Just gonna be a random post about the process of uni apps. It's funny and amazing how much have happened since I started deciding what I wanted to do, where I wanted to do and why I wanted to do. Since getting sentimental and emotional comes almost second nature, here goes.
- Massive soul searching and being unbelievably fickle.
- Researching on different universities and their ethos
Next was researching on the various unis. Well, I did my soul searching and my research simultaneously. I guess that was good in a way, since it was kinda killing two birds with one stone. It kinda helped me make a decision quicker, I guess. So, any universities that had the course would be written down in my maroon notebook, along with the price, some perks (like exchange with other unis etc) and location. This went on as long as I was in the midst of deciding on a course. It was great cos it was easy to compare the different unis. The thing that I found important was the uni's ethos, like what they are known for, their teaching methods etc. It's quite an important factor to note as you won't wanna go to a school that you can't recognize and identify with their teaching and all.
For this part, I felt really disadvantaged as poly don't really have a lot of info for students who wanna pursue higher education. Not a lot of info was readily available and accessible to us. I remember when I asked the higher education office if there was any person to talk to, and she directed me to the course manager. Haha. Oh wells. And in comparison with my brother who was in jc, they had people who actually vet their personal statements, we had none. I am just very thankful/ lucky to have Ernest who really helped me so much during this period.
Also, it was possible to get free prospectuses. I remembered requesting a few from the unis that I was interested it. I think I requested as many as I could, such a Singaporean mentality. But it does make the decision making a little easier. I love how they would send it to me free, it felt really personal and lovely. Anyways, some things I found out during this was that studying in US was insanely expensive, sometimes rankings are important (maybe it's the Singaporean mentality haha) and there are so much more besides the usual places like US, UK and Aussie (oh, how much I pine to study at the Bauhaus).
- Going to countless university fairs
Not exactly my favorite thing in the world, but the fairs do give quite some information generally. But I guess the downside to it is that there aren't many design schools that actually come down/ represented. Most courses that are represented are like medicine, chemistry, maths, all the other sciences, arts and languages. So that was just a disadvantage. And it is really embarrassing to ask if you're not sure of what you wanna do. It happened to me a few times because I hadn't settled on architecture yet. So you can imagine the awkward pauses. That aside, there are informative booths around like British Council, scholarship providers etc. All is not lost, trust me. I guess it was helpful going, although you may not be fully sure since there are prospectus around to take home to digest. It really does helps and it is great interacting with the current students of the different universities.
- Deciding on a course
After massive soul searching, wrecking brains to figure out, the decision is made! Never felt so relieved.
- Portfolio time!
For design courses, a portfolio would probably be required although not initially when you apply (for me, since I applied for UK, UCAS just needed personal statement, school info etc). I guess this is one of the most time consuming thing to do during uni apps. I can vouch for that, it's so much work. I died juggling my final year project with it, but it was incredibly fun and really keep me in check. Although it is one of the most tedious thing to do, it is also one of the most fun thing as well! I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of doing my portfolio, although it did get stressful at times since I was away from home. It was fun coming up with a story for it, like for mine was my design process, from getting inspiration to the execution. It was also fun drawing new things and editing old projects (well, not really. I just did a lot of collages haha). It was also great having people to give you constructive criticism to help you improve. Doing portfolio with the UCAS stuff really helped me save a lot of time as well.
- UCAS time
Since I applied for UK, UCAS is the system you apply for different universities. Each course had a code and each school had a code as well. It got a little confusing at first. If I don't remember wrongly, architecture was K100. So, you had to key in like personal details, school info (schools you've studied. I remembered this was a pain as I had to list out all the modules I have taken in poly. If you don't know, it was a lot! And I had to put it in order, omg, it was so awful), references (I'm so thankful to have Ernest's help in it, I'm so grateful I'm at a loss of words) and the much dreaded personal statement. Personal statement may not come as easy to me, since I'm not used to 'gloating' about what I did or what I can do. Nonetheless, it was fun writing it although sometimes when vetting comes, I would cringe and just wanna hide my face somewhere in the ground.
- Waiting game
After all that has been settled, it was time to wait. The unis would send emails saying they got your application and would go over them. This time is also a good time to do portfolio since there's nothing much to do. After some time, unis would get back to you, requesting for a portfolio. Then you can send off your portfolio over to the UK. I trust fully in DHL, although it is pricey at times but I guess it's better to spend on proper courier than your application being null (totally quoting my mum here). If things go or don't go well, you would get an email from UCAS saying something has changed in the application and ask you to log on. Let me say, it is the scariest moment of your life. It just makes you so nervous, but I guess it goes to show how much you want to get in.
I got rejected from the school that I really wanted to go into. And when I saw it in UCAS track, I was just inconsolable. I was depressed for days, goodness. And they actually told you why you were rejected. Mine was my personal statement didn't show enough knowledge of the course I wanted to study. I got really upset since I have been studying IAD and I felt 'misunderstood' and personal statements can be really subjective, depending on who reads it. Oh wells, life moves on.
