Primrose Kitten

I have talked a lot about how to pick between your offers, but here are ten  terrible ways to pick between your offers.

1. You do not have to accept an offer just because it is an unconditional offer. Unconditional offers are given out by universities to tempt you in, to try and encourage you to go there, but if you're not confident that you're going to be happy there, do not accept it just because it's an unconditional offer.

2. Do not follow your boyfriend or your girlfriend, this is a bad idea, you are a different person to them, you may not be happy at the same university, do not follow them, if your relationship is meant to be, if your relationship is going to last, it will last long distance,

3. Do not go somewhere just because your parents went there. I have seen this so many times before, with people I was at university with, with students who have done the same course as their parents, at the same college, at the same university. You are not your parents, do not feel pressured by them to follow the family tradition or the family history.

4. Don't go to a university because there is a famous lecturer or because somebody famous is there as a student. As an undergraduate will probably never see the famous lecturers. If there is an academic, that you are desperate to work with, your best chance at working with them, is as a postgraduate. As an undergraduate you're probably not going to see them.

5. Do not pick somewhere based on the weather because weather is changeable, I know that up north sometimes it can be a bit cold and rainy, but that doesn't mean you're not going to have an absolutely fantastic time. Down south is generally sunnier, but not always, so don't pick a university based on what you think the weather's going to be like.

6. Do not believe the advertising. Universities want you to go there, they pay a lot of money for advertising, they pay a lot of money to try and entice you to come. Do not believe the advertising, do not believe the hype, do your own research.

7. The universities position in a league table. League tables are constantly changing and it doesn't necessarily tell you whether the course is going to be suited to you, or what type of course is going to be best for you. Also just because it's part of the Russell Group, or not, whether it's a Red brick university, or not, these are just labels.

8. The nightlife, yes your social life is important, but there are things like trains, where you can travel to different cities. What is going to be most important, is going to be the combination of happiness, university and course. Don't just pick somewhere because it has a good club scene.

9. Randomly pulling something out of a hat, this is so bad, just don't do it.

10. Do not go to university because you can't think of anything better to do. University is expensive, university is time consuming, university is a lot of work, if you can't think of anything better to do, then maybe try a gap year and think about what you actually want to do.

This is a very big decision, do not feel rushed into it, do not feel pressured to make a decision that somebody else wants you to make. You need to make a decision that is best for you, not what is best for other people. This is a really stressful but a really exciting time for you.