Big risk? or will they understand?

Hi guys i achieved BBC in my A levels High B's in Geography and Economics, and a C in government politics (which i completed in one year). I had massive family issues going on during this entire year and it 100% affected my performance. I even had to go to the doctor because i was literally depressed. I believe i did reasonably well under the circumstances. However the universities i want to apply to are Kings, St.Andrews, LSE and loughborough for International relations. I will be applying to 2 courses at Kings. I am on a gap year and will be doing a ton of work experience and will be preparing for a few resits. My school will be hopefully predicting me AAB MAYBE AAA. (due to the fact that i literally have a year to revise for 4 exams). Now i know that these unis will consider my application but will they give me an offer. Of course you dont know, but im asking for your opinion. My first choice is Kings (well LSE but i highly doubt they will give me an offer, but as they say if you dont apply you will never get an offer!). So will they look down on me due to the grades? Or will they be sympathetic due to my circumstances. In addition i taught myself the A2 for government and politics as the AS classes clashed with A2 classes.

Reply 1

etor

I got the same as you last year in A2 with BBC and similarly decided to do a gap year and some resits, and my teachers predicted me AAB I believe. Two of the universities I applied to (for English Literature) were Sheffield and Birmingham and both asked for AAB with their entry requirements and gave me offers so you may be in with a chance! I know the courses/universities are different but I hope this helps somewhat.

OP

great thanks!

Original post by daalchaval

Hi guys i achieved BBC in my A levels High B's in Geography and Economics, and a C in government politics (which i completed in one year). I had massive family issues going on during this entire year and it 100% affected my performance. I even had to go to the doctor because i was literally depressed. I believe i did reasonably well under the circumstances. However the universities i want to apply to are Kings, St.Andrews, LSE and loughborough for International relations. I will be applying to 2 courses at Kings. I am on a gap year and will be doing a ton of work experience and will be preparing for a few resits. My school will be hopefully predicting me AAB MAYBE AAA. (due to the fact that i literally have a year to revise for 4 exams). Now i know that these unis will consider my application but will they give me an offer. Of course you dont know, but im asking for your opinion. My first choice is Kings (well LSE but i highly doubt they will give me an offer, but as they say if you dont apply you will never get an offer!). So will they look down on me due to the grades? Or will they be sympathetic due to my circumstances. In addition i taught myself the A2 for government and politics as the AS classes clashed with A2 classes.

Going to be honest...LSE and St. Andrews are unlikely to give you an offer. They're both very oversubscribed and IR is quite a popular course. Don't waste your offers. However, it is till possible to get offers from RG universities. It's a good idea to enquire both applying

Reply 4

daalchaval

OP

7

Original post by cathrg26

Going to be honest...LSE and St. Andrews are unlikely to give you an offer. They're both very oversubscribed and IR is quite a popular course. Don't waste your offers. However, it is till possible to get offers from RG universities. It's a good idea to enquire both applying

Yeah i understand but what about Kings? I will apply to 2 courses at Kings (IR and Politics) and one at LSE. then the rest might be universities with lower requirements

Reply 5

username944192

21

If you have mitigating circumstances for your poor grades this year, surely you would be just as likely to get an offer as any other candidate. Make sure you have your circumstances mentioned in the reference your teacher will provide for you.

Reply 6

daalchaval

OP

7

Original post by infairverona

If you have mitigating circumstances for your poor grades this year, surely you would be just as likely to get an offer as any other candidate. Make sure you have your circumstances mentioned in the reference your teacher will provide for you.

My school will be providing a reference with that information. But im worried that Kings and LSE might not be very sympathetic as they probably get thousands of applicants with better grades then me?

Reply 7

username944192

21

Original post by daalchaval

My school will be providing a reference with that information. But im worried that Kings and LSE might not be very sympathetic as they probably get thousands of applicants with better grades then me?

The whole point of having mitigating circumstances is so that they consider you equally. I mean, if you were depressed I don't know why you didn't apply for mitigating circumstances or whatever it's called now, before you sat the exams. But hopefully if you have it in your reference they will consider you just as they would any other candidate, of course people will have better grades when they haven't been through what you have at the same time as sitting your exams!

Reply 8

cathrg26

16

Original post by daalchaval

Yeah i understand but what about Kings? I will apply to 2 courses at Kings (IR and Politics) and one at LSE. then the rest might be universities with lower requirements

I don't know much about kings, but it is one of the big ones in London and quite well known. As I said before, it's worth enquiring, explaining your situation before applying

Reply 9

daalchaval

OP

7

ok thanks for the advice. much appreciated.

Reply 10

Hannahmay01

13

My friend was in a similar situation and he got into leeds university so don't give up!