- Search for alternatives & find comfort if things don't go to plan
As for me, I was really sad I didn't get into the school that I wanted so I ended up finding alternatives like some foundation programme in UK then reapply in the next year. Well, things weren't that bad since I was applying to the school that was outside UCAS (so thankful things went well!)
I find that having a plan/ goal for uni apps was great but shouldn't be too caught up in it. Often, we are so focused on our failures that we don't recognize what we have achieved. I found this exceptionally true during the process. I was so caught up in wanting to be accepted by the school and being rejected by them that I felt the other successful applications weren't important/ didn't matter. But in fact, it did. They give you a confidence booster and as Ernest puts it "hey, a school wants you!", which is very very comforting.
- Scholarships application
I applied for scholarships as well. For me, it wasn't the most pleasant of experiences. It just was depressing. There aren't many scholarships available for design here in Singapore which makes things even harder. Some scholarships are given on first come first served basis. Some scholarships are mainly given to jc peeps, rather than poly peeps. It seems a little unfair/ biased since poly peeps have been taught practical skills and have more real life experience. Maybe jc peeps are a better investment, I don't know. Even my close friend who was the top scorer for our course didn't get one. If he didn't get it, what are my chances seriously? I did get invited for one interview, which didn't go really well but I understood why I wasn't given a scholarship. So it was fine haha. Maybe in the coming years, I would apply for them again after I have collected a wider amount of works from school. Just have to see how it goes.
- Decisions, decisions
After all the unis get back, it was time to decide. For me, I couldn't really do the decision making till I had my interview over in London for one school. It was a real experience travelling alone with a sole purpose of acing the interview. So, imagine my happiness when I got accepted.
It somewhat reminds me of the quote: When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.
I may not be a super religious person but I do find truth in it. I didn't get into the school I wanted, but I did get into another school that I wanted. I remember when my mum was trying to console me when I got rejected, the thing she said (I can't remember) but thinking back, I understand. Also, if possible, visiting the schools that you got accepted into would be good as well. It does give a really good perspective of where you would be studying. It's great to feel the ambience and overall feel of the school, since that's gonna be where you're gonna study for the next 3 years or more. I visited one school in UK after I had my interview. I loved the place as it was really quiet and peaceful. But being such a 'city' person, I think I would have trouble adapting. Somehow, the uni reminded me of poly and I just wanted more of a challenge, hence my choice of uni. When I asked my friends which one to choose, they were all unanimously saying to go for that one. So I really feel/ know that I have made the right choice.
- Feel happy
Then, feel really happy and accomplished as the job is done, well almost. Next up would be the settling of admin stuff (accomm, visa, cas), which I find a pain in the ass at times. Sometimes, it does feel harder than the actual application itself. Not cool.
- Finding accommodation
Finding accomm is really hard especially in London, if looking for an affordable and accessible one. I remember scouring the various student hostel websites and comparing the locations and prices with one another. It got depressing after a while since all of them are just expensive, especially when I wasn't going on a scholarship. I felt really lucky that my brother's friend recommended a place near school and was reasonably priced as well. And everything worked out well for it. I feel so thankful and lucky to have gotten a room there!
- Getting CAS
This gotta be the most frustrating part. Most of the documents required were easy to produce and get. The hardest was the bank statement as the money has to be in the account for 28 consecutive days. And it was like the whole waiting game over again. I tried getting the documents from the UK side of the bank but they weren't exactly very forward and responsive so I ended up using the one from here. I love my relations manager, she's so lovely! It was a tedious process getting CAS, but when you do, it just feels a huge weight is lifted off your shoulder.
- Visa apps
This process was insane. The amount of documents you need to bring, although you end up not using 90% - 95% of the documents brought. Although they said it would take 15 working days (3 weeks) to process and in order to get back the passport, but it only took half the time, which was a surprise. Even the appointment itself was so short, compared to the few hours I had in mind. My picture looked really weird, since we aren't allowed to smile. I was trying to do this discreet smile in order not to look retarded/ criminal looking. I think it didn't look that bad, phew.
- Packing and feeling sad/ excited
The part that I am at now. The state of my room and my house is just. I have no words for it. I have pretty set aside and bought all the things I need, all that is left is clothes and actually packing into the suitcase. When I started packing, it was really depressing and scary because it felt that I was packing my life in a suitcase. I was also packing my room in just one suitcase. It's like impossible, knowing how messily organized my room can get. I gotta put things into the luggage soon, I'm running out of time. Everything gets surreal yet exciting. Then gotta meet up with as many people as I can, I'm trying to spend as much time as I can with the usuals and the lovelies to compensate/ make up for the time that I won't be able to spend with them.
Okay, this is the longest post I have every done. I have no idea who will read this but this was the whole process that I went through while applying for unis. I must say, it was a really fun yet stressful period (since I had my final year project to deal with). Enjoy it and everything will fall into place.
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