University of Warwick

Coventry

Official Warwick Economics Q&A Thread

Scroll to see replies

Is it true that for Maths, if you have the predicted grades, you're practically guaranteed (90%+) to get an offer, and that you filter out candidates through the A*A* and STEP offers?

If only life were that simple, but no, none of your assertions are correct. The reality is more complex and interesting. The offers are based on all components of an individual’s application (A/AS levels, GCSEs, personal statement and academic reference). Broadly speaking, the stronger each component the more likely you are to get an offer.

University of Warwick

Coventry

Reply 621

Warwick Rep

Original post by Ecolove

Hi i'm looking to apply for 2013, here are my results so far:
AS:
A - Maths
A - Chemistry
B - Physics
C - Economics.

GCSE:
5 A*S
4 A'S
2 B'S

I am going to continue all 4 AS's into A2 and will resit economics and physics, i also have quite a strong personal statement according to my personal tutor, is this good enough for an offer? How much will getting a C in economics in AS affect my offer?

I thank you in advance for your response.

As you suggest your B and C at AS would place you at a disadvantage since you wouldn’t be predicted to meet our current published offer (A*AAB/A*AAa). All the best with your resits and A2s.

Reply 622

Warwick Rep

Original post by jadzirt

Hello,

I was just wondering what weighting you put on an applicants predicted grades? My AS levels went as good as i believed they would have been, which has made me more determined to achieve the highest grades possible at A2. Do you accept that students may have just had a bad day in one or two modules? And if so, in my case, i did an extra maths module in the same year which was pretty high, could this help balance out a poor maths C2 result, which was just, i believe, an anomally?

No specific weights are placed on any part of the application, and each application is treated on a case by case basis. However, if you are predicted to fall short of our current offer this will mean you are at a severe disadvantage. Unfortunately, a random bad day would not be a sufficient explanation for a poor result.

Reply 623

Warwick Rep

Original post by jinggie

heyyy
i m an international student
due to my school timetable i could only take 3 AS exams in May
( my school put physics and business lessens on exact same time so i could not take both)
now i am going to take AS physics exam in october...

ll it be a negative part in my application??

btw i would like to apply for MORSE

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

You should explain the situation in your personal statement. Further you should get your academic reference to confirm the situation.

Reply 624

ttoby

Original post by University of Warwick

On question D1 on http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/maths/admissions/ug/faqs/ it says that for 2009 entry there were 1714+366 applications and 1607+319 offers, so (1607+319)/(1714+366)=93% of candidates were given an offer. I'm aware that the grade requirements have increased a lot since then but are you saying that the roughly 90% offer rate no longer holds?

Also, on that same page in question B1 it says "We expect to make our Standard Offer to anyone predicted A(M)A(FM)B or better" which suggests that the predicted grades play a very large part of the decision on whether to give offers.

Reply 625

jinggie

Original post by University of Warwick

You should explain the situation in your personal statement. Further you should get your academic reference to confirm the situation.

so i should mention it in both my personal statement and my reference??

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 626

Robbie242

Original post by University of Warwick

You should explain the situation in your personal statement. Further you should get your academic reference to confirm the situation.

Hi there sorry if this is slightly irrelevant is there a maths thread here for warwick? always being interested in the course and wondering if theres a forum where I can ask questions about the course etc It would really help. Thank You

Reply 627

soempty

Hello, are there any statistics on how much As/A*s average succesfull applicant has achieved. How long does it take to make a decision about applicant usually? Do you give a lot of weighting to predictions or achieved grades matter more?
I have achieved A* at Maths and A* at my native language, AA in AS History and Economics. I am predicted A*A*Aaa (low case As are AS level) at Further Maths, History, Economics, Additional Further Maths and Critical Thinking respectively. However I have A at GCSE maths, would I not get ruled out because of that? Should I be expecting the offer?
Thank you

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 628

username963570

Original post by University of Warwick

As you point out ‘strong’ is a subjective term. Simply, the higher your GCSEs the more likely you are to receive an offer. That being said, they are not the sole deciding factor, and we also take AS grades and A2 predictions into account, along with personal statements and school references. It is entirely possible that someone with 0 A* GCSE's gets an offer, while someone with 11A* doesn’t.
Regarding the proportion of students who attained Further Mathematics you should contact undergraduate admissions for this information. Note however, Further Mathematics is treated as a standard A-level and we do not place any greater weight on this subject in the application process.

ah ok thanks a lot . i know Uni's such as LSE place a massive amount of weight on Further Maths , so would i be correct in thinking cetris paribus my AS level choices of Maths,Eng Lang , History and Economics shouldnt put me at a disadvantage from someone who had say Further Maths instead of Eng Lang ?

And apologies to be a pest , but if i was to score a grade B at the AS level i plan to drop ( eng lang for example ) but then decided to take up AS Further Maths for year 13 and was predicted an A in that and A*AA in my other 3 A2's would that fulfill the A*AAa offer ?

