+pepe6666 people like that aren't that rare. In fact they are more common than the game players. But honest and straightforward people are usually at a disadvantage to the game players, so game players will come to dominate in the decision making process. Remember anything that involves people is by very definition political.
Matthew McNulty ...I'VE GRADUATED ALREADY! And i'm watching this. But seeing as i did an arts degree, almost the normal thing is either an unconditional, or a bear minimum 3 C's in A-Levels (or equivalent qualification)
I just graduated from my university in London and have to say, this chap is absolutely right. Don’t base your decision on where to go on just the offer; look at the location, look at how much you like the campus, look at the accommodation, look at the student satisfaction rates with the course you’re applying to. You’re going to be living on your campus for 3, maybe 4 years. And they’ll likely be the best years of your life. So, make sure that you spend them at the place that ticks all of your boxes
@@helinmehmed3037 honestly if I was going into UCAS this year I’d defer entry or skip entirely. Spend a year working then go for it in 2022. Spending your freshers week locked up in your halls is NOT what you’re supposed to do!!
A*A*B - a stupefying three years ago... yet the day after my results, I was bawling over missing my offer. How short sighted did sobbing over A-levels seem now? They really don't matter... Completely agree that the feel, quality of living, and teaching of a university matters so much more than pesky letters they want from you!
This is very true, Candidates PAY ATTENTION!. My college did this with me, i wanted to go to my university of choice and they bullied me into putting the higher offer as my firm choice, In the end i decided not to go to university because it was more trouble than its worth (Worst decision i ever made) Dont let them bully you into this. In the end they want their students going to the best universities so they look good. Its your own choice. Make it or regret it.
Man, I wish I'd seen this before going to university. My firm choice offered ABB, so ended up going there, only to discover later that most people on my course got C's and one student even had DDC. Eleven years later, and I still think it's the biggest mistake I've ever made. I didn't even bother applying for AAA universities because I didn't think I had a chance. That admission officer must've seen me coming a mile off.
I am in your position but I still have a chance I’m in year 13. I applied and firmed an ABB offer but I know within me I can achieve atleast A*AA and although my teachers and parents are not supportive in me reapplying, I’m following my dream and reapplying for next year to a better uni at Durham. Thanks for this comment to support my choice :)
This video makes a lot of sense. I was encouraged by my college to put my lowest offer as my insurance, but I decided against that and put one of my higher offers in its place. My firm choice is the university I have my heart set on and asked for AAB. Two of my other offers asked for AAA, but their research departments didn't focus on the field I wish to go into. My lowest offer was CCC, the university's Psychology department wasn't very strong and they had much better departments for History. My insurance choice university is asking for BBB and have everything I want in a course. I would rather get into one of my two offers or do re-sits. It is not just about going into university for the sake of getting a degree, it is about going there for the right reasons and achieving what you set out to do. If you don't succeed the first time, there is no shame in trying again. It shows determination, passion and courage.
Great video. I’ve just finished my post grad in a STEM subject, not at Nottingham, but another top Uni, and I believe this should be publicised much more widely.When I was applying for my undergrad degree Leeds uni asked for BCC entry grades, now they ask A*AA! That’s a massive change and can not be justified until you realise the reasons behind that decision, as exposed in this video.
I made this mistake. I applied in 2011 and had to purposefully flunk one of my exams to get into my insurance (Nottingham) because I decided I would rather go there than my firm. So glad I did!
I thought you could email both unis , explain and they'd sort it out? It would seem to be in everyones interest that you got to where you wanted if you had the grades already?
@@jeffrey8770 applications are actually legal contracts so it more difficult than that and you use to be able to get forced into situations, but they decided to change this (but I don't know when it has/will be implemented)
"If in doubt, leave it out", excellent advice to redo the entrance exams in your own time and manner with a particular University and course intended. It's possibly better than stepping out of one school into another without real world experience. Ask.
I did this, I had an AAA offer from the University of Durham for CS, and an ABB for the University of Kent - I put Kent as my Firm choice for various reasons. I'm at Kent and very happy.
Man, I really wish I had access to 1st world countries education. Despite the difficulties, you all should be thankful for what you have. *I could listen to this professor for hours*
For my physics undergrad at Exeter my offer was A*AA but my friend's was AAB which I was always quite annoyed at. Furthermore, I got A*AB at A-Level but I was still accepted so I've wondered for quite a while why they bothered making my offer so high if they were accepting students with much lower grades anyway.
5:45 I had exactly that, three years ago. I'm glad I put a low offer that I really wanted a a backup 'prestigious' university. (Despite what my careers counselor kept telling me: why is your high offer below!?)
@@ralphcotton7119 They say they'll give responses by the 12th of January. Don't have it yet, I did feel the interview went quite well, but my feelings are probably a bad representation of what they thought....
The last point you made really helped me in my decision. The course I really wanted to do gave me a lowered offer due to the subjects I studied so it was my lowest offer anyway (BBC). My teacher took the head clean off me because my insurance was higher (AAB) but it didn’t matter that I didn’t have it the other way around cause if I didn’t get the grades BBC I wouldn’t qualify for any of the other courses I applied for.
