Retake A Levels or take a clearing offer?

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I was predicted A*AA in Economics, Physics and Maths respectively and flopped somewhat, getting ACC, missing both my firm and insurance at Warwick (A*AA Economics) and Bristol (AAA Economics&Management).

I've tried clearing and the best offer is from City University for Economics. I'm really stuck on whether to retake and retry for some sort of similar level to my original options, maybe sticking around the AAA offer mark instead, e.g. Bristol, Sheffield or to take the City offer...

The other question is the difficulty over making this decision, the City offer is pretty good given my performance and I don't really want to lose it because I'm still unsure - especially as I don't have my scripts back and don't have the opinions of all my teachers yet - I will take it if I know that I can later withdraw and reapply for UCAS 2017 entry if I change my mind having gained more information, but I'm worried doing this could use an issue with UCAS?

Mad this is basically me (same firm and insurance uni to boot).. Except different grades than you and different clearing university (Swansea - CompSci)

Good luck at City dude, hopefully you have a great time/meet interesting people. Take advantage of being in London and network your ass off.

All the best.

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(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 21

fefssdf

Retake instead of spending money going to a uni that you had no intention if going to in the first place !

Reply 22

ronaldo222

Original post by Princepieman

are you planning to have a finance related career or comp sci career?

Reply 23

username738914

Original post by ronaldo222

are you planning to have a finance related career or comp sci career?

Finance for now (hopefully focusing on technology coverage investment banking), but software engineering/product management are also possibilities.

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Reply 24

tanyapotter

i would still have taken a gap year if i were you.. if you were predicted A*AA and actually got an offer from warwick for its most competitive course, then you must have been capable of getting those grades and it's worth having a go at again because warwick/bristol >>>>>>>> city

Reply 25

whydoidothis?

Original post by tanyapotter

Warwick give out offers to everyone btw.

but regardless ACC are relatively good grades.

i know people who got far worse and got into better unis than city. i guess not alot of unis are in clearing for economics.

Reply 26

3tr3

Original post by whydoidothis?

Any examples? I tried some more 'in between' unis (Sheffield, Queens Belfast, Queens Mary's, Newcastle, York etc) but none gave me a clearing offer.

Reply 27

999tigger

Depends on why I felt I underperformed and what I wanted to do in future. I'd most likely retake, so I knew for sure.

Reply 28

whydoidothis?

Original post by 3tr3

Any examples? I tried some more 'in between' unis (Sheffield, Queens Belfast, Queens Mary's, Newcastle, York etc) but none gave me a clearing offer.

you have good grades but economics is competitive.

I will PM you their grades and courses as it is personal.

Reply 29

tanyapotter

Original post by whydoidothis?

i was under the impression that warwick economics is really competitive, purely because my best friend was rejected by warwick despite being predicted A*A*A*A and getting into LSE for economics. totally anecdotal, but i hardly think they give out offers to everyone. it can't be that easy to pave your way directly into investment banking xD

yeah, ACC is not bad at all but the opportunities warwick and bristol would open up don't compare to city, tbh. plus, he'd have another shot at getting his predicted grades (again, something he must have been capable of getting if he got good offers)

edit: just checked and the acceptance rate for warwick economics is 60%. that's shockingly high for such a prestigious course at a target university..no?

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 30

Sam947

I am also in a bit of a dilemma but my results were way worse I was predicted AAA but got BCD. So I've asked for photocopies of my scripts and might resit. It's wierd though cos I honestly thought I aced the exams and was absolutely gutted when I saw my results :frown:

Reply 31

whydoidothis?

Original post by tanyapotter

i think your friend was hard done, although he missed his offer, my friend got an offer for econ with ABBC at AS.

Reply 32

3tr3

Original post by tanyapotter

Original post by Sam947

I've requested photocopies too, but I mostly know why I did badly (complacency, iffy/inconsistent teaching, assuming exam technique was fine given AS performance). Might help me make a decision, but I'm not sure what it will tell me that's new. Sitting on the fence now and probably still will be...

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 33

tanyapotter

Original post by whydoidothis?

i think your friend was hard done, although he missed his offer, my friend got an offer for econ with ABBC at AS.

wow

maybe my friend was rejected because her personal statement was subtley tailored to LSE (she mentioned it quite a bit) so perhaps warwick got the impression that they'd be wasting an offer on someone who clearly wants to go to LSE. it definitely couldn't have been her grades..

Reply 34

whydoidothis?

Original post by tanyapotter

wow

maybe my friend was rejected because her personal statement was subtley tailored to LSE (she mentioned it quite a bit) so maybe warwick got the impression that they'd be wasting an offer on someone who clearly wants to go to LSE. it definitely couldn't have been her grades..

thats hilarious, you should never mention a uni in your statement unless you want 4 rejections lol.

Reply 35

tanyapotter

Original post by whydoidothis?

thats hilarious, you should never mention a uni in your statement unless you want 4 rejections lol.

she mentioned going to some LSE masterclass or something. and it worked because now she's going to the best place in the world to study economics; sometimes you have to take the chance :tongue:

Reply 36

tanyapotter

Original post by 3tr3

Shocked they would get rejected by Warwick. I sometimes feel this is complete pot luck as I got rejected from Durham, but then again mostly as I think I didn't gear my personal statement towards them at all (I did send a supplementary one but didn't really change it much). I did great at AS (AAA + A in EP) but have friends who got ABB who got offers from Warwick. Also one of my great friends who's going to Oxford for E&M got rejected by LSE, so I know this system is a bit of a joke however you look at it.

I've requested photocopies too, but I mostly know why I did badly (complacency, iffy/inconsistent teaching, assuming exam technique was fine given AS performance). Might help me make a decision, but I'm not sure what it will tell me that's new. Sitting on the fence now and probably still will be...

if you got straight As at AS then you're MORE than capable of getting at least straight As at a-level. please take a gap year and reapply D:

Reply 37

rainbowcolours1

I was in this position last year and didn't want to go to a non-russell group uni. In the end, I had chosen to retake the year at sixth form to improve my grades. It eventually worked out for me having improved my grades a lot securing a place at the University of Leeds to study Economics. This may not be the best uni in terms of russell group options for Economics but I was happy with my decision to resit otherwise I would have went to a university that I had not wanted to go to with lower A-Level results. Although it took me 3 years to complete my A-Levels, I now believe I stand a better chance of obtaining a better job than with the A-Level results I had achieved last year especially hearing about some companies demanding certain UCAS points regardless of your degree qualifications.

I would definitely recommend that you should re-evaluate your decisions about attending university this year. From your predicted grades, I believe you can achieve better results through resitting but that requires you to believe in yourself. If you do decide to go ahead with university this year, I wish you good luck and all the best!

Reply 38

username738914

Original post by tanyapotter

wow

Tbf, my friend got into E&M at Oxford and went on to get 4A*s but was rejected by Warwick for Econ. So it is competitive, just a bit random is all.

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Reply 39

tanyapotter

Original post by Princepieman

Tbf, my friend got into E&M at Oxford and went on to get 4A*s but was rejected by Warwick for Econ. So it is competitive, just a bit random is all.

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yeah, but warwick has a 60% acceptance rate for econ, while LSE's is 17% and oxford E&M is even more competitive - a mere 8%. i wonder what their criteria is, and if they know how many amazing students they're missing out on..