Is ABBC at AS good enough??

Its AMAZING well done
You've got 4 really good grades!!! Defiitely apply for oxford!
Maybe you should drop maths, 3 really good A2s is all u need to get into uni

As above..

I got A in French, Bs in English Literature and Spanish, C in Maths....

Also, is there any point in applying to Oxford with these results? I wanted to study English Literature with French/Spanish....

Additionally, would there be any point in doing Maths at A2 and resitting C1/C2? Maths is a bit irrelevant to my course but I don't want to drop it

Thank youuuu

It might be a bit harder to look like a competitive applicant. That joint honours course will have you do at least one - if not both - the relevant admissions tests though... So if there are really no other unis you like the look of, it may still be worth a shot. Or you could apply post-A2, having achieved your full A Level results, which might work better for you...

Are you planning on getting your Spanish AS remarked at all? Or doing any retakes on that?

It would be better to focus on three A2s and do well in them, rather than attempting to redo Maths, imho

I've requested a photocopy of my Spanish script back. I'm planning to get it remarked and I might remark English too... I was five marks away from an A and thirteen away from C...

But I guess I should just accept my grades and move on rather than wasting time and money on remarks..


Thank you for your help!!!!

Oxford place a fair bit of emphasis on your GCSEs, so if you've got a lot of A*s, then it's worth applying. If you haven't (and your school isn't particularly poor), it's probably not worth applying. Your AS grades are really good, but the competition to get into Oxford is incredibly high. You could gain a place, but your predicted grades, interview performance, and entrance test would have to stand out among those who are already the best there is, so it might not be worth applying - yes, it is just one out of five, but you'd have to dedicate a lot of time to the interview and entrance exam, probably to little avail. I don't want to sound too pessimistic, but a lot of applicants will not only have the best GCSE grades, but also AAAA-AABB at AS and high predictions.

Essentially, I'd argue that it comes down to your GCSEs, as they will be used a lot in the application process.

As above..

I got A in French, Bs in English Literature and Spanish, C in Maths....

Also, is there any point in applying to Oxford with these results? I wanted to study English Literature with French/Spanish....

Additionally, would there be any point in doing Maths at A2 and resitting C1/C2? Maths is a bit irrelevant to my course but I don't want to drop it

Thank youuuu

I applied to Oxford with ABC at AS and still got in (off to read Experimental Psychology in Oct). Your AS is already better than mine and if you're also confident in your GCSEs then DEFINITELY try!!!! There's no way to predict/know exactly what Oxford wants from a candidate, as long as they see strengths in you, which they understand are not always represented by grades (evident with many straight-A students being rejected pre-interview each year, and on the flip side, many with few As being accepted), they will want you! Be sure that you ace your pre-interview tests ELAT and MLAT, these are pretty much what determine whether you get an interview or not.

Omg WELL DONE!!!
That's amaazzzinggggg!!

That gave me some hope! But I don't know if I should spend time stressing over ELAT/MLAT/interview,etc. when I could be focusing on my A2 subjects and nothing else...

Also, did you only do three AS? Or do they not look at the subject you drop or something? Thanks for your help!!

Thanks xx

You need to make sure you have the calibre and plenty of determination in spinning these plates, if you truly want Oxford with your entire heart you need to dedicate yourself to it THROUGH IT ALL. Spend the rest of the summer holiday before school doing past ELAT and MLAT papers and get as good as you can at them. This will be the best time for this because you won't have any school work yet. Your first term back would be busy with UCAS anyway polishing your PS etc so the school should understand that getting your application in (especially when you're catching the earlier Oxbridge deadline) would override your usual study a little because of the stress and extra work you need to put in for an Oxbridge application. Then keep practising past papers for those tests which will take place in November (bless you that you have two lol I only had TSA), and here's where the 'plate-spinning' comes in, you need to work SMART (not hard yet, this is for later) for your A2 subjects, so be extra alert in lessons (which is the time dedicated purely for your A-level studies, and outside of class you can think more about your tests and interview) and make sure you understand the materials and concepts so intensive revision would come easier later in the year.
Don't think too much about interviews before you actually get an invite from Oxford. But keep your mind active and loaded with subject-specific knowledge and insights, and find opportunities to train yourself in discussing comfortably and confidently on your subject with others, maybe hold a weekly book club or language club at school and get people who are also interested to bring their own materials in for discussion.

After you've got your invite, see if your English/Language teachers can hold mock interviews with you. This will be near the end-of-term and you might be having internal exams, but back at my school my teachers knew I was preparing for my interview so they took note of that and allowed me to prioritise that. But again work smart for your internal exams, and use these as indicators to see how well you can do even without putting your full mind into revision for them. If you did well regardless, it means that you've juggled the balls pretty well and should be fine with the A2 materials so far.

Then after your interview and after you've received the decision (hopefully it's a yes), THAT'S when you go full turbo in your A2 studies. Whatever you didn't quite follow back in the first term, you'll have to deal with those now and work extra hard in putting everything together with the new materials, The 'catch-up' phase (if you need any at all) shouldn't take too long. Then just keep working with past papers to get the exam skills, and just pace yourself steadily so you don't run out before May/June. You should be able to go full on with your A-levels for the second and the third term, this is when you focus on meeting your offers, it's just with Oxbridge applications we always have to work extra because of the intense UCAS period and the leading up to interviews that have distracted us from our studies a bit. It will require quite a lot of stamina. Just work smart in the first term, then work hard in the last two and you should be fine.

I've posted my story here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4269346
It can be done. I've done it so you definitely can/will too. There are just way too many people worrying over whether their grades are good enough to apply or not, I just hope that they see with my example that there's always a chance, and there's always a way. Last year this time I spoke to a girl on here and she had the same doubt and didn't go for it in the end, note that her AS was better than mine - the only difference was that I gave it a try nonetheless whilst she didn't, see, we could've both got in now if she had tried, and that one decision at that one moment would have determined the outcome. I just don't want another person to miss out like that. So I tell you what, please please try, cos you'll never know, and you can ALWAYS work hard towards it.

Yes I only did 3 AS plus EPQ. When I first started AS I found it quite overwhelming so I dropped a subject after the first term.

You are truly inspirational!
Your 11A*s at GCSE must have really helped your application. However I got 4A*s, 3As and 2Bs... do you think I am at a disadvantage?
Sorry to keep bothering you!