Hi all, this is my first post here on TSR so forgive me if I'm asking for support in the wrong forum.
I recently sent off my UCAS Application. I applied to study Economics at top institutions within the UK, including Cambridge, LSE, UCL, Warwick and Bath.
I am an international applicant, however still have UK Qualifications: for my iGCSEs, I got 8A* and 2A and for my A Levels, I am predicted A*A*A*A (A for Further Maths) and an A* for my EPQ.
Recently, I've started feeling very anxious about whether I will receive offers or not. I know that Cambridge is quite hard to get into, and quite dependent on my ECAA + Interview performance, so I feel somewhat "in control" about it as I still have time to prepare for both those assessments (that is, if I do manage to land an interview). But for the other 4, I feel helpless. For a number of reasons:
1) Since lurking around on TSR, I have noticed that there are so many other people applying for my course at the same universities that I've applied to - especially LSE, UCL & Warwick. I do understand that competition is intense, but seeing as everyone applying has a predicted A* for Further Mathematics, whilst I only have an A.. I feel as if I'm not competitive enough to even receive an offer.
2) I have recently started reading exemplar Personal Statements for Economics that managed to land their writers into the universities that I applied to. I don't know why I've done so, as it's quite self-destructive, really, but it seems to be something that I can't stop myself from doing. And I feel as if mine was way too academic. I critically analyzed a few fields within Economics that I was interested in, however unlike the others, did not explicitly state what I want to do with my Economics degree/ why I'm passionate about it etc. I also have no work experience as where I come from, it's really hard to obtain. I did include further reading, essay competitions, maths competitions, volunteer work etc. as well as CCAs (from which I linked the skills I'd obtained to my course), but I just feel inferior to everyone else.
I'm not looking for any reassurance or pity - I'm sorry if I come across as such. I guess I just want someone to advice me on ways to overcome this anxiety. I realise that worrying won't change anything, but I feel overwhelmingly anxious.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
E xx