On Thursday, 24th January, the Siena Society
hosted a talk by the University of East Anglia’s admission tutor, Jess Smith.
The older sister of a girl currently studying GCSEs, Jess was ideally suited to
speak to the girls at their level about entry to university.
She gave good advice as to what questions a girl should be
asking when researching a degree course and university:
What is the reputation of the course?
What are the entry requirements? (An applicant must be
realistic about her academic potential)
What is the content and structure of the course?
How is the course taught and assessed?
Why do you think you would enjoy the course?
Do you want to move away from home?
Do you want a city or campus university?
Do you want to be part of a large (eg 40,000 students)
university or a small one (6000 students)?
What will the living costs be like? (Accommodation at the
UEA ranges from £59 per week for a shared room to £110 per week for a single
en-suite room)
What is there to do nearby the university?
Further excellent advice that Jess offered centred on the 3
key areas university admissions tutors look for in a student’s application:
1.
Academic ability (evidenced by GCSE and AS
results)
2.
Motivation (evidenced by relevant reading,
experience and skills)
3.
Research- the applicant needs to demonstrate an
understanding of what the course will involve.
The earlier the girls at St Catherine’s grasp the importance
of this advice, the simpler will be their task in Year 12 when they actually
have to make the decision as to which course they want to apply for and at
which 5 universities they will apply to read it.
Our next Siena Society lecture sees David Rice from
Birmingham University also present a talk on university admissions; it will be
interesting to compare his advice to Jess Smith’s.