Compsci offer AAA - will Warwick take me with BBB?

So yeah, I've got an offer for CS that's 3 As, but I've got no chance of getting that. I think I can maybe scrape 3 Bs. I guess I have extenuating circumstances (poor mental health had a big impact this year) and at the applicant visit day we were told everyone would get consideration if they didn't meet their offer, but it still seems unlikely.

I suppose I'd just like to hear experiences of other people that haven't met their offers?

Hey, I also have a CompSci offer of AAA - hopefully I'll meet you come October!

I spoke to Matt Leeke at the applicant day and he said they do have a small number of spaces available to allocate to those who miss their offers - some of which are automatically allocated come results day so your place will be confirmed as normal, and some of which are decided based on phone calls to applicants after they have received their results. I'm imagining this would be the time where you'd discuss the extenuating circumstances and essentially reiterate your personal statement and plead for your place.

Warwick CS is very competitive, but this year - with the removal of the cap - the boundary at which they cut off that consideration is completely unpredictable. I do know of one student with ABB who was a 2nd year at my applicant day but I didn't ask what subjects they did or what circumstances led to them being accepted. I think the best advice I can give is to just focus as much as you can on revision. What happens on results day will happen regardless, and the best thing you can personally do is be as prepared as possible. Good luck!

I study MEng Computer Science at DCS, and in my experience, I haven't met anyone who has lower than AAA at A Level, in fact the majority of people vastly exceed it. Good luck anyway!

How are you finding CompSci at Warwick? Hopefully, if my exams have went okay so far, I'll be there come October. How is the workload?

It's quite challenging if I'm honest, I got A*AAA at A2, with the A* in M, and the other A Levels all stem subjects. It's probably because I didn't work as hard as I should have. The first year really bites you in the ass, but I have heard the next few years will be a lot easier.

The workload is attempting to balance 8 distinctly different disciplines of Computer Science at the same time. All exams are in the summer, meaning that from April to June you practically have no free time to do anything. Term 2 is an absolute nightmare, you have to do so much coursework and stuff.

If I could suggest any advice, I would suggest you picked up a data structures and algorithms book and began to make sense of it, but more importantly make sure your mathematical skills are really good. The first maths module will bite you in the ass, and if you don't understand it after that, computer architecture will also bite you in the ass. The second maths module is a bridge between A Level Maths and Further Maths and university level maths. Some of the maths from it is extremely challenging, and some of it not even the Maths students do in their first year. I'd compare it to a really difficult FP3/FP4 paper if anything. So if you want to at least prep for that, you should break out those modules if you've not already done them as the experience from them will help you to do CS131.

Additionally, they've had a shakeup of exams this year, making it even more difficult than before. You'll notice this when you use our exam papers as past papers next year.

That being said, the challenges of it make it quite fun, and if you're able to get through them, then you will earn yourself quite a rigorous degree in Comp Sci. Not many Computer Science degree courses in the UK come close to Warwick's rigour.

Wow.... this scared me quite a bit. Hopefully I'll also be there doing CS in October. I don't think I've made the A* in Maths at A2.... will I struggle massively? I have never taken any CS classes before (my school doesn't offer it as a subject) Could you recommend some topics to read about or something I can do over the summer to make catching up to others easier?

It's nice to hear that it's fun nonetheless though, this field will forever be challenging anyway.

Thanks in advance

It's quite challenging if I'm honest, I got A*AAA at A2, with the A* in M, and the other A Levels all stem subjects. It's probably because I didn't work as hard as I should have. The first year really bites you in the ass, but I have heard the next few years will be a lot easier.

The workload is attempting to balance 8 distinctly different disciplines of Computer Science at the same time. All exams are in the summer, meaning that from April to June you practically have no free time to do anything. Term 2 is an absolute nightmare, you have to do so much coursework and stuff.

If I could suggest any advice, I would suggest you picked up a data structures and algorithms book and began to make sense of it, but more importantly make sure your mathematical skills are really good. The first maths module will bite you in the ass, and if you don't understand it after that, computer architecture will also bite you in the ass. The second maths module is a bridge between A Level Maths and Further Maths and university level maths. Some of the maths from it is extremely challenging, and some of it not even the Maths students do in their first year. I'd compare it to a really difficult FP3/FP4 paper if anything. So if you want to at least prep for that, you should break out those modules if you've not already done them as the experience from them will help you to do CS131.

Additionally, they've had a shakeup of exams this year, making it even more difficult than before. You'll notice this when you use our exam papers as past papers next year.

That being said, the challenges of it make it quite fun, and if you're able to get through them, then you will earn yourself quite a rigorous degree in Comp Sci. Not many Computer Science degree courses in the UK come close to Warwick's rigour.

Thank you for such an insightful reply! With Warwick terms starting considerably late, I plan to enjoy my summer and then spend the majority of September focusing on some of the stuff you've outlined here. How are the first few weeks? Do they ease you in gently or is it just straight in? Good luck for the rest of your exams if they haven't finished yet, you sound like you know your stuff so I'm sure you've done well!

I'd say that the sort of maths taught at A Level is simply put not enough. It's taught in a very different way at university, there is an emphasis on proving things and exploring why concepts work, rather than just application. I think if you get an A at A2, you'll be on the same playing field as someone with an A* at A2, and they will also struggle with the mathematical demand of Computer Science if they don't put the work in.

If you want possible topics to do over the summer, I recommend you take a look at TheTrevTutor on YouTube, and start to get to grips with some of the discrete mathematics, or generally up your game on calculus, learn some of the stuff that isn't taught at A2, since as integrating something like xarctanx.

If you don't take Physics, then begin to start coming to terms with how circuits work, and some basic electronics stuff like combinatorial logic or sequential logic, which you can find on YouTube as well. You may or may not have access to your schools material for FP1/FP2/FP3, but if you do, it would be ideal for you to take a look at some of it, and attempt questions from there if it helps you to bridge from A2 to Computer Science level maths.

If you want to up your game on programming, I recommend you start to create mini programs in Java and C, as these are the languages used at the university, and this could make your life easier when you come here.

If you want to learn more about the theory behind computing, have a look at automatas and finite state automation, and start to explore different methods of how computers store things.

I'd say that if you haven't taken computing or D1, you should definitely take a look at the sorting algorithms, namely bubble sort, insertion sort, quick sort, merge sort, radix sort, lexicographic sort, timsort etc. You could look at greedy algorithms, dynamic programming, linear programming and even asymptotic analysis once your maths is up to scratch.

And if all that isn't to your liking, you could brush up your knowledge on web development, as there is an optional module you can take on it, and being able to produce a web application really fast would not hurt. You could also take a look at how the internet works, such as how HTTPS operates, and how the RSA algorithm is used.

This is all a variety of stuff which you're expected to know in the first year, so I'd aim to get to grips with all of it. I wouldn't let anything I've just said put you off this course, it is quite fun to learn about most of these things, albeit difficult. You'll be fine if you work hard

Thank you for such a detailed and helpful reply!

As I couldn't take CS anyway, I tried to do anything that might be useful for the course, so I took D1 as an extra module and did Physics. I'm glad you mentioned these will be helpful I will definitely do some discrete maths and programming (thank you for adding the languages used, I wasn't sure which) over the summer.
Very much looking forward to the challenge ^^