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Is it worth applying to a uni that wants higher grades than your prediction?

I just read SOAS want A*A A to study Law

I think my teacher will predict me only A A A

Is it worth applying to SOAS since i dont meet their predictions?

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Yes, because universities do give out offers slightly above the predictions. However, you probably shouldn't adopt this strategy with all your 5 choices.
But remember, IF they give you an Offer then it will be the standard offer of A*AA, which you will have to get.

This sounds obvious but you might be surprised how many applicants forget this bit. You don't get in on predictions, you get in on results.
Reply 3
not necessarily some uni's give you an offer for grades above or below the requirement. This depends on how many offers they get e.g. my friend applied for Lough-borough for accounting and finance and the normal offer would be AAB but so many people applied with better grades and therefore his offer was AAA.

The same would be I suppose for uni's who don't get enough people applying with the required grades e.g. most apply to a course where you need AAB but most apply with ABB therefore they lower the required grades.

However, I think most uni's who offer lets say AAB if you apply with AAB they will give you an offer for AAB not ABB. Hope this bit makes sense haha

Hope this helps :biggrin:
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 4
Yes it is ok to apply to universities asking for slightly more than you are predicted. It's good to have one or two ambitious choices, but be realistic. Obviously applying for a course asking for AAA when you are predicted CCC is being over ambitious. In your case I think applying for an A*AA course with an AAA prediction is reasonable. If you get an offer it will mostly likely be A*AA and you will have to meet these conditions. Don't expect them to lower the offer.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 5
Original post by 3mmz
I just read SOAS want A*A A to study Law

I think my teacher will predict me only A A A

Is it worth applying to SOAS since i dont meet their predictions?


I would therefore say go for it give yourself the chance to get a uni which offers 1 grade higher than you need.

Again I would say if they give you an offer it will most likely be A*AA but, like I said before it really depends on a number of factors including how many people apply so they could give you an offer for AAA. But in truth you will never know unless you apply and then see whether they give you and offer.

I would suggest that you should do no more than 2 of these ambitious applications as e.g. you need AAA for law (I haven't looked) but lets say Exeter which I would think would be AAA. If this uni gets lots of applications of A*AA then they are going to go for them first and if the places are lets say 300 and 240 apply with A*AA and then 1000 apply with AAA it makes it hard for them to pick you even though you have the required grades.

Hope this helps:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 6
Original post by kingdoo
I would therefore say go for it give yourself the chance to get a uni which offers 1 grade higher than you need.

Again I would say if they give you an offer it will most likely be A*AA but, like I said before it really depends on a number of factors including how many people apply so they could give you an offer for AAA. But in truth you will never know unless you apply and then see whether they give you and offer.

I would suggest that you should do no more than 2 of these ambitious applications as e.g. you need AAA for law (I haven't looked) but lets say Exeter which I would think would be AAA. If this uni gets lots of applications of A*AA then they are going to go for them first and if the places are lets say 300 and 240 apply with A*AA and then 1000 apply with AAA it makes it hard for them to pick you even though you have the required grades.

Hope this helps:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

thanks

but SOAS wants A*AA in their website
my teacher will probs predict me A A A
will soas eliminate me from their selection pool since i dont meet their requirements
You should see it as a high risk choice, but you might get away with it.

I would suggest applying to
SOAS (A*AA) as your high risk choice
2 other universities that are asking for AAA as your 'probably' choices
2 universities that are asking for AAB or ABB as your insurance choices

You could also speak to your teachers and ask if they would consider predicting you A*AA - but as others have said, you will need to achieve this.
Reply 8
Original post by 3mmz
thanks

but SOAS wants A*AA in their website
my teacher will probs predict me A A A
will soas eliminate me from their selection pool since i dont meet their requirements


It is really hard to tell I would suggest you go for it. you will have a chance since you are only one grade lower. But just make sure that you don't be ambitious with all your choices!!! if you apply to 4 other unis which require AAA then you are very likely to get them as offers anyway, so don't worry. With predictions of AAA you can pretty much get into any Russell group so I wouldn't worry if you don't get an offer. I am sure the others you apply to are just as good as SOAS.

Good luck though if you do apply hope they offer you a place :biggrin:
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 9
Also I know the league tables aren't essential to your choice as most unis are great. but for law SOAS is going to be "39" in 2014 SO IT MAY NOT BE THE BEST CHOICE. But I have never been to the uni or experienced it so you have the first hand experience of the course and experienced the uni as a whole so only you know it is right for
you.

I would also suggest asking them on one of there open days or emailing them to see if they take students predicted AAA

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Law
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 10
I just checked the 2014 prospectus. Yes you do need A*AA but to let you know how hard it is to get in this is the ratio.

