Worried about going through clearing? Here is my experience with MSoP
As you may or may not know, it is an emotional experience when you get your A-Level results. I got my results in August 2014 and I had been predicted 3 A’s which I was more than able to achieve. I’m not sure if it was the stress of finding University places or just the fact I was unprepared for the exams. I was holding an offer at Cardiff University for Pharmacy. However when I opened that results letter I knew getting into any university would be a struggle with the grades that I had achieved.
Thus, my journey of emotions began. First I was upset, as if I had lost a close relative, then came the anger. I was angry at myself as I knew that I could have achieved more. Whatever emotion you can name I had it. (Apart from happiness of course).
I had never considered clearing, but maybe I should of, as now I was in that situation along with thousands of other people trying to get the last few spaces into university. I quickly went onto the UCAS clearing website to look for the universities that were offering clearing places. I called up over half of the universities that offered Pharmacy but I didn’t manage to get a place at any of them. At this point I thought that I won’t get into University this year. I went back into my college to order my exam scripts and to apply for exam resits. They told me to come back at the end of next week then they will be able to process the resit request. I left for work feeling upset and worthless.
The next following days were not the best. I was still thinking about the results and what the future will hold. I was scheduled to go into college on Friday to collect my papers and apply for resits. On Thursday morning, before I started work, I received an email from UCAS telling me that the University of Greenwich still had places through clearing and one of the courses listed was Pharmacy. I was very optimistic about calling them up but something told me to give it a go so I did. I managed to get through to an agent who said she would pass my case on to the School of Pharmacy. I assumed I wouldn’t get a call back and carried on with my day. When I finished my shift I went to check my phone and I saw that I had 5 missed calls form an unknown number. I didn’t think twice about it and thought it must have been a call about debt or PPI. As I was leaving work this unknown number called again and this time I answered it. The person on the phone was Dr Scott Wildman from the Medway School of Pharmacy. He told me that I wasn’t able to get into Pharmacy but said that he wanted me to join the BSc Pharmacology and Physiology programme. I said that I wasn’t interested but he still sent me the details about the course.
I went home and spoke to my parents about this offer. We looked through the course together and decided that it would be interesting and it was worth a shot. I told Dr Wildman that I would give it a shot but if I didn’t enjoy it that I would transfer to Pharmacy after the end of the first year, either at this university or another. Dr Wildman gave me all of the information that I needed and made sure that I understood everything that he was explaining. Without his help I’m sure that I would be resitting A-levels this year.
Looking back at my experience I found that the Medway School of Pharmacy staff were more helpful than any other university. They really showed interest in my application and even offered me a course that they thought would suite me. I have really fell in love with this course and now I’m gaining valuable lab experience over the summer. I feel that being put into clearing was more of a blessing than an ordeal. I now have no desire to transfer to Pharmacy and am continuing onto my 2nd year after achieving an overall 1st class mark in my first year. I would highly recommend the Medway School of Pharmacy for anyone looking for helpful staff during clearing.
Finally, being a religious person I would like to share the following line with everyone:
“When God closes one door, don’t keep knocking at that door. Rather go to the other door that he has opened for you.”