The deadline for Ucas applications is approaching. On January 15, all prospective students to apply for courses beginning next autumn will need to have their applications ready.
This period of the year is without a doubt one of the most demanding for prospective university students. The short time to compile applications, the lack of advice and support, and most of all the anxiety and apprehension of university life all amount to much distress.
On top of that, with fees set to treble to a maximum of £9,000 in 2012, financial considerations are becoming a considerable hindrance. Students feel discouraged to apply. Applications from the UK students alone are down by 15.1 per cent, according to statistics published by Ucas.
To brighten up this rather gloomy picture, and relieve future students from turmoil and confusion, comparetheuni.com set itself to be an innovative comparison website.
The website is committed to giving students extensive application advice, formulated in an accessible and comprehensible manner.
Advice on researching universities is given based on location, prestige, money, extracurricular activities as well as scholarships. The very challenging task of writing personal statements is facilitated thanks to a precious guidelines given by an undergraduate admissions officer. The financial advice section will prove useful to parents, while the interview advice provides ground rules and hints at probable questions, giving students the right tools to answer them.
Prospective students can have a better idea of universities they intend to apply to by comparing them side by side. Characteristics include tuition fees, entry requirements, employment rates and student satisfactions rates.
In addition to that, the website includes official rankings from both The Times and The Guardian as well as an A-Z university inventory listing course finders and "hidden gems" for each university.
Co-founders and managing directors Jason Gibbs and Yash Bheeroo launched the website, which has already won a Future 100 award during Global Entrepreneurship Week, and said they have already received hits from across the globe.
"It's been great having the help and support of universities around the UK", he told the Huffington Post. "I can only hope they will be more and more welcoming in the future."
"We're hoping to become the number one university comparison site for students worldwide as I am determined to ensure students have the ability to make informed choices about their future", the 22-year-old added.