Choosing the final six universities

Date: around ?/09/2002

By thinking about my own preferences and opinions I chose six universities from eleven

On the UCAS form there were six spaces to fill in the universities which I wished to apply to, but I could choose to fill in less than six universities if I wanted to. In fact, if I applied to only one university I would only have to pay £5 rather than the normal £15. I decided to apply to six though, as I had no idea what they were looking for apart from the recommended grades, so I thought I might as well maximise my chances of getting in somewhere.

From the Look at some university websites and prospectuses page, I had selected 11 universities which I thought might be suitable for me. These all required high grades so there was the question of whether I needed a lower insurance choice university if I failed to get the grades or be accepted to one of the higher ones.

To decide which universities to go for I firstly selected all the ones offering economics and maths or economics and statistics, and listed them along with the entry requirements. Notice Oxford is also in the list, even though it didn't offer my course I thought I might apply anyway if I had a slot left over. I also had a look at two possible insurance choice which performed well in league tables: Oxford Brooks and Essex. This left me eleven universities which needed to be whittled down to just six.

University of Oxford (AAA)
University of Bristol (AAB)
University of Warwick (AAB)
London School of Economics (ABB)
University College London (ABB)
University of Birmingham (ABC)
University of Leeds (BBB)
University of Sheffield (BBB)
University of Southampton (BBB)
University of Essex (BBC)
Oxford Brookes (CCC)

Now I had considered results and courses, it was time to think about my other general opinions. Oxford would obviously be a nice place to go, but would it be too elitist or traditional. I liked the idea of studying in a city so universities such as Bristol would be appealing. Most of all I liked the idea of living in London so ULC and LSE would obviously be considered. Someone had told me a friends had gone to Southampton and that it was a really nasty place so I liked the idea of going there less.

The universities I decided to go with in the end were are listed below. There is no real insurance choice except for possibly Birmingham. I thought I wouldn't do much worse than ABC or BBB so decided not to go for a lower insurance in the end.

Birmingham
Bristol
LSE
Oxford
UCL
Warwick