I don't really have anything to add to the conversation, but I really want to thank the faculty of the University of Nottingham (Michael Merrifield and James Hamilton in particular) for engaging in discussion. You guys are adding enormous value to these channels by your participation. Thank you!
My Nottingham physics offer is AAA which I'm pretty confident for, but it's always good to know they'll accept slightly lower. Kind of takes the pressure off a little that they'll probably take you with a B anyway.
This guy is absolutely right. You can model the UCAS admission rule in game theory and the logical behavior of the student should be as he reasoned - that which is called the Nash equilibrium.
Speaking anecdotally. I applied for Computer Science to 5 universities and got 5 offers. Firm conditional: University of Bristol with A*AA offer. Firm insurance: University of Southampton with A*AA offer. I achieved grades AAA. Bristol rejected me and Southampton took me on. I think whether the University plays "the game" or not depends on how oversubscribed the course is - so don't gamble on it being the case.
Here we do have two main nationwide tests, the SAT and the ACT. Each is divided into several parts (math, science, reading comprehension, writing, etc. ) We also have the SAT 2, which is more subject specific. You usually take these fall of your senior (last) year of high school, get the results in early winter, and mail them out with the rest of your application. You can get in a lot of places if you score decently, but many universities offer extra scholarships if you scored higher.
Bear in mind accommodation. Usually if the university that you put down as a firm choice will more or less guarantee you a roof over your head usually in Halls of Residence. But with the tuition fees the price that they are and maintenance money that will be spent on university resources both for academic (Printing, Books) and pleasure (Alcohol and Haribo) It is still worth the university looking for private accommodation for their students. Going to your Insurance choice university. If you are quick you can swipe the accommodation that was assigned to a student who then failed to meet the grade conditions of their offer. If not you are kind of on your own in terms of arranging it and the help that offered in arranging accommodation for insurance choice applicants varies widely between universities. Some will operate their own internal letting agency with approved landlords. Some will just have a hastily updated websites of letting agencies within the city and outskirts and say youre classes start in September deal with it. (Maybe not the deal with it part exactly)
In terms of education and academia I tend to believe The UK and Europe is leaps and bounds ahead of America. This is one aspect that baffles me though. Why not allow high school students just apply to as many universities as they see fit?
My high school was called UCAS (Utah County Academy of Science). Its an early collage high school that put me 2 years ahead when I went to collage. So I thought of something completely different from the title.
You don't have to know. You can apply to up to 5 universities, so if grades are your issue, you can put down universities with a range of average offers. Or, if you don't know what you want to do subject-wise, many universities offer general arts/science degrees; Glasgow comes to mind. The vast majority of universities offer things like Natural Science to cover a wide range of topics. I'm sure others offer general degrees where you choose modules, much like america.
I must thank you guys for making this video. It really is a public service to inform us of the behind the scenes politics that take place. So thank you.
All very well, but Nottingham has been handing out unconditional offers (in some subjects) if you put them as your first choice, for at least the last 3 years.
Well, I'm not too sure about this, but from what I remember there's a certain amount of Students, that gets picked because they have the best grades (Its about 20%, I think), another 20% are chosen based on the time they have been "waiting" for the university place. The other 60% are chosen by the universitys own process. One reason for this process may be, that grades alone don't neccesarily tell much about a student, so the universitys may also consider things like the students interest etc.
It is a long time since I went to uni, but you don't HAVE to go to any uni. I didn't get my first choice first time and turned down my second choice. I took a year off, did 1 re-take and re-applied. Due to the vagaries of the system at the time I got a confirmed offer before I even did my re-take and then went to where I wanted to go in the first place. Don't go somewhere you don't want to go, ever. I am very glad I went to the place I wanted to.
Wish I knew this before I applied! Luckily I’ve got a place exactly where I want to go, but I would’ve been much less stressed out if I knew this earlier.
It's interesting to see how different the systems are in other countries. Here there's no gaming as you are accepted (or rejected) after you get your grades. No conditional "offers". I as a student check all the things I want in an ordered list and wait until I am accepted. I then confirm and that's final but I can still get a higher choice if enough people do not confirm (not confirming is the same as rejecting). If I'm still not in when the semester has started I can still get in if enough people did not show up/register by the first day.
I'm not sure I would agree entirely with this. Definitely don't choose your first choice on the offer they give you, choose it on the place you would most like to go to. But then I would look at the offers you have with lower grades than your firm and decide which, if any, you would want to go to instead. That way you will always end up at a Uni you like. But never confirm a conditional offer unless you actually would like to study there.
Not convinced by the logic here XD There may be a 3rd university who is a perfectly good uni to put as your insurance that gave you a lower offer than the first two
All students should check the Unistats website for the courses they are interested in - this clearly presents the ACTUAL grades which last year's students were accepted with by that university. The very best advise is to (i) pick the university you really want to go to as your first choice, then (ii) choose an insurance university which in reality accepted a lower spectrum of grades last year than your first choice.
