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Rejected by 4 of my 5 universities...

Hi everyone -

I'm really struggling to get to grips with having received 4 rejections - I've only been accepted by my safety-net-uni, the one I didn't want to go to.

I applied to Cambridge, Durham, Warwick, UCL and York to study English, and was interviewed by Cambridge, UCL and Warwick. Only York has accepted me. I know that the unis I chose are really hard to get into, and that York is still pretty good, but I'm still really disappointed - I feel like I've failed. :frown:
I was wrecked after Cambridge turned me down, but I got used to it, happy that I still had Warwick, and then BAM, got the rejection letter on Wednesday.

I know that it could be for all kinds of reasons, but I'm wondering if my AS grades have let me down. I got AAABC - the As being for History, English Lit and English Language, the B for Theatre Studies and the C for French.

Anyway, I just feel a bit down, and I wondered if anyone else has had a similar turnout regarding their own university application.

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Reply 1
Original post by OnADarklingPlain
Hi everyone -

I'm really struggling to get to grips with having received 4 rejections - I've only been accepted by my safety-net-uni, the one I didn't want to go to.

I applied to Cambridge, Durham, Warwick, UCL and York to study English, and was interviewed by Cambridge, UCL and Warwick. Only York has accepted me. I know that the unis I chose are really hard to get into, and that York is still pretty good, but I'm still really disappointed - I feel like I've failed. :frown:
I was wrecked after Cambridge turned me down, but I got used to it, happy that I still had Warwick, and then BAM, got the rejection letter on Wednesday.

I know that it could be for all kinds of reasons, but I'm wondering if my AS grades have let me down. I got AAABC - the As being for History, English Lit and English Language, the B for Theatre Studies and the C for French.

Anyway, I just feel a bit down, and I wondered if anyone else has had a similar turnout regarding their own university application.

What did you want to do at uni? :smile: And before you applied, did you see on UCAS to see whether the entry requirements were achievable by yourself? :smile:

:console:
Reply 2
Original post by ak137
What did you want to do at uni? :smile: And before you applied, did you see on UCAS to see whether the entry requirements were achievable by yourself? :smile:

:console:


English
Gap year maybe and apply again?
Applying for one of the most competitive courses at some of the most competitive universities means you need to expect disappointments if you're not the top of your game. Yes, you're probably better than 95% of students, but it's that 5% that you're fighting against.

Don't sweat it. You did really well getting an offer. Just work hard and don't let your sadness get in the way of your exams.
Reply 5
same thing happend to me :smile: but i got an offer of a good one and regeject by not so high places its werid
Reply 6
mayb you should have taken a level maths
Reply 7
Original post by pbsjohnz
English


My bad, skimmed the original post :facepalm:

OP: If you really want to go to other unis, take gap year and apply again, maybe? :dontknow:
Reply 8
That happened to me too. I applied for English and got rejected by Cambridge, Edinburgh, Durham and Manchester. I got an offer from Nottingham (which was always my favourite but I saw it as an insurance). I got an interview from Cambridge, got pooled and rejected really late, and Durham didn't even bother interviewing. I was crushed at the time, but three years on and I've just graduated from the three best years of my life in Nottingham, with a place to do a Masters and PGDipEd at the University of Birmingham in September. I'm a firm believer that what happens usually happens for a reason! If you like York I would go for it, because unless you do something amazing and really worth while from an application point of view, wasting a year in the hope you'll get in somewhere better might not look good the next time round.

I know it's annoying, because you probably are Oxbridge material, but English is massively competitive, and all of your choices were extra competitive in general, not to mention in your field! Congratulations on the York offer, and don't let the rejections get you down - of all of my English friends we all experienced very similar applications and it is not a personal thing, it is just the nature of the course!
Reply 9
You could reapply but may have to set your sights a little lower as many applicants to those universities will have at least three As at AS Level.

Of course, if you pull it out of the bag in the summer and get three As at A Level then you could reapply to the same universities, just be prepared that some universities may be reluctant to consider a second application.