Reply 11

All-in

3

Apply to 3 or 4 choices. See how they go, then adjust accordingly using your 4th and/or 5th choice.

Example (adjusting up):

LSE - Rejected
Kings - Rejected
Kings (other course) - Offer
Loughbrough - Offer

Go for St. Andrews as 5th choice. You have King's as a banker, so might as well go for it.

You can rearrange your choice strategy according to your risk appetite. What you shouldn't do is apply to 5 choices all at the same time and hope for the best. Once you apply to 5 choices, that's it, you're locked out. Apply to 3 or 4 choices, you can always add a choice later, and more importantly, according to how the other choices went.

Other examples:

LSE- Rejected
Kings - Rejected
Loughbrough- Rejected

You are aiming too high, use 4th and 5th choice for "lower" unis". By doing this, you will be avoiding the Extra lottery if you had put 5 choice and they had all rejected you.

LSE - Rejected
Kings - Offer
Kings (other course) - Offer

I would deem Loughborugh a waste in this scenario, and go for St. Andrews and another high risk choice.

I really don't understand when people say "I wouldn't apply there, no chance". I got an offer from Imperial using this system, it was my 5th wildcard having Manchester as a banker (they replied after 1 week). Let me give you a scenario where a choice is seriously wasted.

You apply to 5 choices, because you are told that's what you are supposed to do.

You don't apply to LSE or St. Andrews because someone on TSR said you are not good enough.

Kings
Kings
Loughbrough
Crap uni
Crapper uni

Loughbrough reply first, they loved your application. Offer.

Kings
Kings
Loughbrough - Offer
Crap uni
Crapper uni

Crap uni makes you an offer. You say meh.

Kings
Kings -
Loughbrough - Offer
Crap uni - Offer
Crapper uni

Kings then decide to make you an offer for both courses.

Kings - Offer
Kings - Offer
Loughbrough - Offer
Crap uni - Offer
Crapper uni

Great you have your firm and inurance sorted. Oh wait, Crapper uni makes you an offer as well but you couldn't give a fly **** about it. There's your wasted choice.

See how you had absolutely no control over your destiny here?

If we had the same exact order offer, but with 4 choices, you could have afforded a high risk 5th choice:

Kings - Offer
Kings - Offer
Loughbrough - Offer
Crap uni - Offer

LSE or St. Andrews added as 5th choice.

Or to use my personal UCAS of last year (snapshot 1 week after I sent my application):

UCL
Bristol
Kings
Mancheter - Offer

Manchester replied straight away with an offer. Had Manchester as a banker, so I added Imperial as my 5th choice wildcard.

Reply 12

daalchaval

OP

7

Original post by All-in

Apply to 3 or 4 choices. See how they go, then adjust accordingly using your 4th and/or 5th choice.

Example (adjusting up):

LSE - Rejected
Kings - Rejected
Kings (other course) - Offer
Loughbrough - Offer

Go for St. Andrews as 5th choice. You have King's as a banker, so might as well go for it.

You can rearrange your choice strategy according to your risk appetite. What you shouldn't do is apply to 5 choices all at the same time and hope for the best. Once you apply to 5 choices, that's it, you're locked out. Apply to 3 or 4 choices, you can always add a choice later, and more importantly, according to how the other choices went.

Other examples:

LSE- Rejected
Kings - Rejected
Loughbrough- Rejected

You are aiming too high, use 4th and 5th choice for "lower" unis". By doing this, you will be avoiding the Extra lottery if you had put 5 choice and they had all rejected you.

LSE - Rejected
Kings - Offer
Kings (other course) - Offer

I would deem Loughborugh a waste in this scenario, and go for St. Andrews and another high risk choice.

I really don't understand when people say "I wouldn't apply there, no chance". I got an offer from Imperial using this system, it was my 5th wildcard having Manchester as a banker (they replied after 1 week). Let me give you a scenario where a choice is seriously wasted.

You apply to 5 choices, because you are told that's what you are supposed to do.

You don't apply to LSE or St. Andrews because someone on TSR said you are not good enough.

Kings
Kings
Loughbrough
Crap uni
Crapper uni

Loughbrough reply first, they loved your application. Offer.

Kings
Kings
Loughbrough - Offer
Crap uni
Crapper uni

Crap uni makes you an offer. You say meh.

Kings
Kings -
Loughbrough - Offer
Crap uni - Offer
Crapper uni

Kings then decide to make you an offer for both courses.

Kings - Offer
Kings - Offer
Loughbrough - Offer
Crap uni - Offer
Crapper uni

Great you have your firm and inurance sorted. Oh wait, Crapper uni makes you an offer as well but you couldn't give a fly **** about it. There's your wasted choice.

See how you had absolutely no control over your destiny here?