I appreciate that and obviously you have been an example who in high school just didn't show your full potential, so in this case the gamble paid off. Most of the time though, it wouldn't. Taking students at lower grades usually means you get less intelligent/dedicated students. With you that wasn't the case but, with limited places available, it's still sensible to offer the places to the candidates with the best grades, because it's at least an indication that they are suited to further study.
Just because something doesn't lead directly into a career, doesn't make it pointless (yes I know you said mostly). Studying for studying's sake is a valid thing to do and not necessarily a waste of time but uni is not for everyone and you should not be pushed into attending just because 'everyone' does. You should definitely consider other options as well.
thats a weird system. in Germany different universities can decide to use their own process. so some require you to send in a 2-page letter explaining why you want to study that specific subject at that specific university, then they grade the letter and that gets a weight of 1/3, your other grades get a weight of 2/3. and if you end up among the "near misses", you get called in to get quizzed by the department for half an hour.
The system for specialist universities in the UK (or England, at least) is even worse. There are generally so few places for degrees such as medicine and because international students pay significantly higher fees, it's the norm that the university will accept almost exclusively international students. National students are very unlikely to get a place in their own country, and usually do degrees such as biomedical on empty promises of identical first years and reapplying next year.
I made the mistake of going for the better offer... In the US we have "in-state" and "out of state" tuition, depending on the location of the school and your state of residency. I had a four year offer of tuition, room and board, books, and meals at an in state school. I also got accepted to another school but would have had to pay a large amount of tuition. My guidance counselor and parents talked me into going for the free school. It made sense at the time.
This is too confusing to think about. In the US you have up until the last two months of senior year to decide which offer to accept. You’d have to do exceptionally bad in your last semester to have an offer rescinded.
04:01 That green book on the lower shelf, near the left edge. I wondered what "Atlas of Creation" is, so I googled it up. Now I'm wondering what it's doing on the Prof's bookshelf. Maybe he keeps it around just for laughs.
It depends what the B is in! If you get A*A in physics and maths and a B in the third subject (further maths in your case), that would meet the alternative conditions that should be specified in your offer. If the B is in physics, you will not have met the formal offer, but would be close to the top of the pile in our "near misses." There are no guarantees in such cases, but I can tell you that last year we would have been able to take you with such grades.
There is a subtlety here, though, Professor Dave: even if the Unistat site shows fairly low actual grades, a university may well have filled its quota with students who put them as firm choice, so someone who makes similar grades as an insurance choice, but below the stated offer, is quite likely not to get a place. For insurance choices, the offer level may well dictate whether you get a place, not the Unistat typical grades for that insutution.
This is a bit I found confusing - I would be put off by high offers. I'm didn't apply to places with much higher offers than my predicted grades because I thought there's no point in accepting an offer I'm not going to get the conditions of and end up in clearing, and my friends thought the same. Surely they're going to lose applications this way by making their offers seem unattainable.
This happened when I went to university in the early 90s, and the result was that my department admitted students for whom the course was simply too difficult. Result: high dropout rate in first year.
Around here we have the weighted average of the lowest grade of the last student to get in a course in the last year as a guideline. Basically, the students select several course choices based on that, and the universities accept their candidatures by ordering them in weighted averages of the grades (instead of letters we have 0 to 20), filling the available vacancies of the courses. The more students apply or the scarcer the number of vacancies, the higher the averages will get.
In Brazil you either have to take a test to enter universities (the grade you have to get on it and, at times, the contents of the test itself depends on your course of choice - the test is different for each instituition, it's made by the university itself) or take what we call ENEM (Portuguese for "National High School Exam") and, if your grade on it is good enough, use it to enter your university of choice.
I genuinely believe if your an optimistic person and are willing to make the best of uni you will find wherever you go just happens to be the best uni in the country I know I'm at the best uni in the country and when I put it on my form I didn't expect to firm it.
It really doesn't. Not well, at least- and that's why so many don't go to college here. There is very little emphasis placed on getting higher education, and it's up to students to seek out colleges and find out who they'll take. When I was in HS, the general rule was you applied to 5-10 schools, and you were lucky if 2 accepted you. By the time you got rejected, it was usually too late to apply anywhere else. The toughest part for me was that I needed federal aid - that's a whole other story!
In the U.S., the universities don't actually care too much about your grades. They're still important, but everyone knows that grades are over-inflated and usually subjective. Oh, and universities don't tend to set offers beforehand. You mail a resume, an essay, and some letters of recommendation, usually in fall a year before you plan on attending college. And then, come spring time, universities will tell you if you've been accepted and if you got any scholarships.
Currently I'm getting an associates in physics. Why? So later I can get a better physics degree, which I can use to get a job at university. Not because this job will pay well (in the U.S. it won't) but because it will be a job I'm happy with and it will be a job where I can have a positive impact on people's lives. Also, teaching yourself physics on the RUclipss? Yeah, SixtySymbols, Smarter Every Day, etc. are pretty awesome, but you're not actually doing the science.
I think that not only this helps students with making their choice in universities, but it is also a bit of an advertisement for the university of Nottingham (the videos in general being the advertisement), because though I don't live in the UK, I would like to go to the university of Nottingham, and I felt this way even before I saw this video, because I got the impression that the university was a very interesting place where a lot of amazing work is being done.
