University application advice - please help!

[Frag]

Hey guys, I'm attending university in September of this year and have
confirmed a place at a particular uni, only thing is I went up there last
week and now I REALLY don't want to go to this particular one. I have 2
others in mind that I didnt apply to before and now I really want to attend
one of them.

What should I do? Phone up the current uni and beg them to let me go and
then apply to the others through clearing? If someone could give me some
clarity on this I would be most appreciative.

Pete

[Matt Johnson]

Post by Frag
Hey guys, I'm attending university in September of this year and have
confirmed a place at a particular uni, only thing is I went up there last
week and now I REALLY don't want to go to this particular one. I have 2
others in mind that I didnt apply to before and now I really want to attend
one of them.
What should I do? Phone up the current uni and beg them to let me go and
then apply to the others through clearing? If someone could give me some
clarity on this I would be most appreciative.

As soon as you gave UCAS your Firm and Insurance decisions, you
effectively made a contract with those universities to attend (in
particular your Firm choice), should they grant you a place after they
receive your results.

Universities are _not obliged_ to release you once you have accepted
their offer. That said, if you have valid, strong reasons why you wish
to be released (such as a genuine change of circumstances), universites
will usually release.

The "textbook" answer is that if you do not intend to take up your CF or
CI, you must withdraw from UCAS for the 2005 session entirely (making
you ineligible for Clearing) and reapply for 2006 entry. In practice,
universities will release students with strong reasons for asking to be
released; anything else is far from guaranteed.

Best wishes,

Matt

- --
Matt Johnson <***@doc.ic.ac.uk>

[Frag]

So if I do manage to get them to release me am I still eligible for clearing
'05? I really don't want to apply for '06 what with top-up fees.
Thanks for the help,
Pete

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Post by Frag
Hey guys, I'm attending university in September of this year and have
confirmed a place at a particular uni, only thing is I went up there last
week and now I REALLY don't want to go to this particular one. I have 2
others in mind that I didnt apply to before and now I really want to attend
one of them.
What should I do? Phone up the current uni and beg them to let me go and
then apply to the others through clearing? If someone could give me some
clarity on this I would be most appreciative.

As soon as you gave UCAS your Firm and Insurance decisions, you
effectively made a contract with those universities to attend (in
particular your Firm choice), should they grant you a place after they
receive your results.
Universities are _not obliged_ to release you once you have accepted
their offer. That said, if you have valid, strong reasons why you wish
to be released (such as a genuine change of circumstances), universites
will usually release.
The "textbook" answer is that if you do not intend to take up your CF or
CI, you must withdraw from UCAS for the 2005 session entirely (making
you ineligible for Clearing) and reapply for 2006 entry. In practice,
universities will release students with strong reasons for asking to be
released; anything else is far from guaranteed.
Best wishes,
Matt
- --
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[Matthew Huntbach]

Post by Frag
So if I do manage to get them to release me am I still eligible for clearing
'05? I really don't want to apply for '06 what with top-up fees.
Thanks for the help,
Pete

Yes, if you are released now, you will be eligible for clearing for
entry this year. Of course, there is no guarantee the universities
you now want to go to will have places available in clearing. Maybe
best to ask them first if they think they will have and if they think
they will be able to offer them to someone with the grades you think
you will get.

If you get released before the A-level results come in, you will
cause less disruption than if you ask for it after you have got them.
This is the more common pattern - someone gets their A-levels, finds
they could get in somewhere "better" and then asks to be released.
The university they are asking to be released from gets annoyed,
firstly because they are being snubbing, but secondly because they have
already allocated a place for the person asking for release and there may
well not be anyone better still available in clearing to fill this unexpected
vacancy.

Matthew Huntbach

[Frag]

ok, thanks for the help.

Post by Matthew Huntbach

Post by Frag
So if I do manage to get them to release me am I still eligible for clearing
'05? I really don't want to apply for '06 what with top-up fees.
Thanks for the help,
Pete

Yes, if you are released now, you will be eligible for clearing for
entry this year. Of course, there is no guarantee the universities
you now want to go to will have places available in clearing. Maybe
best to ask them first if they think they will have and if they think
they will be able to offer them to someone with the grades you think
you will get.
If you get released before the A-level results come in, you will
cause less disruption than if you ask for it after you have got them.
This is the more common pattern - someone gets their A-levels, finds
they could get in somewhere "better" and then asks to be released.
The university they are asking to be released from gets annoyed,
firstly because they are being snubbing, but secondly because they have
already allocated a place for the person asking for release and there may
well not be anyone better still available in clearing to fill this unexpected
vacancy.
Matthew Huntbach