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Straight 'A' student denied a place at university!!!!

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sam.day

Lol, this kid did even worse than me.

I spose when everyone gets the same top grades, similar personal statements and similar glowing references, unis have to pick for often random-looking reasons. Maybe he got crap GSCEs, or is just the unlucky kid that got beaten by better PS-writers.

Har har, I took his Leeds place.

What grade do did you get if you don't mind me asking?

Reply 21

GormlessWonder

Wolfos

I think the 'weak subjects' argument is nonsense. He may have had a weak personal statement, and didn't choose any back-up universities that would give him a better chance of getting in. It's also extremely competitive this year due to the real surge in applicants, so it's just a case of you win some, you lose some (well in this case, you lose all).

How is it nonsense?
It's a fairly obvious conclusion that he's not going to fare well applying at that level with less academically rigorous subjects.

Your post seems confused, you win some you lose some, but there are reasons for that.

Reply 22

Bax-man

I think one of his errors was, after receiving five rejections previously, he decided to also apply to Edinburgh and University College, London.

Reply 23

The-Wi$e-One

Just shows its not all about the grades but the PS & Person who applies

Reply 24

xnatalie01x

Poor guy, however given his subjects I am not surprised.

Reply 25

haaroon321

That is what happens if you go to a state school!

Reply 26

crowsy

this guy came to a party i had once, hmm

Reply 27

Chris Ashby

Nahdrav

One of the most competitive courses in the country.
The most competitive year ever for university applications.
Some of the most competitive universities in the country.
At best,subpar,A-Level choices.
All of this coupled with a likely mediocre personal statement.

No shockers here,keep calm and carry on.

Everyone is criticising him for choosing mediorce subjects but wha tsubjects should he have chosen if he wants to do English Lit at university? :confused:

I'm very confused!!! :confused:

Reply 28

Duckzilla

Chris Ashby

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-10665478

Poor lad. :frown:

It makes me extremely grateful that I've been offered a place a Bristol. I really hope he gains a place soon.

1. English literature is an extremely competitive course at competitive universities.
2. Drama & Threatre studies A-level is considered 'soft' by some universities so some universities do not like it. English language A-level is also considered 'soft' by some.
3. A-level English literature is better preparation for a literature degree like he was going for, not the combined language and literature A-level. Most universities like straight English literature A-level better than English language & literature combined.
4. Lots of other applicants have a fourth AS level or a fourth A-level which he did not have.

Reply 29

Suetonius

Chris Ashby

Everyone is criticising him for choosing mediorce subjects but wha tsubjects should he have chosen if he wants to do English Lit at university? :confused:

I'm very confused!!! :confused:

He should've definitely chosen straight English Lit (Lit & Lang is usually considered to be a bit too 'watered-down': dealing with the basics of both and not concentrating enough on each). Instead of Drama, well, anything that has a hint of academic worth (such as History or Geography). R.S. was fair enough I suppose.

Reply 30

Fuzzpig

Denied is the wrong word.

"Failed to achieve" is more fitting.

Reply 31

Duckzilla

haaroon321

That is what happens if you go to a state school!

A student at my state school is going to Cambridge to study economics. Another guy from my state school went to Oxford to study physics and now works for the massive physics company CERN.

Reply 32

deathbeforeimmortality

And...

many more factors are taken into account when it comes to applications. I don't understand why BBC News has to make it news.

Reply 33

Ollie901

Chris Ashby

Everyone is criticising him for choosing mediorce subjects but wha tsubjects should he have chosen if he wants to do English Lit at university? :confused:

I'm very confused!!! :confused:

Well English Literature for a start, not Language or Lit & Lang
Maybe History/Geography, a language and a Science/Maths subject.

I'm not 100% sure, I have no interest in studying English Lit so I'm not the best person to be asking. If you look on some uni websites, most will say what subjects they want/reccomend.

Reply 34

Nahdrav

Chris Ashby

Everyone is criticising him for choosing mediorce subjects but wha tsubjects should he have chosen if he wants to do English Lit at university? :confused:

I'm very confused!!! :confused:

Straight English Literature would be a very good start.

Alongside that id say another blue chip subject that shows he has strong essay writing and critical thinking skills that can be applied to a wide variety of fields; so History,maybe Economics.

For a third I would consider a MFL; probably French seeing as I know (at least in AQA) that in A level French you do cover a lot of French Literature. Having studied an entirely different field of literature with its differences in writing style and context would,id imagine, greatly enhance someones ability to analyse straight English literature, in addition to this it also shows that the student in question is undeniably smart. As the ability to get an A grade in both English and French shows that you must have some amount of brainpower.

Reply 35

algérie_mon_amour

insanetothebrain

Link me to his profile, I want to neg him.

And you have any rep power? lol

This thread has been discussed before and the guy has defended himself and shown how the BBC actually misrepresented his story.

Reply 36

Ryouga

Exams are """" easy these days anyway as they are pretty much revise the knowledge you need then regurgitate it in an exam so school results are pointless.

Saying that though Uni these days is a joke and just requires you to be a human encylopedia and repeat things in your own words anyway and its often down to the examiners interpretation of your knowledge that you get the result you do.

Reply 37

River85

Yes, there has already been a thread of this (not locked). This will probably get locked also :p:

Nahdrav

GormlessWonder

explosions hurt

English literature is very competitive and those are weaker subjects, i mean he isn't even doing straight english literature a-level.

Ollie901

No, but if your other subjects aren't very good then you'll struggle to get on a decent lit course at uni.

He wasnt doing lit anyway, he was doing Lit & Lang.

I will get tired of this eventually.

Reliigous Studies is not a poor or weak subject,

There is a chance he wasn't able to do straight English literature Some schools offer the cobmined course only. Yes, English Lit is preferred by most if not all of the uniers

There are studets with a similar combination of subjects who DO receive offers from those universities every cycle.

His application was probably weakened by his personal statement, reference or GCSE grades. He could've applied to one or two less comeptitive universities or considered other universities in clearing (there will be universities is clearing as good as those he's applied to).

After receiving rejections first time around we don't know if he ever received feedback and made any attempt to improve his application.

Although his subject choice could have been bettter people are placing far too much of an emphasis on his subject choices.

Chris Ashby

Everyone is criticising him for choosing mediorce subjects but wha tsubjects should he have chosen if he wants to do English Lit at university? :confused:

I'm very confused!!! :confused:

There's nothing wrong with Theatre Studies as a fourth subject. As one of only three A-level subjects (with no AS levels) then that's not ideal.

Religious Studies is fine.

English Language/Combined Lit Land is often thought of as less preferred compared to English Lit alone. But it's not "blacklisted".

His subject choice isn't the strongest but it is not fatal either. What he really could do with is a fourth subject at either AS or a full A-level.

A range of Humanities, Social Sciences and Sciences and acceptable.

English Lit/Lang, History, RS, Theature Studies (AS)

English Lit/Lang, Maths, RS, Psychology (AS).

English Lit/Lang, Geography, RS, Biology (AS)

Engliss Lit/Lang, History, French, Economics (AS)

You get the idea.

Ideally Lit/Lang will be Literature alone. But I've kept Lit/Lang as I'm assuming straight Lit wasn't available. Choosing Lit/Land is still not fatal.

Reply 38

username345307

Chris Ashby

Everyone is criticising him for choosing mediorce subjects but wha tsubjects should he have chosen if he wants to do English Lit at university? :confused:

I'm very confused!!! :confused:

English Lit (not Lang or combined lit and lang), possibly History, and then a language/maths/science/anything respectable.