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Reply 20
Hi!
I have just finished my AS levels and am really disappointed. After being predicted all A's I got an A in maths, B in drama, C in physics and an E in history! It has been a very tough year but my teachers and I are confident I can achieve the A's and B's I need to study Law in 2012. However, my poor grades are making me very reluctant to apply this year.

Would it be silly to apply to good universities with these grades? Would they take into account that I am still predicted high grades after resitting my AS levels? One option I have considered is getting my grades up this year and hopefully finishing the year with good grades, taking a gap year and applying in 2013 with good grades. Will universities think less of me for taking a gap year? Another option is resitting the whole of year 12 but I don't really want to do that.

Any advice at all would be much appreciated!
Reply 21
Original post by a.chapman
Hi!
I have just finished my AS levels and am really disappointed. After being predicted all A's I got an A in maths, B in drama, C in physics and an E in history! It has been a very tough year but my teachers and I are confident I can achieve the A's and B's I need to study Law in 2012. However, my poor grades are making me very reluctant to apply this year.

Would it be silly to apply to good universities with these grades? Would they take into account that I am still predicted high grades after resitting my AS levels? One option I have considered is getting my grades up this year and hopefully finishing the year with good grades, taking a gap year and applying in 2013 with good grades. Will universities think less of me for taking a gap year? Another option is resitting the whole of year 12 but I don't really want to do that.

Any advice at all would be much appreciated!


Predicted grades are taken seriously, they've got to be realistic obviously, but they are taken into account, or so i've been told...
Original post by Milky Milk
I'm just wondering if any 2011 applicants are thinking about (or are) applying next year instead?

I didn't get into my firm and personally would see no point in going to my insurance. The last option is a course I saw on clearing and I'm not even sure if it's available. If it's not, then I've looked into the options of resitting the year and applying for 2012 entry.

Pros to resitting the year/applying next year:
+ You will be able to resit and possibly bring your grades up more than expected
+ Higher grades/predicted grades could allow you to be considered at universities you didn't think you could apply to this year
+ You may get the ability to pick up even more A-levels and higher your chances at getting the grades you want
+ You may have more assurance that you'll get in (this isn't certain however)

Cons to resitting the year/applying next year:
- It's not guarenteed that you'll even get an offer next year, regardless of the grades you already obtain
- The obvious fee rises which are manageable, yet they're there and you know it
- You'll be one of the older ones in both college and university (not sure if thats really a con)

They are my pros/cons list, obviously others may not feel the same and think its a completely good thing to resit/apply next year and vice versa.
I just want to hear whos thinking about it and their thoughts about it. Plus those who did it last year and any tips and help from anyone else. :smile:



Hi. :h:



That's (or was) my initial pro-con list of reapplying to university for 2012. I was really, really screwed up at first but I've whittled the cons down to this:



- Offer is not guaranteed but nothing ventured will always be nothing gained. Period.

- The fee rise is pesky, yes, but no more frustrating than carrying on with an insurance place that I don't really want to go to and have a high chance of dropping out. And doing that would lumber me with fees for a certificate I'll never have and my extra year of Student Finance help wasted for nothing.


- Would I rather be 19/20 and joyous (:woo:) or 18/19 and miserable? Would I prefer to study my dream course at my dream university or would I settle for my not-so-dreamy insurance? And you forget that that university is nothing like sixth form. There will be people of all ages and it is actually more a matter of maturity and attitude than age. When you arrive, people won't be all like "OMG YOU DUTTY LEPER GET AWAAAAAAY!!!!" and shun you. The bulk of students on your course will 18-21 with a fair few older ones (40+!) and most will not give a single toss about your age. There is literally zero difference between the mind of an 18 year old and a 19 year old and it would be a very silly reason to deny yourself the course you've obsessed over for the last 10 months.




Et voila. That is how I decided to reapply again. I realised that all my cons were imaginary! :adore:
Reply 23
I have taken a Gap Year and got in this year, and I can safely say it was the best decision I've made in a long time.

If you need any advice or support, I'll have this thread on my watch list and will check back time to time.

Quote me or PM me, if you want.

My Story- In 2010 I applied for Ancient History at Liverpool and Newcastle, who needed BBB/BBC. Unfortunately I got BBD and therefore did not get in. I went through Clearing and got an offer to study Classical Civilisation at Swansea. Now, not only did going to Swansea not appeal to me at all, but the course was wrong, and teachers were pushing me from all angles to just go anywhere. So I sent an e-mail saying that I was reapplying. I got hauled into 6th Form and my Head of 6th Form had a huge rage at me. But my mind was made up.

Within a week, I had a job, and a place at college to complete my AS level in English Literature (the concept of retaking my German modules was not on the cards!). This year, I've got work experience, thanks to my job I've met some amazing people, from actors like David Haig, to inspiring customers, including Ricky Gervais and finally (but completely not leastly!) my Boyfriend. I got to go to Egypt, and my time at college rekindled my love of reading.

And this year I got a place to study Ancient History and Archaeology at University of Reading. In hindsight this is so much better- with going to Liverpool or Newcastle, I was almost trying to be something I wasn't, a hard drinking, part animal student. Having discovered this year that I am a total lightweight and can't drink coffee, I can safely say that it was a decision for the best!
Reply 24
Hi guys, i'm just re-registering with UCAS. Do I use my old Personal ID or do I just get a new one?
Reply 25
I'm resitting year 13 and gonna work so damn hard! Does anyone know of the amount of universities who up the grades for resitters? And if its by many? Obviously I understand that will alter for each application, but in general...
Reply 26
Are,a levels the same,as advanced highers ?
Reply 27
Original post by Swell
Hi guys, i'm just re-registering with UCAS. Do I use my old Personal ID or do I just get a new one?


