Going through Clearing can be incredibly overwhelming. You think you have it all planned out, but suddenly a few grades one random day in August changes the course of the next few years of your life. And then, through a bombardment of disorientating thoughts and feelings, you have to pull yourself together and make quick decisions about what you have been told for the past two years, and they that will affect your whole future. For me, this looked like sitting at school, makeup smudged, gathering a list of universities and degree courses that sounded interesting. Finally, and only once I had worked up the courage, I spent the rest of the day calling all of the universities on my list to see who would take me.
Some students, however, go through Clearing because they did better than they thought they had done. And that’s great! But that doesn’t mean Clearing is any less stressful. These are big decisions after all. But hopefully, at the end of what was likely a very emotionally draining day, you will have found the right university and degree for you. I found the University of Kent’s Anthropology BSc.
The campus community is a unique environment, where you are constantly surrounded by friends and peers who make the university experience feel complete.
Kent was one of the five universities I chose when I applied to UCAS, and so when I saw that I could apply through Clearing, I knew it would be on my list. I looked on the website at all of their degrees and then looked on their Anthropology page. It was really important to me that the modules they had were ones that I was going to be excited about, and Kent’s variety had me sold, and I applied.
Once I had a few offers through Clearing, the choice then came down to university life. It is really important you get a good feeling from the campus and staff. Luckily enough, I had already been to the Canterbury campus and explored some of the city, and I knew I loved it. Initially, I was going to choose a city campus, but I’m glad I took the risk. The campus community is a unique environment, where you are constantly surrounded by friends and peers who make the university experience feel complete.
Between the exciting degree opportunities, the School of Anthropology’s amazing webpage, and the campus life, the decision to choose Kent was practically made for me.
I am writing this as a student who has had a year and a half of my university experience be during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, the question of how I found my first year of university is a strange one to answer.
Accommodation was a really simple process. During my Clearing experience, I was contacted about accommodation and just followed the instructions to apply.
As easy as that. my first year, I found friends nearly everywhere I went. In the six months on campus before lockdown, my friends were my flatmates, my Anthropology peers, and fellow society members. So, it’s safe to say, I was never bored. My first year was filled with meeting new people and doing new things almost every day of the week.
And then came lockdown.
It’s important to remember that once you go through the initial stresses of applying and sorting out Clearing, you begin uni just like any other student.
I have to admit that having your first year of uni cut short is a bit of a bummer. I had to say goodbye to all my new friends and adjust to online learning, all the while dealing with the stresses of a global pandemic and having every second word I hear be “unprecedented”.
But it wasn’t all bad. The support and hard work of the staff made getting through the pandemic that little bit easier. And with the help of my new supportive friends, and the wonders of video calling, I was hopeful for the year to come. I knew I would be moving in with some great people I had met, and I would be continuing with a course that had become my passion.
You become like every other student going to that uni. You will start the first day of uni like every other student: excited and at least a little nervous.
Advice-wise it would be really easy to say to calm down, and that you will end up loving wherever you go, but in the moment, Clearing can feel like the end of the world. However, the best advice I can give is that once you have found a university and degree you are excited about, you become like every other student going to that uni. You will start the first day of uni like every other student: excited and at least a little nervous.
Given that, here are some tips to make the first day a bit less stressful:
- Sign up to Facebook- Before uni, I didn’t have or use Facebook. However, you will soon learn that Facebook is the be-all and end-all for all university group communication.
- Look up your accommodation’s and university degree’s Facebook page- now that you have Facebook, it’s time to get active. Look up the college accommodation you’re a part of and see if you can make a group chat of the people you will be living with; Find your degree’s university page, my friend started an Anthropology group chat on Facebook Messenger which the whole year is in. Trust me, Facebook is a great way to make friends before you even get here.
- Get excited- on top of the shock of Clearing, moving to uni, in general, can be really daunting. But, this doesn’t mean you can’t get excited about it! Start looking at the societies you want to join, plan your dorm room, go for that famous pre-uni shopping trip. Make the most of the run-up to uni!
Once you get past the Clearing processes, things will start to clear up. The important thing to remember is to take it one step at a time. Moving to uni is a big deal and is going to be an amazing few years of your life so, try to enjoy it for as long as you can.
Clearing is open! Apply to join the Anthropology BSc at Kent