Secrets of Applying for University (UCAS)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- Astronomer Mike Merrifield is also the physics undergraduate admissions tutor for the University of Nottingham. That means he goes through all the UCAS forms (the forms filled in by UK students applying for university).
Here he gives a few insider tips!
Mike is on Twitter at / profmike_m
Test Tube by video journalist Brady Haran for the University of Nottingham.
More at www.test-tube.o...
Why is Atlas of Creation on the shelf: • Atlas of Creation
Brady's other channels include:
/ periodicvideos (Chemistry stuff)
/ sixtysymbols (Physics and astronomy)
/ numberphile (Numbers and maths)
/ deepskyvideos (Space stuff)
/ foodskey (Food science)
/ backstagescience (Big science facilities)
/ favscientist (Favourite scientists)
/ bibledex (Academic look at the Bible)
/ wordsoftheworld (Modern language and culture)
/ philosophyfile (Philosophy stuff)
This man is a diamond in the rough when it comes to admissions tutors. He is so candid about this process that so often gets wrapped up in all this bureaucratic nonsense.
What a thoroughly decent chap. This man Inspires my confidence in the selection process being a fair one at Nottingham for Physics.. I wish they were all like him!
this video, changed my life... i now attend Nottingham first year international management, without this video i would never have really thought of Nottingham!
robby simmons hello I just sent my application for International management in Nottingham too.I have some questions for you so could you please add me on Snapchat?(goldalawr)
Well, I wish I'd seen this before I sent my UCAS application away...
+Scott Boyd what did you do wrong?
+H He didn't say he did underwater hockey. ;)
How did it go?
Haha, I'm an air traffic controller and we get quite a lot of work experience people. Rest assured they only listen in and don't actually control, unless we have a simulator free.
Why is there discrimination against air traffic controllers?
Raymond Williams Purely because letting inexperienced people (students) near those who are in control of hundreds of peoples' lives isn't the best idea.
Dylan Burns I see the point, but I do not see the relevance for application to a university yet. I might be foolish but really I can't.
iSquared I want to be an air traffic controller. I plan to do a degree before hand even though I don't need one though.
'welshtext' blalblahblahblah.... wow im offended. lol
Tbh that's how Welsh sounds to most other people 😂
Been watching Sixtysymbols for about 4 years, have always wanted to study Physics and now that dream is coming true! Far surpassed the entry requirements and am Starting a Physics degree at Nottingham in September :')
Scott Robinson How did it go?
Congratulations!!!!! I am so late but hEY! U got where u wanted to be
Kwa hiyo, sisi tufanyeje sasa?
soo...still at Nottingham ?
I applied and got an offer! Thanks, Mike!
Jamie Y where did you apply?
And since when does anyone read the video description...? I have spent half my life repeating things in the comment section because people didn't read the description! :)
spelin and gramr r importent?
+AMD FANBOY 7:52
no as that is biased against non-english speakers.
I know this was asked 3 years ago, you can always use spell check!
this scares me
4 years later and it's still the same for me
How did it go?
Are you employed?
This is seriously great information to hear and not something that potential applicants are usually exposed to.
What a scary job... Being responsible for controlling the next 3, if not 30, years of someone's life! My college was very generous with their personal statements and predicted grades... But I still made it into my first choice because of the final exam results! Horah!
If you don't mind indulging me, how did it all turn out?
(What course did you do and what job now?)
8 years later and this is still very useful.
Thanks a lot for this video. I just finished up my final touches on my UCAS (Finishing a 3 month process and 8 re-writes) and sent it off. I had been wanting to see what admissions tutors actually received for a while and I actually applied to Nottingham so this video was particularly relevant.
That was 9 years ago! What are you upto now? Did u get into Nottingham?
Because of you and your "crew", I have decided to apply to Nottingham. I've already had email converstions with Mike Merrifield about the different courses, and I think Physics with Astronomy or Physics with Theoretical Astrophysics will be my choice. Hopefully - if I get in - I'll one day meet you! :D
I'd therefor like to thank you, Brady Haran, on behalf of your viewers and say that you're doing an amazing job at inspiring people to seek furthur into the wilderness of physics and astronomy!
