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english at university

I am still trying to decide finally which universities to apply for with the intention of studying either English Literature or Enligh Literature with History.
Do you have any advice on where i could be applying to? I have been thinking about the likes of Durham, York, Bristol, UCL and Edinbrough but I am not sure if i have much chance getting in.
my AS results were:
History - A, English Lit - B, Enlglish Lang - B (both subject to remarks/retakes)
I also got a B in Economics but am not carrying on at A2.
I have taken up AS Philosophy this year as well.
My teachers are predicting me all A's.
Thanks a lot...

Reply 1

sexysax

14

Your AS grades are good, and if you are predicted all A's then I can't see why you can't apply to the likes of Durham, York etc :smile:

Reply 2

dappleddawndrawndauphin

3

oo I'm applying to York, Durham and Edinburgh for English Literature and at York I'm applying for the joint English and History course too! :smile:

Definitely apply - there's nothing wrong with your grades and you're predicted straight As so it's definitely worth having a shot - our teacher kept trying to persuade us to apply to some universities that had really low offers, etc, to balance it out, but there's always UCAS extra and clearing for that - and if the worst comes to the worst it's still not the end of the world because of being able to reapply! (this was my argument by the way :wink:

) If the universities that have the best courses for you are also the ones that are competitive and have high offers, you shouldn't let it put you off. Best of luck :smile:

Reply 3

Apricot Fairy

16

For most good universities you will need to get at least ABB with an A in English Literature. It depends whether you think it's realistic.

Reply 4

johnw1

OP

8

thanks a lot everyone.... any ideas where else i should be going for though? i can't think of many others. :questionm

Reply 5

Ariadne

16

Have you looked at Exeter? If you don't mind that its fairly modern and a campus based one, the course looks fantastic, and you can choose to spend a year of your course in the States or Europe. Besides which, I've heard it has a pretty good social scene - loads of clubs and bands play there frequently.

Reply 6

Apricot Fairy

16

Be warned that Exeter make AAA offers though, as do Bristol, Oxford and I believe Durham.

Alex is right though, it's a lovely uni.

Sheffield?

Royal Holloway... it's ranked quite high. I applied there for English and Drama.

Reply 9

mousey

2

I'm always going to say Nottingham, if you want to know any more about the course you can pm me.

I applied last year with AAAA at AS and predictions of the same at A2. I was rejected by York, Durham, Bristol and Cambridge. I'm not saying that you shouldn't apply with your grades, you definitely should with your predictions, and hopefully you'll have good references and an enthusiastic personal statement. If you do there's no reason why you wouldn't get offers, but just incase i would research universities with lower standard offers, or less competition for English places (like Royal Holloway) where you would be happy to go if your top choices won't take you. Don't apply to any places that you wouldn't be happy to go to though, there's absoloutely no point in applying to 'lesser' unis if you wouldn't go there at all. Make sure you research everything about the course (such as how it assessed, i know i couldn't do 100% coursework for example, so i shouldn't have applied to Bristol) and also about the uni and what the area can offer you as a place to live. Good luck and pm me if ou want to know about the notts english course. xx

Reply 10

dappleddawndrawndauphin

3

I used UEA as a slightly more safe one- an AAB offer and is really good for English (I'm a little biased as it's the only offer I have and I love the course :wink:

) you could try there! Royal Holloway is a good idea like Mousey said. Edinburgh's horribly competitive but if you do get an offer it's just BBB which is very cool.

Reply 11

Elusive Moose

1

But... but... what would you actually do with yourself at Royal Holloway? (Sorry, I went to the open day and hated it so I'm not the most impartial of people. Really nice lecturers/ department though)

What sort of course do you want; modern or traditional? With the exception of York, I think most of the ones you're applying to have more traditional courses, though don't take my word on that.

I applied to a couple of universities which are supposedly less competitive for English/ lower offers but I'm paranoid and I also quite liked the sound of the universities. If you want to go for those six universities your predicted grades should be good enough; so long as you write a good PS and get excellent references then your AS grades shouldn't matter as much. (I say, having no experience of applying at all, really!).

Anyway, what others have said ^ Apply to where you want! If the worst comes to the worst you can always reapply next year and get lovely, unconditional offers :biggrin:

Reply 12

HannahZ

4

me_myself11

Royal Holloway... it's ranked quite high. I applied there for English and Drama.

It's a beautiful university with a lovely campus
but I just wouldn't want to spend three years in Egham!

.

Reply 13

Elusive Moose

1

With the last train back from London being 11pm...

Then again the door leading to the Ben & Jerry's headquarters is in Egham. The highlight of the town :wink:

(sorry, I'll stop the Royal Holloway bashing now...)

Reply 14

Elusive Moose

1

True... Though when I went out in Bristol I was knackered by 2! I'd end up sleeping in the streets or something :P (I probably just needed more alcohol-fuel :wink:

)

Reply 15

~Jen~

*Bethany*

I used UEA as a slightly more safe one- an AAB offer and is really good for English

When did UEA start giving out AAB offers?? Two years ago mine was BBB (although I think the standard one was ABB) - it was my insurance.

Does that mean all the top ten unis are now asking for AAA?

Reply 16

Elusive Moose

1

A lot of them :frown:

Bristol and York raised their offer to AAA for this year's entry. (Why couldn't I have been born 9 months earlier, dammit :wink:

)

Reply 17

Tyler Durden

17

I don't think it would have made much difference to be honest, the majority of people here at York doing straight English have AAA minimum (with many having either an extra A Level or an AEA or something). There are one or two people with AAB though of course (a lot of the combined course people it seems - although some of the brightest are also combined course). Generally speaking the top half dozen Universities require AAA now by the looks of things.

Reply 18

~Jen~

Warwick is still "officially" asking for AABb. Saying that, I haven't met a person on my course with less than AAA, and a significant number have 4As or more.