Year 12s: what will be the first way you research your future options? >>

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What universities should I be aiming at ?

So far, I've got 2A*, 6A and 3B's at GCSE
AAAAA at AS, and A*A*AA at A2 in Maths, Further Maths, Economics and History.

I've took a gap year so I could go on an exchange to Japan, so thats why I haven't applied for university last year.

My friends at Oxbridge had told me that there is no one they know who has less than 5A* in the economics course they're at, and thats what I'm actually hoping to do.

Obviously, I wont be applying at Oxbridge, as from what I've heard, they wont even take a second look at my application after seeing my GCSE grades. I realise they're not bad, but obviously, not oxbridge standard.

What Universities shall I be applying for ?
Would the likes of UCL, Imperial, LSE and Warwick be possible, or shall I aim for Lancaster, Birminghamm Manchester, St Andrews and the like ?

Thanks in advance.

Reply 1

Wesssty

LSE are more likely to throw you for GCSE's, I'd give Oxbridge a go if I were you.

Edit: Seeing as you already have those A Levels, GCSE's mean sod all. xD

Reply 2

js374

Wesssty

Edit: Seeing as you already have those A Levels, GCSE's mean sod all. xD

This.
With those A level results you stand a good chance of getting in at any uni.

Reply 3

orca92

Oxford or Cambridge, UCL and Warwick. Then one of St Andrews, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Durham, Bristol, Bath; and one of Birmingham, Southampton, Manchester, Exeter, Lancaster and York.

You have A*A*AA in Maths, Further Maths, Economics and History; your GCSEs therefore become less important. I would be very surprised if you didn't get an interview at Oxford or Cambridge if you have a decent PS and reference. You should be able to comfortably get an offer from the second and third tier unis so have a couple of insurances there; but you should really aim for the top 5 unis. If you want to be safer then i would sacrifice UCL rather than Warwick or Oxbridge. With your GCSEs Oxbridge is more accessible and Warwick tends to be more accessible than UCL as UCL gets a lot more international applicants and probably more home applicants tbh.

Reply 4

xnatalie01x

I'd go for Oxbridge with those grades, then Durham, UCL or York.

Reply 5

Rob da Mop

I have a Cambridge offer with roughly equal, possibly worse GCSEs than you. Your AS/A level grades speak for themselves. Write a good personal statement and do a good interview and you stand as much chance as the next guy of getting an Oxbridge offer. You should definitely be looking at the very top unis.

Reply 6

yoyo462001

How do you have A* grades when at the time you received them they did not exist.

Reply 7

SeaM0nk3y

Don't rule out Oxbridge - I applied with AABB at A Level and felt awful at interview with everyone else talking about all their predicted A*s - I got in. It's worth having a shot even if you have bad grades and you have great grades anyway.

Reply 8

orca92

yoyo462001

How do you have A* grades when at the time you received them they did not exist.

This is what i thought.

I'm guessing that OP got over 90% in the A2 of those A levels and is therefore accrediting themselves an A* for it. If this is the case then i would definitely apply to Cambridge rather than Oxford (unit grades and all that). Alternatively OP might have resat one unit or resubmitted their A levels this year so as to get them up to an A* :holmes:

Reply 9

danny111

Those AS and A2 grades are great.

Apply to 2 or 3 of Cambridge, LSE, UCL, Warwick and then some lower ones (depending on how risk averse you are).

Reply 10

TheCrackFox

Give Oxford Brookes, and the University of Bedfordshire a go. You're clearly capable and those grades would suffice.

Reply 11

.ACS.

TheCrackFox

Give Oxford Brookes, and the University of Bedfordshire a go. You're clearly capable and those grades would suffice.

Reply 12

.ACS.

yoyo462001

How do you have A* grades when at the time you received them they did not exist.

He probably means retrospectively.

Reply 13

Mr. Roxas

Cambride, LSE, Warwick then a couple of fall backs - Bristol, Nottingham

Reply 14

Bakeyy

Definitely aim higher than those last 4 and choose better courses (excluding St. Andrews if you like it).

Oxbridge, Warwick, UCL, Durham, Notts all sound possible given how well you have obviously done in Maths. I would probably be the most worried about LSE given their apparent love of A*s and the number of apps per place.

Reply 15

MagicNMedicine

If Vladimir is actually Russian then all the advice goes out of the window and he can apply to anywhere, because he won't be directly competing with any UK/EU students for the capped quota of places on a course. Institutions can take as many overseas students as they want as they are off quota, so with those grades I would be pretty sure they would all take him including LSE.

If he's a home fee payer though, a little more caution is needed as he will count on the quota.