Is it possible to apply for two courses at one uni?

Student Lounge International Students
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I believe the answer is no, but I’ll explain.

I have seen a couple courses described as “interdisciplinary”, bridging two colleges or faculties within one university.

My D, currently a junior at a demanding prep school that doesn’t emphasize APs too much, would be a great candidate for such a course. Her current stats in the US are fantastic - GPA 3.98/4.0 with a very rigorous curriculum, lots of honors classes, a handful of APs (5 by the end of senior year), a ridiculous number of ECs in performing arts, and a decent (if not spectacular) first SAT of 1410. She’s good at English, math, and sciences, and doesn’t lean too heavily in any one direction.

She currently has a 5 in AP Calc BC, and will take chem this spring - likely to get a 5. She will not be taking AP English until next year. She is capable of getting a 5, but no guarantees, right? She’ll also take 2 other APs in 2022 - I think French and Music Theory.

One interdisciplinary course I saw was Sustainable Development at St. Andrews. I know the entrance requirements are wonky right now, but I’m reading the standard entry requirement as “AAA” with one A in English, and one in any math or science. She has the math - but she won’t know if she has the English until June 2022.

Another course at St. Andrews was Earth and Env. Science - basically the science part of the Sustainable Development course. That one needs an ABB, with no specifics.

So if my D applied for Env. Science, she’d be a favorable candidate, but if she applied for SD, and only got a 4 on the English AP… she’d be shut out from St. Andrews, right?

So my question is - can a student be offered a different course after the final scores are available, OR, can a student list one course as the favored option, with a different course at the same school as the insurance option on the UCAS?

This is probably a silly question and I’m sure it’s been asked many times - I just couldn’t find the answer in the archives. So thanks for taking the time to respond.

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You can apply through UCAS for different courses at the same or different universities. The challenge is writing a personal statement that covers both. A more generic personal statement may disadvantage you for both courses.

In terms of offers, the UK makes conditional or unconditional offers well before exam results are available (by April or May at the latest). You can accept a firm and an insurance offer, but only if the firm offer is conditional. They don’t revise the offers later - there is a separate process called clearing after exam results come out for those who don’t meet either their firm or insurance offers.

So if she got a conditional offer for Sustainable Development and an unconditional offer for Env. Science then she could list these as the firm and insurance offers respectively, with the choice to be confirmed after results come out. But note that if she met the conditions of the firm offer then she couldn’t change her mind to the course selected as insurance.

So this is certainly a possibility. But it may not necessarily be a wise decision given the implications for the personal statement, unless her UCAS course choices differ between universities anyway so she has to write a more generic PS.

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Where are you seeing the need for English AP/A level/Scottish Higher? It doesn’t seem an intuitive requirement for this course as English at this level is usually a literature subject.

Are you possibly reading the list of GCSE/National requirements here Sustainable Development BSc - Subjects - University of St Andrews (st-andrews.ac.uk)? Those are lower level, British students would do these at 16, so as long as your student has taken English language in HS they should be fine.

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Thank you! These were both helpful for very different reasons!

@Conformist1688, you were correct, I had misunderstood what I was seeing on the qualifications page. I took the opportunity to do additional reading on the SCOTTISH grading system, which I mistakenly had assumed was the same as the ENGLISH system. Now I know they’re similar, with different acronyms that look nearly identical, and I have revisited the English system as well. I did understand all this months ago, and should have reviewed my notes more carefully.

It’s a good reminder that my D will need to take her time on the details!

I’m glad to hear she would be able to apply to multiple courses at one Uni. The multidisciplinary option is interesting because I see it as a good fit for a well-written personal statement that could have multiple outcomes. Her interest in environmental issues is pretty clear - the practical application of her education would be inspired by what course she attends.

But it’s not like she would be writing a Personal Statement to cover both environmental and music. That would be risky and difficult.

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I’m pretty late to this, apologies! I’ll give my thoughts anyway.

I actually applied to two courses at St. Andrews: one was Art History & International Relations, the other was Art History & Film. As my personal statement was heavily focused on art history, the uni replied offering me a place for straight Art History, as opposed to either of the joint courses.

I do know people who have applied to two courses at the same uni and been admitted to both.

I would say it depends on how well-tailored the PS is to the courses being applied for.