The Student Room Group

The 2.1 requirement is a joke

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Original post by Dalek1099
Warwick is a top university though and they will probably only let in great candidates with good A Level grades into a course like MORSE and yet a lot don't pass so getting a 2:2 from a very good Russell Group University course is actually not that bad, definitely as good if not better than a 2:1 from an average/lowly ranked university.

Do employers not set adjustments of the 2:1 to adjust for how easy that subject is/how highly ranked the university is? because if not then that is ridiculous if you got a 2:1 in a lowly ranked university with a rubbish subject then you wouldn't be a suitable, by a long shot.


These are top grad schemes, they can ask for the A Levels and the degree, why settle for one when you can have both?

To give an example of how competitive these can be most Magic Circle law firms have 2500-3000 applicants for 100 jobs, for American firms they can have the same number for 10, they're not going to let someone in with either a 2.2 or less than AAA, because they have shedloads of applicants with both.
Reply 21
Original post by donutaud15
Very well said.


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Thanks, don't know why I bother trying to fight these trolls cba anymore :lol:.
Original post by a10
You do know that grade offers increase due to popularity of the course and do not represent the course difficulty in any way...

For example look at the 2004-2006 prospectus for UCL, chemical engineering requirements where CCC...

Now that the course has gotten way too popular amongst different people and that they receive more applications than places available each year they simply bumped up the grades to keep up with competition from other universities..


Entry Requirements do accurately reflect the difficulty of the course if that weren't the case then a lot of medical schools could just put A*A*A* and make it a lot easier for themselves but they know that applicants only need to get A*AA to be able to manage the course.Applicants can be filtered down using personal statements/interviews to the amount they can afford to give offers too, entry requirements just show what you need to get to manage with the course.I think it varies from course to course.I think the point is if most applicants are coming with A*A*A into a course and a significant amount are failing its a hard course much harder than if most applicants are coming in with CCC and a large amount are getting 1sts.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 23
Original post by Dalek1099
Entry Requirements do accurately reflect the difficulty of the course if that weren't the case then a lot of medical schools could just put A*A*A* and make it a lot easier for themselves but they know that applicants only need to get A*AA to be able to manage the course.Applicants can be filtered down using personal statements/interviews to the amount they can afford to give offers too, entry requirements just show what you need to get to manage with the course.


I'm done talking with you, pointless argument here. Believe what you want to believe and see where that gets you :smile:
Original post by Dalek1099
Entry Requirements do accurately reflect the difficulty of the course if that weren't the case then a lot of medical schools could just put A*A*A* and make it a lot easier for themselves but they know that applicants only need to get A*AA to be able to manage the course.Applicants can be filtered down using personal statements/interviews to the amount they can afford to give offers too, entry requirements just show what you need to get to manage with the course.


No they don't, they reflect demand.

At a lot of unis Law will be AAA and Physics ABB or something because no one applies for Physics, even the ****iest law gunner would not seriously suggest Law is considerably harder than Physics.
You should have tried harder tbh. I got a 2:1 and I deserve it for working so hard but I also played hard which is why I didn't get a 1st. You only have yourself to blame. No point crying about it on TSR.
I suppose it's why they call them graduate schemes rather than A level schemes.
Original post by Dalek1099
No I am not saying that at all some of the most clever students can work very hard at the top universities and get poor grades where as at the lower ranked universities they would get a 1st easily, with little work.


I went to a lower ranked uni and did a supposedly easy course. Only about 5 out of 40+ in my class got a first and I know for a fact everyone worked damn hard. Also just to add further to this myth that a first can be easily achieved in lower ranked unis, my uni required 85%+ for a first compared to some higher ranked uni that needs 70%+. I've got a 2:1 with an average of 74% which is higher than the 71% my husband got with his first.

Speaking of my husband, he has similar experience to myself with the whole first class degree needing extreme hard work. He did engineering in a lesser uni with dismal A levels and still beat the Oxbridge grads for the job they all applied for.

Original post by a10
Thanks, don't know why I bother trying to fight these trolls cba anymore :lol:.


Sadly I don't think they're trolls. Just those with superiority complex.

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Reply 28
There are several grade requirements, you didn't meet all of them, how's that a joke? In my opinion, if you got 400 UCAS points and 2.2 in uni, employers would automatically profile you as lazy, not self-motivated, and don't work well when not under supervision. All these grade requirements are there for a semi-decent reason.

Of course, I'm not saying you're any of the above... but damn, you should have played the system to your advantage, couldn't you pick a language (is that allowed, I forgot), or econ. modules to bump your grades up?

In future application, don't put your grade down on your CV, and on your cover letter, focus more on your extra-curricular activities (hopefully you're an exec of a society), and work experiences...to fully demonstrate that you're none of the personalities and attitudes I described above.

All the best.

Original post by juiceboxy
I'm looking through graduate roles and a bunch of them require a 2.1 and wont even let you apply without one. What makes this so bad is that they often don't specify what you need a 2.1 in, just any degree.

I got a 2.2 in MORSE at Warwick. I looked at a graduate role for Fujitsu- 2.1 degree and 240 UCAS points from 3 A-Levels. I have 400 UCAS points from 3 A-Levels.

Why is the system so broken? I'm not going to pretend like I performed well at Uni, but don't mock me with these ridiculously low A-Level requirements and then say 2.1 in ANYTHING.
Original post by Sanctimonious
You should have tried harder tbh. I got a 2:1 and I deserve it for working so hard but I also played hard which is why I didn't get a 1st. You only have yourself to blame. No point crying about it on TSR.


