Have been grafting my arse off for a year on an Access course...I give up.

[MoreSpamThanGlam]

And have been turned down for my 2nd choice uni. I did not even get an interview for my my first choice of 4th choice. Verdict is still out on 3rd choice, but it's so far away, and I have 3 kids.

I have always had the best best grades in every subject and my attendance is at 99%.

I am so stressed about getting my essays in on time and nobody else really is. It's been a waste of time, so I just sent an email and quit.

I am devastated.

Don't quit. It sounds like you're doing brilliantly and you mustn't let this put you off.
Now is a difficult time to apply for uni because applications are massively up due to the credit crunch. Try and work out why they are rejecting you and see if you can change your application and reapply next year, or if there is something else you would be better suited for.
Lots of people don't get into the course they want to do first time round.

Don't quit! Speak to your tutor and take back your resignation.

Can you get feedback on your interviews? Remember you can always reapply next year. Competition for places is really tough in this economic climate.

What degree were you applying for?

Midwifery. I am 40 this month so I dont really have the time to mess about. I thought that if I worked really hard and put in more effort than anyone else (I have been in for 4 hours today on my day off to do a Psychology essay that nobody else can be arsed to do), that I would get a place.

I have set my heart on midwifery and just feel really, really stupid. I dont want to do any old course and I know that I would make a great midwife, I just know it.

I always made myself the butt of jokes that I was a bit blonde and thick, well, I know my place.

Im sorry I am being a bit dramatic but I am sobbing my heart out here...

You're allowed to be dramatic and you're allowed to cry - anyone would in this situation.
However this is a setback, it is not the end of your dream.

You have to do 2 things.

1. As ForeverOptimistic says, you need to contact your tutor and un-quit. They won't want you to quit so they'll be relieved. Apart from anything else they want their drop-out figures to be as low as possible!

1. You need to send a letter or email to all the places you got rejected by. You can say something like 'Dear ....

Thank you for your letter of [date] informing me I have not been successful in my application for a place on your midwifery course. Naturally I am disappointed by this as I am fully committed to a career in Midwifery and believe I have the personal qualities needed to make me an excellent midwife. I am therefore considering how I can improve my chances of success if I apply for this course in the future and would be grateful for your advice. In particular, anything you can tell me about why my application was rejected would be enormously helpful to me. Alternatively, any general advice about what makes an application likely to succeed in your selection process would also be useful. Many thanks in advance for your help, More Spam Than Glam'.

Grit your teeth and do it now while you're still feeling cross!

awww shame you are disappointed.right chins up.make a plan
1 email your tutor explain you had a hasty reaction to considerable disappointment
2 ask for feedback from the Uni,
feedback on your application
feedback upon your personal statement,
did they receive lots of applicants etc
3 MW is Very competitive you may need to reapply
4 would you consider applying for midwifery hca or hca to get more experience
5 acknowledge your hard work so far

you are understandably disappointed don't be deterred from your ambition

Don't quit...it could come in handy later. And you will have achieved something!

Why not re-apply next year, and take this year to gain lots of experience through volunteering, etc.

Don't quit - your Access course should be valid for one or two years after you finish it so you have a bit of time.

Have you thought about going through Clearing in August if that is possible with midwifery courses?

Do talk to your tutor about your options - maybe you couuld do a nursing degree and change later?

I hear what you are all saying, but I really dont want to be a nurse, there is nothing wrong with nursing but pregnant women and babies are where my heart is.

As for achieving something, well what have I achieved? A "thickos" qualification...lets face it, we all know that Access is for the likes of me that messed up at school.

The thought of a year out of education, not carrying on with my essays fills me with dread, I will lose my momentum.

I know that midwifery is over-subscribed but I had no idea that I would have virtually no chance of getting a university place, I thought the problem would be when I applied for a job! I took a specific Access course - Access to Nursing and Midwifery...I just wish they had told us that we had virtually no chance. The other 4 women in my group that also want to be midwives have only been offered 1 interview out of 5 applications! At least I had 3, but at the end of the day, it makes no odds at all.

Ive spoke to a few people about clearing and that seems pretty hopeless too, unless I can live on campus - errr, no.

