Open Days

Hi guys

The UCAS deadline has gone, and now anybody who has applied for university this year is nervously awaiting to hear whether they have got offers or interviews with the universities they wish to go to. Today I am going to write about open days, and personally I think open days are the most useful way to decide whether a university is right for you.

There is only so much that can be shown in a prospectus or on a university website, and being given the opportunity to look around a university and hear from students what the university is like for them is something of great value when trying to decide if it is right for you.

I visited open days for the universities I was most interested in going to, and I felt that I got a better understanding of the universities and which I wanted to choose when I had to narrow down my choices later on. Visiting the open days allowed me the chance to look at potential accommodation that the universities had to offer which was very important to me as it was going to be my first time living away from my family home and so I wanted to see for myself exactly where I might be living. 

Another thing that the open days allowed was for students to talk honestly about their experience at the university and we were able to ask questions which was very helpful and had an advantage over the prospectus. As someone potentially going to the universities, it was very exciting to be shown around the psychology departments and to learn about how I would be studying and the modules, it all made it seem very real. Visiting the open days of the universities I had applied to also gave me the chance to look around at the towns and cities I would potentially be living in for the next three years which I think is an important factor to take into consideration.

Although undoubtedly the open days are very useful for potential students, if you live too far away for a day visit to an open day there will be lots of information in the prospectus and online on the universities websites to help you make up your decisions when you have to start narrowing down your university choices. So although I would recommend going to open days if you are able to, if you are not there are still other ways to get relevant information which may help you.  

So good luck to anybody who has sent off their UCAS and is waiting for offers! And good luck to anyone who is still working hard towards their January exams and January deadlines.

For anybody who is interested in going to an open day, here is the information below for upcoming open days at the University Of Bedfordshire. 

https://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/oe/ug

Thanks for reading, see you next week!

Robyn

January Deadlines

Hello again!

Since my last blog post, I have had a busy week of meeting assessment deadlines and doing revision for my exams which are definitely too close to comfort at the minute! I know there are a lot of people like me becoming very stressed at this time of year, but it is all part of the fun of being a third year student and there is no better feeling than seeing your hard work pay off in good grades!

The thing that I am finding most difficult about the work load this month is not the amount of work which I have to do, but balancing it between my exams and written assessments. Thinking about the work I have to do and how I can divide my time is often very daunting. It is very easy to catch up with Celebrity Big Brother rather than catch up with my work because pretending it is not there makes it seem easier to handle. But it's not.

I think most of us are guilty of sticking our head in the sand every once in a while when we worry about the amount of work we have to do, but we all know that really we're just making the situation worse. Here are some of the things that I have been doing (and am going to start doing more) to help manage with the dreaded 'January Deadlines'

Come up with a study schedule (and stick to it).

Coming up with how you plan to study is easy, sticking to it is the hard part. My plan is to treat it like a full time job and stick to a 9 till 5 schedule with a couple of short breaks during the day and an hour break for lunch. I will have to study more outside of this, but I will be more flexible with my studying out of these times.

• Switch off your internet.

Unless you're using internet sites for studying, the internet is usually the first place to turn to when you are trying to avoid doing work. I'm going to switch off my internet when writing assignments unless I need to be on university sites for it. If I do need the internet, I am going to use only the sites that I need, and definitely not Facebook!

• Set yourself treats.

For one of my recent assignments, I lined up chocolate buttons and allowed myself to eat one every time I had written another 100 words, and it really worked! I also didn't allow myself to watch television shows until I had written 1,000 words in a day which made me more motivated to reach my goal.

• Study in silence.

I often go to the silent area of the University library to study. I feel much more motivated and it is much easier to get work done without holding conversations at the same time. I get at least twice the amount of work done in the silent area of the University than I do when I'm sat in my room surrounded by possible distractions.

• Remind yourself why.

When I am feeling unmotivated, I remind myself why I am doing this degree and how it will shape my future completely! I think about how I plan my life to be once I finish university and that working hard will get me there. Looking up pictures of my dream career or looking at job descriptions is all the motivation I need to get me back to putting all the effort I have into my studies.

If anybody has January exams or assignment deadlines coming up, good luck and I hope this helps. If you're currently doing exams and deadlines at the minute to get you into university and are struggling with the stress and motivation, take a minute to look up a picture of university and tell yourself with a little hard work, you WILL get there.

Thank you for reading, see you next week!
Robyn

Applying for University

Hello! :)

Application date deadline for UCAS is almost among us, and so I thought for this blog post I would reflect on what the University application process was like for me.

When I applied for university I was in my last year of sixth form and I was lucky enough to get a lot of help and support from the sixth form that I was studying at. The application process personally for me was very daunting because I was making the most important decisions I had ever had to make, and it made the thought of moving away from home for university real. I think this is something that everyone who moves away from university feels though, especially those who are moving away from home for the first time.

There was no doubt in my mind about moving away from home to study; I wanted the whole 'student experience' and to start to become independent. I applied for 4 universities that were quite far from my home town (including this one) and another that was close to home (although that one did get rejected). After my application had been sent off, I would check daily for any possible updates on my UCAS form to see whether I had gotten any conditional offers. I was very lucky to get 4 conditional offers and each one that I received made me feel that little bit closer to getting to university.

I narrowed down my choices by going to the open days and choosing the universities which I felt suited me best. I also narrowed down my choices by being realistic with what I was going to achieve and thinking about whether I could attain the grades that my conditional offers depended on.

For making your choice of university, I would recommend going to open days. It really helped me to make up my mind of whether the university was right for me and whether I wanted to live in the town for three years. I also got lots of information specific to the Psychology course
that helped me make up my decision that was not in the prospectus.

Good luck to everyone applying to university! Work hard and I'm sure you'll do well! :)

See you next week!
Robyn

Term 2, here I come!

Hello again! I hope you have all had a great new year!

Christmas break has gone far too fast, it does not seem a week ago that I was on my way back home for Christmas, but in reality it has been three weeks, and I'm already back at my student house waiting for the second term to start! (To my house mates, please hurry back home, its too quiet without you all here.) Since new year, I have been spending as much time with family and friends from my home town as possible as well as starting to prepare for my return to Luton. Needless to say the past few days have been busy but full of fun spending time with the people who mean the most to me. 

Since it has turned 2014, it has dawned on me how I have around 6 months left at university, which is terrifying. I've had to have a serious think about what it is I want to do after I graduate, so I have been trying to get some advice whilst at home. Also as soon as term starts back again I plan to be getting advice and help from lecturers and the career advisors at the university, it is both an exciting and terrifying time.

I am very excited for the new year at uni, you can't help but feel more motivated as soon as January the 1st comes around. I'm looking forward to trying to keep up this motivation and trying very hard to stick to my academic new years resolutions. It only encourages your motivation as well when you get back to uni and all your friends and people you know from your course are talking about how much harder they're going to work, and how much more effort they are going to put in. This term I also start new modules. In the past two years all modules have been compulsory whereas in my final year we were given a choice for four out of the seven modules. To me personally having more of a choice in the topics I study makes starting new modules much more exciting because it is more tailed to what I enjoy. 

One thing I am not excited about however is the dreaded January exams which I know a lot of uni students are nervous about. So to everyone who is sitting January exams and has deadlines coming up, I wish you the very best of luck! Next week's blog post will be about my experience of applying to university, so if you're currently applying for uni be sure to stick around and read my next post because hopefully it will be of help to you.

Thanks for reading, happy new year!

See you next week!

Robyn