If we had the same exact order offer, but with 4 choices, you could have afforded a high risk 5th choice:

Kings - Offer
Kings - Offer
Loughbrough - Offer
Crap uni - Offer

LSE or St. Andrews added as 5th choice.

Or to use my personal UCAS of last year (snapshot 1 week after I sent my application):

UCL
Bristol
Kings
Mancheter - Offer

Manchester replied straight away with an offer. Had Manchester as a banker, so I added Imperial as my 5th choice wildcard.

wow, i never thought of it like that....its how you play they game. so you think i should apply to the lower ranked unis first to secure my offer. then say if i get 2 offers i can use wildcards. I like it. So in my case i will apply to:
Loughborough
Manchester
then wait till i get the offers from one/two
then apply to:
Kings
Kings
then finally apply to:
LSE.

But wait, iv heard that its always better to apply early as you get offers made quicker...is this true? if this is the case then wont i simply be wasting time waiting for offers?

Reply 13

All-in

3

Original post by daalchaval

wow, i never thought of it like that....its how you play they game. so you think i should apply to the lower ranked unis first to secure my offer. then say if i get 2 offers i can use wildcards. I like it. So in my case i will apply to:
Loughborough
Manchester
then wait till i get the offers from one/two
then apply to:
Kings
Kings
then finally apply to:
LSE.

But wait, iv heard that its always better to apply early as you get offers made quicker...is this true? if this is the case then wont i simply be wasting time waiting for offers?

As long as you apply to each university by the 15th of January, you will get equal consideration from that university.

In your case I would do something like this:

Apply as early as possible, as soon as the 2015 cycle opens in mid-September. I would apply to Kings, Loughbrough and Manchester (only apply to Manchester if you are 100% happy to go there). I would also apply to only one course at Kings, to spread my risk.

From my experience, Manchester will reply relatively quick if they want you. If you have Manchester in the bag, it's up to you how risky you want play it. You could for example just add a 4th choice, a very high risky one , and keep the 5th choice as backup in case things don't go to plan.

In the case of a negative scenario, where the first to reply is Kings with a rejection, I would wait to see what Manchester and Loughbrough do before panicking and putting a lower 4th choice.

The worst case scenario is where you apply to 3 (or 4 choices), and no one replies to you by the beginning of January. In that case you will have to add your 4th and 5th choice by the 15th of January without adjusting accordingly. But there are things you can do to try and avoid this scenario. For example, avoid including universities in you first batch of choices that are famous for replying after the 15th of January i.e. Durham. That being said, I applied to Imperial after the 15th January and they still considered my application (and made me an offer).

It really is up to you and your risk appetite. The important thing is that with this method, you are in control because you can add a choice at ANY time, until you reach 5 choices. Applying to 5 choices straight away you are locked out from Track, essentially appyling blind and hoping for the best. Think of it is as the difference between pre-match betting and live match betting. :wink:

Reply 14

daalchaval

OP

7

Nice! Iv decided to forget about St.Andrews and instead apply to Kings twice, LSE, Loughborough and Manchester. HOWEVER i will apply to only one course at Kings and loughborough and wait to see the response. IF its an offer from kings well then i dont need to apply there again. However if its a rejection i will need to reevaluate. What about LSE, do you think im better off applying later or early? i think their known to give late offers

Reply 15

All-in

3

Original post by daalchaval

Nice! Iv decided to forget about St.Andrews and instead apply to Kings twice, LSE, Loughborough and Manchester. HOWEVER i will apply to only one course at Kings and loughborough and wait to see the response. IF its an offer from kings well then i dont need to apply there again. However if its a rejection i will need to reevaluate. What about LSE, do you think im better off applying later or early? i think their known to give late offers

If you apply to LSE the 1st October or the 14th January, it makes no difference. Important thing is you apply by the 15th January.

"There is intense competition for many of our courses and therefore you should not be surprised if you are advised that your application is being held as part of a gathered field to be considered alongside all 'on-time' applications. This is done so that we may give fair and equal consideration to all the applications which are received by UCAS by the closing date of 15 January. Since we do not receive the final 'on-time' application forms until late January, we hold some earlier applications as part of this process. It means that we may wish to look at your application again in the light of the later UCAS forms which we receive. We will contact you if we intend to consider your application as part of the gathered field."

http://www.lse.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/howToApply/howToApplyHome.aspx

I think you will know by October-November if to apply to LSE or not anyway, as your initial choices will most likely reply by then (Kings perhaps not, but Loughborough and Manchester very probable).

Have you considered Bristol? You may eligble for their contexual offer, AAB instead of the standard AAA, if your shcool is on this list http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/study/undergraduate/documents/contextual-offer-schools-2014.pdf

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 16

daalchaval

OP

7

no my school isnt listed on that, but they will be mentioning the circumstance in the reference...