Hey!
I’m Simran and I have just finished my BA Business and Marketing degree here at Coventry University. I will fill you in on my time here in Coventry and the clearing process I went through, as this can be a very nerve-wracking time for all students…
My time at Coventry has been amazing!! I cannot believe how quickly the three years have gone and how much I have learnt and grown as a person. I have met soooo many new friends throughout the years and have become A LOT more independent living away from home as a student!
However, while I was at college I had lots of different interests and I just did not know what I wanted to tie myself down to for 3 years. So, January 2014 was quickly approaching and UCAS was the main point of conversation in college.
Teachers would talk about the application process and to make sure we were 100% about what course and where we wanted to choose. My friends and classmates would be talking about whether they were moving out for uni, staying at home, or even moving abroad.
Studying Fashion at college, it was kind of decided for me to continue my fashion journey at university. With my college lecturers expecting us to, and with the majority of my classmates talking about the specific part of Fashion they wanted to study – Fashion Design, Fashion Styling, Fashion Buying and Merchandising, there were so many choices to consider. I thought long and hard and finally decided… Fashion Marketing it is!
So I went onto the UCAS website and searched universities offering my course and made all my choices. I was so excited, to move to a new city, meet so many new people and broaden my fashion knowledge.
However…
The months were going by quicker and quicker, Results Day was fast-approaching and I began to receive conditional offers from all my chosen universities.
This was a time when I should be so excited, however, I had second thoughts.
“Do I really want to study Fashion?”
“Do I want to move so far away from my family, my friends and everything I know and love?”
“Do I even want to go to university?!”
This was a really confusing time in my life. I felt way too young at 17 to be choosing what I want to do for the rest of my life.
So, I continued to work hard at college and waited for my results… Finally the time came and YAY! I got A B B. I was so proud of myself, however, because I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do, I had declined all my offers.
So, I made my way back onto the UCAS website to look at my options, and saw those famous 4 words… “YOU ARE IN CLEARING”.
Okay, so what’s next?
I thought long and hard and decided I wanted to study BA Marketing and not specialise in only Fashion. This could help me to broaden my knowledge and apply it to any area I want to go in to (even if do choose to go back into fashion).
I then checked online to see which universities I was interested in. I saw a couple of uni’s, including Coventry, that all had places on Marketing courses. So I wrote down all the necessary numbers and began my Clearing journey…
I began to ring each university hoping to get a place
I rang uni no.1 first, and within minutes I got declined.
“I’m sorry but you do not have enough UCAS points to join our Marketing course.”
Wait, WHAT?! I was not expecting this response. How many UCAS points do I need?? I later found out I needed 20 more… and I began to lose hope… Maybe I didn’t work hard enough… What if I haven’t got enough UCAS points to get into any recognised university…
However, it was not long after that I frantically rang uni no.2 and then Coventry, and I was ecstatic when I heard :
“Congratulations Simran!! We can offer you a place at our University to study BA Marketing.”
I received an email to confirm my place and it was an easy decision for me… I wanted to study in a city which was completely new to me, to be outside of my comfort zone and meet lots more people!! So I accepted my place here at Coventry University and that was it. I did not need to worry anymore!!
I had my place in a recognised university and I could not wait to begin my journey! Once I had sorted out all my student finance details and living arrangements I was ready to go!
The Clearing process was very quick and easy for me. It can be a very stressful process, however, and I would recommend you research the subject you would love to study further and then narrow your choices down. This really helps and means that on Results Day you will not be stressed out by trying to ring 15+ universities, looking at several courses etc. If you do go through Clearing, I would definitely say you should choose 1 course you would really love to study and 1 back-up choice just in case. (Fingers crossed you wont need a back-up)!
Clearing is really not the end of the world! If you haven’t got the grades you hoped for, or have a complete change of mind, this does not mean you are at a disadvantage!
Going through Clearing does not mean you will not do as well as any other students. Take me for example… I went through the whole Clearing process due to how indecisive I was, and will now be graduating with a First Class Honours in Business and Marketing!
For more advice on the Clearing process and to see which courses we have available to you, head to our dedicated Clearing website, where you’ll find a hub of useful information!
This post was written by Simran Uppal
