This guest blog was written by Dr Elizabeth Adey – director of Uni Direct, a UK based company whot specialises in UK and European university applications.

Are you thinking about applying to study medicine at university in the UK for 2021 entry? The UK has some of the most highly regarded universities in the world, located in great cities like London, Edinburgh, Bristol and Bath.

To prepare for entry for medicine in the UK in 2021, applicants should start work now. Applying to university in the UK is usually done through UCAS, the UK undergraduate application system. UCAS has strict deadlines and applicants for medicine need to apply by mid-October the year before they start (October 15th 2020 for entry in September/October 2021). For those applying through UCAS for other degree courses, the deadline is January 15th 2021 for entry that year.

By Anicia Wood – College Sports Recruiting Consultant
Going to college and university is not cheap, it is an investment that many repay throughout their lifetimes. Receiving a scholarship for any prospective college student and their family is a dream come through. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), more than 150,000 student-athletes receive around $2.9 billion in athletic scholarships in the NCAA Divisions 1 and 2 each year. Although this figure appears to be large, being one of the 150,000 to get a piece of the $2.9 billion pie is quite rare, considering the large population of scholarship hopefuls from across the world. There are many misconceptions about scholarships; that is the type of scholarships, how scholarship offers work, and how much aid student-athletes receive, just to name a few. College isn’t cheap, therefore understanding the details is very important if you are looking to lessen your college costs. So, let’s put it all into perspective…let’s talk the truth about athletic scholarships.

Ivy League schools are infamous for their extremely tough admissions process.
 
Typically, Ivy League schools have an acceptance rate of less than 10 percent. However, each year, thousands of applications from enthusiastic bright minds continue to be received by admissions without fail.

You may be wondering about the title of this blog entry.

So, what are champagne dreams you ask?
 
Well, I came up with the term to describe the aspirations of my students. A toast often follows the attainment of dreams, especially those that may not be visibly in the initial stages of planning. The ultimate toasting beverage is champagne, which can be quite an expensive commodity to purchase, especially if you reside in the Caribbean [inflation, price gouging and all].

"Well my cousin in Canada said that……" or "My friend's son did this…and this happened"… are typical statements often echoed when discussing schools, programs and/or study destinations. . Usually, such stories are shared in hopes of achieving a similar outcome. However, quite often, these stories are relayed with little to no context.
 
One common scenario is the scholarship story; where persons heard of someone that received multiple scholarships. This blanket statement is provided with little to no supporting story lines.   I have often found that there is always more to the story.  For example, the student had a different citizenship or residency status making them eligible for more scholarships or the person was an athlete and the scholarships were worked out internally with the school or the scholarships were from different schools and were not full etc. There is always context. This has taught me that people are more attuned to the outcome but never well versed in the process.