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What's Happening?! [received four rejections for English - what shall I do now?]

hobnob

Because lots of people want to do it? :erm:

Exactly, I just want to know why they do it i.e what is their passion, because I'm an international student and I see a lot of people choosing english and I don't see the point..

Reply 41

MsAnnThropic

Aw, it's not fair is it?! I was equally at a loss last year, after receiving rejections from Oxford, Warwick and Bristol for Q300. I still don't get it really...

To give you an idea of how often this happens, I was predicted 4 As at A-level, had come top of a million candidates for English Lit and Lang (separately) at GCSE and then done the same again at AS, I'd been a school prefect, form captain and whatnot, been one of the main people making my school/college Fair Trade registered, held down 3 jobs at once during my AS year, played three intstruments, participated in debate competitions and all sorts of other things. What's more, I absolutely love English and read constantly even then. And yet I got rejected by Oxford post-interview, and Warwick and Bristol never even got back to me. I know 8 other people who had academic backgrounds similar to mine, and the most diverse range of extra-curricular subjects imaginable. None of us got more than one offer, and most didn't get any at all.

For a while I was planning on taking a gap year and reapplying so I tried to find the flaw in my application. There wasn't one. I got an 8 for my sample essay at Oxford and my hardest interviewers there gave me a 7 (both of which are higher than people I know who got in). I asked a private school careers adviser (who looks over a hundred Oxford apps every year) to tell me what she thought of my PS and grades, and she said there were no problems there. And my tutor reference was glowing enough to be used as an alternative light source! :tongue:

The feedback I got from all of the universities was that it was a tough year and they had more standout applicants than they had places for. As a result, I figured the same would be true (if not worse) as the recession deepened so I did some thorough research and found a Russell Group uni offering a slightly different English course, applied and turned up to as many open days as possible to get a feel for whether I'd enjoy it or not.

A year on, I'm on a pretty solid First and am passionate about what I'm studying in a way I couldn't imagine being if I was studying just traditional English literature (mine's a lot more diverse). What's more, I don't think I'd have appreciated this opportunity anywhere near as much as if I'd just walked into one of my original choices with the sense of entitlement I felt when I submitted my applications, or accepted the offer I did get as a begrudging "second-best".

So yeah, have a look around and see if anything similar but less obvious is still available - you might be lucky. If it isn't, make a list now of all such courses and the order you want to phone them in when Clearing starts. If that doesn't work, call them *again* three days into Semester 1, then the week after that and the week after that. People always drop out in the first term, and you could be perfectly poised to take their place if you're crafty about it :wink:

. Whatever you do, be optimistic - Plan B always has the potential to be an improvement on Plan A if you choose to see it that way.

Reply 42

Josh Jones

Seems your not alone on here Sean... Hope East went well today... :smile:

Reply 43

herzblut

11

too high; no back up. get your grades and apply next year. You'll be straight in :smile:

Reply 44

crazyappleie

hey op try not worry, as stated english is just uber tough to get into this year regardless of how good an applicant you may be. I think you should hold out, kcl are taking a while! otherwise just go through clearing/extra and you'll probably end up studying in a place you love :smile:

GOOD Luck!

Reply 45

hobnob

14

Dibs_anim

Exactly, I just want to know why they do it i.e what is their passion, because I'm an international student and I see a lot of people choosing english and I don't see the point..

Well... people like different stuff, no? I'm sure that there are plenty of people who don't see the point of doing Computer Science and wouldn't consider it for one minute. :dontknow:

Reply 46

kinetik

Dibs_anim

Exactly, I just want to know why they do it i.e what is their passion, because I'm an international student and I see a lot of people choosing english and I don't see the point..

OK … well. For me, it’s because I’m interested in a spread of humanities; History, Psychology, Philosophy, Theology, Classics. To me, studying English Literature encompasses all these things, but in a way that is aesthetically pleasurable. I think that’s amazing – that you can study all these academic schools in a way that is actually entertaining, it seems almost unfair! I’m also interested in the human experience, and pretentious as it sounds, how better to access this than through something that is an active creation of somebody else’s mind? If you read a writer’s works chronologically, you can see the development of their lives in something as subtle as the meter they use; is that not amazing? I love it because it stirs something in me, yet can be deconstructed to a purely technical level. Anybody who thinks that the study of literature is ‘airy fairy’ is ignorant of the discipline it involves. Furthermore, people forget that in most courses you study language as well; and I find linguistics fascinating. I don’t understand how anyone would not be interested in the development of the medium they use to communicate with those around them. Personally, I don’t understand why anybody would not want to study English Literature.