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 629

Warwick Rep

Original post by Robbie242

Hi, try this link http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=46, which has lots of useful information.

Reply 630

Warwick Rep

Original post by Fas

Hi, further mathematics is given the same weight as any other A-level in the application process. So no, English Lang would not put you at a disadvantage.

Regarding your last question, you would be in a better position, if say, you got an A in English Lang at AS, as opposed to being predicted A at AS in further maths, since the latter is only predicted. That is someone who has an actual A at AS (with predicted A*AA in A2) is in a better position than someone who is predicted an A at AS (with predicted A*AA at A2).

Reply 631

Warwick Rep

Original post by soempty

Regarding the statistics you should get in touch with the undergraduate office. Regarding time to make a decision. In the past we tended to hold on to applications we were not sure about, for quite a while, in order to be in a better position to make a decision when we had a more concrete idea of how many places we would have available, and the standard of other applicants in a similar position. This, however, comes at a cost to the applicant, as they would like to know earlier whether they have, or have not, been offered a place. This year, therefore, aimed to make much quicker decisions for the majority of people. The consequence of this, however, is that places will fill up quickly (as we are more decisive), and so we would encourage you to apply as early as possible in the cycle.
Actual grades are good predictors of predicted grades, but no explicit weighting is placed on either. Each application is considered on a case by case basis.

I think it's good to see a commitment to academic study, so if you are taking more AS/A2 levels than we require, then that's great, and will help your application. If this comes at the cost of performing worse in your exams, however, then that's clearly not a good thing, and we'd rather you focus in on performing very well in a smaller range.

In some situations, if we think you are taking some subjects to get easy passes (such as a natural french linguist taking french), then we will make you the standard offer, but exclude certain subjects from being a part of that offer, in the same way we do General Studies and Critical Thinking.

No the A at GCSE maths will not rule you out. The final decisions are based on all components in your application, which will be seen and consider in due course.

Reply 632

Warwick Rep

Original post by jinggie

so i should mention it in both my personal statement and my reference??

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Just make sure the trouble with exam dates are confirmed in your academic reference.

Reply 633

Warwick Rep

Original post by ttoby

There is no offer rate we adhere to, only the offers A*AAa/A*AAB.

Reply 634

McLH

Original post by University of Warwick

There is no offer rate we adhere to, only the offers A*AAa/A*AAB.

Hi,
If you are currently studying the following at As: Maths, Chemistry, Economics, Business Studies - and chose to 'drop' chemistry for A2 because you have more of a passion for business over chemistry, would that impact on your application? Providing you had achieved a high grade at As chemistry?

I read on your website that you should try and avoid studying both economics and business studies and was wondering what impact it would have if you'd already shown a breadth of skills via your As chemistry grade.

Thanks.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 635

ttoby

Original post by The Polymath

Is it true that for Maths, if you have the predicted grades, you're practically guaranteed (90%+) to get an offer, and that you filter out candidates through the A*A* and STEP offers?

Original post by University of Warwick

Original post by ttoby

Original post by University of Warwick

There is no offer rate we adhere to, only the offers A*AAa/A*AAB.

But the person was asking about Maths, which has a different standard offer to Economics (it was in the wrong thread though which probably caused the confusion).

Reply 636

jinggie

Original post by University of Warwick

Just make sure the trouble with exam dates are confirmed in your academic reference.

no its not trouble with exam dates
its trouble with course time
i had to pick from [ business studies, chemistry and physics] as one of my subject
i had more passion on business studies than it on physics one year ago so i picked business studies
i didnt know i should not take business studies and economics( from another choics group) at same time at that time
after i knew it i decided to pick physics as well coz its kinda easy for me to study
unluckily i could not take the exam in May/June session ( for some reasons) therefore i ll take AS exam in this winter session and do A2 this year

will i be in a negative position in my application because of this reason??

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 637

Warwick Rep

Original post by ttoby

But the person was asking about Maths, which has a different standard offer to Economics (it was in the wrong thread though which probably caused the confusion).

Well pointed out ttoby indeed I think this did cause come confusion - an example in always reading the exam question correctly. The Polymath, you should get in touch with the mathematics department.

Reply 638

tooambitious

Original post by University of Warwick

Well pointed out ttoby indeed I think this did cause come confusion - an example in always reading the exam question correctly. The Polymath, you should get in touch with the mathematics department.

If a candidate applies with 8A*s at GCSE, 4As at AS but with predictions of 'only' A*AA would they be severely disadvantaged compared to candidates with higher predictions? In general, how strong is the aforementioned candidate, stellar reference, pretty good PS

Reply 639

Warwick Rep

Original post by McLH

Hi, business studies is treated as a standard A-level (only general studies, critical thinking and citizenship are not). If you feel you would like to further explain your breath of skills (in addition to your choice of A-levels) this is something you can discuss in you personal statement.