Or you could just come to York (hopefully I'll be there)! :tongue:
Reply 10
Why would you apply to such high universities???
I got AAAA (maths, physics, chemistry and biology). I'm a level 8 at piano and at the violin and i didn't apply to 4 of the top universities because i knew i wouldn't get in.
You should've really thought about your choices.
On a positive side you can go through something called adjustment if you want to go to a better university.
Reply 11
York is a lovely city :smile: Not a bad uni either why not look on unistats or something to see what people say about the place?
Original post by saim101
Why would you apply to such high universities???
I got AAAA (maths, physics, chemistry and biology). I'm a level 8 at piano and at the violin and i didn't apply to 4 of the top universities because i knew i wouldn't get in.
You should've really thought about your choices.
On a positive side you can go through something called adjustment if you want to go to a better university.


I guess it depends on the course you apply for, but why not apply to such high unis? Even for one of the choices.
It could come down to admissions tests with high unis most of the time. As well as other factors.

You could only know, if your gcses were not up for the requirements, or your relevant admission test was poor.

Otherwise you may have wasted a good opportunity.
(edited 11 years ago)
Seems fairly obvious that the grades were responsible (unless you had some sort of disaster at interview).

If you're really not happy going to York, I'd say take a year out and reapply if you get good results at the end of your A-levels.

York is still a very good university though.
Reply 14
Original post by OnADarklingPlain
Hi everyone -

I'm really struggling to get to grips with having received 4 rejections - I've only been accepted by my safety-net-uni, the one I didn't want to go to.

I applied to Cambridge, Durham, Warwick, UCL and York to study English, and was interviewed by Cambridge, UCL and Warwick. Only York has accepted me. I know that the unis I chose are really hard to get into, and that York is still pretty good, but I'm still really disappointed - I feel like I've failed. :frown:
I was wrecked after Cambridge turned me down, but I got used to it, happy that I still had Warwick, and then BAM, got the rejection letter on Wednesday.

I know that it could be for all kinds of reasons, but I'm wondering if my AS grades have let me down. I got AAABC - the As being for History, English Lit and English Language, the B for Theatre Studies and the C for French.

Anyway, I just feel a bit down, and I wondered if anyone else has had a similar turnout regarding their own university application.


Yes, your AS subjects have let you down. Did anyone at your school not tell you shouldn't be applying with your AS grades? Your grades aren't terrible but they are just not good enough for those universities. You should have chose more mediocre universities, but with your grades, York is still very good and you should be happy.
Reply 15
I don't think your AS grades let you down. You did one extra AS to most people and if you count that as your C you got 3As and a B.. which is not bad at all! A girl at my school got 3As and a B and got into medicine at UCL and medicine's really competitive. Maybe take a gap year and reapply, if you really had your heart set on the others? You got interviews so chances are that your grades are ok and it was something else. Maybe you were really nervous at the interviews and it came across? If I were you I'd forget about the other unis, they don't know what theyre missing :wink:
Reply 16
People are sugar coating the situation...
if i got a C in a core subject my parents wouldn't talk to me -_-
Reply 17
Original post by saim101
People are sugar coating the situation...
if i got a C in a core subject my parents wouldn't talk to me -_-


..wow, your parents sound real nice :smile:
Original post by saim101
People are sugar coating the situation...
if i got a C in a core subject my parents wouldn't talk to me -_-


That seems a little harsh in my opinion. Especially since she did one more subject than most people.
Reply 19
Original post by saim101
Why would you apply to such high universities???
I got AAAA (maths, physics, chemistry and biology). I'm a level 8 at piano and at the violin and i didn't apply to 4 of the top universities because i knew i wouldn't get in.
You should've really thought about your choices.
On a positive side you can go through something called adjustment if you want to go to a better university.


Unless you're doing music (unlikely given A level choices), almost no Universities will care about what instruments you can play, and certainly not the more demanding ones.

As for not even applying, if you didn't want to go there then fair enough, but if you didn't apply simply because you didn't think you were good enough, you need to work on your confidence.

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