I run a small cleaning company in London,why am I being inundated with graduates from major universities with STEM degrees for very menial jobs?Why are they not out earning mega bucks with their fancy degrees?
I also call BS; a theoretical physics degree shows that you're highly numerate so if you graduated with that you could go into banking, finance, consulting, actuarial sciences, etc.
Because they are in process of applying for their main grad job and you are just a stopping space for them to make some quick money before they move on.
The honest answer is that I can't tell you, nor would it be appropriate for me to give advice as an interested party. I can say that we would have taken you last year with those grades, from which it is reasonable to conclude that we believe that level of attainment is sufficient to handle the course. Whether we would be able to take you this year will depend on the pressure on places and how everyone else does in their A-levels, which I cannot second guess.
Awesome, hope you enjoy it. I'm yet to go through the process myself actually but I've seen friends of mine get straight rejections, which is a little intimidating.
In Sweden you just go to a website, put the educations you want to apply to (max 15, if I recall correctly (in order)) and eventually you'll get an e-mail letting you know if you got into any or not. There are 2 rounds of selections, first the primary and then the secondary (if people choose not to go in the primary, you get 1 higher spot/chance in the secondary). If this fails, there's also last minute applications, if people choose not to go last minute. Good luck finding apartment then tho...
i knew this already tbh, is just common sense. look around your school and see that no one is really getting those grades but still getting into their firm
I agree completely. In my case, though, the "better offer" didn't actually have the program of study I wanted. They had enough of a program so that it looked good to a casual observer, but for someone who researched the matter heavily, there was no comparison. (but I made it through without borrowing... so there's that.)
I cannot like this enough. I love my current university, but I could have gone to several places that I'd have preferred to go to. Unfortunately, my careers person refused to allow me to apply to them because my predicted grades were not high enough.
why? its all there if you are interested. I'm learning vector calculus now in preparation for studying electromagnetism. It takes a bit longer, part time, but hey I enjoy it ;)
That is true, although if you have flunked your first choice grades, you stand more chance of getting into a university which has historically taken grades at a lower level, than one that has not.
In Ontario you rank your choices before you get offers and you never have to narrow it down and you aren't even bound to your higher choices. I just applied to a bunch, got accepted to a bunch and picked the one I wanted at the end. A lot simpler than the UK, though we don't have the complication of standardized tests (other than optional AP exams)
This video is so useful to me I'm currently going through this process of choosing unis to go to and I'm in the position of putting St Andrew's ahead of Oxford and Manchester even though St Andrew's only want AAA whereas both the others want A*AA (I'm studying physics btw) This video gave me the confidence to put a university I want to go to ahead of a university with higher requirements
Why is half of this filmed like the office and the other half like CSI 😂
Law & Disorder: Special Relativity Unit
they tried to use black and white to indicate footage from older videos but it ended up like CSI xD
this man is a rare thing in this world - someone who goes against the bureaucracy and is truly honest.
+pepe6666 people like that aren't that rare. In fact they are more common than the game players. But honest and straightforward people are usually at a disadvantage to the game players, so game players will come to dominate in the decision making process. Remember anything that involves people is by very definition political.
I'm in uni already, why am I watching this
Matthew McNulty
...I'VE GRADUATED ALREADY! And i'm watching this.
But seeing as i did an arts degree, almost the normal thing is either an unconditional, or a bear minimum 3 C's in A-Levels (or equivalent qualification)
+Matthew McNulty I don't even plan on going to college and i'm watching this.
I'm sleeping why am I watching this
For me, I watched one video about viva preparation and now it seems to be a staple in my feed.
Matthew McNulty I live in The United States, why am I watching this?
This is filmed like a mockumentary lool
I have a huge amount of respect for this man.
I just graduated from my university in London and have to say, this chap is absolutely right. Don’t base your decision on where to go on just the offer; look at the location, look at how much you like the campus, look at the accommodation, look at the student satisfaction rates with the course you’re applying to. You’re going to be living on your campus for 3, maybe 4 years. And they’ll likely be the best years of your life. So, make sure that you spend them at the place that ticks all of your boxes
@@helinmehmed3037 honestly if I was going into UCAS this year I’d defer entry or skip entirely. Spend a year working then go for it in 2022. Spending your freshers week locked up in your halls is NOT what you’re supposed to do!!
Thanks.
'University of XXX' ooo I wanna go there ;)
+imatroll147 lol
University of YYY - to do Philosophy???
University of ZZZ - 'nuff said...
LOL
Top bants!
A*A*B - a stupefying three years ago... yet the day after my results, I was bawling over missing my offer.
How short sighted did sobbing over A-levels seem now? They really don't matter...
Completely agree that the feel, quality of living, and teaching of a university matters so much more than pesky letters they want from you!
Failure
@@ralphcotton7119 bro
@@ralphcotton7119 ?
