Would I be stupid to apply next year with better grades?

I think you should just concentrate on getting the best grades possible and decide on results day. On results day you can either withdraw or do adjustment and it gives you plenty of time to mull it over.

No one ever wants to sell themselves short but most english unis are going to be so expensive next year and you have a place at Southhampton - in no way is that a crap university! With a good degree, you can do a masters at bristol or durham if you wanted to anyway, AND your a level results will speak for themselves for employers as well.

Just wait till results day and make a decision then, being hasty now might cost you a place altogether! Although if you did want to take a gap year and reapply make sure you make it as productive as possible

At the moment I'm firming SOTON for an AAB offer. My grades if all goes well should be A*AA or A* A* A (I scored 100% in every exam in Jan). If adjustment didn't work, which it probably wouldn't as I'm applying for a competitive course (Psychology) and university; would applying next year be a stupid idea (fees, waste of time etc...) to apply to universities such as Bristol, Exeter, UCL, Durham and Oxford?

I'm really confused about what I should be doing

Good answer too... I see you have an offer for AAB, I believe Bristol offer A*AA-AAB, would it had been possible of me getting an offer with predicted grades AAB when I applied?

I'm going on the basis of hopefully not >_<

Firstly, firm Royal holloway, not southampton. IT is rank 7, southampton is rank 23.

Secondly, maybe, maybe not. I personally would not because it won't have a significant impact on your emplyabilty prospects.

Well I have no experiences of mates or people in my school doing adjustment or the success rate but maybe what would be a good idea is ringing up UCAS ad speaking to someone about it there. They are the gods of Uni information

I took a Gap year this year to improve my grades and it is hard to see all your mates going but I have better offers this year and also lower entrance grades and thats for Bristol!

So you may even have unconditional offers because your grades are fantastic! Well, if you get them anyway!

I think the deal breaker is the fees. But again, this may work in your favour in a way as if people are detered by going to uni because of the fees, you may stand a better chance.

I think if you are going to do a gap year like me you need RELEVANT work experience. I did loads and this experience + good grades I think you'll have a great chance in getting in where you want.

End of the day, Uni is an investment and if you really think Soton isn't worth that investment and somewhere else is, then only you can decide

Just speak to loads of people about it, really helps!

Good luck!

It is easier applying to uni with grades you already have than with predicted grades as you already have the evidence. Just take the risks into account and act on your gut instinct on results day.

Everything always works out for the best in the end! Just speak to loads of people, ring UCAS and get the grades!!

I'm considering withdrawing my medicine offers and pursuing something completely different. Focus on getting the results you want and mull the whole thing over during the summer. Don't rush into anything though, the fees increase and the reality of a gap year are not insignificant things.

How come? What would you like to do instead?

I'm not sure I want to be a doctor anymore. I think I would reapply with the aim of human sciences at Oxford or UCL, maybe investigate some American universities, natural sciences at Durham looks really good.

S'alright! And also, for a psychology student I don't think you could get better work experience than with a neropschologist! Noice!

SOTON is rank 12, RHUL is rank 10. Where did you get those figures from? Mine are from the Guardian.

Mine are from the Times.

Not being pretentious, but the times ranking are more authoritive.

At the moment I'm firming SOTON for an AAB offer. My grades if all goes well should be A*AA or A* A* A (I scored 100% in every exam in Jan). If adjustment didn't work, which it probably wouldn't as I'm applying for a competitive course (Psychology) and university; would applying next year be a stupid idea (fees, waste of time etc...) to apply to universities such as Bristol, Exeter, UCL, Durham and Oxford?

I'm really confused about what I should be doing

Ask yourself something

If your grades are so good, why didn't you apply to places like UCL, Durham or Oxford in the first place?

Do you have poor GCSEs?

If it's a matter of poor previous academic performance, you could find that those poor grades still set you below candidates next year...

My GCSE's were fine. My AS levels were ABBC. I continued with ABB (They saw I was VERY close to AAB). This meant I could only apply with predicted grades of AAB. Now my grades are looking at A*A*A because I scored 100% in every exam in Jan.