Am I aiming too high?

Stats:

GCSE's: 6 A's, 3 B's, 2 C's
AS: 4 A's (one 98%)

Applying:
Oxford
Durham
UCL
Warwick
Royal Holloway

I know oxford and perhaps UCL is a bit out of my league, but I'm deffo applying. My real concern is only having one safe uni (RH @ ABB), and even then its not too safe. I was thinking of applying to kent at 320 points instead of warwick at AAB. It's not a problem so much in getting the grades, I just want offers. Thing is Kent was in clearing for psychology this year, and I would feel a lot happier at warwick compared to kent. HELP!?

Reply 1

The_question

11

Oxford require at least 4A* at GCSE level.

Reply 2

username392640

14

The_question

Oxford require at least 4A* at GCSE level.

Do they?

Reply 3

Marvin211

10

yeah i would say maybe replace one of those with a middle uni instead. just in case..

Reply 4

username324526

14

TheProdigy2k9

Do they?

no lmao.

OP, you're not aiming too high. stick with your choices (unless of course you find an aab/abb uni you're happy with). there's no point applying somewhere you don't want to go. if you miss the grades, resit, don't end up being dissatisfied for three years. besides, 4As at AS is a fantastic achievement.

Reply 5

screenager2004

14

Nah I think you're in the right league, you'd definitely be able to get an offer for Warwick Psych with four A's predicted. (assuming your reference and personal statement is fine)

Reply 6

orca92

13

Oxford, Durham and Warwick have been known to be a bit iffy when it comes to GCSE grades. I've seen people rejected from them for having no A*s (not for psychology i'll point out, chemistry, economics, biology i think) so be careful with where you choose; UCL seem fine though with mostly A's, B's and C's. Oh, and i got told that my GCSEs were poor by an Oxford admissions tutor; i got 4 A*s, 4 A's, 2.5 B's and 1 C btw.

Reply 7

Noodlzzz

OP

21

Yeah I know oxford is a bit meh but I'll regret it for the rest of my life. My concern was over the 5th choice, but thanks for the advice, swinging towards to warwick now.

Reply 8

River85

17

Noodlzzz

GCSE's: 6 A's, 3 B's, 2 C's

Durham strongly prefer applicants to have alll A*s and As at GCSE (or they certainly did - I can't find this on the website anymore). But it is quite an oversubscrived department. This is for psychology at Durham and not the Queen's Campus based Applied psychology.

Apart from that, you have strong AS levels. Assuming you'll also have a strong personal statement and reference I wouldn't say you're aiming too high.

But you can only apply to five universities. Not six.

Reply 9

Chucklefiend

12

Noodlzzz

Stats:

GCSE's: 6 A's, 3 B's, 2 C's
AS: 4 A's (one 98%)

Applying:
Oxford
Durham
UCL
Warwick
Royal Holloway

I know oxford and perhaps UCL is a bit out of my league, but I'm deffo applying. My real concern is only having one safe uni (RH @ ABB), and even then its not too safe. I was thinking of applying to kent at 320 points instead of warwick at AAB. It's not a problem so much in getting the grades, I just want offers. Thing is Kent was in clearing for psychology this year, and I would feel a lot happier at warwick compared to kent. HELP!?

There is no harm in aiming high as long as you have a backup. I would say you are almost guaranteed a place at RH, but if you're worried simply change your least favorite from Durham, Warwick and UCL to a safer option.

Reply 10

jiayi930829

No, Oxford does not clearly state how many A*s must one achieve. However, it is likely that having no A*s in your GCSE would affect your chances. Change Durham or UCL into something less competitive, if you feel that there is the need. Personally, I think you would be fine, as long as your Personal Statement and Refrence are up to standard. =)

Reply 11

Nahdrav

1

I'd say be cautious, look at this years numbers, youve got a lot of students with grades superior to yours getting rejected by all five choices. Perhaps look into some less competitive universities but remember, whats most important is you want to go to ALL five choices, perhaps some less than others.Three years is a long time, theres more than 100 universities in the country, if you cant find 3-4 that you like from them thats your fault,just look harder.

Reply 12

Bluth.

16

In my opinion Royal Holloway and Warwick seem safe enough options for you. They do not interview so If you have the predicted grades (which you do) and a decent enough PS, I can't see any reason for them to reject you.

Reply 13

miranda-ae

13

Can people please stop putting apostrophes after their grades. 2 As, not A's.

Reply 14

Sarawrr

12

You're aiming just right for you, but you could probably do with having a university that will offer you something a bit lower. I reckon you could find one within the Russell group.

Choose somewhere you know you'll be happy going if you did drop down to BBB/BBC or something similar.

Congrats on the great A-levels though :smile:

Reply 15

Sarawrr

12

miranda-ae

Can people please stop putting apostrophes after their grades. 2 As, not A's.

THANK YOU.

The one that gets me is "1960's" or the like.

Reply 16

llacerta

19

If you don't mind possibly ending up with only having two offers, then your choices are fine. I aimed high with my application, but made sure that I had two safe options (funnily enough, Warwick and RHUL). I got rejected from Oxford and York, but made it into one of the tougher options (Exeter). So for you, that'd be the equivalent of getting rejected from Oxford and Durham but making it into UCL, Warwick and RHUL. Unfortunately, UCL is very competitive, so yeah, if you don't mind "only" getting into Warwick and RHUL, and if you think you'd be happy going for either university, then I'd stick with the options you've gone for.

Reply 17

Noodlzzz

OP

21

llacerta

If you don't mind possibly ending up with only having two offers, then your choices are fine. I aimed high with my application, but made sure that I had two safe options (funnily enough, Warwick and RHUL). I got rejected from Oxford and York, but made it into one of the tougher options (Exeter). So for you, that'd be the equivalent of getting rejected from Oxford and Durham but making it into UCL, Warwick and RHUL. Unfortunately, UCL is very competitive, so yeah, if you don't mind "only" getting into Warwick and RHUL, and if you think you'd be happy going for either university, then I'd stick with the options you've gone for.

Thanks

Out of curiousity, what wjere your results at the time you applied?

Reply 18

llacerta

19

Noodlzzz

Thanks

Out of curiousity, what wjere your results at the time you applied?

A pretty 'poor' ABB. I took another two A-levels along with these, so I completed them a year later and that's why I was able to apply to universities that require more than these grades. For example, Exeter gave me an AA offer (making it an AAA offer including the A that I already had) so it's proof that universities don't mind if you want to top up the grades you've got with a bit extra. Admittedly, the subjects I had taken were all pretty 'academicy', but I was surprised to get into Exeter. The rejections from York and Oxford I was not so surprised at.

In the end, I realised that out of the three offers I had, the psych department at RHUL was the best and most to my liking, so I went with their unconditional offer and didn't even need the final two A-levels! All's well that ends well, and I'm sure the same will happen to you, as there's nothing wrong with aiming high as long as you've got a few good back-ups.

Reply 19

skotch

16

In my opinion, Warwick and Durham aren't that great for psychology... especially not Warwick. Just saying...

If you're expecting AAA at A level, in order to not be disappointed when it comes to results, an ABB uni should be fine.

Btw, what subjects are you doing?

Am I aiming too high?

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you