@@ramanman9792 i was only joking. Sorry if i offended you
@@ralphcotton7119 oh no worries
This is very true, Candidates PAY ATTENTION!. My college did this with me, i wanted to go to my university of choice and they bullied me into putting the higher offer as my firm choice, In the end i decided not to go to university because it was more trouble than its worth (Worst decision i ever made) Dont let them bully you into this. In the end they want their students going to the best universities so they look good. Its your own choice. Make it or regret it.
Man, I wish I'd seen this before going to university. My firm choice offered ABB, so ended up going there, only to discover later that most people on my course got C's and one student even had DDC.
Eleven years later, and I still think it's the biggest mistake I've ever made. I didn't even bother applying for AAA universities because I didn't think I had a chance.
That admission officer must've seen me coming a mile off.
I am in your position but I still have a chance I’m in year 13. I applied and firmed an ABB offer but I know within me I can achieve atleast A*AA and although my teachers and parents are not supportive in me reapplying, I’m following my dream and reapplying for next year to a better uni at Durham. Thanks for this comment to support my choice :)
@@johnmission586 how did it go?
This video makes a lot of sense. I was encouraged by my college to put my lowest offer as my insurance, but I decided against that and put one of my higher offers in its place.
My firm choice is the university I have my heart set on and asked for AAB. Two of my other offers asked for AAA, but their research departments didn't focus on the field I wish to go into.
My lowest offer was CCC, the university's Psychology department wasn't very strong and they had much better departments for History.
My insurance choice university is asking for BBB and have everything I want in a course. I would rather get into one of my two offers or do re-sits.
It is not just about going into university for the sake of getting a degree, it is about going there for the right reasons and achieving what you set out to do. If you don't succeed the first time, there is no shame in trying again. It shows determination, passion and courage.
Great video. I’ve just finished my post grad in a STEM subject, not at Nottingham, but another top Uni, and I believe this should be publicised much more widely.When I was applying for my undergrad degree Leeds uni asked for BCC entry grades, now they ask A*AA! That’s a massive change and can not be justified until you realise the reasons behind that decision, as exposed in this video.
sam clarke wow that’s unbelievable. I’m thinking about applying to Leeds for mechanics eng this year and they want A*AA. I wish I was asked for BCC
grade offers doesn't always = quality of course
This man is so good at talking.
RUclips why are you suggesting this NOW? I literally just sent mine in today >:(
When the horror film students have to film an interview
I made this mistake. I applied in 2011 and had to purposefully flunk one of my exams to get into my insurance (Nottingham) because I decided I would rather go there than my firm. So glad I did!
Wow, you were really walking a tightrope there. Respect to you, not many people can "flunk" their way into Nottingham!
I don’t know if the system has changed, but you can reject your firm offer, so you didn’t need to flunk it
Henry Ginn yeah I was gonna say, pretty sure you can just reject your firm and accept your safe if you want to
I thought you could email both unis , explain and they'd sort it out? It would seem to be in everyones interest that you got to where you wanted if you had the grades already?
@@jeffrey8770 applications are actually legal contracts so it more difficult than that and you use to be able to get forced into situations, but they decided to change this (but I don't know when it has/will be implemented)
"If in doubt, leave it out", excellent advice to redo the entrance exams in your own time and manner with a particular University and course intended. It's possibly better than stepping out of one school into another without real world experience. Ask.
Turns out, you need a PhD to figure out how to even APPLY get into university in the first place!
Interesting points. Thanks for sharing this insight. I especially liked the logic of the last bit: it's the way either way.
His brains too fast for his body.
why’s this sup true 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I did this, I had an AAA offer from the University of Durham for CS, and an ABB for the University of Kent - I put Kent as my Firm choice for various reasons. I'm at Kent and very happy.
Man, I really wish I had access to 1st world countries education. Despite the difficulties, you all should be thankful for what you have. *I could listen to this professor for hours*
That last point really checkmates the logic behind the UCAS system. This isn't even something that can be debated.
For my physics undergrad at Exeter my offer was A*AA but my friend's was AAB which I was always quite annoyed at. Furthermore, I got A*AB at A-Level but I was still accepted so I've wondered for quite a while why they bothered making my offer so high if they were accepting students with much lower grades anyway.
5:45 I had exactly that, three years ago. I'm glad I put a low offer that I really wanted a a backup 'prestigious' university. (Despite what my careers counselor kept telling me: why is your high offer below!?)
UCAS : exposed
so some unis need A*AA and then there's manchester which wants A*A*A sigh
I'm applying for Oxford and they'll let you in with AAA or AAB in some instances - shows how much A levels actually represent your ability.
@@karlosbricks2413 did you get in?
@@ralphcotton7119 They say they'll give responses by the 12th of January. Don't have it yet, I did feel the interview went quite well, but my feelings are probably a bad representation of what they thought....
@@karlosbricks2413 im sure you did great! even if you don't get in don't be too bummed about it but im sure you've done well
@@sam6719 replying to a 6 years old comment, did you also get recommended this by RUclips? 🤣
sorry, I definitely lost it at the start when Mike lowered his head to the radio mike (my fault) but after that I thought it was okay?
