Dear fellow year 12 students out there, 

 

Are you also struggling with the idea that in a year and a bit you will be expected to pack your bags and go to uni (if that’s your path of course) with no roadmap, no guide, no step by step instructions on how to do anything, you’re just expected to be yourself and hope everything goes well? But what type of advice is that, the whole reason to go to university is to find out who you are, so what do I do before that …

 

If you are applying to university, hopefully it is because you want to further your knowledge in a subject your admire, take the next step into your dream career, or maybe its just to productively procrastinate on starting the rest of your adult life. Either way it is a very daunting experience which demands a lot from you. It will be some of the best years of your life - if done right! Not to stress you all out but this is a major turning point, you are choosing which way your life will unfold. 

 

Scared yet?

 

I personally feel as if I’ve been chucked in the deep end and after our horrible GCSE experience, this is just another hurdle in our education journey that we either get to jump over or trip up on. If you’re lucky enough to know what you want to be - you can stop reading here, but for the rest of the lost sheep (me included), here’s the best tips I can give as a sixteen year old who has never been to university:

 

Take control - don’t let anyone else tell you how to live your life. I presume you know what you enjoy and what you don’t, that’s the best starting point. When you close your eyes and think of your future what do you see, what hobbies have become a lifestyle. Whatever you see is your version of success and from now on everything you chose is to get you that inch closer to “your success”

 

Own it - The worst advice in my opinion comes from the most successful people all with very varying experiences that give the most vague phrases like “follow your dreams”, where’s the structure in that? No. You must own your dream, know what it is and then start to plan around achieving it. Only then will you feel in control and content with whatever happens, because it was all your choice.

 

Plan it - this should be a constant process that becomes apart of the subconscious mind. You will never get anywhere if you don’t know where you’re going. Pause for a second and plan, look at the requirements for courses and what is expected of the average student at most universities to get it. Then meet those requirements, strategically.

 

Narrow it down - there are hundreds of Universities in the Uk and thousands of courses. At the moment you are Schrödinger's cat, you could take any and every course, but that’s not possible, you have two options yes or no, and you have to start narrowing everything down, to mould it into this new idea of success that you have founded for yourself. Look at course content, campus sizes, the community feel of the university, the teaching style, the examination process, course duration, accommodation …. I know its a lot but if you don’t of it - who will?

 

Further your knowledge - you’re eager that’s great, but what makes you unique. Early I mentioned the average student, but is that really who you want to be? Thousands of teenagers with similar grades to you and probably similar experiences will all be applying to the same places, so you need to stand in the mirror and ask that imperative question - “Why me?” The second you start to answer that question and build a person portfolio of what makes you so special, then you can advance to GO and collect 200

 

Experience, experience, experience - now this step will be the hardest but if you forget everything you’ve read here, do not forget this. Work experience will allow you to feel what it is like to live the life you have envisaged for yourself and decided whether it’s actually what you want. It will also show the person on the other side of the table that you are serious about your subject and are actively putting in work to reach that goal.

 

Record everything - what’s worse than doing all of these things, is doing them all and then forgetting to humbly brag about how amazing you are in your personal statement, some might say above average. While you make your way down the list and acquiring new skills, make sure that you are recording them all, these things are your superpowers and will prove how interested and educated you are in the chosen subject area.

 

Apply to University - If you have followed this perfect list then this should be the easy part, you are just wrapping everything up and selecting what you believe is the perfect path for you, from the moment you send of your applications everything is out of your hands and you’ve done your best. 

 

Unfortunately a spot a university isn’t guaranteed, but everyone has the opportunity to be that place, so why not try. Good luck, your time starts now!