How much chance do I have of going to a good university?

By good, I don't mean LSE/Oxford/Cambridge, I mean Newcastle/Manchester/Liverpool/Cardiff/Bristol
I'm in year twelve and I know it's a long way off but we've been advised by our head of sixth to start looking into universities which I've actively been doing, and am yet to find one that seems as perfect for me as Newcastle. I got A* A A A B B C C C at Gcse, am taking English Lit, Media Studies and Religious Studies at A level and recently got A A B in my January exams, and I'll likely maintain that in the summer and next year. Do you think I have a chance of getting into Newcastle or any other unis from the list above, for either English Lit or Media Studies? Do my average GCSEs matter? Do these kind of universities tend to interview applicants? I dont really know what the typical offer is as i'm new to all of this. Thank you!

Reply 1

Nitrogen

GCSEs doesnt matter. My GCSEs were about the same as yours and I got offers from manchester, warwick, king college london. Look at their website for their typical offers.

Reply 2

Vibenation

Original post by Kateislate

You have got a good chance, the grades usually range from AAB - BBB for these Russell group universities like Manchester, Leeds and others. Aim for universities that are decent ranking/standing such as top 50. Include and consider universities that has good reputation for your course, location, grades needed. Also go to as many open days as you can and call universities for more information about the course that you apply.

People do drop out when there start uni because they don't like their course, so make sure that you will enjoy the course that you will study, again research is the key here. Good luck.

Reply 3

Kateislate

Original post by Nitrogen

GCSEs doesnt matter. My GCSEs were about the same as yours and I got offers from manchester, warwick, king college london. Look at their website for their typical offers.

Thats a relief, thank you. I've tried but most are in Ucas points with the exception kf a few which I'm not really sure how to translate!

Reply 4

Kateislate

Original post by Vibenation

Thank you for your advice! I'll definately be carrying on with my research. Do universities have prospectuses (is that ever a word?) for 2014 yet and if so how do I go about getting one?

Reply 5

Rachel26

I got into Manchester with lower grades then you did so you will get in but to make sure your personal statement has got to be amazing tbh I reckon that's the reason I got in!

Reply 6

amineamine2

Original post by Kateislate

Your GCSEs are not average, they're good and as for the LSE, I know people who got in with no As or A*s at GCSE or AS and some had Ds as well. Ofc this wasn't for Law/Economics but still.
It all depends on what you want to do. Except for Oxbridge (or Oxford at least) ,Medicine and certain degrees at LSE, Durham, Bristol, Edinburgh, UCL and Warwick (might have missed one or two), GCSEs won't matter a lot, certainly not yours as they are fine.

Reply 7

Vibenation

Original post by Kateislate

Thank you for your advice! I'll definately be carrying on with my research. Do universities have prospectuses (is that ever a word?) for 2014 yet and if so how do I go about getting one?

Some universities release the prospectuses during the spring/summer of each year. Order them online on whatuni.co.uk website or UCAS fairs will have them. UCAS fair is an event that all the uni go to for promoting their courses and provide information. It will be in most major cities, google search it for more information. You can check on uni website to print/order prospectuses.

Edited: Also Open days are useful because there will have the prospectuses released first on the open days so I thought that was worth mentioning. I went to Sheffield University open day, a few years ago and there released their prospectuse in that open day. Hope that helps. It won't be released most likely early summer this year.