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Advice on going for second choice University vs taking a gap year and reapplying

Hey guys,

I applied for Physics and Philosophy this year at St. Andrews and Bristol with a prediction of 3 A*s (Maths, Physics, History). St. Andrews was my first choice, but they rejected me on the basis of a weak personal statement, whereas Bristol gave me an offer of AAA.

I want to take a gap year and reapply next year with a (hopefully) stronger Personal Statement, but I'm slightly worried that I'm not on course to get grades as good as those I was predicted.

So some questions and advice:
1) Can I accept the offer from Bristol, wait until I see what my results are, and if then if they're good enough, reject Bristol's offer and reapply with my grades next year?

2) Would doing this change the likelihood of me getting an offer from Bristol next year?

3) Would dropping out of the UCAS process altogether now, and reapplying next year affect my chances of getting an offer from either University?

Overall, I just want to know whether I should drop out of UCAS now, and hope that my results are good enough this summer that I have a decent shot at St. Andrews, or whether I should wait until results come out bfore making a decision (if possible)

Thanks For the Help

Reply 1

Carnationlilyrose

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush in my opinion. St Andrews didn't reject you because of your grades, they rejected you because of your personal statement, so that would need to change in the intervening year for them to consider you again. FWIW, you can accept Bristol and then pull out later if you wish. It probably won't make a difference to your getting another Bristol offer, but no one can be certain about that. Dropping out now would be unlikely to affect your chances next year, but as I said, something needs to change before St A will consider you, and it doesn't sound as if it's grades.

Reply 2

swanseajack1

st Andrews is really competitive. you could let Bristol and get rejected by st Andrews next year. if I was you I would forget st Andrews and take bristol

Reply 3

suedonim

You do know St Andrews have a serious accommodation issue? https://www.change.org/p/professor-louise-richardson-accomodation-and-business-services-tell-us-how-the-university-plans-to-address-the-potential-accommodation-crisis

Unless you are flthy rich go to Bristol.

Reply 4

Carnationlilyrose

Original post by suedonim

That makes depressing reading. I'd advise Bristol as well, actually.

Reply 5

SL1235

[declaration, I work for the University, although not in student accommodation]
There are 700 new beds becoming available next year (2015/16) in accommodation currently being built. While they will probably be quite expensive, being new and shiny, they should reduce the pressure on the rest of the accommodation a bit.

Reply 6

suedonim

6000 undergraduates currently and the university is said to have plans to demolish some of the older accommodation and replace with more new, shiny and expensive accommodation - so increasing the pressure on accommodation again.Really not enough to make it worthwhile holding out for a hope of going there next year. It's a place for rich kids.