The Student Room Group
Inside University of Bristol
University of Bristol
Bristol

I rejected Bristol on grounds of principle

I applied to Bristol to read classics and received an offer of AAB. It then became clear that i had to choose between there and Exeter. When i went to the Exeter open day i met countless applicants for the same course as me who had equal if not better grades. They had been rejected by Bristol because they went to private/public school. Is this a general pattern for offers? i didnt want to get into a university because of the nature of my school.

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Reply 1
remus
They had been rejected by Bristol because they went to private/public school. Is this a general pattern for offers? i didnt want to get into a university because of the nature of my school.


:biggrin: did they tell you that? Maybe I've missed the "Sorry we are unable to consider your application due the nature of your school" batch of letters.

Bristol has (or had) the third highest private school percentage in the country. They still take a very high percentage of private school pupils, hardly stinks of conspiracy, does it?
Inside University of Bristol
University of Bristol
Bristol
Did Bristol write to them and tell them that they practice positive discrimination? How can you be sure? Although such practices have been known to happen at Bristol, I think it would be foolhardy to reject them because of this. Why stunt your own education because of some admissions tutor. Just be thankful for what you have, the only person you will damage is yourself. You don't know why Bristola ccepted you and it won't be solely on your educational background.
Reply 3
Luckily that wasnt the main reason i picked exeter over bristol. I wouldnt normally jump to a conclusion like that it was just the sheer amount of people who had the same story that shocked me. It was even the same story when i went up to Oxford for an interview, bristol had rejected people whom Oxford were considering.
The univeristy system is ****ed up for so many reasons. Aside from background. I think it would be hard for you to know enough about it to jump to conclusions.
I had the same experience at my cambridge interview. All the private school applicants, that i spoke to, were predicted much higher than the requirements yet they got turned down. However saying that i got rejected for my course and im a state person. So maybe bristol dont like oxbridge ppl??
Reply 6
I agree, something needs to change in the university system but unfortunately i see little chance of it happening.
Reply 7
Possibly, it just seemed strange to me. Perhaps they don't like oxbridge people because of the risky nature of accepting them. That would follow with classics being such a niche subject.
Reply 8
Richy Rich$$
So maybe bristol dont like oxbridge ppl??


They can't see which other universities you have applied to.
timeofyourlife
They can't see which other universities you have applied to.



I know, but maybe they can guess, if u are predicted high grades and ure UCAS form is in before 15th Oct, they must be able to make educated guesses
Reply 10
lessthanthree
actually, Bristol have recently come under fire for doing a complete 180 and turning down people with private school education.

disadvantaged pupils = more funding ^_^



I think this has been blown way out of proportion. My take on things:

bristol originally favoured private school people, hence the massive proportion of private school pupils in the student body.

over the last few years they've been trying to get rid of this reputation and now no longer favour private school over state school - so consider them equally and also give some leeway towards badly performing schools and assess the grades compared to the school average.

bristol still has a very high private school intake, even for last year's entry, higher than most universities in fact.

just because this number is slightly decreasing doesn't mean that state pupils are getting positively discriminated against, more so that public schoolers no longer have their positive discrimination.
Reply 11
Exactly. i cant find many people who got their forms in before mid october and didnt apply to oxbridge! In my view, any form of discrimination is wrong and perhaps in an ideal world all universities would see is qualifications and personal statement.
Reply 12
Richy Rich$$
I know, but maybe they can guess, if u are predicted high grades and ure UCAS form is in before 15th Oct, they must be able to make educated guesses


Yeah, fair enough, but this can only give an indicator. There are many students out there that don't apply for oxbridge, have high grades and get their forms in early. Not to mention the medicine/vet/dentistry deadlines which also have a 15th Oct restriction.
i think univerisity admissions processes are quite bizarre and somewhat of a lottery really. After all, all they have is UCAS form to base their decision on
Reply 14
so whats the deal really? does bristol favour private or public school students, because I got messed up with this conversation. just a quick yes or no.
(dont start flaming eachother again)
Reply 15
eth0
so whats the deal really? does bristol favour private or public school students, because I got messed up with this conversation. just a quick yes or no.
(dont start flaming eachother again)

The official line: No.
The reality: Your guess is as good as mine.
Reply 16
Thanks to the random person who repped me for the above post :biggrin:
Reply 17
elpollodiablouk
Thanks to the random person who repped me for the above post :biggrin:


I spent a good couple of minutes writing my reply and then you come along and sum it up within 2 lines :rolleyes:
Reply 18
remus - you should read our whole debate about this issue in the 'rejected' post. I seemed quite outnumbered on the view that Bristol discriminate, although i still firmly believe they do.

I was initially going to have to make the choice between exeter and bristol too, until they rejected me. Although i was gutted, it makes my choice a lot easier. exeter is an absolutely adorable uni. by far the prettiest ive seen. But Bristol's reputation is a lot better and the city is awesome. so i wouldnt let this rumour of discrimination sway you away from giving up such a good opportunity.
Reply 19
remus
I applied to Bristol to read classics and received an offer of AAB. It then became clear that i had to choose between there and Exeter. When i went to the Exeter open day i met countless applicants for the same course as me who had equal if not better grades. They had been rejected by Bristol because they went to private/public school. Is this a general pattern for offers? i didnt want to get into a university because of the nature of my school.


Unfortunately I'm all out of medals...

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