The last point you made really helped me in my decision. The course I really wanted to do gave me a lowered offer due to the subjects I studied so it was my lowest offer anyway (BBC). My teacher took the head clean off me because my insurance was higher (AAB) but it didn’t matter that I didn’t have it the other way around cause if I didn’t get the grades BBC I wouldn’t qualify for any of the other courses I applied for.
Gosh he is amazing! Exactly what a pre-med needs to hear :')
Someone give this man a cookie!
✋🍪
🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
I don't really have anything to add to the conversation, but I really want to thank the faculty of the University of Nottingham (Michael Merrifield and James Hamilton in particular) for engaging in discussion.
You guys are adding enormous value to these channels by your participation.
Thank you!
My Nottingham physics offer is AAA which I'm pretty confident for, but it's always good to know they'll accept slightly lower. Kind of takes the pressure off a little that they'll probably take you with a B anyway.
This guy is absolutely right. You can model the UCAS admission rule in game theory and the logical behavior of the student should be as he reasoned - that which is called the Nash equilibrium.
this is so true i know so many people who have got in unis they didn’t get anywhere near the grades for
Next year I shall be starting the whole UCAS rollercoaster: this is an extremely comforting video.
Speaking anecdotally. I applied for Computer Science to 5 universities and got 5 offers.
Firm conditional: University of Bristol with A*AA offer.
Firm insurance: University of Southampton with A*AA offer.
I achieved grades AAA. Bristol rejected me and Southampton took me on.
I think whether the University plays "the game" or not depends on how oversubscribed the course is - so don't gamble on it being the case.
Here we do have two main nationwide tests, the SAT and the ACT. Each is divided into several parts (math, science, reading comprehension, writing, etc. ) We also have the SAT 2, which is more subject specific. You usually take these fall of your senior (last) year of high school, get the results in early winter, and mail them out with the rest of your application. You can get in a lot of places if you score decently, but many universities offer extra scholarships if you scored higher.
Bear in mind accommodation. Usually if the university that you put down as a firm choice will more or less guarantee you a roof over your head usually in Halls of Residence. But with the tuition fees the price that they are and maintenance money that will be spent on university resources both for academic (Printing, Books) and pleasure (Alcohol and Haribo) It is still worth the university looking for private accommodation for their students.
Going to your Insurance choice university. If you are quick you can swipe the accommodation that was assigned to a student who then failed to meet the grade conditions of their offer. If not you are kind of on your own in terms of arranging it and the help that offered in arranging accommodation for insurance choice applicants varies widely between universities. Some will operate their own internal letting agency with approved landlords. Some will just have a hastily updated websites of letting agencies within the city and outskirts and say youre classes start in September deal with it. (Maybe not the deal with it part exactly)
Why is this in my recommended things don’t work like this anymore
@@FuseroShorts cringe
It does.
I wasn’t expecting Brady’s voice at the end
Took your advice! The school had a field day. I did it, then told them after - no regrets as of yet (y)
particularly hard to do ucas when the servers are timing out every time i want to save.
In terms of education and academia I tend to believe The UK and Europe is leaps and bounds ahead of America. This is one aspect that baffles me though. Why not allow high school students just apply to as many universities as they see fit?
My high school was called UCAS (Utah County Academy of Science). Its an early collage high school that put me 2 years ahead when I went to collage. So I thought of something completely different from the title.
I truly admire your honesty sir.
You don't have to know. You can apply to up to 5 universities, so if grades are your issue, you can put down universities with a range of average offers. Or, if you don't know what you want to do subject-wise, many universities offer general arts/science degrees; Glasgow comes to mind. The vast majority of universities offer things like Natural Science to cover a wide range of topics. I'm sure others offer general degrees where you choose modules, much like america.
Got accepted to my first and only choice last week :D Though paying £9000 a year I think they would take most people..
This is really good advice. As a physics applicant this year, I've definitely had experience of this offer game.
I close my eyes and listen to your voice and think of Dufrais from Facejacker
haha
I must thank you guys for making this video. It really is a public service to inform us of the behind the scenes politics that take place. So thank you.
All very well, but Nottingham has been handing out unconditional offers (in some subjects) if you put them as your first choice, for at least the last 3 years.
Well, I'm not too sure about this, but from what I remember there's a certain amount of Students, that gets picked because they have the best grades (Its about 20%, I think), another 20% are chosen based on the time they have been "waiting" for the university place. The other 60% are chosen by the universitys own process. One reason for this process may be, that grades alone don't neccesarily tell much about a student, so the universitys may also consider things like the students interest etc.
Why is this filmed like a parody??
Wow thanks for that information, i didn't know that. honesty like this is what we need more often.
It is a long time since I went to uni, but you don't HAVE to go to any uni. I didn't get my first choice first time and turned down my second choice. I took a year off, did 1 re-take and re-applied. Due to the vagaries of the system at the time I got a confirmed offer before I even did my re-take and then went to where I wanted to go in the first place. Don't go somewhere you don't want to go, ever. I am very glad I went to the place I wanted to.
Wish I knew this before I applied!
Luckily I’ve got a place exactly where I want to go, but I would’ve been much less stressed out if I knew this earlier.
