The "Are my grades good enough for Maths..." Thread

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After getting results today I was quite happy except for one result, M2. I had been expecting close to 100 in this as I had time to check about 4 times in the exam, and had always got 90+ in past papers, but I got 79 in the end.
I am remarking, but wonder what my chances are with these grades so far?
(I do realise an awful lot depends on the interview day).

GCSE - 10A*'s

AS - 295/300 Physics
- Mid-level A in Chemistry

A-level - 596/600 Maths
Plus I have a 98 in FP1 and 79 in M2

STEP 1 - 1 (4 marks of S)

However I have also resat two modules - C3 (from 84>100) and FP1 (from 80>98); and I heard Cambridge really dislike multiple resits.

Opinions?

In general, your application is still pretty strong. Yes, some of those exam results might count against you but I'd say it's definitely still worth applying.

Reply 341

ttoby

Original post by COJL

I was really disappointed when I get my result yesterday.
I didn't take GCSE, but I took GCE O-level instead and the results are BBBBB.
My A level results are A*- full a level Maths, A- Further maths,B-Bio,B-Chem and B-Media.

Do I have any chance if I apply Oxbridge or imperial? or should I still apply to unis that required A*A*A?

In terms of meeting their offers, this should be possible provided you put in the work. However, they are very competitive universities so in my opinion, I think you would struggle to get offers from either of them. Also bear in mind that Imperial ask for five A/A*s at GCSE - I don't know what the O-level equivalent of this is though.

Reply 342

alexs2602

Original post by COJL

I would agree with what ttoby said BUT I would like to add as long as you get the predictions you could get an offer from Warwick, which many say is better than Imperial. Of course there are other choices but I couldnt be certain how strict they are. However for the sake of argument consider Bristol, Bath, Durham, UCL. There are ones that are 'easier' to get into that are very worthwhile choices too like Nottingham, Manchester, Exeter, Southampton among others. Nottingham gave me an offer and my AS grades weren't as good as yours and they're quite respected.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 343

a5a09

Hello everyone, Should I apply to LSE acturial science?
I got A* in full a-level math and b in chemistry (just because I got only b in unit 2 and I will resit it).
Here is my result of my math:
C1-97
C2-96
C3-94
C4-87(should I resit it?)
S1-97
S2-85
S3-73(pretty sure that I will resit S3)
AEA-U(not gonna resit it...)

I'm doing Further math in A2.

Reply 344

maths134

What % do you think you need for MATHS for Oxbridge ? thanks everyone =D

Reply 345

ttoby

Original post by a5a09

I think it's worth applying. You're doing further maths, and on http://www2.lse.ac.uk/statistics/study/prospective/bsc_actuarial_science.aspx they say they like that. You would certainly need to work on raising chemistry up to an A. It's not really worth resitting C4. You already have enough marks to get you an A* in maths, which is what counts.

Reply 346

ttoby

Original post by maths134

What % do you think you need for MATHS for Oxbridge ? thanks everyone =D

There's no exact requirement, but you should really be aiming to get as many marks as possible in the high 90s.

Reply 347

Mathematix

C1 - 91
C2 - 88
S1 - 93

Econ1 - 99
Econ2 - 73

Dunno how I flopped Econ2, I thought I answered it pretty well... subjective I guess.

Will retake Econ2 but it's too late for my application of course.

Also averaged about 85-90% in Biology and ICT.

Taking Math, Econ and Biol to A2 predicted A*A*A respectively and taking Further Maths AS next year predicted A.

Now this is my problem, I always planned on taking Econ at uni, but I have realised my passion for Maths...

So am I good enough for Maths at Oxford or am I better off with Econ?

How about the LSE course mathematics and Economics too? Is this less competitive than straight Economics?

Thanks!

Reply 348

maths134

Original post by Jorgeyy

Hmm well Oxford wont look at your ums scores, which is good so you have a better chance than Cambridge. Economics is incredibly competitive, more so than Maths. Try and get some higher ums scores in maths so you can get the A*. And LSE is incredibly competitive for Economics (even with mathematics... someone correct me if wrong) possible as competitive as Oxbridge...

Reply 349

Mathematix

Original post by maths134

Yeah hoping to get an A* in maths, and will improve my Econ2 grade but that will be after applications.

Thanks x

Reply 350

deejayy

Original post by Jorgeyy

Yeah hoping to get an A* in maths, and will improve my Econ2 grade but that will be after applications.

Thanks x

You need to do further maths.

Reply 351

Mathematix

Original post by deejayy

You need to do further maths.

No I don't. But I am at AS level next year anyway.

Reply 352

deejayy

Original post by Jorgeyy

No I don't. But I am at AS level next year anyway.