This was me basically except I didn't play hard. Just someone who spent too much time in hospitals.

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Yes you might have got decent A-levels OP but it's so competitive getting a job these days that the 2.1 requirement is a good starting point to filter out applicants. I mean all the people on your course had a similar academic ability to begin with and have since had the same teaching/lecturers/opportunities as one another, yet you underperformed relative to your peers. I don't think there's any way you can now be bitter about how grad schemes operate.
Original post by Sanctimonious
That's one hell of a strange fetish.


Unfortunately it wasn't by choice.

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Just apply anyway.
Original post by donutaud15
I went to a lower ranked uni and did a supposedly easy course. Only about 5 out of 40+ in my class got a first and I know for a fact everyone worked damn hard. Also just to add further to this myth that a first can be easily achieved in lower ranked unis, my uni required 85%+ for a first compared to some higher ranked uni that needs 70%+. I've got a 2:1 with an average of 74% which is higher than the 71% my husband got with his first.

Speaking of my husband, he has similar experience to myself with the whole first class degree needing extreme hard work. He did engineering in a lesser uni with dismal A levels and still beat the Oxbridge grads for the job they all applied for.



Sadly I don't think they're trolls. Just those with superiority complex.

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The students at lower ranked universities got lower grades at A-Level on average compared to the higher ranked ones so are dumber so its not that strange to me that they found it hard.""If you try to compare someone's A-level grades with their degree outcomes you get pretty poor correlation. But if you compare A-level UMS (uniform mark scheme) marks with degree outcomes you get very good correlation." so its important to take into account marks but at the top universities marks are discriminated against and they only give out offers to people with good UMS so they are cleverer.Source:http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6065632
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Dalek1099
The students at lower ranked universities got lower grades at A-Level on average compared to the higher ranked ones so are dumber so its not that strange to me that they found it hard.""If you try to compare someone's A-level grades with their degree outcomes you get pretty poor correlation. But if you compare A-level UMS (uniform mark scheme) marks with degree outcomes you get very good correlation." so its important to take into account marks but at the top universities marks are discriminated against and they only give out offers to people with good UMS so they are cleverer.Source:http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6065632


Your generalisations make me cringe every time. Kids aren't dumb at 17/18 if they haven't gotten 3 A*s, there's so many factors. The amount of incredibly bright kids from GCSE didn't do as well due to family, socialising, working etc and who the hell are you to generalise a whole group of people anyway? Life doesn't stop after getting A-Levels, if you can't perform at university you clearly don't excel at the course you applied for and should have no complaints.
Original post by Dalek1099
The students at lower ranked universities got lower grades at A-Level on average compared to the higher ranked ones so are dumber so its not that strange to me that they found it hard.""If you try to compare someone's A-level grades with their degree outcomes you get pretty poor correlation. But if you compare A-level UMS (uniform mark scheme) marks with degree outcomes you get very good correlation." so its important to take into account marks but at the top universities marks are discriminated against and they only give out offers to people with good UMS so they are cleverer.Source:http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6065632


A lot of people in my class had very good A levels. What a lot of people don't seem to understand is sometimes people choose to go to a certain uni despite its rankings because they simply just want to. Not because they're too dumb or whatever. It's a stupid mentality and it's high time people get over their superiority complex. So bloody what if they have 400 UCAS points? If they have a 2.2 it still means **** all, unless they can prove mitigating circumstances to potential employers. Hell in ten years A levels wouldn't even matter when applying for a job.





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Original post by Dalek1099
A-Levels are very representative of your ability hence why universities ask for A-Level offers and will often reject you even if you just miss your offer.The better universities have tougher and more challenging courses so ask for higher grades.If A-Levels weren't representative offers wouldn't be given out for them.Usually people who think that they aren't representative did badly-don't get fooled by their arrogance.


I got a C in AL IT, but a 2.1 in CS.

Are you trying to tell me that AL IT is harder than a CS degree?
Original post by Dalek1099
The students at lower ranked universities got lower grades at A-Level on average compared to the higher ranked ones so are dumber so its not that strange to me that they found it hard.""If you try to compare someone's A-level grades with their degree outcomes you get pretty poor correlation. But if you compare A-level UMS (uniform mark scheme) marks with degree outcomes you get very good correlation." so its important to take into account marks but at the top universities marks are discriminated against and they only give out offers to people with good UMS so they are cleverer.Source:http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6065632


Whatever you do with your mind blowing A Level grades, please God don't become a writer. Trying to make sense of what you write is genuinely quite difficult in places.
Original post by Brit_Miller
Your generalisations make me cringe every time. Kids aren't dumb at 17/18 if they haven't gotten 3 A*s, there's so many factors. The amount of incredibly bright kids from GCSE didn't do as well due to family, socialising, working etc and who the hell are you to generalise a whole group of people anyway? Life doesn't stop after getting A-Levels, if you can't perform at university you clearly don't excel at the course you applied for and should have no complaints.


Very well said.



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Original post by Dalek1099
The students at lower ranked universities got lower grades at A-Level on average compared to the higher ranked ones so are dumber so its not that strange to me that they found it hard.""If you try to compare someone's A-level grades with their degree outcomes you get pretty poor correlation. But if you compare A-level UMS (uniform mark scheme) marks with degree outcomes you get very good correlation." so its important to take into account marks but at the top universities marks are discriminated against and they only give out offers to people with good UMS so they are cleverer.Source:http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6065632


Mate, you haven't even started university here and not in the world of work. Just admit defeat and move on.

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