This is obviously for more of a UK audience, but still handy tips for university applications (or any application, in my opinion!)
Great video, in fact the application form seems very similar to the one to apply for A-Levels, but obviously a lot harder to be accepted!
Guess I just have to try and work for some good A-Levels and write about some quirky hobbies, only 2 years to go!
Under water ice hockey..... they'd be frozen or freezing
I don't really like the system. But I can see its merits. In the Netherlands they look at your grades and if there are not enough places, it becomes a lottery. That too is not ideal, but it gives all equal chance. As I remember you can apply to three universities simultaneously, so that enhances the chances.
Thanks for brilliant candid expressions about revealing the black box of secrets highlighting what it takes to craft a successful application for university admission in desired domain of high order learning and development research field focused serious study.
In the United States and Ireland, "college" and "university" are loosely interchangeable, whereas in the UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and other Commonwealth nations, "college" may refer to a secondary or high school, a college of further education, a training institution that awards trade qualifications, or a constituent part of a university.
See wikipedia "college" for more.
In Sweden your application for university is based solely on your grades from the Gymnasium. After your exams you get a point from 0-20 based on your grades. The you apply via a computer system, listing what universities and programs you want to attend in your prefered order. If there are 100 places in a particular course, the 100 best students get the places.
Also, it is completely free to study at university in Sweden. You don't pay for anything except literature.
I’ve been at uni since September.... why is this only showing up in my recommended now?
100,000 views, no longer a secret .
I understand. I stated in other posts that the way to deal with books on Creationism is to remove them from the science shelf and put them on the shelf with books on Big Foot and Ancient Alien books. It has mistakenly grouped with science. One wouldn't place a book on Social Science with a book on the Big Bang Theory just because it has the word Science in the title. Social Science falls into a different kind of science that is neither pseudoscience nor true science. The separation is important.
I'm sending my application to Nottingham for a four year masters in Physics! It feels awesome that the professor will be looking at my application :D
Even as a student applying to colleges in the US this is incredibly helpful
Thanks very much for this. I'm applying to Uni for 2013 and found it very informative and useful.
Sunday morning laziness! But I will in a bit :).
Oh, and Brady, thanks for these wonderful channels, you and the Peridoic Videos team have inspired me to go into chemistry! Thanks
I've put the link in the description
Wow the UK system is certainly very different from what we see here. Typically the university you apply to will only have a list of the subjects you are graduating in/graduated in.
I wonder if Mr. Merrifield would have any advice for people wanting to go back to university later in life, and if that could be a viable thing to do in relation to a field like physics.
By and large in the UK "college" is used to refer to what, in the US, would be called senior high school. Despite this the word "college" is also found in the name of many higher education institutions, such as University College London. In these cases a college is a constituent part of a university (UCL is a constituent college of the University of London). However, no student will refer to university as "college."
Exact opposite 'mature' students are highly regarded and are seen to be better than a normal standard 18 year old going into uni. Your experience in learning music (if done in a university with a possible degree) gives an advantage as you have seen university life and can possibly cope better than a 18 year old. And for your maths dilemma it is extremely important you study maths as it is the language of physics.
Wow, thanks Mike and Brady. Perfect timing for me anyway.
Ahh, applying to Nottingham for Mechanical Engineering this year - final edits to my personal statement and then my application is off...!
How are you finding maths?
I wanna do it but my parents can't afford the money
Thank you, for your advice. This was very helpful
riveting....spellbinding..
can you do a computer file vid about how the ucas system works??? am trying to figure out how to get more that 4000 characters into my personal statement.
I just don't think it is possible, that is one of the challenges of applying to UCAS is condensing what you want to say. It is clearly possible I and many others have done it so can you. Ask any teachers/adults to read through it and get opinions from as many people as you can.
