1. APPLYING TO UNIVERSITY ADVICE & GUIDANCE SHEILA KAY May 2008

2. WHO, WHAT & HOW WHO WE ARE WHAT WE DO HOW WE CAN HELP UCAS AND HOW TO APPLY APPLICATION ADVICE PERSONAL STATEMENTS & REFERENCES INTERVIEWS AND SELECTION VISITS OFFERS, CLEARING & LATE APPLICATIONS POINTS TO REMEMBER ADMISSIONS at RGU

3. ADMISSIONS WHO WE ARE A team of 11 staff, working as a central support department to all 3 Faculties Aberdeen Business School Faculty of Health & Social Care Faculty of Design & Technology Receive applications for all taught courses Undergraduate – UCAS & CATCH Postgraduate Full-time, Part-time, Distance Learning

4. ADMISSIONS WHAT WE DO Answer enquiries relating to course entry Assess and make offers on many of the applications to courses at RGU Work closely with the course Admissions Tutors to ensure offers are fair and transparent Assist with interview scheduling and selection visits Communicate offers to UCAS

5. ADMISSIONS HOW WE CAN HELP Often the first point of contact for applicants and their advisors Entry requirements Help understand what happens during the application process How to accept an offer What to do if you change your mind What to do if you dont meet the conditions of offer Know about alternative routes into University Degree Link Summer School Access Programmes Advise on the interview or selection process

6. APPLICATION ADVICE WHERE TO FIND OUT ABOUT COURSES Lots of information and advice at www.ucas.com on preparing an application for Guidance Teachers/Careers Advisors Applicants HEI staff How to decide which courses to apply for Entry Profiles Prospectus University websites Unistats Students/Alumni

7. APPLICATION ADVICE THE APPLICATION FORM More and more questions seems to get added to the application form each year Important to Government, UCAS and universities to get a wider picture on who applies to go to university Helps plan for the future Online applications give scope to provide far more information to support applications Keep it relevant Make it positive Dont go into too much detail

8. APPLICATION ADVICE THE APPLICATION CONSISTS OF Personal details Residency Parental education Personal Statement Education & experience Qualifications Work experience Reference

9. WHAT TO INCLUDE Why are you applying for this course/courses Motivation Subject interest Relevance of qualifications Aspirations Long term goal Work experience Responsibilities & People Skills Other interests THE PERSONAL STATEMENT

10. REMEMBER High demand courses can expect the statement to be completely focused on their subject area You can provide more than one statement Keep it positive Highlight strengths Make it personal Pay attention to grammar THE PERSONAL STATEMENT

11. REFERENCES SHOULD INCLUDE Suitability to chosen courses Extenuating circumstances that may have affected a candidates application Predicted grades REFEREES SHOULD Avoid repeating information provided in the personal statement Be pertinent to the course applied for Provide a character and academic reference Make every statement relevant to the applicant Provide contact details THE REFERENCE

12. WHATS THE DIFFERENCE? Interviews Find out more about the applicant Assess portfolio (if relevant) An opportunity to find out more about the course and the University Selection visits Group activities Knowledge of subject/profession Find out more about the applicant An opportunity to find out more about the course and the University INTERVIEW or SELECTION VISIT

13. WHICH COURSES INTERVIEW? Art & Design courses – Route A & B Journalism WHICH COURSES HAVE SELECTION VISITS? Physiotherapy Occupational Therapy Diagnostic Radiography Social Work Nursing & Midwifery OTHER COURSES MAY INTERVIEW IF NECESSARY INTERVIEW or SELECTION VISIT

14. PREPARATION IMPORTANT QUALITIES WHAT TYPE OFSKILLS DO WE LOOK FOR? Communication skills Talent and commitment Self-motivation IT skills Ability to work in a team as well as alone Interpersonal and observational skills

15. THINGS TO THINK ABOUT Why they have applied for this particular course What they know about the profession* Remember whats in their Personal Statement Be able to answer questions on their Portfolio* Hobbies and interests Rehearse interview if possible *only relevant in some instances PREPARATION