Sorry this is more one for our UK viewers - but interested to hear from others!
It's interesting to see how different the systems are in other countries. Here there's no gaming as you are accepted (or rejected) after you get your grades. No conditional "offers". I as a student check all the things I want in an ordered list and wait until I am accepted. I then confirm and that's final but I can still get a higher choice if enough people do not confirm (not confirming is the same as rejecting). If I'm still not in when the semester has started I can still get in if enough people did not show up/register by the first day.
I'm not sure I would agree entirely with this.
Definitely don't choose your first choice on the offer they give you, choose it on the place you would most like to go to. But then I would look at the offers you have with lower grades than your firm and decide which, if any, you would want to go to instead.
That way you will always end up at a Uni you like. But never confirm a conditional offer unless you actually would like to study there.
Not convinced by the logic here XD There may be a 3rd university who is a perfectly good uni to put as your insurance that gave you a lower offer than the first two
Yeah but if it's a very low offer it might reflect on the quality of the uni (or so he says in the video)
All students should check the Unistats website for the courses they are interested in - this clearly presents the ACTUAL grades which last year's students were accepted with by that university. The very best advise is to (i) pick the university you really want to go to as your first choice, then (ii) choose an insurance university which in reality accepted a lower spectrum of grades last year than your first choice.
I appreciate that and obviously you have been an example who in high school just didn't show your full potential, so in this case the gamble paid off. Most of the time though, it wouldn't. Taking students at lower grades usually means you get less intelligent/dedicated students. With you that wasn't the case but, with limited places available, it's still sensible to offer the places to the candidates with the best grades, because it's at least an indication that they are suited to further study.
Just because something doesn't lead directly into a career, doesn't make it pointless (yes I know you said mostly). Studying for studying's sake is a valid thing to do and not necessarily a waste of time but uni is not for everyone and you should not be pushed into attending just because 'everyone' does. You should definitely consider other options as well.
thats a weird system. in Germany different universities can decide to use their own process. so some require you to send in a 2-page letter explaining why you want to study that specific subject at that specific university, then they grade the letter and that gets a weight of 1/3, your other grades get a weight of 2/3. and if you end up among the "near misses", you get called in to get quizzed by the department for half an hour.
The system for specialist universities in the UK (or England, at least) is even worse. There are generally so few places for degrees such as medicine and because international students pay significantly higher fees, it's the norm that the university will accept almost exclusively international students. National students are very unlikely to get a place in their own country, and usually do degrees such as biomedical on empty promises of identical first years and reapplying next year.
I made the mistake of going for the better offer... In the US we have "in-state" and "out of state" tuition, depending on the location of the school and your state of residency.
I had a four year offer of tuition, room and board, books, and meals at an in state school.
I also got accepted to another school but would have had to pay a large amount of tuition.
My guidance counselor and parents talked me into going for the free school. It made sense at the time.
This is too confusing to think about. In the US you have up until the last two months of senior year to decide which offer to accept. You’d have to do exceptionally bad in your last semester to have an offer rescinded.
04:01 That green book on the lower shelf, near the left edge. I wondered what "Atlas of Creation" is, so I googled it up. Now I'm wondering what it's doing on the Prof's bookshelf. Maybe he keeps it around just for laughs.
It depends what the B is in! If you get A*A in physics and maths and a B in the third subject (further maths in your case), that would meet the alternative conditions that should be specified in your offer. If the B is in physics, you will not have met the formal offer, but would be close to the top of the pile in our "near misses." There are no guarantees in such cases, but I can tell you that last year we would have been able to take you with such grades.
There is a subtlety here, though, Professor Dave: even if the Unistat site shows fairly low actual grades, a university may well have filled its quota with students who put them as firm choice, so someone who makes similar grades as an insurance choice, but below the stated offer, is quite likely not to get a place. For insurance choices, the offer level may well dictate whether you get a place, not the Unistat typical grades for that insutution.
This is a bit I found confusing - I would be put off by high offers. I'm didn't apply to places with much higher offers than my predicted grades because I thought there's no point in accepting an offer I'm not going to get the conditions of and end up in clearing, and my friends thought the same. Surely they're going to lose applications this way by making their offers seem unattainable.
This happened when I went to university in the early 90s, and the result was that my department admitted students for whom the course was simply too difficult. Result: high dropout rate in first year.
I'm a second Computer Science student in the UK and I'm still watching this
Around here we have the weighted average of the lowest grade of the last student to get in a course in the last year as a guideline. Basically, the students select several course choices based on that, and the universities accept their candidatures by ordering them in weighted averages of the grades (instead of letters we have 0 to 20), filling the available vacancies of the courses. The more students apply or the scarcer the number of vacancies, the higher the averages will get.
In Brazil you either have to take a test to enter universities (the grade you have to get on it and, at times, the contents of the test itself depends on your course of choice - the test is different for each instituition, it's made by the university itself) or take what we call ENEM (Portuguese for "National High School Exam") and, if your grade on it is good enough, use it to enter your university of choice.
Wow... Interesting, I hadn't considered this competitive aspect to conditional offers...
