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Original poster

Ucas form : Leaving last uni choices til later

36 replies

Firelemon · 17/10/2022 15:32

Hi is anyone able to confirm my understanding that it’s correct that DD can submit her form with 4 choices and leave the 5th empty to decide at a later date ( as long as we put this last choice in before the Jan deadline) . I have been suggesting we do this as we will have a much better idea on epq level in a month or so and/or whether she has any offers in hand by then both of which might affect the choice she makes but school are asking her to complete all 5at the same time now .

OP posts:
Notagardener · 18/10/2022 22:29

Oh, is it same fee....dc school paid for the 4 but told DC she had to pay extra for her last choice 😁

namechange3394 · 18/10/2022 22:30

TootMootZoot · 17/10/2022 23:30

Oh dear 🤭 let's hope you retired a while ago.

This is copy and pasted direct from UCAS
Adding more choices
Extraa* is our free service – available for you to apply to one course at a time between 25 February and early July.
If you didn't use all five choices, you can add more choices one at a time from your application as long as it's before 30 June and you've not accepted any offers or been declined by your choices.
If you only originally applied to one choice (so paid at the reduced fee), all you have to do is pay the extra £4.50 to allow you to add more.
If you accepted an offer and are made unsuccessful by the uni/college before 30 June, if you have not used all five choices, you can contact our Customer Experience Centree* to add more

Show quote history

I hope they retired quite a while ago as you've definitely been able to do this since at least 2010 when I applied 😂

Dotcheck · 18/10/2022 22:32

Celeryandhummus · 17/10/2022 16:38

Retired Head of Year/UCAS Advisor here.

You cannot add a 5th choice after the form has been submitted to UCAS. Your daughter should discuss with school when they intend to send her form off - most schools have an internal deadline for students to complete their form and Pay/Send, then the school has control of the form, attaches the academic reference and actually sends the full form to UCAS. They may extend the school deadline for your DD until she has an idea of her EPQ level, though I have to say that universities focus on predicted grades over EPQ, (which is very good to evidence additional independent study and interest and is worth mentioning in the personal statement but does not carry the same weight or UCAS points).
I would suggest a discussion with the UCAS Advisor/Head of Year about this. They may agree to hold off sending her form until nearer the UCAS deadline in January or may advise her to add the 5th choice now...see what they say.

UCAS Extra opens in February as a sort of early Clearing for those who change their mind about their choices/do not hold any offers. Students can look for courses with vacancies but can only apply for one course at a time, having withdrawn from any offers they might hold.

You’re wrong.
They can add choices at a later date.
Unis don’t have to consider the application of it is added after the deadline ( which ever it is)

RedHelenB · 18/10/2022 23:00

My dd only put 3 unis down originally, then added one and then another. Didn't cost her any more money, all done online. She got offers for all except Oxbridge .

MarchingFrogs · 20/10/2022 07:51

Notagardener · 18/10/2022 22:29

Oh, is it same fee....dc school paid for the 4 but told DC she had to pay extra for her last choice 😁

That really doesn't make sense; whoever was paying the fee to UCAS, as previously mentioned, the split is between a single entry at a reduced fee and 2+ entries at the full fee. The difference between the two is about £6.

AlicesAttic · 21/10/2022 08:36

Sorry, but UCAS Extras says 25th Feb to end of June, i.e. after the main deadline. So you'll be classed as a late applicant and at a disadvantage to all those who applied on time.

DD wants to leave one box blank until she's visited her final two places next month and chosen between them, but her form tutor is haranguing her about getting the otherwise completed form paid for and sent off so they can add their reference and cross her off their list (large 6th form college with hundreds of applications to get through).

We she be able to log back in and add the final choice after the last booked open day visit on 12th Nov? I'm not clear from all the replies.

MatildaJayne · 21/10/2022 15:27

Yes she will. As PP said it’s in her own control after school have sent their predicted grades and reference. Just make sure the last choices are done before 25th Jan to get equal consideration.

Also worth remembering to use a personal email for UCAS and not a school one as some schools delete the students’ email access in July.

Dotcheck · 23/10/2022 07:02

AlicesAttic · 21/10/2022 08:36

Sorry, but UCAS Extras says 25th Feb to end of June, i.e. after the main deadline. So you'll be classed as a late applicant and at a disadvantage to all those who applied on time.

DD wants to leave one box blank until she's visited her final two places next month and chosen between them, but her form tutor is haranguing her about getting the otherwise completed form paid for and sent off so they can add their reference and cross her off their list (large 6th form college with hundreds of applications to get through).

We she be able to log back in and add the final choice after the last booked open day visit on 12th Nov? I'm not clear from all the replies.

Extra is different.

IF she fills all 5 of her choices, she can add an ‘Extra’ after Feb 25 - but only if she isn’t holding any offers. That means the universities either declined her, or she declined their offer or withdrew choices. She can only add one Extra choice at a time, but can add several consecutive choices.

She CAN add her 5th choice after Nov 12th. She can add it after her application has been completed/ reference added/ application submitted.
Some schools/ colleges push students to have 5 choices, but 1) some don’t realise they can add a choice after 2) control freakery.

If your child hasn’t used all their choices they CAN add choices at any time in the cycle - even after Jan 25. As long as unis are still accepting applications, then students can apply ☺️

Oblomov22 · 23/10/2022 07:51

I am surprised people do this. Choose what you really want. And have one back up just incase. Especially over an EPQ of all things. (I like them but don't rate them that highly re Uni decisions).

What will change? That will make her change her 5th choice? What 5th choices is she deliberating over?

Ds1 did get an very early offer from Durham(but that is very rare, because they are generally notoriously late). I can't quite remember when the next offer came in, Southampton after the normal deadline of Jan? But the one he chose was incredibly late, because it was a linked degree. So his case was not the norm I assume.

Ffy · 23/10/2022 08:31

There are various reasons for leaving one. Dd has her heart set in a particular university. There are two courses that are very similar with lots of overlap. One has a higher grade requirement. She has applied for that one and if she doesn’t get an offer she will also apply for the second option using her final slot

Revengeofthepangolins · 23/10/2022 09:11

@AlicesAttic
school want the issue of their plate, which one can understand. If she submits to school with some slots empty they can still add their references and the full fee can be paid as usual (assuming she has filled at least two slots) and the official button can be pressed. After that school have no more hand in it - your child controls the Ucas account and can add the other sinnher own time later (but don’t wait until after the January deadline).

schools tend to prefer it to be done in one step, but it does t have to be and it doesn’t prevent school from submitting what has been filled in.

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