Help applying to uni please?

Question

I'm applying to Optometry for 2010 at Glasgow Caley, the only uni in Scotland that does it. I don't want to move away, and I have absolutely no other courses I want to apply to, just Optometry. So do you think I should apply to 4 more in England, Wales or Ireland in case I don't get into Caley (even though I have no intention of moving away), or just take my chances and only apply for one course in the hope I get into Caley?

Entry Requirements for Caley are AAABB (Scottish Highers). I currently have AABBB, and am sitting 2 highers and an advanced higher this year, and work in an opticians.

Thanks

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

Entry Requirements: AAABB

You are required to have a Higher in English, Maths and any one Science subject (in my opinion - Physics or Biology would be most useful). You need to have Physics at least up to Standard Grade/Intermediate 2. You'd look better if you had at least two science Highers (one being Physics). An Advanced Higher looks good too. 

http://hp1.gcal.ac.uk/pls/portal30/my_gcal.Progcat_Pkg.ProgPage?gtype=&p_Course=BSOO
http://search.ucas.com/cgi-bin/hsrun/search/search/StateId/DbIAMozWvr_IFID9bD6nHe9mTJzPw-Vc6L/HAHTpage/search.HsEntryReq.run?n=969887#ER-B
http://search.ucas.com/cgi-bin/hsrun/search/search/StateId/DbIQsGzWbSyIFLuWbD6bMX-oCkzIq-UZ8n/HAHTpage/search.HsKeywordSearch.whereNext?query=486&word=OPTOMETRY

If you don't want to move away from home and you don't want to do any other course then I don't see the point of applying elsewhere. However, it isn't recommended that you only apply for one course because if you don't get an offer from Caley, it means you're going to have to wait til next year to reapply, so it's handy to have a back up. Applying for one course will only cost you £9 but for 2-5 courses it's £19. A potential saving of £10! I suggest you talk with your parents or someone in your school who deals with UCAS/Universities etc. 

Anyway, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (When you said Ireland, did you mean Northern Ireland?) their courses are three years long instead of four years. You should also bare in mind that you would have to pay tuition fees of around £3,225 (2009) per year which are likely to increase. While in Scotland, SAAS would pay your tuition fees for you. You would also be living far away from home...

Glasgow Caledonian only has 56 places for the course and since it's the only one run in Scotland, I imagine it to be fairly competitive. So make sure you write one good Personal Statement; working in an optician is really good as you can mention this in your Personal Statement.

Hope this helps, good luck.

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Help applying to uni please?

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