Applicant/Place Ratio

15:1
Reply 11
Original post by kingdoo
I just checked the 2014 prospectus. Yes you do need A*AA but to let you know how hard it is to get in this is the ratio.

Applicant/Place Ratio

15:1


Haha I'm crap at maths.....
Does that mean its hard to get into SOAS?
Reply 12
Original post by kingdoo
It is really hard to tell I would suggest you go for it. you will have a chance since you are only one grade lower. But just make sure that you don't be ambitious with all your choices!!! if you apply to 4 other unis which require AAA then you are very likely to get them as offers anyway, so don't worry. With predictions of AAA you can pretty much get into any Russell group so I wouldn't worry if you don't get an offer. I am sure the others you apply to are just as good as SOAS.

Good luck though if you do apply hope they offer you a place :biggrin:

Awww thanks. Your really sweet. I have an usual story tbh
I did my alevels along time ago and got C's, left sixth form to work....I have decided to come back into education...and try and get into uni.
I'm going to retake them next year (basically do 3 alevels in one year)
And hopefully go uni in sept 2014. I've spoken to the teacher who will do my reference and she said she will predict me A A A
I probs don't have that a good chance getting offers from top universities especially against candidates who will have A's in their AS levels but I guess you have to be optimistic!
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 13
Original post by 3mmz
Haha I'm crap at maths.....
Does that mean its hard to get into SOAS?


Math won't have anything to do with your application as long as you got a C at GCSE although since you are wanting to do law I would not say that it will be their priority. I would just make sure that you got C's in your gcse english exams.
Reply 14
Original post by 3mmz
Awww thanks. Your really sweet. I have an usual story tbh
I did my alevels along time ago and got C's, left sixth form to work....I have decided to come back into education...and try and get into uni.
I'm going to retake them next year (basically do 3 alevels in one year)
And hopefully go uni in sept 2014. I've spoken to the teacher who will do my reference and she said she will predict me A A A
I probs don't have that a good chance getting offers from top universities especially against candidates who will have A's in their AS levels but I guess you have to be optimistic!


Firstly it is fantastic that you are trying to get better grades so you can go to uni. Sixth form isn't always the best thing to do after GCSE's it is such a step up. I would also say that most top unis will ask for AAA so you will have a very good chance in getting in. However, Law is slightly more competitive and that is possibly why you will find it hard to get in.

Remember getting AAA at A level no matter what people says is extremely hard only like 10% (it is probably lower to be honest) of the country gets A*A*A* so they are for ones say elites.

Anyway you are getting better than me I am probably going to get AAB/ABB and am planning on doing geography at Southampton, UEA or Leicester.:smile:
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 15
Original post by kingdoo
Firstly it is fantastic that you are trying to get better grades so you can go to uni. Sixth form isn't always the best thing to do after GCSE's it is such a step up. I would also say that most top unis will ask for AAA so you will have a very good chance in getting in. However, Law is slightly more competitive and that is possibly why you will find it hard to get in.

Remember getting AAA at A level no matter what people says is extremely hard only like 10% (it is probably lower to be honest) of the country gets A*A*A* so they are for ones say elites.

Anyway you are getting better than me I am probably going to get AAB/ABB and am planning on doing geography at Southampton, UEA or Leicester.:smile:


Yup it's to do with the course. Some
Courses are easier to get a place than others.
That's why I need to work really hard on my personal statement..as many people say that could do wonders in getting offers from top universities!
I just hope god helps me out and I get an offer from SOAS as I really wanna stay in London?
Reply 16
Original post by kingdoo
Math won't have anything to do with your application as long as you got a C at GCSE although since you are wanting to do law I would not say that it will be their priority. I would just make sure that you got C's in your gcse english exams.


Hehe nah I didn't mean it in that way!!!
What I meant was the ratio that you posted...does that suggest SOAS is hard to get into!!!
Reply 17
Original post by 3mmz
Hehe nah I didn't mean it in that way!!!
What I meant was the ratio that you posted...does that suggest SOAS is hard to get into!!!


Oh right haha yeah it means that for every 15 applications they only give 1 offer, so it means it is extremely hard to get in. I also think it means it is really hard to get in even if you have the required A*AA
Original post by 3mmz
I just read SOAS want A*A A to study Law

I think my teacher will predict me only A A A

Is it worth applying to SOAS since i dont meet their predictions?


I applied to a uni that wanted BBB (whilst I was predicted BBC) and they still gave me an offer so I just depends on the uni and how competitive the course is at the specific uni
Reply 19
Original post by kingdoo
Oh right haha yeah it means that for every 15 applications they only give 1 offer, so it means it is extremely hard to get in. I also think it means it is really hard to get in even if you have the required A*AA


what is that for SOAS or for Law in general?

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