Use your old one to get a new one if you understand that...
Reply 28
Original post by cwd12
not bad, but i still feel like the unis will frown upon them so im in the same situation :/


Yeah I wish I could leave them off if I could. Then just say you didn't know you needed to put them there or something. I got BDD :frown:.
Reply 29
Original post by Lydia211
Yeah I wish I could leave them off if I could. Then just say you didn't know you needed to put them there or something. I got BDD :frown:.


What do you need for your unis? and i also got told that if you have an A level grade then you MUST put the grade down on your form, although you dont need to put down individual modules and can put pending if your planning on retaking. Athough seemed certain when he said it, that info may be wrong so dont take my word for it but that is what im going to do on my ucas.

Also, my bestt advice is to ring the uni's you plan on applying to and tell them your situation and your plans for next year and see what they say. they may say no we def dont take gap year people (unlikely) or they may say yeah thats fine this is what else we want you to do to obtain an offer. That will put your mind at ease a bit more. Its what im gong to do
Reply 30
Original post by cwd12
What do you need for your unis? and i also got told that if you have an A level grade then you MUST put the grade down on your form, although you dont need to put down individual modules and can put pending if your planning on retaking. Athough seemed certain when he said it, that info may be wrong so dont take my word for it but that is what im going to do on my ucas.

Also, my bestt advice is to ring the uni's you plan on applying to and tell them your situation and your plans for next year and see what they say. they may say no we def dont take gap year people (unlikely) or they may say yeah thats fine this is what else we want you to do to obtain an offer. That will put your mind at ease a bit more. Its what im gong to do


I might email them instead. So just tell them I'm retaking the exams. An tell them about the bad grades that I'm aiming for better grades? Do we count as gap years if we're retaking the exams? I needed ABB.
Reply 31
Why are you resitting the year: I didn't care about Year 12 >.< Because of that, even though my A2's were relatively good, the AS's meant poor grades
What course are you applying for: Social Science and Criminology, Sociology...
What universities do you have in mind: CUMBRIA! I don't know about the other's :')
What else (other than study) do you plan to do on your year off: Work/Volunteer and get my driving license ^^
Original post by *Thedreaming*
you are..you have your whole year planned out

me however...:ashamed:



Haha aww. What are you doing this year? Plans?


I say all this but knowing me I'll only do 1/2 of everything I've planned. :frown:
Original post by Kitebo
Haha, its ok. I'm leaving mid-October, after a whole summer of work :wink: 7,5 months later I'll be boarding a plane homebound. I'm starting in Singapore, and will end in Tokyo. How I get there, is entirely unplanned, but will probably involve a whole string of trains, busses and bicycles :wink: No flying - the only flight I'm taking besides to & from Asia is one from Beijing to Japan.

Just one and a half more months of waiting...

What about you? Any plans yet?

Oh, and



Why are you resitting the year: i'm not...
What course are you applying for: Japanese, preferably with history of art or international business management
What universities do you have in mind: SOAS, Edinburgh, Sheffield as a last resort
What else (other than study) do you plan to do on your year off: TRAVEL


Wow that sounds exciting! There's so much to see and do!
Best of luck :biggrin:

I still don't really know what I'll do. I have thought of doing things a little closer to home, such as backpacking around Europe and going around Australia (Ok, that one isn't so close to home.
Reply 34
Original post by Limesasquatch
Wow that sounds exciting! There's so much to see and do!
Best of luck :biggrin:

I still don't really know what I'll do. I have thought of doing things a little closer to home, such as backpacking around Europe and going around Australia (Ok, that one isn't so close to home.


Haha, Australia certainly isn't close to home. So are you thinking about going alone or with a friend/group? Or still no clue in that department too?
Original post by Strüberry
Haha aww. What are you doing this year? Plans?


I say all this but knowing me I'll only do 1/2 of everything I've planned. :frown:



Rough plans for year ahead:
got some work experience lined up at a hospital
TRY AND GET A JOB!!

thats about it.....and do 6 exams in Jan :O
Original post by Kitebo
Haha, Australia certainly isn't close to home. So are you thinking about going alone or with a friend/group? Or still no clue in that department too?


I would like to, but my friends are going to uni this year, and even if they weren't they'd probably complain about the money etc. even though it's totally worth it!!!
I hope to meet people all the time anyway, and maybe some of them will join me - or is that just because i have been watching to many cheesy films?

How about you?
Reply 37
Hi guys. I'm on a gap year too. Struggling to keep myself sane when not working. Any suggestions.
Reply 38
Original post by Limesasquatch
I would like to, but my friends are going to uni this year, and even if they weren't they'd probably complain about the money etc. even though it's totally worth it!!!
I hope to meet people all the time anyway, and maybe some of them will join me - or is that just because i have been watching to many cheesy films?

How about you?


Going totally alone, I do have quite a lot of friends who are going on a gap year too, though, but they're all leaving in January... And yeah, I'm kinda counting on the 'meeting new people as I go' thing too. Plus - couchsurfing! I know a couple of people who have done that, with very positive reactions
Original post by Kitebo
Going totally alone, I do have quite a lot of friends who are going on a gap year too, though, but they're all leaving in January... And yeah, I'm kinda counting on the 'meeting new people as I go' thing too. Plus - couchsurfing! I know a couple of people who have done that, with very positive reactions


Couchsurfing? I'm lost, please explain. :smile:

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