I'm lucky enough to have a BSc(hons) & an MSc in Astrophysics and I havn't even got any A-Levels. You can thank the Labour government for that. I am however unemployed and CANNOT get a job anywhere, so it's not all good news.
thanks for showing what you see. I'm always wandering about what the lecturer sees.
I wish I'd have seen this before I applied :P But it ended up fine anyway, I managed to get an offer, so thanks to all the admissions team :D I look forward to meeting you in February :)
Thank you so much for this video! without your advice i would have never gotten an offer from cambridge :)
i'm a big fan of all o your channels,brady, and already anxiously waiting for new videos :)
This sounds really complicated. Where I live a student just checks a box on the central application site, signs with their EID and it's done. The university can put in minimum requirements (passed core courses eg physics 2, maths 5) for each programme and then students are accepted depending on their average grade.
It does sound unfair that a human's preferences should determine whether or not a person is accepted.
Thank you for the advice, it will definitely counts towards my application perfection
Yes, thank you for being intelligent about it. The point I was trying to originally get across is that one shouldn't let something like someone looking into multiple fields and theories trying to further educate themselves put them off of going to a school like Nottingham.
that was great. thanks for making.
Yes, I just saw it and had no problems at all.
I'm sure that would be taken into account, but showing the initiative to have an English speaker (or two) check your written work is the sort of thing a smart, promising student would do!?
That's just my opinion, not the university.
Brilliant video Brady. I'm already at university in Sheffield but I bet I would have applied to Nottingham if I'd have seen these videos two years ago.
His talk at nottingham on admissions was great. Shame my application went off yesterday
I'd say so. Its similar to economics in that respect. Considering the high demand of mathematic literacy.
2:32 The video summarized if you don’t have time.
It's not my book to put away... And Mike isn't the sort of guy to rearrange his bookshelf because of zealous TH-cam commenters.
He is definitely not a subscriber to creationism (as you will know from the video).
But I am not going to change his office to project an image... I want people watching my videos to know exactly what it is like to be in his office... And part of it is that you see that book sitting there.
If Mike moves it, then he moves it.
Could you do a video on PhD applications please? I would really like to hear what the Doctors and Professors look for in research applicants/applications. I'm sure it would benefit a number of us :)
I have already finished my first year in uni and going through the second, but this would have been very useful had it come earlier to me.
I'm sure they will. If you didn't want to make the effort to visit, they would probebly conclude you didn't want to go very much, and bin your application. I went much further then that for uni interviews.
We have made a whole video about why that book is there! Check it out!
Well, you can always apply!
OMG ! I'm applying for Chemical Engineering ! But I'll do a foundation year first because I'm an overseas prospectus...
As a junior in high school, I'm still somewhat unsure as to whether I'll get into a decently successful college, but I do find this slightly reassuring... My school is especially academically inclined, so I hope it won't hurt me in any way that my grades aren't all A's because some of the courses are quite rigorous. Thanks for the video!
don't understand why as levels dont still exist. i hate that my ucas predicted grades is completely my teachers' prerogative; no solid data of performance in a public examination like you used to get with AS levels. universities will suffer, as they did last year, having to put down grades as A levels become harder and predicted grades become.... less predictable
Great advice. Thanks Brady + Mike.
The topic came up because of the book on the shelf behind the professor "Atlas of Creation" displayed so prominently that it is the only book with a readable title. That and far too often Creationist try to wedge their beliefs into what are clearly science video topics. Personally, I don't go to Creationist channels and troll about the merits of science. My comments in this one reply thread are pretty much on the topic of the book on the shelf and how science could deal with various "theories".
They only use the subjects needed for you specific course... The est way to get that information is going to their site.
Thanks, great video, very helpful... I was actually writing my personal statement at the time (for Physics) and I probably wouldn't be applying to Nottingham had it not been for these videos :D
good luck!
I study math at University of Mainz (Germany) and there are no limitations for applicants.Everyone can come....but the fun thing is that i started with 400 People.Only 220 took the tests in the first term and well only 14 passed all three.But i guess thats the special thing about math ^ o ^
I remembered I applied my personal statement was in bullet points and all uni i have applied for got me place king's college even gave me an unconditional offer(no interview required)
Just a quick question Brady, how many collective subscribers do you have?