16. 3 TYPES OF OFFER Unconditional applicant meets conditions of entry Conditional applicant still has to meet some of the conditions of entry No Offer applicant does not meet the conditions of entry ALL OFFERS CAN BE VIEWED ON UCAS TRACK OFFERS

17. DECISION TIME Most applicants wait until all offers are made If 100% sure of which offer to accept, theres no need to wait until all offers are made Make sure a decision is made before the deadline given by UCAS or all offers will be declined by default ALL DECISIONS ON WHICH COURSE TO ACCEPT ARE ENTERED ON UCAS TRACK

18. OFFERS HOW MANY OFFERS CAN BE ACCEPTED? Maximum number of offers that can be held is 2 1 Conditional Firm (CF) and 1 Insurance (UI or CI) If an Unconditional offer is accepted (UF) then no option to have an insurance choice All other Conditional or Unconditional offers have to be declined

19. CLEARING & LATE WHATS THE DIFFERENCE? LATE applications are received after the 30 June (Route A) or 12 June (Route B) CLEARING applications are received before the deadline but the applicant has either Not been successful in gaining a place at either their Firm or Insurance choice No longer wish to undertake the course originally chosen

20. CLEARING AFTER EXAM RESULTS ARE RELEASED What happens when the results are not as expected? Check UCAS Track first Check if Firm or Insurance choice has been confirmed Contact Admissions Application may still be under consideration Alternative offer may be possible

21. CLEARING AFTER EXAM RESULTS ARE RELEASED What if no offer is given? Automatic entry into Clearing process Check Clearing lists for vacancies Contact Universities directly to find out if a place can be offered Decide which to accept Return Clearing Passport number to the University Look at alternatives – College, Degree Link programmes, resit exams

22. LATE FOR ALL NEW APPLICATIONS After 30 June Not already in the UCAS system for this cycle Must approach Universities directly to find out if an offer can be given Informal offers given Decide which offer to accept Complete the paperwork Useful for applicants who did better than expected in 5 th year exams

23. IMPORTANT DATES ROUTE A September – UCAS start processing applications for the next admissions cycle 15 January – First deadline for receiving applications All applications received by this date will be given equal consideration Applies to all UK/EU applications Applications will still be forwarded to institutions until 30 June Offers made at the discretion of each University 26 February – UCAS Extra starts For those that have already submitted an application via UCAS but have decided not to accept or were unsuccessful in being offered a place

24. IMPORTANT DATES ROUTE B September – UCAS start processing applications for the next admissions cycle but are not referred to Universities until Round 1 begins 12 February – Round 1 starts with last date for applications advised as the 7 March 24 March – Applications received by this date will be given equal consideration 28 March – Round 2 starts 23 May – Round 3 starts 12 June – last date for applications to Route B

25. HELPFUL INFORMATION COURSE CHOICES Can choose up to 5 courses – Route B has a maximum of 3 Make the most of the 5 choices Avoid making multiple applications to courses within the same area of study / same entry criteria Research courses to make sure the Academic criteria is appropriate to the applicant s current subjects PERSONAL STATEMENT It should be the applicant s own work UCAS let institutions know of any statement that is more than 60% plagiarised It is up to each institution as to how they view these statements

26. HELPFUL INFORMATION OFFERS Universities dont know what other institutions that the applicant has applied to when the offer is made We check every conditional offer when the results are published COMMON MISTAKES Spelling, grammar and incorrect date of birth Applying for the wrong UCAS course Reference, name and/or address of referee omitted Missing qualifications Information entered in the wrong section

27. WHERE TO FIND US ADDRESS:ADMISSIONS DIRECTORATE OF STUDENT RECRUITMENT THE ROBERT GORDON UNIVERSITY SCHOOLHILL ABERDEEN AB10 IFR EMAIL: admissions@rgu.ac.ukadmissions@rgu.ac.uk TEL:01224 262728