MsAnnThropic

Aw, it's not fair is it?! I was equally at a loss last year, after receiving rejections from Oxford, Warwick and Bristol for Q300. I still don't get it really...

To give you an idea of how often this happens, I was predicted 4 As at A-level, had come top of a million candidates for English Lit and Lang (separately) at GCSE and then done the same again at AS, I'd been a school prefect, form captain and whatnot, been one of the main people making my school/college Fair Trade registered, held down 3 jobs at once during my AS year, played three intstruments, participated in debate competitions and all sorts of other things. What's more, I absolutely love English and read constantly even then. And yet I got rejected by Oxford post-interview, and Warwick and Bristol never even got back to me. I know 8 other people who had academic backgrounds similar to mine, and the most diverse range of extra-curricular subjects imaginable. None of us got more than one offer, and most didn't get any at all.
.

That’s so weird, I’m sorry. The weird thing is, at my school there were these girls my mother jokingly referred to as the ‘superkids’. These are students whose parents moved them to Cambridge town just because they thought they would stand a higher chance of getting in, and to send them to a top school, from other countries. My one friend, she already has an A and an A*, in German and Maths. She got 5 As last year at AS, and is predicted 3 A* and 2 A this year, and with 10 A* at GCSE, shows every evidence of achieving those grades. She is head of the debate team. She goes to Cambridge University 3 times a week to invigilate debates. She’s gone on numerous politics courses and won various prizes. She already has a diploma in International Relations from the Open University. She has one of the best ps I have ever seen. She didn’t even get an interview at Cambridge, and has been rejected from Edinburgh. A similar story with the other ones; Russian friend of mine did 7 AS levels last year and got 11A* at GCSE, rejected from Oxford without interview. Whereas I know many, ‘on paper’ more mediocre students who at least got interviews.

Kreuzuerk

The English department at Leeds is supposed to be quite good actually, and the people I've known who study it there are, contrary to what you appear to be suggesting, intelligent. The Times actually ranks it as 9th, which is higher than some of the universities you appear to be somewhat favorable towards.

Sorry … I didn’t mean to be snobby. I think the quota by which I was deeming Leeds ‘less academic’ was the fact that it’s an AAB offer rather than AAA with a faculty of 200 with 1900 applicants (as opposed to say Bristol which has a faculty of 62 for 1800 applicants) which to me insinuates that it is easier to get into, but looking back on it I sound ridiculous, and my desire not to go there is based on one very personal perception and an arbitrary sample of students who may have just been shy, so I apologise. And the research quality seems amazing.

leedstownboy

all confidence in the system has disappeared. take my bristol rejection for example. i am rejected, yet there are candidates being handed AAB conditional offers. its hit and miss, and gap years aren't definitely the answer anymore.

AAB for Bristol English?!

Reply 47

rubyjane

6

kinetik

OK … well. For me, it’s because I’m interested in a spread of humanities; History, Psychology, Philosophy, Theology, Classics. To me, studying English Literature encompasses all these things, but in a way that is aesthetically pleasurable. I think that’s amazing – that you can study all these academic schools in a way that is actually entertaining, it seems almost unfair! I’m also interested in the human experience, and pretentious as it sounds, how better to access this than through something that is an active creation of somebody else’s mind? If you read a writer’s works chronologically, you can see the development of their lives in something as subtle as the meter they use; is that not amazing? I love it because it stirs something in me, yet can be deconstructed to a purely technical level. Anybody who thinks that the study of literature is ‘airy fairy’ is ignorant of the discipline it involves. Furthermore, people forget that in most courses you study language as well; and I find linguistics fascinating. I don’t understand how anyone would not be interested in the development of the medium they use to communicate with those around them. Personally, I don’t understand why anybody would not want to study English Literature.

This.

kinetik

AAB for Bristol English?!

History, not English. That's what I thought, too.

Reply 48

kinetik

rubyjane

This.