Keep up the brilliant work!!
-A huge fan
I want to go to nottingham so badly! Specifically for astrophysics! I am still in 11th grade and I live in Los Angeles. It would be so exciting to study abroad here! Future hopeful student :)
Where are you now??
Yea, write in the personal statement "no requirement for a student loan, I can pay upfront - in cash" ditto Masters, ditto PHD ..
You can do a foundation year at many universities, maybe not the really prestigious ones, but Surrey, Nottingham, Sussex probably will.
for example, one of my friends went to Sussex on a foundation year before doing Physics because he failed his last Physics paper (but got like Cs and Bs in the other ones)
Useful, I'm intending to go to Uni next year! Think I'll have an easier time though, since the University I'm looking to enter specifically wants people on my course.
i wish it was like this in my country... here, the funding of the schools depends on the number of students they have.... and this basically means one thing, that anybody who applies gets accepted... and in many cases also gets the degree
Why would you want a system where you are less likely to get in?
@@astroposyt2898 quality?
Ok. I think the point is being missed. People can believe what they want and do what they want to try and prove their ideas. But that was not even what I was trying to get across. I was just trying to say Nottingham seems like a great school and one would be lucky to be able to go there. That was it.
I plan to apply at Nottingham for ChemEng or Chemistry soon, woo! :D
what of sebody doesn't have the opportunity to do something more dramatic than academics
I'm playing it in 0.75x speed and ot sounds normal now
I wish I had seen this video before I applied haha, but I can't complain now. I'm at UCL studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
I sent off my application for Physics with Theoretical Physics at Nottingham last tuesday! :P
I fixed that before you posted it! ;)
I plan on going Nottingham.
If the "discussion" bugs you, don't have it... From what I can tell, 95% of the comments on that book come from the "anti-creation" side of things.... I think they're the ones whipping it up...
Why not just thumbs down a creationist comment and move on... Or ignore them all together...
It just seems to me you're all shouting at the top of your voices about how much you hate shouting!
A Scientific Theory differs from the general use of the word Theory.
Generally the word Theory simply means an explanation of how Nature works and implies that it is speculative, unproven conjecture. This is not what a Scientific Theory is. A Scientific Theory is the most reliable, rigorous and comprehensive explanation of Nature that is detailed in a way that can be tested for both verification and contradiction.
Underwater ice hockey?
Dont doubt it.
Didn't you watch this video? A good background makes all the difference. ;^)
I dunno? Why don't yo go through all the channels and add them up! ;)
Very useful. Thank you :)
Very helpful information
Crap, i already sent my application form in.
Shoulda added the 'extra struff that counts'. Oh well, I hope they ask some of that in the interview.
In germany to study physics you kinda write the university you want to go to, that you want to study physics then give them your last school certificate and that's it. No interview or anything oO
At least on public universities (which is the standard for germany).
What about international students?
Aeroscience This applies to them too. They have to put in their appropriate qualifications for their country, but otherwise it's pretty much the same process.
Nice to get some advice from the person who'll be judging my application in a few months!
Good thing this video didn't exist when I applied for my bachelor and later master spot. I'd have soiled my pants if I had any idea beforehand.
Tip for Germany: If they don't require a motivational letter write one anyway. It's something they'll likely to read with interest and ask you about during an interview (if you have one) and it might help them like you before getting to know you.
Great thanks, very useful
But the main thing I was trying to say was you shouldn't let something like there being a creationism book there make you not want to go to a school like Nottingham. You can't blame him for wanting to continue to learn about different theories and subjects.
You can, but no fast track system. Your applying to a new uni, and they may, or may not accept you, or any course you've alreay done, towards your new one. Someone at your current university should be able to help you with this.
in spain we dont have to write applycations , u get into university depending just un ur grades :)
Thanks that was very helpful
Hahaha, good one! Honestly I think it's kinda cool that Fabiola chose/dared to use that font though - if you like it then why not? :).