Where to apply/advice needed (Oxbridge?)

Hi All,

Today I received my AS level results and was pleased to see that I got AAAA in French, German, Geography and Fine Art. In French I managed to get 200 out of 200 marks. Previously I hadn't considered any prestigious universities/Russell group etc as I was predicted straight Cs but now I'm having a rethink.

I chose to study A levels at a sixth form college thinking I would get a better education and it payed off; I feel I could've worked harder in my GCSES. I managed to get A*AAAAABBBBC.

If anyone could offer any advice on whether it would be just wishful thinking to apply to Oxbridge, I'd appreciate opinions (Fine Art..not academic enough?). I'm planing on doing French, German and Spanish next year (I did the GCSE this year) and hope to get A*AA/A*A*A. Otherwise opinions on good language universities would be much appreciated because I have no clue!

Best wishes,
#happyresults
Anna

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

TimmonaPortella

21

What were your UMS marks, aside from in French?

If they were in the high As, I think you have a perfectly good shot at Cambridge. I got in for law with similar GCSEs and a 92.5% average UMS score. I'm not sure about Oxford.

Reply 2

7253567

8

I would avoid applying to Oxford because they put quite a lot of importance on your GCSE results. Instead I would be looking at universities that have connections with other countries. (i.e. they have a partnership with an overseas university)
This may give the chance to study overseas, which would of course hone your language abilities. I can't actually suggest any specific universities because I am not a language student.
I hope you found this useful.

Reply 3

Ana12345

1

hi, I was just wondering, im wanting to do medicine but didn't know whether my ums percentages would be too low for Cambridge and so better for oxford , I got 12 A* s at gcse
97% MATHS
94% Chemistry
93.3% Physics
93% Biology
also if oxford do not go on ums percentages what are they looking for then to distinguish between better students? Thansk

Reply 4

subjunctivehistorian

16

Original post by fyfeanna

Hi All,

Today I received my AS level results and was pleased to see that I got AAAA in French, German, Geography and Fine Art. In French I managed to get 200 out of 200 marks. Previously I hadn't considered any prestigious universities/Russell group etc as I was predicted straight Cs but now I'm having a rethink.

I chose to study A levels at a sixth form college thinking I would get a better education and it payed off; I feel I could've worked harder in my GCSES. I managed to get A*AAAAABBBBC.

If anyone could offer any advice on whether it would be just wishful thinking to apply to Oxbridge, I'd appreciate opinions (Fine Art..not academic enough?). I'm planing on doing French, German and Spanish next year (I did the GCSE this year) and hope to get A*AA/A*A*A. Otherwise opinions on good language universities would be much appreciated because I have no clue!

Best wishes,
#happyresults
Anna

Hello

Your AS results certainly look good enough! However, given your GCSE results I would suggest Cambridge as they tend to focus more on UMS at AS - if you have high percentages (over 90%) in the three subjects you're carrying on next year, you have a pretty good chance.
Bear in mind that at Cambridge you can't do just one language, you have to do 'modern language' whereas at Oxford you can do just french or spanish, so it depends what you'd prefer.
And don't worry about the Art, one softer subject is ok :smile:

Reply 5

ageshallnot

21

Original post by Ana12345

hi, I was just wondering, im wanting to do medicine but didn't know whether my ums percentages would be too low for Cambridge and so better for oxford , I got 12 A* s at gcse
97% MATHS
94% Chemistry
93.3% Physics
93% Biology
also if oxford do not go on ums percentages what are they looking for then to distinguish between better students? Thansk

Oxford would love your 12 A*s at GCSE - they regard excellent performance at this level as a key indicator. Look in the English Baccalaureate section in:

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/entrance-requirements

The thread below is by a Cambridge admissions tutor. Read through it to see what sort of UMS would make you competitive. There will be another thread later this month, so you could put your question directly.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2731996

Reply 6

Chief Wiggum

20

Original post by Ana12345

hi, I was just wondering, im wanting to do medicine but didn't know whether my ums percentages would be too low for Cambridge and so better for oxford , I got 12 A* s at gcse
97% MATHS
94% Chemistry
93.3% Physics
93% Biology
also if oxford do not go on ums percentages what are they looking for then to distinguish between better students? Thansk

Hmm, I think that's quite a difficult judgement to make in terms of which would be better to apply to.