I will send them a letter asking why I was rejected, that was an excellent post and really well put, thanks Kathy.
To be honest my college has been rubbish. My co-ordinator has finally resigned after being absent 80% of the time and sending off our refs to UCAS the day before they were due!!! She was also our nursing and healthcare law lecturer, no wonder I didnt get in! We had no tutorial time and it seems that they got our money and decided that that was all that mattered, but has promised next year will be great for Access students...a bit late for us.

I feel like I have been fighting for me education for a year and I have had enough, this is the last straw. Thanks anyway x

yes a set back but a bit churlish to chuck it all.you shouldn't pack things in at a setback

deep breath

and start to plan what to do

what about nursing degree and then MW training?longer route to same destination.if ypu really want this then you may have to go slightly different route

you are underestimating your ambition,solid achievements,hard work and graft -well done

i couldn't have studied with 3 children

I know you're gutted that things are going tits up MSTG and I sympathise BUT "As for achieving something, well what have I achieved? A "thickos" qualification...lets face it, we all know that Access is for the likes of me that messed up at school." Is not only doing you down but doing down all the other access students current and past.

FWIW, I started Access a couple of years ago and was unable to complete for personal reasons (not academic). I was not 'thick' at school, far from it, I was above average but my education stopped at my GCSE's (all 9 of them high grade passes) because I had to leave school to work to help keep a roof over mine and my mothers heads. That is the reason I did access, because it was quicker and more tailored than doing A-Levels as a mature student.

Access is not a thicko's qualification. Lack of academic ability is not the only reason which stops people leaving school at 16.

Now back to your quandry. Sleep on it. Talk to the Uni's and maybe look at getting some more hours of experience to boost your application. Don't give in. You've come too far to go back now.

Yes it is hard to get into midwifery - I ahve considreed it myself, but if you really want to do this, then don't give up!!! Not now.

Which uni were you hopping to go to? How far away is uni 3?

So you got turned down for your 2nd choice, but maybe only becuase this year there were stronger candidates. If you present youself as someone who would make a first class midwife next year, who is to say you won't gain a place?

Have you considered training as a doula - I think it could be a good stepping stone and something you might enjoy. Have you had any midwifery work experience?

FWIW, I did an Access course to get into university and I'd say that the workload was more in terms of tutor expectations and general graft on your own than the First Year as an undergraduate (I did a humanities degree) So don't give up yet. The Access course is designed to test students and weed out those who couldn't study at a higher level, just as A-levels were designed to do all those years ago.

ooh access is not a 'thickos' qualification - when I am doing admissions (I teach a Masters course) we would way rather have someome with an access course than someone with A levels as they have demonstrated not only academic ability, but also self-motivation, time management etc as generally they are doing it whilst working or looking after a family. People miss out on A levels first time round for loads of reasons.

If you are forced to take a year out and reapply, which understandably you are reluctant to do, carrying on with some kind of studying so you don't lose your momentum is a great idea - there are loads of ways you could do this, apart from some great ideas suggested here like studying to be a doula - maybe another A level or an Open University module?
Getting more work experience also would almost certainly make you a more desirable candidate next time round.

Don't give up!

Please don't give up your course. Apart from anything else it's horrid to have unfinished courses on your CV and you're more than half-way through now.

I was going to suggest getting feedback but someone's beaten me to it and you're acting on that. How do you feel the interview for your second choice went? Could you get some practice before you have another interview?

An OU module, particularly a healthcare related one is a really good idea to boost your application next year, as is work experience. Plus you'll have learned from the experience of writing your personal statement and applying this year AND have stunning references from your completed Access course (which you are going to acheive) AND have the time to apply early, be really dedicated to your application, nag your tutors for early references and come back here smiling before the year is out to say you have an offer. You CAN do it!

If you really want to go this year clearing needn't be hopeless - it's not a requirement that you live on campus and you never know who might not be able to go to uni this year/decided to defer. But you do need to get in there really, really quickly. Literally 9am the morning of A-level results day.

Thanks for your responses, I was being very dramatic and not very level headed, but I fely so hurt and did not know what else I could have done.

I am going to finish the course, take another part time course but have dropped in my application to do 2 days a week work experience on the maternity ward at my local hospital.

