Transcript The Robert Gordon 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
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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
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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
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Suitability to chosen courses
Extenuating circumstances that may have affected a
candidate’s application
Predicted grades
REFEREES SHOULD
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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
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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?
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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
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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
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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:
[email protected]
TEL:
01224 262728