For Cambridge medicine, those UMS are OK (ie, you could get an offer with them), but they aren't outstanding.

That said, Cambridge does have a higher acceptance rate for medicine overall than Oxford.

Oxford will also use BMAT and interview to separate out candidates, they seem to care a lot about the interview (just the impression I get).

Reply 7

Ana12345

1

Original post by ageshallnot

Oxford would love your 12 A*s at GCSE - they regard excellent performance at this level as a key indicator. Look in the English Baccalaureate section in:

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/entrance-requirements

The thread below is by a Cambridge admissions tutor. Read through it to see what sort of UMS would make you competitive. There will be another thread later this month, so you could put your question directly.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2731996

Thank you, do you know when the thread will be available for this month?

Reply 8

Sayonara

11

Original post by Ana12345

hi, I was just wondering, im wanting to do medicine but didn't know whether my ums percentages would be too low for Cambridge and so better for oxford , I got 12 A* s at gcse
97% MATHS
94% Chemistry
93.3% Physics
93% Biology
also if oxford do not go on ums percentages what are they looking for then to distinguish between better students? Thansk

Go for Cambridge. IIRC, Cambridge likes UMS percentages more.

And, the Cambridge interview process seems to be more convenient (since at Oxford, I had to stay there for three whole days for four 20-minute interviews while my friend had a single hour interview at Cambridge). Cambridge is also ranked higher.

Besides, those grades, nice.

It's good enough for Cambridge. Seriously. In my school, there were people who got much worse grades than you but receiving an offer from Cambridge.

Reply 9

Ana12345

1

Original post by Sayonara

Go for Cambridge. IIRC, Cambridge likes UMS percentages more.

And, the Cambridge interview process seems to be more easy (since at Oxford, I had to stay there for three whole days while my friend had a single hour interview at Cambridge). Cambridge is also ranked higher.

Besides, those grades, nice.

It's good enough for Cambridge. Seriously. In my school, there were people who got much worse grades than you but receiving an offer from Cambridge.

Thanks!, but I want to do medicine which obviously is really competitive, I've seen on here lodes of people saying that they have like 99%UMS just thought that with 95% it might just be too low

Reply 10

Sayonara

11

Original post by Ana12345

Thanks!, but I want to do medicine which obviously is really competitive, I've seen on here lodes of people saying that they have like 99%UMS just thought that with 95% it might just be too low

All right, but for Computer Science at Oxford last year, there were too many applicants and I got rejected. I had AAAAA (94.37% average) at AS.
My GCSEs such (A*A*AAA some Bs & Cs and a D). Also my interview performance was crap. I think Oxford cares more about interview performance and MAT results.

Your AS results are really good and will help you stand a chance in getting an offer for Medicene @ Cambridge.

You really do stand a decent chance for Cambridge. There is a candidate who got AAAA (12A* at GCSE), 3A* at A2 and got a medicene offer at Cambridge. I can link you to the news if you want.

Look at the rankings:
http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=medicine

95% is not too low. If you boss out and seriously prepare for your interview with your whole heart, you'll probably get an offer. You also got straight A*s, that gives you some advantage.

Reply 11

radhikagulati

9

Original post by ageshallnot

Oxford would love your 12 A*s at GCSE - they regard excellent performance at this level as a key indicator. Look in the English Baccalaureate section in:

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/entrance-requirements

The thread below is by a Cambridge admissions tutor. Read through it to see what sort of UMS would make you competitive. There will be another thread later this month, so you could put your question directly.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2731996

Those UMS are great for Cambridge!