Students – and their parents – ask some funny things. Even the most experienced admissions tutors have been temporarily floored by some queries during Clearing. “I’m worried my son will not be able to use a tin opener – could you help him?” asked one parent of staff at the University of Greenwich. “Could I bring my gerbil/snake/dog?” is another perennial favourite – and the answer is almost always no.
“What course do you think I should do?” is the question no would-be undergraduate should ask, but that doesn’t stop them. Other students are more particular about their surroundings. “Can I have a room with a view?” one student asked staff at Greenwich, following it up with: “And what colour will my curtains be – I want to buy a matching bedspread.” Another simply wondered: “Who will cook my meals?”
Satisfy your curiosities
But don’t be put off by these examples: it always pays to ask. A basketball player applying to Loughborough University asked about the length of his bed – and was duly given a bed extension.
And really, there’s no such thing as a silly question, says Jessica Bearne, Enquiry Unit manager, University of Greenwich – it’s natural to ask about all sorts. “So whatever your question, do ring in. Universities have teams of people waiting to help – many of them students who were in your position just a year or two ago.”
Clearing debunked
Many sixth-formers are hazy about how Clearing actually works, according to a survey by Leeds Beckett University.
More than a quarter of A-level students think they need to accept an offer by the end of results day (they don’t), and three quarters think there’s a limit on how many offers can be held (there isn’t).
Nearly one in five thinks Clearing closes at the end of results day (it actually closes on 20 September).