History, not English. That's what I thought, too.

Well, (fingers crossed) I may be seeing you in October! You know there's no exams at all in first year? Holla!

Reply 49

rubyjane

6

kinetik

Well, (fingers crossed) I may be seeing you in October! You know there's no exams at all in first year? Holla!

Ooo fingers crossed! Omg seriously?! I love it already. I knew that the total assessment is on the 2nd and 3rd years, and in the 2nd year it's mostly coursework, and in the 3rd it's entirely coursework, but this is even better! Have you not heard from them yet then?

Reply 50

kinetik

rubyjane

Ooo fingers crossed! Omg seriously?! I love it already. I knew that the total assessment is on the 2nd and 3rd years, and in the 2nd year it's mostly coursework, and in the 3rd it's entirely coursework, but this is even better! Have you not heard from them yet then?

Yeah, I have a conditional offer...it's just meeting the conditions :frown:

I'm in love with the course and city, and I love how in the first year it's primarily contemporary stuff! Yeah, to my knowledge you have no form of evaluation in the first year at all... so in summer when everyone is stressing we can just recline! I think they want you to really enjoy reading the texts and the discussion in the seminars for the first year. It's also the smallest english faculty I've seen so far, which is a big seller. Wish there was one to one tutoring though, but the tutorials I think are only like 4-6 people.

Reply 51

rubyjane

6

kinetik

Yeah, I have a conditional offer...it's just meeting the conditions :frown:

I'm in love with the course and city, and I love how in the first year it's primarily contemporary stuff! Yeah, to my knowledge you have no form of evaluation in the first year at all... so in summer when everyone is stressing we can just recline! I think they want you to really enjoy reading the texts and the discussion in the seminars for the first year. It's also the smallest english faculty I've seen so far, which is a big seller. Wish there was one to one tutoring though, but the tutorials I think are only like 4-6 people.

AAA right? I'm sure you can do that! What did you get last year? Me toooo as soon as I visited I knew I loved it :smile:

yeah I love the course too, it's a good mix of what you need and your own interests. Ahhh I'm so glad we don't have first year exams! It will make it so much more enjoyable. Yeah I think even though it's not one-to-one, it's pretty small groups :smile:

only 6 hours of contact time a week!! I will never be disciplined enough to do my own reading lol.

Reply 52

Dibs_anim

kinetik

OK … well. For me, it’s because I’m interested in a spread of humanities; History, Psychology, Philosophy, Theology, Classics. To me, studying English Literature encompasses all these things, but in a way that is aesthetically pleasurable. I think that’s amazing – that you can study all these academic schools in a way that is actually entertaining, it seems almost unfair! I’m also interested in the human experience, and pretentious as it sounds, how better to access this than through something that is an active creation of somebody else’s mind? If you read a writer’s works chronologically, you can see the development of their lives in something as subtle as the meter they use; is that not amazing? I love it because it stirs something in me, yet can be deconstructed to a purely technical level. Anybody who thinks that the study of literature is ‘airy fairy’ is ignorant of the discipline it involves. Furthermore, people forget that in most courses you study language as well; and I find linguistics fascinating. I don’t understand how anyone would not be interested in the development of the medium they use to communicate with those around them. Personally, I don’t understand why anybody would not want to study English Literature.

kinetik

Thanks great answer!!

Reply 53

hp92

English seems particularly tough this year. I know Medicine applicants who seem to be getting an easier ride at my school than some of the high aiming English ones. Warwick has rejected two of my friends who met the standards, one of which who got AAA predictions, good GCSE's and runs the school newspaper and the library practically! There are people on our Oxbridge applicants list who went for English who have had 2/3/5 rejections!

I'm not meaning to reinforce the fear or anything, but it does seem to be an especially difficult year for English applicants for reasons I can't understand.

Reply 54

Historywillabsolveme

I guess most of this has been said already - but I thought I'd just say that last year I applied with 4 As at AS (reasonable GCSEs too and good extra curricular, PS, ref etc - and having done all a year early - so was applying in yr 12) and got 4 rejections and one acceptance for history. I decided then that it was best to stay on for yr 13 and give it another go.
Now, having been head girl, got 3 As at A2 and a B, and various other stuff besides, I have 3 offers. So my choices have improved hugely. However, like has been said before, it's actually made me reassess what I'm doing. And in fact I have now firmed York - the only place that didn't reject me last year!!!
Did I waste a year then - I don't think so. The whole process is really tough especially for subjects like English, history etc, but for me at least I needed to look beyond the league tables and know that I was going to a place I would be happy at and in the end that's turned out to be York.