Further maths is essential if you want to study maths at a top 10 university.

Reply 353

TheJ0ker

Got;

GCSE's
5A*'s 4A's 3B's
(A*'s in Maths, stats, chem, phys, bio)

AS
maths;
C1 > 94
C2 > 100
C3 > 96
S1 > 97
M1 > 85 (not good :frown:

)
D1 > 89

Chem > 269/300
Phys > 266/300

Will be probably predicted
Maths A*
F.maths A*
Chem A*/A
dropping physics.

Are these realistically good enough to apply to Cambridge for maths?

Reply 354

SParm

I have:

9 A*'s and 2 A's (A's were in Systems and Geography)

I have an A in OCR's advanced free standing maths qualification

In terms of AS Levels that I got 3 days ago:

Maths:

C1: 100
C2: 97
M1: 95
C3: 90
C4: 96
M2: 74

(Note that I only get an AS qualification this year and my A* in maths will be given to me next year along with my other A2's. My core maths teacher said this was because a few years ago when they sent in the whole A-Level in Year 12 for the Further Maths Group; some colleges from Cambridge and maybe Oxford refused to acknowledge the results; a source of great frustration as you can imagine. Has this happened to anyone else? Or is anyone in the same situation at their school?)

Physics: 260/300
Chemistry: 231/300

The 9 UMS in chemistry I hope I can make up in the next module; and a great deal of my work will be aimed towards that. However; my query is due to the atrocious M2 result that I got. I am informed that because I still have the 90 UMS average over C3 and C4; I still get the A* at A2. However; as it is; I only have an AAB at AS due to the problem I mentioned above. I assume the school will inform the Universities that I do Further Maths by doing the whole A-Level of Maths in Year 12 and then the whole A-Level for Further Maths in Year 13; or that we will be given an opportunity to tell them ourselves. Do I still have a chance to get into Cambridge with these results? Because our school doesn't do a resit session in January; only next summer; by which time; I would have gotten my offer; if I did get one.

P.S. My FM modules will be FP 1, 2 and 3 and Mechanics 3, 4, and 5

Edit: Exam Board is Edexcel for Maths btw; AQA for the others

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 355

carlos the third

Does anyone know if Universities such as Warwick, Bath, Bristol etc will give an offer for maths if you got two good A's in maths and further maths but a B in a third (unrelated) subject that you are taking to A2 level (English Literature)?

Reply 356

ttoby

Original post by TheJ0ker

Got;

GCSE's
5A*'s 4A's 3B's
(A*'s in Maths, stats, chem, phys, bio)

AS
maths;
C1 > 94
C2 > 100
C3 > 96
S1 > 97
M1 > 85 (not good :frown:

)
D1 > 89

Chem > 269/300
Phys > 266/300

Will be probably predicted
Maths A*
F.maths A*
Chem A*/A
dropping physics.

Are these realistically good enough to apply to Cambridge for maths?

Those grades look fine for Cambridge, although obviously there will be a lot of competition so I couldn't say what your chances would be of getting an offer. Any particular reason you're dropping physics? Your marks already seem to be going quite well there.

Reply 357

ttoby

Original post by SParm

The way your school does further maths (maths in year 12, further maths in year 13) is quite common so, although I don't know exactly how the universities are informed out this, it's likely that they will be expecting to see some sort of arrangement like this.

For Cambridge, you'll be given a form to fill out where you put down your exact mark for every module you've done so far, so it'll be clear to them how you've done already.

Looking at your application, I agree your main concerns are M2 and chemistry. Make sure that you're predicted at least an A for chemistry - this will help your application a lot. Although there probably will be several better candidates out there, it's probably still worth applying to Cambridge.

Reply 358

TheJ0ker

Original post by ttoby

Just don't like it really, I'm pretty certain I could buckle down and get A*'s in them all, do you think it would be worth doing 4? or is 3 enough?

Reply 359

ttoby

Original post by carlos the third

Warwick, yes (assuming you get at least those grades as your predictions) although you would need to improve your marks in order to meet their offer.

Bristol, hopefully. http://www.maths.bris.ac.uk/study/admissions_undergrad/statement/ You would need predicted grades that match one of their offers. If you're predicted an A in english lit then that would help. you would also need to make sure that your personal statement is well-written.

Bath seems to have a similar policy to Bristol in terms of offers, although I don't yet know the actual offers they will give out.

You should really be looking at doing STEP/AEA papers. For Warwick, these are essential and for Bristol/Bath they may allow you to drop a grade in english lit if you do well in one of these papers.

I would suggest that you look closely at the offers and admission policies on the websites for all three unis to decide yourself if you feel capable of meeting their offer.