Think of Clearing as an opportunity.
I chose Kent for Clearing partially because it was ranked highly for the subject I was studying (Biosciences), but mostly because people I knew who had gone to Kent before me (including one of my teachers!) just couldn't stop talking about what positive experiences they had and how much they loved it!
I was a nervous wreck during the Clearing process, but because Kent had an online form you could fill out to determine whether you would be accepted via Clearing it took a lot of the stress away! This compares very favourably with other universities, because at one point I rang up another uni to enquire about clearing, told over the phone that I was a suitable applicant, but then told afterwards that I had never received a verbal offer so I had to be released back into Clearing! So Kent's system was definitely the best to reassure me that I would be able to go to university in September after all!
Don't take it too much to heart if you end up in Clearing! It's hard not to feel like a failure at the time, but I promise that this isn't the case! It just means that the perfect uni for you is still out there waiting for you. And now, with the way things have gone for me and the experiences I had, I am so glad that I went through Clearing! So don't think of it as a failure, think of it as an opportunity!
After doing my undergraduate degree and a Master's by research in the School of Biosciences (they just couldn't keep me away as I came back for a Master's!) I am now undertaking a PhD in Cancer Immunology at the University of Southampton, and it was all made possible by the skills I acquired at Kent, and the excellent teaching of the academic staff who well and truly go above and beyond for their students!
