How High/Low Should I Be Aiming?

GCSEs - B, C, C, C, C, CC, D, E, EE
AS - A, A, C
A2 predictions - A*, A, C

This leaves me with a bit of a predicament.

My GCSE grades aren't really university standard. I mean, they're not 'poor', I got at least a C in English, Maths and Science but for universities that place emphasis on GCSEs (LSE and Durham, for instance) they're certainly not good enough.

The C at AS also leaves me in a state of confusion as to where to apply to. If I got A*, A, C at A2, would a BBB university take me on, or would I have to apply to a BBC university?

I'd really appreciate some help from someone who knows UCAS a lot better than I do, or someone who has been in this situation before.

Thanks.

Doubt it. My English teacher doesn't really rate me

To be honest your teacher really shouldn't make much difference to your grade. Maybe its an easy excuse to blame the teacher but to be honest I've found that I tend to do better when the teacher's **** because I do more by myself.

Edit: I got BCC so I'm not claiming I'm perfect by any means but I know that I got the grades I deserved based on my work (and personally, I was happy with my grades, maybe not TSR standard but I was happy none the less) If you continue to blame others for the relative weakness we all have in certain areas then you'll never improve those areas

I'm not blaming my teacher for my poor English results, I was responding to someone who asked if I could get the prediction moved up a grade. I doubt he would predict my higher than a C as he doesn't really rate me.

Fair enough, I've just been going off what I've been told by my college tutors.

We were told that grades level out. Seemed believable because it's much fairer than what you're saying it's actually like. I'd be absolutely stotting if someone who scraped BBB got in, if I got A* A C and didn't get in. Seems ridiculous that a C in an unrelated subject would cause me to miss my offer. Then again UCAS is pretty ridiculous at the best of times

I'm pretty gutted at the thought of being rejected by universities asking for BBB. Especially when I've been told to aim higher than that. I'm going to assume that despite the fantastic references I've been given, that won't change a thing?

I've been reading through this thread, and repeatedly it has been said that getting a C in a supposedly "unrelated" subject shouldn't matter. We can all agree that it does matter, but I also think that it should, because they want people who are academically able, and a C does not reflect this. That is why the C matters, and it doesn't matter that you are not going to be studying the subject that you got a C in.

I'm sorry, I thought you were talking about what you thought you would get rather than your teachers predictions.

Your A levels are more of an issue than the GCSEs - the A* will not filter out the fact you also have a C. Universities that want BBB will not be willing to take your A* in lieu of a B because they want all Bs and above, which you do not have. Therefore you need to be looking for ABC universities or ones that work in UCAS points if you can not get the C moved to a B. LSE will reject you as you're not predicted what they want at A level before they get to filtering people out for their GCSEs and other universities will do similar.

Yes dear, of course I'm not academically able.

I'm sure the two As I got in my other subjects must just have been flukes ey?

Fortunately, you don't work in admissions. Royal Holloway said my grades are good enough so that's you kicked into orbit. Unlucky sonny!

Not actually true. Most universities will balance out A* A B as AAA and likewise A* A C (I got this last year, I'm now on a gap year as I did them a year early) at AAB.

Please read my comments in the rest of the thread.

Your situation is different to the OP because if you are given an offer with your grades it will be unconditional. The OP is discussing whether come results day, universities will accept a C in lieu of a B which is a different matter entirely. If they accept your application and give you an unconditional offer even though you technically don't have the grades, that's one thing, having them give out a conditional offer of AAB and then not meeting it with A*AC is a different thing entirely. This is because it is completely dependent on how many other people meet their offer and how many people they then have as unconditional offer holders in comparison to the number of places they have funding for, as I explained in every other post in the thread.

However, were you to apply to certain universities already named in this thread with A*AC for courses with minimum entry requirements of BBB or above then you would stand to be rejected even though you already have your grades so in that respect, your situation is similar to the OP.

No one is saying you aren't academically able, but if a university asks for ABB, it doesn't mean they'll consider you with AAC - simply because they see a C grade as too low and having an A or even A* may not counter that. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you'll get into some great universities, but don't kid yourself into thinking that ABB = AAC.

Please read the rest of my post before you try and patronise me. Thanks.

GCSEs - B, C, C, C, C, CC, D, E, EE
AS - A, A, C
A2 predictions - A*, A, C

This leaves me with a bit of a predicament.

My GCSE grades aren't really university standard. I mean, they're not 'poor', I got at least a C in English, Maths and Science but for universities that place emphasis on GCSEs (LSE and Durham, for instance) they're certainly not good enough.

The C at AS also leaves me in a state of confusion as to where to apply to. If I got A*, A, C at A2, would a BBB university take me on, or would I have to apply to a BBC university?

I'd really appreciate some help from someone who knows UCAS a lot better than I do, or someone who has been in this situation before.

Thanks.

That's the thing, I'm hearing so many contrasting views, I don't know what the definitive answer is, if there even is one.

Lancaster and RHUL have said that they'd consider me with the grades I have, some people on here are saying theres absolutely no way I'd get into a BBB university because I have a C at AS.

We were told at college that grades average out, which is why I held the belief that A*AC was generally seen to be as good as AAB. Now I know that that isn't strictly the case, it just confuses matters, as my grades are obviously better than a BBC university but not good enough for BBB according to some people.

I need clarification directly from the universities involved, so I've taken to contacting them to resolve this.