The dreaded acronym

I'm almost certain that if you were to take a survey of year 13 students all around the country, asking them the question: 'What is your main cause of stress?', I can almost guarantee that a lot of the answers will contain the acronym UCAS.

I have noticed that many people who have previously spoken of how much they wish to go to University have changed my mind due to a variety of different factors. After the controversial government changes to University fees, many people believe that less students will decide to go to University based on the high debt they expect to get. However, I think that a lot more people are being put off by the stress of filling in their UCAS application and getting it sent off.

I recently sent off my application and ever since I have, I've felt a lot more relaxed. I was getting too stressed that if I was to send it off too late then I would stand no chance of getting into University. Although, part of this stress was due to reasons beyond my control, I did feel that the wait to finally send of my application was taking over my life.

The question is, Are people being put off of going to University by the thought of filling out their UCAS application. Definitely, not everyone is and many people defer for a year or more because they would rather concentrate on getting good A level results in year 13 and then spend quality time filling out their UCAS application.

However, I disagree with the proposed plans to postpone the application process until after A2 exams. With a little bit of work, the application doesn't take too long and isn't too strenuous. You need to have time to do the research and be confident with your decisions. It causes a lot of stress for everyone but it should be worth it in the long run.

These are the moments when having an iphone can either be considered as a very bad thing or a very good thing, at some point it is bound to have a meltdown due to the amount I refresh my email...