It seems as if I did not stand a chance in hell as I have spoken to UCAS today and the universities started taking applications back in September, and the cut off poiint is January 15th, which is the day that mine arrived from my college, even though they had all of my references from November except one lecturer who said he was too busy and didnt sign until 15th December.

I feel bitterly let down by the college and their standard respose is "Sorry about that...funding...blah blah blah"

hey!work experience smashing idea.do persevere with your ambitions.

MOrespamthanglam-

Finish the access couse- I think the certificate lasts 5 years- reapply to the universities agin for the next intake.

The college has behaved appallingly here- when I applied to do my degree our forms were all sent off in the september- my inteviews were in the November and december - I had my offers before New Year.

They really have left it late.

Do not apply to do nursing if your heart is in midwifery, you will hate nursing if this is the case- also not many universities are continuing with the 18month conversion.

Dont be disheartened, your time will come if you are so passionate about it

The colleges rersponse is that they had to have sufficient work from us to enable them to write accurate references, which is why they have left it so late.

On the other hand, today I have found out that 2 of the women that had an interview after me (I was the first to interview and did not have a clue what to expect), so I did my tutors job and prepped them for thier interview.

Can you apply for clearing? Many people will have ben given conditional offers, if thy fail to meet the conditions, then they wll be refused a place.

My friend got a Midwifery place a wolverhampton University after places were refused to students who had either failed to meet the requirements or had decided to defer, attend other universities (multiple choice offers) or not even attend uni.

Hop something worksout for you.

Please don;t see access as a thicko's course it really isn;t. Its aimed at women returning to work who have to fit in higher ed with family life.

I did one - not in anything as useful as MW but it did get me a uni place, not my 1st choice but i was happy there and that led onto a pgce.

many on my course did not get in the year they applied but they did the following year - its not you - its a numbers game - and you have to make sure your application is in dead on time as many many courses are filled in the first few weeks of applications opening - so if your college was late putting in the applications - go to the Dean of the college and complain like fury!!! Many of the tutors on my access course had links with uni tutors and your college may do the same so they may be able to review your application. Make a fuss! you did the work, you passed, you deserve that the access tutors put your application in on time - if they didn't - go get em!

and as quantitiative says, dont forget clearing - a place may pop up.

Student numbers have been cut by 20% for lots and lots of courses this year, without much notice, as there's less public money in the pot. So it's suddenly got much more competitive.

FWIW I run a social science course at a top university, and we love having Access course graduates because they are often higher quality than AL candidates, and do better on the course, so you should be proud of what you have achieved so far in your studies. Please don't give up because it is a qualification really worth having.

Just hit the phones straight away when clearing starts, and keep pushing for a place. You will get one eventually. Also you can keep ringing for a couple of weeks after the beginning of term, as there are often no-shows IME.

Thats the thing, I have complained to the principle who has not even had the decency to reply directly but instead has passed it on.

Unfortunately I am starting to get the feeling that the more of a fuss I make about this, the less chance I have of being taken on.

My lecturers have told me that I am capable of more than a vocational degree and that my dedication not only to my work but the general care of my fellow students (I am the class rep) should have meant that I sailed through.

The thing is, I cant just go to any University, I have to consider a placement that I know I will be able to go to and wont continually be late. So that limits me down to 3 universities. Kings is almost certainly out, my application was so late in the day it has not even been considered, although in fairness I have not been officially turned down. My second choice have turned me down and my third choice has taken on 2 of my fellow students that were interviewed after me.

I dont know much about clearing, I have to be honest, but think it is highly unlikely I will get a place.

I am feeling quite calm about it now. I think I am destined to remain a SAHM, and just volunteer.

MoreSpam, if it would help, I could put you in touch with my admissions team informally and they could talk systems with you perhaps? Would that help at all?

That would be fantastic Boeuffin!

I had dinner with my dh and hum last night, and they are both suggesting that maybe this is meant to be, the world is my oyster and all that...

Is there something else that I should be? I just dont know.

I have been thinking about perhaps taking an academic course instead of a vovational course...but how do you decide what to do?

Ive tried to turn it on its head and see this as a very positive thing.

Any suggestion? I cant think where to start now. Help!