Reply 55

polka_dott

14

I got rejected for two of my english courses - granted they were not as competitive as yours and my grades are rubbish compared to yours :p:

but when I have applied before I got 5/5 offers. It seems soo competitive this year. Aren't applications up at least 20%?!

Reply 56

kinetik

rubyjane

Ooo fingers crossed! Omg seriously?! I love it already. I knew that the total assessment is on the 2nd and 3rd years, and in the 2nd year it's mostly coursework, and in the 3rd it's entirely coursework, but this is even better! Have you not heard from them yet then?

LOL! Ruby, it's Lauren ... our dirty, geeky secret is exposed...

Reply 57

ZoeH

kinetik

Yeah, I have a conditional offer...it's just meeting the conditions :frown:

I'm in love with the course and city, and I love how in the first year it's primarily contemporary stuff! Yeah, to my knowledge you have no form of evaluation in the first year at all... so in summer when everyone is stressing we can just recline! I think they want you to really enjoy reading the texts and the discussion in the seminars for the first year. It's also the smallest english faculty I've seen so far, which is a big seller. Wish there was one to one tutoring though, but the tutorials I think are only like 4-6 people.

I know this is a bit late but just wanted to correct the 'no exams' thing because that's what I thought too before I got here...they have now started introducing exams - two of the compulsory ones Approaches to Poetry and Approaches to Shakespeare both have exams, one in January and one in the summer and then you might have others depending on which units you choose although most English ones are still assessed by essays. Oh, and seminars can go up to 15 people, but the average seems to be around 10.

Reply 58

Stressworthy

14

Just read this thread since it's been bumped... sorry to hear you had those rejections, OP. I know applications rise every year, but English has always been competitive. It just seems as though anyone wanting to study English at a top uni is at a disadvantage because SO many people apply, and they all have a string of As and A*s so grades don't stand out at all, it seems. It sucks and undermines the hard work, but meh.

Reply 59

LostHorizons

13

Sean_Davey

Just got my fourth rejection and I'm slightly at a loss! I think I'm going to have to take a year out, but I have no idea what to do differently next time!

I applied for English (Q300) this year at Oxford, Exeter, Bristol, Edinburgh and King's College - all competitive but well within my predicted grades, I got an interview at Oxford which surely points to a good Personal Statement, Reasonable Grades etc?

A2 Predicted:
English Lit A* / Philosophy A*
History A / Drama A

AS Levels:
English A, Politics A, Philosophy A, History A, Drama B (blank on UCAS)

GCSEs:
A* English Lit, History, Drama, RE
A Eng Lang, Chem, Bio, Phys, ICT, Music
B Maths

So what am I supposed to do now? English is what I am passionate about and my strongest subject, so I thought I'd stand a reasonable chance of getting in despite huge numbers - should I re-apply for something less competitive, or should I apply for lower universities? I don't understand why they rejected me - all agreed I had met entry requirements and had strong grades, just blamed it on competition for spaces... Any advice/discussion welcome...

Maybe you could think about which modules attracted you to the courses you applied to this year and then reapply to slightly less competitive universities offering similar modules next year? Or at least, like lots of people have suggested, reapply with a mixture of higher and lower risk universities as opposed to 5 very very high risk ones as you did this year. It's unfortunate that, even though you do well exceed the entrance requirements of all the universities you applied to, English seems to be an incredibly subjective course in terms of admissions and, from my experience at least, does seem at least a little random when you look at who does and doesn't get offers.

I think if you're passionate about English, it would be unwise to reapply for a different, less competitive subject next year. I know for me it'd feel like a bit of a hollow victory if I got into a very prestigious university but was studying a subject I wasn't all that enthusiastic about. I guess you'd just have to look at why exactly you're wanting to go to university and whether it's more important to you that you study English Literature or that you get to study at a prestigious institution.

Good luck!

What's Happening?! [received four rejections for English - what shall I do now?]

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