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Durham University

Durham

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Required number of A*s?!

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Reply 20

Hashshashin

Royal Holloway's English offer is still ABB (or ABbb), according to their prospectus and the UCAS website.

Durham University

Durham

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Reply 21

arkbar

It is,however, in Staines.

Reply 22

sarbruis

Jelkin

Royal Holloway is probably a good bet for insurance (though its offers were ABB when I applied). It's pretty and not far from London, and apparently accommodation there has a third of the cost of Durham's. *sigh*

It varies from like £3000 (Founder's) - £4200 (their newer halls) or so, so it's not THAT much cheaper, and that doesn't include food, either.

Reply 23

username84864

I only had one A* at GCSE and I am holding a conditional offer (AAA) for English Literature.
While good GCSE results will help you, it is by no means the most important factor. I'm starting to believe universities, specifically for English, are putting more emphasis on your personal statement.

Reply 24

Franc Vouloir

tacceber

I'm starting to believe universities, specifically for English, are putting more emphasis on your personal statement.

That's reassuring; I think I'm capable of producing a fairly convincing personal statement.

Reply 25

username84864

I think honesty goes a long way. When I was writing mine a lot of people I knew were really slaving over the exact effect they thought they needed to achieve, and squeezing their lives into a rather narrow perception of what an English student should be (there are some examples of this I remember seeing on sites like Studential which I find slightly vomit inducing.) My approach was to be honest about who I am and why I want to study at university, thinking that if I'm totally honest about myself and I'm rejected from a place then they probably know what they are doing, and had I lied to get in I probably wouldn't have suited the institution.
This seems to have paid off. I've been very lucky with my offers considering my grades which are good, but lower than many of my fellow applicants.
That said, it could have been a Magic 8 Ball that decided for all I really know of the applications system.

Reply 26

Jelkin

My friend lied in her personal statement about some creative writing stuff and got into Warwick, whilst I had actually done the stuff we'd both talked about and got rejected :mad:

She didn't go there anyway in the end, though. Also, I didn't particularly like Warwick. Not sure why I'm moaning.

To be honest, a lot of people will also have convincing personal statements. People get teachers, parents and friends to chip in and a lot of things can be made to sound good. My personal statement was (though I know this is my own opinion only) amazing, and I still got rejected from a fair few places. I still think a lot of admissions become a lottery. It's a real shame.

Reply 27

username84864

Jelkin

My friend lied in her personal statement about some creative writing stuff and got into Warwick, whilst I had actually done the stuff we'd both talked about and got rejected :mad:

Fair enough. I know of enough bizarre decisions for people applying for English this year that stand testament to the fact that there is no apparent reason in a lot of it.
But as for the teachers, parents and friends thing, my point was that I'm generally not impressed with those engineered in such a way. Obviously I'm not a admissions officer, and some may find them impressive, but those are usually the ones that make me feel ill.

Reply 28

Jelkin

tacceber

Really? Personally, after reading a few personal statements, they all started to sound the same (apart from the odd crappy one, of course.)

Reply 29

timfinlay

just a quick point about the relevance of gcses, i got 10 A's and only 1 A*, and applied for law (not history or english i know but also very very competitive) and got offers from durham, bristol, nottingham, leeds and newcastle, got an interview at cambridge, and was then pooled. i think it helps to get a bag load of A*s, but like others have said i dont think it will get you automaticaly disqualified from many unis. I know my eventual rejection from cambridge had nothing to do with my gcses for instance. what i would say is you now really need to make sure you get A's at as level, and a personal statement seems vital. I have two very good mates doing english, and they had alot of interviews, so that is also important.

Reply 30

timfinlay

and oh yeah i forgot, if your educated in the state sector then they are more likely to overlook a few less A*s than other applicants. An admission tutor explained to me that state school applicants, who are otherwise equally qualified and able, are far less likely to come out with 9 or 10 A*

Reply 31

WokSz

Jelkin

My friend lied in her personal statement about some creative writing stuff and got into Warwick, whilst I had actually done the stuff we'd both talked about and got rejected :mad:

You're in the best English department in the Country!!!!! Who cares about Warwick??? :smile:

Reply 32

Franc Vouloir

timfinlay

...if your educated in the state sector...

Check.

Reply 33

crankycaz

All I can really add is that I've got an offer to do English at Durham and I have 6 A*s and 5 As, and English Literature was one of my As. However, I feel my PS was quite good, and although it didn't have much about wider reading stuff, I think it did convery that I'm just a happy person who wants to develop in the subject I like. I think that's the key, not how many A*s you have, because the university tutors probably don't give a monkeys what grade you got, as long as you're original and interesting and have something to say. Phew, long sentence!

Reply 34

loggins

If anything, Cambridge will be the university to put most emphasis on GCSE results, although I've heard (from a teacher at school) that Bristol also like to see strings of A*s...Make of it what you will.

Reply 35

Wez

Given that Cambridge interview their applicants and so are able to base their decision on more than just grades, I doubt they place much emphasis on gcses.

Reply 36

hanadeka2002

arkbar

It is,however, in Staines.

I thought it was in Egham?

Reply 37

sarbruis

chocolateflake99

I thought it was in Egham?

Which is right next to Staines. Like five minutes away.

Reply 38

Jelkin

Wez

Given that Cambridge interview their applicants and so are able to base their decision on more than just grades, I doubt they place much emphasis on gcses.

When I got my feedback from them, one of the first things it said was that I had a slightly lower-than-average GCSE score (8A*, 2A) but a higher-than-average A level score.