The Student Room Group

Couple of questions, University/resit self entry, help appreciated

on friday, i spoke to my english lang teacher about resitting the introduction to english language module i took in janurary. In this module i got a B but this B was the very lowest mark in the B catagory. She point blank said no. So i went to speak with the Head of English, as a result i have entered myself for this exam; me and the language teacher havnt exactly seen eye to eye throughout the year, would she be within her rights to kick me out?

Universities;

i hope to do a Politics degree in 2007 at University however, have had no guidance in how to look at university's. I am hoping for AAAB lowest ABBB at AS. What type of university have a good politics department?

Slightly worried about entry also. I simply go to school, work 2 nights a week and do nothing the rest of the time but study/go out. Would this lack of extra curriculars stump my chances or is this unimportant?


I know a lot of questions, i would really, really appreciate any response to any question.

cheers

Mcgoo
Reply 1
Extra curriculars are important in my opinion, because at the end of the day, it's the total package that top-tier universities are concerned abou. With that said, grades are of prime importance.

AFAIK you can always resit a module as a private candidate, no?
Reply 2
i have entered myself as a private candidate for the resit, just worried about her reaction to that.

what type of extra curriculars are looked at by universities? i.e if i started to work in a charity shop a couple of nights a week, now would it be obvious that i was doing that for my application or would it give me an edge? Not a clue what kind of things i can do now because i have left it too late to get involved in any school based system.

cheers for the responce :smile:
Reply 3
Take a look at the stickied thread on the Applications/UCAS board - there's an entire list of potential useful co-curriculars there. Of course, it's not exhaustive. :smile:
Your English teacher probably won't be too happy that you've gone against her advice and entered for the resit anyway, but she can't stop you and at the end of the day, it's your grade. If you don't really get on with her anyway, you shouldn't care what she thinks :p: As for your university application, I don't think extra-curricular activities count for much at all. I don't do any (I don't even work) and I got 5/6 offers. I just mentioned being a reading mentor at school, helping at parents' evenings and that I like reading, current affairs, music, bowling and swimming. Even that was an exaggeration because I did the reading mentor thing for about half a term, I only helped at 1 parents' evening, I hardly ever have time to read for pleasure anymore and I very rarely go bowling or swimming! Just mention your job and interests.
^^and there was me thinking you'd need a massive long list of ec's to get into cambridge
alison_141288
^^and there was me thinking you'd need a massive long list of ec's to get into cambridge


Lol apparently you don't need exceptional grades or extra-curriculars.....either that or I'm just a freak :wink:
kellywood_5
Lol apparently you don't need exceptional grades or extra-curriculars.....either that or I'm just a freak :wink:


yeah - freakishly clever lol
alison_141288
yeah - freakishly clever lol


Lol I wish, I'm still waiting for my letter telling me there was an administrative error and they actually meant to reject me!
kellywood_5
Lol I wish, I'm still waiting for my letter telling me there was an administrative error and they actually meant to reject me!


what made you decide to apply to cambridge? im just asking because im sure you said you went to a rubbish comprehensive and no offence, but your grades are not amazingly high so why did you decide to apply
alison_141288
what made you decide to apply to cambridge? im just asking because im sure you said you went to a rubbish comprehensive and no offence, but your grades are not amazingly high so why did you decide to apply


My school is by no means rubbish, but it is a comprehensive and not particularly strong in terms of results. 46% of my year got 5 A*-Cs at GCSE and at A-level, the average points score per student is about 220, with less than 20% of grades at A and B. Don't worry, none taken- I know my grades aren't brilliant by Cambridge standards and that's why I didn't expect an offer. My head of sixth form suggested I apply about halfway through Year 12 and sent me to a conference at a local grammar school, which, combined with TSR, dispelled the myth that Oxbridge was only open to rich private-school snobs with flawless grades :redface: I had a look at the prospectus and the course (MML) sounded brilliant, really flexible and the excellent supervision system appealed to me. Then I went to an open day at my chosen college (Sidney Sussex) in July and loved it. It's only about an hour and a quarter away from home, I liked the city and the idea of living in college for the whole of my course was great. Everyone was so normal, down to earth and friendly. After I got my AS results (AABB) I reconsidered applying because I thought, combined with my below average GCSEs, there was no point, but I got 290/300 in French, full marks in sociology (irrelevant for my course but gave me another very high A) and only missed an A in English by 3 marks, plus I was predicted AAAA, I had the support of all my teachers and I knew languages weren't particularly competitive. I thought I'd regret not applying, the application process would be a good experience and I wouldn't be devestated if I didn't get an offer because I wasn't expecting to, so I had nothing to lose except 1 place out of 6 on my UCAS form and potentially a lot to gain and it seemed worth a shot. Whoa, sorry, rambled on a bit there! :redface:

Latest