The first thing is to choose your universities and courses carefully:
don’t be blinded by prestige – make sure the course content and structure is what you want and would find interesting
look at the stated entry requirements bearing in mind that some unis (Edinburgh and LSE are good examples) are often looking for higher predictions than their published standard offer for competitive courses
do not, absolutely not, apply for a course with a stated requirement (eg: Maths GCSE at A*; A2 French at A) that you don’t meet; those requirements are stated for a reason and all you will do is make the admissions tutor’s job very easy
if the course requirements say something is ‘preferred’ or ‘recommended’ and you don’t have it, consider that choice by definition as ‘high risk’ even if you have the grades the uni seems to be looking for
don’t pick five ‘high risk’ choices; a better balance is 2 ‘high’, 2 ‘medium’, and 1 ‘low’
make sure all your choices, of whatever risk category, are places you would like to go to – if you can’t visit, at least make sure the course interests you!
remember that you do not have to fill in all five choices at the time of submitting your application; you can add choices in later, and this is worth doing if you aren't able to find five you really like. As long as you have added them in by 15 January you will still get equal consideration along with everyone else (NB: this does not apply to anything with a 15 October deadline!)
The second thing to do is to make sure your Personal Statement is as good as it can be. Apart from your teachers at school/college, there are plenty of resources around to help you do this:
TSR Wiki provides guidance on drafting PSs, both general and subject specific
TSR PS Help – this is confidential, only the PS helpers will be able to see your PS so it is safe from anyone who might want to copy it
the UCAS website
university websites quite often have general guidance on PSs (Oxford Brookes does) as well as subject specific guidance – check out the department websites too. When available, this advice will alert you to the particular things admissions tutors are looking for, and you can then make sure that your PS covers the ground.
try to be original in your PS, but at the same time don’t go in for fancy language that just isn’t ‘you’. Simple language is usually just as effective, if not more so.
The third thing you can do is to take into account the advice of others. Parents and your teachers do know you quite well, usually, and may understand you better than you think. I’m not saying you have to follow what they say to the letter, but at least stop and think about whether they just might have a point. In particular, don’t pressurise teachers/your referee into upping your predicted grades unrealistically as all this does is land you with a greater likelihood of rejections – (because the admissions tutors spot the difference between your AS grades and your predicted A2 grades and draw their own conclusions) or with offers that you are going to struggle to meet. Unis also quickly learn which schools/colleges consistently over-predict (or under predict, for that matter) and interpret what they get accordingly. Equally, if your parents are pressurising you to apply for something that they think leads to a "proper job" and it's not what you want to do, be firm. If need be, enlist the help of your teachers/referee if you can, to help you explain to your parents why you don't want to follow the path they have in mind for you. In the end, it's your life, and your education, so you must take responsibility for it.
A Note on 'Risk'
The point of this post is to help people to work out what, for them, will be their high, medium, and low risk choices. It is not about my being able to tell you what your chances of an offer are! Even a low risk choice can result in an unexpected rejection: the important bit is for you to have made informed choices, rather than find out after the rejection has appeared on Track that an application was unlikely to be successful for some very obvious reason.
Apply where you want to apply, but remember to be realistic. Playing a stupid statistics game could mean you end up somewhere you hate...
If you get 5 rejections, ask yourself why, learn from it and reapply the next year... A MUCH more grown up thing than running for extra (unless your dream course and location is listed!) or clearing *just* so you can start uni inthe same year as your freinds...
The first thing is to choose your universities and courses carefully:
don’t be blinded by prestige – make sure the course content and structure is what you want and would find interesting
look at the stated entry requirements bearing in mind that some unis (Edinburgh and LSE are good examples) are often looking for higher predictions than their published standard offer for competitive courses
do not, absolutely not, apply for a course with a stated requirement (eg: Maths GCSE at A*; A2 French at A) that you don’t meet; those requirements are stated for a reason and all you will do is make the admissions tutor’s job very easy
if the course requirements say something is ‘preferred’ or ‘recommended’ and you don’t have it, consider that choice by definition as ‘high risk’ even if you have the grades the uni seems to be looking for
don’t pick five ‘high risk’ choices; a better balance is 2 ‘high’, 2 ‘medium’, and 1 ‘low’
make sure all your choices, of whatever risk category, are places you would like to go to – if you can’t visit, at least make sure the course interests you!
remember that you do not have to fill in all five choices at the time of submitting your application; you can add choices in later, and this is worth doing if you aren't able to find five you really like. As long as you have added them in by 15 January you will still get equal consideration along with everyone else (NB: this does not apply to anything with a 15 October deadline!)
The second thing to do is to make sure your Personal Statement is as good as it can be. Apart from your teachers at school/college, there are plenty of resources around to help you do this:
TSR Wiki provides guidance on drafting PSs, both general and subject specific
TSR PS Help – this is confidential, only the PS helpers will be able to see your PS so it is safe from anyone who might want to copy it
the UCAS website
university websites quite often have general guidance on PSs (Oxford Brookes does) as well as subject specific guidance – check out the department websites too. When available, this advice will alert you to the particular things admissions tutors are looking for, and you can then make sure that your PS covers the ground.
try to be original in your PS, but at the same time don’t go in for fancy language that just isn’t ‘you’. Simple language is usually just as effective, if not more so.
The third thing you can do is to take into account the advice of others. Parents and your teachers do know you quite well, usually, and may understand you better than you think. I’m not saying you have to follow what they say to the letter, but at least stop and think about whether they just might have a point. In particular, don’t pressurise teachers/your referee into upping your predicted grades unrealistically as all this does is land you with rejections – (because the admissions tutors spot the difference between your AS grades and your predicted A2 grades and draw their own conclusions) or with offers that you are going to struggle to meet. Unis also quickly learn which schools/colleges consistently over-predict (or under predict, for that matter) and interpret what they get accordingly. Equally, if your parents are pressurising you to apply for something that they think leads to a "proper job" and it's not what you want to do, be firm. If need be, enlist the help of your teachers/referee if you can, to help you explain to your parents why you don't want to follow the path they have in mind for you. In the end, it's your life, and your education, so you must take responsibility for it.
I don't know whether I am being realistic or not
am predicted AAAB got ABBC at AS with one grade further maths pending
i want to apply to
Warwick AAA
UCL AAA
Edinburgh ABB
KCL AAB
Sheffield ABC
I don't know whether I am being realistic or not
am predicted AAAB got ABBC at AS with one grade further maths pending
i want to apply to
Warwick AAA
UCL AAA
Edinburgh ABB
KCL AAB
Sheffield ABC
On the face of it, you have more 'high risk' choices there than might be wise, but then again Maths is not as competitive as some other subjects. I'm interested that Edinburgh wants ABB, as usually their standard offer across the board is BBB (although they generally expect higher predictions unless you are local/from a family with no history of uni education).
I'm interested that Edinburgh wants ABB, as usually their standard offer across the board is BBB (although they generally expect higher predictions unless you are local/from a family with no history of uni education).
Edinburgh ask for BBB in Humanities/Arts/Social Sciences and ABB in some Sciences where an A in Maths is important.
Last edited by artorscience? : 21-09-2008 at 10:12.
The first thing is to choose your universities and courses carefully:
don’t be blinded by prestige – make sure the course content and structure is what you want and would find interesting
look at the stated entry requirements bearing in mind that some unis (Edinburgh and LSE are good examples) are often looking for higher predictions than their published standard offer for competitive courses
do not, absolutely not, apply for a course with a stated requirement (eg: Maths GCSE at A*; A2 French at A) that you don’t meet; those requirements are stated for a reason and all you will do is make the admissions tutor’s job very easy
if the course requirements say something is ‘preferred’ or ‘recommended’ and you don’t have it, consider that choice by definition as ‘high risk’ even if you have the grades the uni seems to be looking for
don’t pick five ‘high risk’ choices; a better balance is 2 ‘high’, 2 ‘medium’, and 1 ‘low’
make sure all your choices, of whatever risk category, are places you would like to go to – if you can’t visit, at least make sure the course interests you!
remember that you do not have to fill in all five choices at the time of submitting your application; you can add choices in later, and this is worth doing if you aren't able to find five you really like. As long as you have added them in by 15 January you will still get equal consideration along with everyone else (NB: this does not apply to anything with a 15 October deadline!)
The second thing to do is to make sure your Personal Statement is as good as it can be. Apart from your teachers at school/college, there are plenty of resources around to help you do this:
TSR Wiki provides guidance on drafting PSs, both general and subject specific
TSR PS Help – this is confidential, only the PS helpers will be able to see your PS so it is safe from anyone who might want to copy it
the UCAS website
university websites quite often have general guidance on PSs (Oxford Brookes does) as well as subject specific guidance – check out the department websites too. When available, this advice will alert you to the particular things admissions tutors are looking for, and you can then make sure that your PS covers the ground.
try to be original in your PS, but at the same time don’t go in for fancy language that just isn’t ‘you’. Simple language is usually just as effective, if not more so.
