is working on his own independent film projects