August 15, 2020, by Charli

When Nottingham Wasn’t Your Firm Choice

For something that happens to so many of us, we don’t talk about it enough. When you open your results envelope and see that you’ve missed the grades for your firm choice. When you log into UCAS to find that it’s your insurance choice that’s been confirmed. That heart sinking moment when you realise that the university you’ve dreamed about has rescinded its offer of a place.

When it happened to me, I thought my world was ending.

I had had my heart set on my firm choice – I’d been wanting to apply since I was thirteen, I’d visited the city countless times, and I’d worked incredibly hard all the way through sixth form to try and get there. I’d been imagining myself there for so long that I picked the course at Nottingham as my insurance choice purely because I’d heard good things about it, and because it had lower grade boundaries.

When I found out that I was going to Nottingham, I was crushed. Not because I didn’t want to go there, but because I’d fallen in love with my firm choice university and couldn’t see myself studying anywhere else.

If you missed your firm choice offer, you’re not alone.

If you’re reading this now, as distraught as I was on results day, don’t panic. You’re probably feeling frustrated, disappointed, ashamed. You’re probably rethinking every moment of your exams, wondering what you could, or should have done differently.

So I’m here to tell you that it’s okay. It happens to so many of us, and it’s incredibly upsetting at first. But I’ve yet to meet anyone who regrets going to their insurance choice university. So much of your university life, after all, is about the people you meet. No matter where you end up, you’ll meet people that you couldn’t imagine your university experience without. It may not be what you’d hoped for, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be incredible.

So what can you do now?

Much like the proverbial ‘get back on the horse’, I think the best thing you can do is start looking at your insurance university as if you’re applying all over again. Watch students’ youtube videos, find online tours, read blog posts, research and apply for accommodation. Do whatever you need to do to get yourself excited for your new university life.

It’s going to be difficult at first, but if you embrace this new twist of fate, you may end up loving it more than you ever imagined. I know that’s what happened to me!

And by the time you’ve experienced welcome week, and gotten to know the people on your course, and explored the city, and joined any societies you’re interested in, and thrown yourself into a dissertation topic, and thrown your graduation cap in the air… You’ll have forgotten all about your firm choice university.

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