The third thing you can do is to take into account the advice of others. Parents and your teachers do know you quite well, usually, and may understand you better than you think. I’m not saying you have to follow what they say to the letter, but at least stop and think about whether they just might have a point. In particular, don’t pressurise teachers/your referee into upping your predicted grades unrealistically as all this does is land you with rejections – (because the admissions tutors spot the difference between your AS grades and your predicted A2 grades and draw their own conclusions) or with offers that you are going to struggle to meet. Unis also quickly learn which schools/colleges consistently over-predict (or under predict, for that matter) and interpret what they get accordingly. Equally, if your parents are pressurising you to apply for something that they think leads to a "proper job" and it's not what you want to do, be firm. If need be, enlist the help of your teachers/referee if you can, to help you explain to your parents why you don't want to follow the path they have in mind for you. In the end, it's your life, and your education, so you must take responsibility for it.
Do you think i will get any offers with the decision i have made so far...:-
AS Grades - AAABBC
A2 Predictions- AAAB
A2 completed- A (language)
Medicine '09
Cambridge - AAA
Imperial - AAAC
UCL - AAB
Manchester - AAB
Depends what your doubts were, the courses you are applying for, and where, your grades etc etc.
Well, my grades and everything are in my profile (AAAAA at AS, predicted AAAA at A2; 5A*, 1A, 2C, a D and a U at GCSE, Merit and a Pass at GNVQ - don't ask...), and I'm applying for Philosophy at everywhere except UCL.
My two basic worries are that I don't have a wide enough range of standard offers (three are AAA - Cambridge, Durham and UCL - and the other two are AAB and ABB - Sheff and Manchester), and that my application (i.e. the personal statement) isn't geared to the UCL course I want to do (ESPS. I'd wanted to apply for it for about 2 years, and I really didn't like the LSE course at all, so I thought I may as well go for it.)
I'm thinking about changing the UCL course to straight Philosophy, even though I don't really like their course that much, or changing a choice to Hull or York or something. Or Roehampton.
On the face of it, you have more 'high risk' choices there than might be wise, but then again Maths is not as competitive as some other subjects. I'm interested that Edinburgh wants ABB, as usually their standard offer across the board is BBB (although they generally expect higher predictions unless you are local/from a family with no history of uni education).
so what would you advise i have not visited any of these uni's so all of my decisions are based on the course so if you think any of them should be changed I would be happy to do that
Well, my grades and everything are in my profile (AAAAA at AS, predicted AAAA at A2; 5A*, 1A, 2C, a D and a U at GCSE, Merit and a Pass at GNVQ - don't ask...), and I'm applying for Philosophy at everywhere except UCL.
My two basic worries are that I don't have a wide enough range of standard offers (three are AAA - Cambridge, Durham and UCL - and the other two are AAB and ABB - Sheff and Manchester), and that my application (i.e. the personal statement) isn't geared to the UCL course I want to do (ESPS. I'd wanted to apply for it for about 2 years, and I really didn't like the LSE course at all, so I thought I may as well go for it.) If the UCL course is unique the admissions tutors will know you are likely to be applying for straight philosophy elsewhere, so you won't need to say too much, but it would be sensible to say something about the other aspects of the ESPS course. You should be able to do this without losing the focus on philosophy that you will need for the others.
I'm thinking about changing the UCL course to straight Philosophy, even though I don't really like their course that much, or changing a choice to Hull or York or something. Or Roehampton.
Philosophy is less competitive than some, and for your grades Manchester and Sheffield are medium and low risk, so I'd have thought there was no need to change unless you find a course you like better!
Another thing to add- don't apply to five places that require all A grades. What happens when you're selecting a firm and insurance? An insurance that needs the same grades as your 1st choice doesn't offer much insurance! This happened to a friend of mine, and because she ended up with AAB she missed both her choices and ended up in clearing. Just be sensible, and the same applies if your predicted BBB etc, it's a good idea to have one choice with lower entry requirements!
Discussions relating to university entry and applications, including questions about Clearing.
Useful Resources:
How to avoid getting 5 rejections
I'm screwed!
