I've always wanted to go to University - but it always seemed so far away, a choice that can wait. Now it's slowly creeping up though and I've started seriously looking at possible choices and I'm torn. I want to go to a top end Uni but the entry requirements are pretty much always A*AA or AAB at the lowest, they don't really go down until you're looking at the bottom quarter of the ranked list. I don't want to aim impossibly high and then be disappointed but I also don't want to take the easy route. Aiming for those higher grades would mean putting myself under so much pressure, everything would depend on the exams in year 13 and I really don't know if it's worth it or not. I visited Oxford University last weekend and it was so lovely, all the lecturers were so enthusiastic and the place was just amazing. But along with that came the clear message that a lot of people don't even get shortlisted for an interview and if you don't get the grades required - you just won't get a place because there's so many others that want your place. Obviously all the top end universities are going to be pretty similar to this and it can be quite disheartening. It's not the amount of work I'd have to put in once I'm there that puts me off just the possibility of not getting in at all. In GCSE the teachers went on about having to get high grades and now all you they go on about is how competitive places in Universities are. Sometimes you can't help but feel like you might as well give up whilst your ahead because there's no chance of actually getting to where you want to be. I won't give up though because University is what I've been aiming for, for so many years now. It's a risk applying for a University with high entry grades and I'm just going to have to see if it's a risk that's worth taking...
Laura.
Song: Both by Greg Holden
