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Will my GCSEs affect my chances of going to the top universities?

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Reply 20

AishaTara

Original post by AmeliaDx

i did 8 GCSEs and i only got C's in them

wow well done :biggrin:

youve made a massive jump for gcse to a-level. I think it'll affect alot of places, but not all. Look at the uni website, and as long as you meet the minimum you have a chance. Infact, they may well be intrigued to meet you, to find out how you made such a jump, and as long as you can reflect on that you realised the importance of good grades, or found a passion in learning, it'll show you've changed. At the end of the day, no one is perfect, and people often are lazier at gcse than a-levels.

Reply 21

Anrel

Is 6A and 4B's at GCSE likely to prevent me from getting into Keele or Glasgow Universitity?
I am currently doing Maths, History, Geography and Economics at AS, and wish to do Hisyory and Maths combined at either of these universities.

Reply 22

michael321

Original post by AmeliaDx

i've only got 6 C's in my GCSEs. But i'm predicted to get 3A* in my A2 since i got 3A's in my AS.

Will that make me at an disadvantage for getting into top universities e.g. Oxbridge, LSE, KCL, UCL, St Andrews etc.

if i was at an disadvantage i was considering taking a gap year and retaking my GCSEs what do you think?

All advice is welcome

My initial assessment would be "yes", but there are a lot of factors which will affect this, so don't despair.

Firstly, it depends on your school. If you went to Eton and got six "C"s, you're in a pretty bad position. If you want to a school which doesn't tend to excel in GCSE results, you will be in a better position. If you went to a sink comp where most people get five "D"s, you might be in a reasonable position.

Secondly, it depends on subject. Obviously Medicine/Law etc. will be very hard to get into with those GCSEs, but less oversubscribed subjects will have fewer candidates and may be more circumspect in examining your application.

I don't think there's much mileage in retaking GCSEs. Your best shot is to try to excel at AS/A-level in three good subjects, and use that as the springboard for your application. If you don't get in first time, try reapplying with your (hopefully) stellar A-level results. Perhaps it might be worth retaking a couple of core GCSEs, like Maths and English Language/Lit.

To be honest, I would probably rule out Oxbridge unless you went to a really terrible school. I don't want to put anyone down, but giving falsely optimistic advice will not do you any favours. When I went to my Law interview, the calibre of candidates was very, very high. I have no idea how I blagged my way in, but I had very good grades at GCSE and A-level (mostly A*s) and I still felt sub-par, seriously.

EDIT: I just read that you had family issues during GCSEs. Depending on the seriousness of these, you may stand a better chance than I thought at top institutions.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 23

Clare~Bear

Original post by translucent

Cambridge is not ruled out!

Like it was said in another thread cambridge don't say they want you to have x amount of A*s at gcse, but in reality they do use them to rule peeps out unfortunately.

Reply 24

PrinceyJ

Original post by pbsjohnz

This must be an April fools joke.
You cant scrape O levels and get 3A*'s at A Levels

It is possible:

Original post by AmeliaDx

I'm studying IT, Geography and RE,

With them subjects especially :rolleyes:

Reply 25

MyselfEtAl

You have 5 choices, I'd say go for it, if you get rejected, you get rejected, you won't know unless you try. (that's what I said to myself when I was applying :dontknow:

)

Reply 26

MyselfEtAl

Original post by Clare~Bear

Like it was said in another thread cambridge don't say they want you to have x amount of A*s at gcse, but in reality they do use them to rule peeps out unfortunately.

That is so not true - I have 1A* at GCSE, a B and a C (I have a fair amount of A's though) Oxford still gave me an offer, and I have a friend who's only got 1A* - she has an offer from Cambridge. It's all mostly about your A Levels and interview.

Reply 27

Ho Chi Minh

If you went to a school where everyone did really badly at GCSEs then you might have a shot at a couple of these; you certainly seem to have made a significant jump to get to the position where A*s are on the cards, and many universities will take that into account.

However, I would rule out Oxbridge, UCL and LSE. It is true that these universities contextualise results, but at the same time they are hugely competitive and you would need some very good evidence to show that you would be able to cope in what is essentially a very academic environment. I fear that if your main evidence of your academic potential is A grades in AS I.T, Geog and R.E, your chances (in terms of these specific unis) are limited.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 28

The_Lonely_Goatherd

OK, on the presumption this isn't April Fools/a troll: your GCSE grades aside, your AS/A2 subjects aren't strong enough to apply competitively for PPE (which I assume you mean when you say IR) at Oxford. I'm not sure they'd go down well at LSE or Cambridge either.

Why did you only do 3 AS levels? :s-smilie: