University of Edinburgh
Rejection from University of Edinburgh despite being predicted top grades!
Yesterday I got an email from UCAS Track to say that my application to study BSc Biological Sciences at Edinburgh was no longer being considered. No reason, no explanation, just flat out rejection.
I am an Irish student and I was predicted an Irish Leaving Cert of A1A1A1A1A1A1A1A1 in Maths,Physics, Chemistry, Biology, French, English, Music and Irish. Also known as "625 points" as well as a Junior Cert of 12 As.
You can't get grades better than this. I thought they might look more favourably on me also as I come from one of the most underachieving public schools in the country.
I suppose this is the equivalent of 4 A* grades in the UK as well as straight A GCSE's.
I also had a personal statement riddled with relevant work experience and evidence of thorough extra curricular reading particularly in genetics as well as doing lots of "gifted student" courses and Maths and Science Olympiads (one of which I once came first in the country).
Edinburgh's minimum entry (for Irish students) is A2A2A2B1B1B1 and a typical offer is A2A2A2A2A2A2. I don't mean to be arrogant but I have no idea why they rejected me. My predicted grades were clearly way above those as well as having 2 extra subjects at A1.
I have offers from KCL, UCL and Imperial (I made a mess of Cambridge interview, nvm
) but was counting on Edinburgh as I simply cannot afford to live in London. I really shouldn't have applied there at all tbh, it's simply beyond my means. I am from an isolated lower class rural community and my parents couldn't afford to go to uni themselves so they are farmers with combined income of the equivalent of £44,000 a year, which is difficult given I have an older sibling in uni and one who has severe autism as well as the fact that around £44k seems to be the cut off for most grants and financial aid, which is ridiculous given it doesn't take personal circumstance into consideration.
Anywho, any thoughts as to why I was rejected? I am very annoyed, I am not going to lie, but I'm mostly just curious for my own peace of mind. I hope this doesn't come across as arrogant or self-entitled.
I'd like to hear if anyone has had a similar experience.
Thanks
I am an Irish student and I was predicted an Irish Leaving Cert of A1A1A1A1A1A1A1A1 in Maths,Physics, Chemistry, Biology, French, English, Music and Irish. Also known as "625 points" as well as a Junior Cert of 12 As.
You can't get grades better than this. I thought they might look more favourably on me also as I come from one of the most underachieving public schools in the country.
I suppose this is the equivalent of 4 A* grades in the UK as well as straight A GCSE's.
I also had a personal statement riddled with relevant work experience and evidence of thorough extra curricular reading particularly in genetics as well as doing lots of "gifted student" courses and Maths and Science Olympiads (one of which I once came first in the country).
Edinburgh's minimum entry (for Irish students) is A2A2A2B1B1B1 and a typical offer is A2A2A2A2A2A2. I don't mean to be arrogant but I have no idea why they rejected me. My predicted grades were clearly way above those as well as having 2 extra subjects at A1.
I have offers from KCL, UCL and Imperial (I made a mess of Cambridge interview, nvm
) but was counting on Edinburgh as I simply cannot afford to live in London. I really shouldn't have applied there at all tbh, it's simply beyond my means. I am from an isolated lower class rural community and my parents couldn't afford to go to uni themselves so they are farmers with combined income of the equivalent of £44,000 a year, which is difficult given I have an older sibling in uni and one who has severe autism as well as the fact that around £44k seems to be the cut off for most grants and financial aid, which is ridiculous given it doesn't take personal circumstance into consideration.Anywho, any thoughts as to why I was rejected? I am very annoyed, I am not going to lie, but I'm mostly just curious for my own peace of mind. I hope this doesn't come across as arrogant or self-entitled.
I'd like to hear if anyone has had a similar experience.
Thanks
(edited 8 years ago)
Hi, that's a bummer. I really empathise with you!! I actually really sympathise with you as I was also recently rejected from Edinburgh with very good grades for French/Spanish (not even as perfect as yours!). I was really disappointed as I thought my application was strong and Edinburgh was my front runner. I started a thread about it here: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3955961&p=63463253
Perhaps a possible conclusion is that Scottish unis are rather disinclined to give places to Scottish and EU domiciled students (sad, but perhaps true). And then I think: well they must be giving out some places to those groups?! I had come part way to explaining my own rejection by my non-standard qualifications, however if they are rejecting people with unusually perfect qualifications and strong profiles ones starts to look for other explanations. Ching ching, ching, ching ching, ching... ching?
As it's been suggested to me, I think you should write to them to ask what happened. Have you checked their EUCLID system to see what automated mail you got?
Anyway, I feel your disappointment
Perhaps a possible conclusion is that Scottish unis are rather disinclined to give places to Scottish and EU domiciled students (sad, but perhaps true). And then I think: well they must be giving out some places to those groups?! I had come part way to explaining my own rejection by my non-standard qualifications, however if they are rejecting people with unusually perfect qualifications and strong profiles ones starts to look for other explanations. Ching ching, ching, ching ching, ching... ching?
As it's been suggested to me, I think you should write to them to ask what happened. Have you checked their EUCLID system to see what automated mail you got?
Anyway, I feel your disappointment
University of Edinburgh
Take a gap year and reapply if money is truly an issue.
No clue why you'd apply to 3 London Unis if that was the case though.
No clue why you'd apply to 3 London Unis if that was the case though.
Scottish/EU student numbers are capped - so they can only accept a preset number (determined by the government in Holyrood). To be honest, it's nothing personal. Even as a highly talented candidate on paper, the odds are against you by sheer virtue of the numbers of applicants. (You can take a look at applicant statistics to see the breathtaking number of applicants Edinburgh receives versus the very low number of offers made). It is unfortunate given you don't feel able to go to London, although if money is truly an issue then I don't think Edinburgh or Cambridge would really have been for you either - neither are cheap places to live.
I don't think they really look at predicted grades, Edinburgh put a quite a lot of emphasis on personal statements and to be honest whilst putting a brief bit about work experience is good they're probably looking for most of it to show a real passion for the subject. As already said I think they do cap EU places because they want to maximise international students (Edinburgh are notorious for just trying to rake in as much money as they can) so I know it is very competitive for Irish students. A lot of Northern Irish people who can apply on their Irish passports and go for free don't because they know they're a lot more likely to get in as a fee paying Northern Irish student, Edinburgh admissions can be shockingly unfair. The only other thing is that with capped places they may have already been filled if you applied late although this probably wasn't the case as usually I think Edinburgh wait until after the deadline to start making offers (apart from for international students whose money they want to secure as early as possible). But yeah I'm sorry to hear that, if you got offers from Kings, UCL and Imperial you probably should've got one from Edinburgh.
Original post by thestudentr
I don't think they really look at predicted grades, Edinburgh put a quite a lot of emphasis on personal statements and to be honest whilst putting a brief bit about work experience is good they're probably looking for most of it to show a real passion for the subject. As already said I think they do cap EU places because they want to maximise international students (Edinburgh are notorious for just trying to rake in as much money as they can) so I know it is very competitive for Irish students. A lot of Northern Irish people who can apply on their Irish passports and go for free don't because they know they're a lot more likely to get in as a fee paying Northern Irish student, Edinburgh admissions can be shockingly unfair. The only other thing is that with capped places they may have already been filled if you applied late although this probably wasn't the case as usually I think Edinburgh wait until after the deadline to start making offers (apart from for international students whose money they want to secure as early as possible). But yeah I'm sorry to hear that, if you got offers from Kings, UCL and Imperial you probably should've got one from Edinburgh.
Why should they get an offer from Edinburgh just because they got an offer from Kings et al ? That isn't how it works
Different Univerisities put different emphasis on different parts of the application so just because one highly regarded uni makes you an offer it won't automatically follow that another one will.
What is so shockingly unfair about admissions ? Lots of candidates with excellent grades and great Personal Statements do get rejected- but if you have 1000+ applications for 200 places that is bound to happen
If you put your application in before the appropriate deadline then your application will have just as much chance as any other- Edinburgh does not fill up places before the deadline.
Of course International students will be more likely to be offered a place- money talks whether it is right or not. Bit this is true of all universities surely- Which universities do you know that don't want International students money ?
Also the number of International students that get offered places has nothing to do with the cap on Scottish/Eu students. The cap on them is about how much the Scottish Government is willing to pay. Even if no International students are on your particularly course it wouldn't increase the number of places availible to home students, Indeed you could argue that International students are a valuable resource to the University which enable them to provide a better education to all the students there
Original post by johnosullivan887
Yesterday I got an email from UCAS Track to say that my application to study BSc Biological Sciences at Edinburgh was no longer being considered. No reason, no explanation, just flat out rejection.
I am an Irish student and I was predicted an Irish Leaving Cert of A1A1A1A1A1A1A1A1 in Maths,Physics, Chemistry, Biology, French, English, Music and Irish. Also known as "625 points" as well as a Junior Cert of 12 As.
You can't get grades better than this. I thought they might look more favourably on me also as I come from one of the most underachieving public schools in the country.
I suppose this is the equivalent of 4 A* grades in the UK as well as straight A GCSE's.
I also had a personal statement riddled with relevant work experience and evidence of thorough extra curricular reading particularly in genetics as well as doing lots of "gifted student" courses and Maths and Science Olympiads (one of which I once came first in the country).
Edinburgh's minimum entry (for Irish students) is A2A2A2B1B1B1 and a typical offer is A2A2A2A2A2A2. I don't mean to be arrogant but I have no idea why they rejected me. My predicted grades were clearly way above those as well as having 2 extra subjects at A1.
I have offers from KCL, UCL and Imperial (I made a mess of Cambridge interview, nvm) but was counting on Edinburgh as I simply cannot afford to live in London. I really shouldn't have applied their at all tbh, it's simply beyond my means. I am from an isolated lower class rural community and my parents couldn't afford to go to uni themselves so they are farmers with combined income of the equivalent of £44,000 a year, which is difficult given I have an older sibling in uni and one who has severe autism as well as the fact that around £44k seems to be the cut off for most grants and financial aid, which is ridiculous given it doesn't take personal circumstance into consideration.
Anywho, any thoughts as to why I was rejected? I am very annoyed, I am not going to lie, but I'm mostly just curious for my own peace of mind. I hope this doesn't come across as arrogant or self-entitled.
I'd like to hear if anyone has had a similar experience.
Thanks
I am an Irish student and I was predicted an Irish Leaving Cert of A1A1A1A1A1A1A1A1 in Maths,Physics, Chemistry, Biology, French, English, Music and Irish. Also known as "625 points" as well as a Junior Cert of 12 As.
You can't get grades better than this. I thought they might look more favourably on me also as I come from one of the most underachieving public schools in the country.
I suppose this is the equivalent of 4 A* grades in the UK as well as straight A GCSE's.
I also had a personal statement riddled with relevant work experience and evidence of thorough extra curricular reading particularly in genetics as well as doing lots of "gifted student" courses and Maths and Science Olympiads (one of which I once came first in the country).
Edinburgh's minimum entry (for Irish students) is A2A2A2B1B1B1 and a typical offer is A2A2A2A2A2A2. I don't mean to be arrogant but I have no idea why they rejected me. My predicted grades were clearly way above those as well as having 2 extra subjects at A1.
I have offers from KCL, UCL and Imperial (I made a mess of Cambridge interview, nvm
) but was counting on Edinburgh as I simply cannot afford to live in London. I really shouldn't have applied their at all tbh, it's simply beyond my means. I am from an isolated lower class rural community and my parents couldn't afford to go to uni themselves so they are farmers with combined income of the equivalent of £44,000 a year, which is difficult given I have an older sibling in uni and one who has severe autism as well as the fact that around £44k seems to be the cut off for most grants and financial aid, which is ridiculous given it doesn't take personal circumstance into consideration.Anywho, any thoughts as to why I was rejected? I am very annoyed, I am not going to lie, but I'm mostly just curious for my own peace of mind. I hope this doesn't come across as arrogant or self-entitled.
I'd like to hear if anyone has had a similar experience.
Thanks
Oh no, I'm sorry that happened to you! It's their loss at the end of the day. I'm currently in fifth year and am hoping to apply to a number of universities in the UK later this year (to do Japanese Studies), Edinburgh being one of them. If you do get any feedback, would you mind possibly sharing it with us? It would be really helpful! Your predicted grades were amazing 😦
(edited 8 years ago)
I don't think that is the normal rejection line.
As far as I was aware, if a university rejects you, UCAS sends an email saying "your application to ___ for __ has been unsuccessful"
Whereas the "no longer being considered" I thought meant the course was full, that there were no more places.
See if you can check this out online, but the no longer being considered thing I'm almost certain isn't the usual rejection email.
Posted from TSR Mobile
As far as I was aware, if a university rejects you, UCAS sends an email saying "your application to ___ for __ has been unsuccessful"
Whereas the "no longer being considered" I thought meant the course was full, that there were no more places.
See if you can check this out online, but the no longer being considered thing I'm almost certain isn't the usual rejection email.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Edinburgh does also place a lot of emphasis on the whole 'well-rounded person' thing - as in doing heaps of extra curricular, and explaining in your personal statement what skills you have gained from this and how that will help you at uni
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by It's_Ailie
I don't think that is the normal rejection line.
As far as I was aware, if a university rejects you, UCAS sends an email saying "your application to ___ for __ has been unsuccessful"
Whereas the "no longer being considered" I thought meant the course was full, that there were no more places.
See if you can check this out online, but the no longer being considered thing I'm almost certain isn't the usual rejection email.
Posted from TSR Mobile
As far as I was aware, if a university rejects you, UCAS sends an email saying "your application to ___ for __ has been unsuccessful"
Whereas the "no longer being considered" I thought meant the course was full, that there were no more places.
See if you can check this out online, but the no longer being considered thing I'm almost certain isn't the usual rejection email.
Posted from TSR Mobile
"Your application to University of Cambridge for Engineering (4 years) has either been unsuccessful, withdrawn or is full. You will no longer be considered for this place." <- my rejection
I think it says both? This is from Track. The only emails I ever received were ones saying "there has been an update on Track". Never any actual decisions
It's impossible to fathom how and why Edinburgh accept or reject students. One classmate with ABCCD at higher has an offer for primary teaching, another with AAABB a law offer, another with AAAAB rejected for law. All have fairly affluent backgrounds so no contextuals to explain the difference. in terms of extra-curricular stuff both law applicants on a par with each other. The primary applicant def not so much extra stuff.
Best not to dwell on rejection and just look forward to going to other uni which will welcome your talent with open arms. Good luck with whichever option you chose.
Best not to dwell on rejection and just look forward to going to other uni which will welcome your talent with open arms. Good luck with whichever option you chose.
(edited 8 years ago)
Hi there, I'm sorry that you got rejected by Edinburgh. Being a current 1st year undergraduate student from EU myself (School of Informatics), I can confirm that there are lots and lots of excellent students and majority of the people I know are from the EU, hardly any British or Scottish people. However, I also know some people who did not get excellent or predicted grade and still got in last year (one guy from Ireland and one from Edinburgh). Therefore, I believe Scottish/EU student numbers are not capped, at least in School of Informatics.
(edited 8 years ago)
Maybe you wrote "their" instead of "there" in your personal statement.
Joke ... but yeah from what I've heard, Edinburgh place a lot of emphasis on the personal statement.
As long as you meet the minimum requirements, its on to your statement; you aren't placed any higher due to your grades.
If you had a lot of relevant experience, maybe your enthusiasm and passion for the subject wasn't conveyed throughout?
Joke ... but yeah from what I've heard, Edinburgh place a lot of emphasis on the personal statement.
As long as you meet the minimum requirements, its on to your statement; you aren't placed any higher due to your grades.
If you had a lot of relevant experience, maybe your enthusiasm and passion for the subject wasn't conveyed throughout?
Original post by CharlieeB
Maybe you wrote "their" instead of "there" in your personal statement.
Joke ... but yeah from what I've heard, Edinburgh place a lot of emphasis on the personal statement.
As long as you meet the minimum requirements, its on to your statement; you aren't placed any higher due to your grades.
If you had a lot of relevant experience, maybe your enthusiasm and passion for the subject wasn't conveyed throughout?
Joke ... but yeah from what I've heard, Edinburgh place a lot of emphasis on the personal statement.
As long as you meet the minimum requirements, its on to your statement; you aren't placed any higher due to your grades.
If you had a lot of relevant experience, maybe your enthusiasm and passion for the subject wasn't conveyed throughout?
Is that because you think you spotted that particular written mistake in the OP's message? If it is then may I suggest that you use the correct form in a natural way to help people learn from their mistakes!
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