Ask an Admissions Tutor IX, 4th August - 2nd September

Hi, and thank you in advance for any response.

My question is, if I am applying to study History, will I be especially disadvantaged with my subject combination of History, Geography and Film Studies? As I understand, Film Studies is considered a 'soft' subject.

Thanks

Hello and thanks for your question. I am afraid that 81.6 UMS in Maths (across how many modules?) is going to put you very much on the back foot in an application for Economics where Maths is so important. Obviously I don;t know anything else about your application other than what you have told me but this score means that there is a lot of ground to make up. Sorry not to be more encouraging.

Thank-you for replying. It's across 3 modules. I got 78 in C1, 77 in C2 and 90 in S1, if i resit the two modules C1 and C2 , would that help with my application?

Sorry I've been nagging you like crazy with questions!!

I'm applying with only one subject's external exams this year (maths), since my school didn't take AS in reformed subjects.

However, I take further maths, and this means that at our school we take the full maths a level in one year, and the full FM one in year 13.

How will my maths UMS be looked at compared to people offering just AS maths?

I ask because I've got a 99.0% UMS average in AS maths but only 96.3% over the full A level. I will be applying for medicine hopefully, if that makes a difference!

Also, do different colleges put different weightings on BMAT/GCSE/AS UMS?

Many thanks, and again, sorry for bombarding you with questions

Hello and thanks for your question and I am glad that your friend found the advice helpful.

Your case is a difficult one as there are clearly indicators pointing in different directions. You have strong predictions and excellent GCSEs and presumably will have a very good reference. On the other side, however, your Class Civ mark is not a high A and a B in French for a language student will obviously cause considerable concern.

Given that there is no pre-interview Assessment in MML, only at-interview, we will have to make a judgement on whether to give you an interview only on the UCAs and SAQ information.

I can't say for certain which way it would go. To be honest, given just what you have told me and not being able to see the whole application, I wouldn't be surprised if you got an offer and I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't get an interview (though I think the former is perhaps slightly more likely than the latter). Yours is one of those tricky in between cases where one needs to see more information before coming to a firm conclusion and why we spend a great deal of time thinking about individual applications.

I'm sorry not to be more forthcoming but I hope that this has shed some light on your situation.

A lot of Medics will have taken 6 modules already and we do look closely at the number of Maths modules taken before judging how to assess the results (a 96% average across the three easiest modules is not the same as 96% across 12 modules for instance to take an extreme case).

Colleges are (surprisingly!) full of human beings and they naturally will have slightly different takes on various aspects of the application process. I can;t say for certain, therefore, that every college looks at BMAT or GCSEs in exactly the same way, they don't, and the view within a college will often evolve over a period of time as to what balance of factors they find most helpful. These differences, however, are not sufficiently great for you to worry about. Apply to the college you want and you will hopefully get an offer from them. If not, then they may place your application in the Pool were it might be looked at by a college that sees your strengths differently to the first college and decides to make you an offer.

Thank you for your information! It's really helpful
Can I be extra cheeky and ask how 96% across the full a level compares with other students who have done the same please?

I know of no colleges that accept transfers into the second year from students who have not yet completed an undergraduate degree elsewhere. You need to tell me which admissions tutors you spoke to that said they do this and I can try to find out more.

Affiliated students can be accepted into the second year of Law and complete the degree in two years but must already have an undergraduate degree before they begin.

You're welcome. I'm afraid I don't really have that data in that format. I could extract it but it would take a lot of work and it's not really relevant given that the UMS picture is changing from this year. Sorry!

Hello.

I have an inquiry about a reapplication, but I would not like to discuss it publicly. Since my situation is quite abnormal, I hope you don't mind me privately messaging you. If so, you would need to clear up some space as you have exceeded the private messages quota.

Thank you.

Sorry to ask another question, the Cambridge website says the typical offer for History is A*/A/A, I was just wondering whether the a* would be required to be in history, or would getting A*/A*/A with the A*'s in maths and further maths be better?


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Yes, of course. I've cleared some space now, sorry about that.

Hello and thanks for your question and well done on your results. First of all, I think you need to be careful about not over burdening yourself. You have taken 7 AS Levels including General Studies and Critical Thinking. While I doubt the latter two took much time or thought then will have taken some and taken it away from your other subjects. Equally, there's no need to do five core AS Levels and, if I were to make an educated guess, I suspect that had you done fewer you'd have got straight As. In the end they are your A Levels and I don't mean to preach at you, but I think it's worth thinking for next year about streamlining.

We won't be looking at averages in the same way as previously for English students with any combination of reformed and unreformed A Levels. We will take everything we can into account before making a decision.

Looking at the information you have sent me I can't tell you what your chances are other than to say that I think that you will be a good applicant.

Hello,

I got an A in my maths AS, and thought that would be fine, but reading through here, I'm concerned my UMS might not be high enough.
I got 93 in core 1, 76 in core 2, and 90 in M1, giving me an average of 86.3
I'd like to apply for natural sciences, specifically biological sciences. Will this UMS score be a problem? Should I consider retaking core 2?

Thanks

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Hello again!Everyone seems to be giving breakdowns of their subject grades and getting good advice, so I thought I might do the same...Here is all the information I know about my AS Level grades...Maths (A) with UMS 251/300 (AQA)Core 1 - 85/100 UMS - ACore 2 - 90/100 UMS - AStats 1B - 76/100 UMS - BPsychology (A) all I know that my 'scaled mark' is 120/144 (AQA)Paper 1 - 61 (I don't know what out of sorry!)Paper 2 - 59English Lit (A) with raw mark 102/120(Edexcel)Prose - I can't find out!Poetry and Drama - 67/72 French (B) with UMS 159/200 (Edexcel) one mark off an A!Speaking - 39/60 UMS but getting this remarked Reading, Listening and Writing - 120/140 UMS I am considering applying for HSPS, looking particularly at Politics.My question is, will these grades give me a competitive application? I appreciate that grades are only one component but I just thought I'd take a stab in the dark and see what advice I get!

Also, I am debating what subject I should drop. Would you say that keeping Psychology Maths and English Lit would provide me with the most relevant subjects for my application

Thanks AT!