I genuinely believe if your an optimistic person and are willing to make the best of uni you will find wherever you go just happens to be the best uni in the country I know I'm at the best uni in the country and when I put it on my form I didn't expect to firm it.
It really doesn't. Not well, at least- and that's why so many don't go to college here. There is very little emphasis placed on getting higher education, and it's up to students to seek out colleges and find out who they'll take. When I was in HS, the general rule was you applied to 5-10 schools, and you were lucky if 2 accepted you. By the time you got rejected, it was usually too late to apply anywhere else. The toughest part for me was that I needed federal aid - that's a whole other story!
In the U.S., the universities don't actually care too much about your grades. They're still important, but everyone knows that grades are over-inflated and usually subjective. Oh, and universities don't tend to set offers beforehand. You mail a resume, an essay, and some letters of recommendation, usually in fall a year before you plan on attending college. And then, come spring time, universities will tell you if you've been accepted and if you got any scholarships.
I went to Uni in 1999 and in all these years the UCAS situation is still a complete farse if, like me, you were a straight B student.
B grade then is A grade now.
I think Dr. Merrifield makes one really solid piece of advice. Decide where you want to go to college first..
Currently I'm getting an associates in physics. Why? So later I can get a better physics degree, which I can use to get a job at university. Not because this job will pay well (in the U.S. it won't) but because it will be a job I'm happy with and it will be a job where I can have a positive impact on people's lives.
Also, teaching yourself physics on the RUclipss? Yeah, SixtySymbols, Smarter Every Day, etc. are pretty awesome, but you're not actually doing the science.
I think that not only this helps students with making their choice in universities, but it is also a bit of an advertisement for the university of Nottingham (the videos in general being the advertisement), because though I don't live in the UK, I would like to go to the university of Nottingham, and I felt this way even before I saw this video, because I got the impression that the university was a very interesting place where a lot of amazing work is being done.
Try emailing the University or admissions tutors. They should be able to point you in the right direction
I run a small cleaning company in London,why am I being inundated with graduates from major universities with STEM degrees for very menial jobs?Why are they not out earning mega bucks with their fancy degrees?
Maria das Santos they didn't do engineering and no one employs theoretical physicists as they are useless to companies.
I call BS
Same, there are loads and loads of jobs for graduates, at least for physics, even theoretical.
I also call BS; a theoretical physics degree shows that you're highly numerate so if you graduated with that you could go into banking, finance, consulting, actuarial sciences, etc.
Because they are in process of applying for their main grad job and you are just a stopping space for them to make some quick money before they move on.
The honest answer is that I can't tell you, nor would it be appropriate for me to give advice as an interested party. I can say that we would have taken you last year with those grades, from which it is reasonable to conclude that we believe that level of attainment is sufficient to handle the course. Whether we would be able to take you this year will depend on the pressure on places and how everyone else does in their A-levels, which I cannot second guess.
I said they were quite common when I went through UCAS, nothing about the time before that.
Awesome, hope you enjoy it. I'm yet to go through the process myself actually but I've seen friends of mine get straight rejections, which is a little intimidating.
In Sweden you just go to a website, put the educations you want to apply to (max 15, if I recall correctly (in order)) and eventually you'll get an e-mail letting you know if you got into any or not. There are 2 rounds of selections, first the primary and then the secondary (if people choose not to go in the primary, you get 1 higher spot/chance in the secondary). If this fails, there's also last minute applications, if people choose not to go last minute. Good luck finding apartment then tho...
i knew this already tbh, is just common sense. look around your school and see that no one is really getting those grades but still getting into their firm
I agree completely.
In my case, though, the "better offer" didn't actually have the program of study I wanted.
They had enough of a program so that it looked good to a casual observer, but for someone who researched the matter heavily, there was no comparison.
(but I made it through without borrowing... so there's that.)
I cannot like this enough. I love my current university, but I could have gone to several places that I'd have preferred to go to. Unfortunately, my careers person refused to allow me to apply to them because my predicted grades were not high enough.
In the US there is sort of a service like this. But not for normal schools. I know there's one for Pharmacy Schools called PharmCAS...
why? its all there if you are interested. I'm learning vector calculus now in preparation for studying electromagnetism. It takes a bit longer, part time, but hey I enjoy it ;)
That is true, although if you have flunked your first choice grades, you stand more chance of getting into a university which has historically taken grades at a lower level, than one that has not.
In Ontario you rank your choices before you get offers and you never have to narrow it down and you aren't even bound to your higher choices. I just applied to a bunch, got accepted to a bunch and picked the one I wanted at the end. A lot simpler than the UK, though we don't have the complication of standardized tests (other than optional AP exams)
Overseas applicants also apply through UCAS. Just visit their website for more information on the process. And good luck!
This video is so useful to me
I'm currently going through this process of choosing unis to go to and I'm in the position of putting St Andrew's ahead of Oxford and Manchester even though St Andrew's only want AAA whereas both the others want A*AA (I'm studying physics btw)
This video gave me the confidence to put a university I want to go to ahead of a university with higher requirements