Applied to Swedish university - unsure what my A levels/GCSEs equate to

Hi guys so I just had a quick look on that UHR statistik page for Sweden and I saw that for this programme I've applied to, 144 applied, and out of that 144, only 36 ranked it their first choice. I'm not sure how important the ranking is, but does the fact only 36 ranked it first choice including me, boost my chances of successful entry? There are 50 places available in total, I understand there is a second round in April also.
Any insight would be great, thank you again

The way it works in Denmark (and presumably also Sweden) is that if an applicant's GPA doesn't make the cut-off score for their first choice, they drop down to their second choice, and if their score wasn't enough there, they drop to their third choice, etc, until they get an offer.

You only get one offer in an application cycle - from the first place in your list where you meet the cut-off score. You can't get released from the one you get into to get an offer from the one below it.

So putting a uni as first choice doesn't give any advantage over other applicants, it just means you want to go there most. So if you have multiple choices, it's possible to put a total long-shot on top, knowing that if the cut-off drops enough for you to meet it, you'll be going there, but if it doesn't, you've got your otherwise favourite choice in slot 2, so you'll likely be going there (if the cut-off is one you'll make).

I se what you mean but if those who made it their second/third choice get accepted into their first choice, surely that leaves more chance for the others who have applied?

That's what I'm saying - no-one 'makes it' to their second/third choice if they get an offer from their first choice. There is no choice involved, you don't get offers. You rank the places you're applying to and you get a place at the first one you meet the cut-off for, which you can either take or leave and go through the cycle another year.

The only thing that affects you is the GPA of all the other people who will end up competing for the place at Karolinska. You have no way of knowing whether those people who have it as second or third have a first or second choice that their GPA is likely to be enough for, or whether they've put them down on the off chance that the cut-off drops. I did Statistics in A-level Maths and still it's beyond me whether there would be a way to work all this out ahead of the event, without a good amount of stats for previous years' applications.

Ah you are a stats girl, I'm a mechanics girl myself ! Ok I see what you are saying now i saw the ave points of those admitted for this programme last year was 19, but at a smaller i university it was between 12& 15 depending on the part of the course. Is 12-15 quite low compared to other unis? This smaller uni is my backup choice you see! I notice it also has no reserve places the past few years only full classes. Perhaps it'll be easier to get into a smaller uni AKA not Karolinska, Stockholm, Gothenburg etc, what do you think?

When you say average points of those admitted, are you sure that's actually what you're looking at? In Denmark 'average score' is not something that is looked at or recorded - it's the cut-off score that is, aka the lowest score where everyone with that score or above got in. Are you sure it's not that you're looking at? Though I of course cannot be sure that it even works that way in Sweden.

I have absolutely no idea about how low a given score is or how competitive small unis are vs large ones - I have no experience of applying in Sweden.

Hi there, it states that is the 'antagningspoäng' on the statistics UHI site, next to each course segment for låst year. Some course components were 12.6 some were 15, but at more competitive unis they were around 19-21.....

Hi I se what you mean, think I've been rambling as I'm so damn nervous to get accepted!!
Can I ask, if the person with lowest admitted score got in with 12.5 points, what would that be in A level/GCSEs on average? Could BCCD in A levels and A*, A*, A*, A,BBBBB at GCSe match that? Also, I notice for Karolinska last year there were many on reserve lists, but zero on the smaller uni waiting lists.

What are the english equivelant grades to the Swedish biology 2, chemistry 2, physics 2 and mathematics 4?


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I looked up Läkarprogrammet at Lund on antagning.se and it says that Biology, Physics and Chemistry B and Mathematics D or Biology, Physics and Chemistry 2 and Mathematics 4 are required. So it looks like different required qualification levels, not required grades.

I couldn't tell you what they consider to be equivalent to those levels (but I can tell you that in Denmark you need the equivalent of AS in Chemistry and Physics and A2 in Maths, so I would expect it to be similar in Sweden - and I would also expect it to be rather difficult to get in, since I'm guessing they rank applicants solely according to GPA like they do in Denmark).

Is physics absolutely mandatory? Because I'm doing bio Chen and maths atm


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If the course you're applying to says that Physics is required, then yes, it will be required. Are you planning on studying in Swedish? In Denmark there are adult education centres where you can take subjects you're missing for very little money, lots of people do this. Something similar might exist in Sweden and you might be able to do that before applying if you're considering moving to Sweden anyway. I took the equivalent of AS Chemistry and Physics this way (in Denmark).

Really wish you the best with that then. I just found this helpful table for us on the Lund uni website which shows what our A levels mean in Sweden, approx:

Ämne	Svensk kurs	Motsvarar
Biologi	Bi B	Biology – AS level
Fysik	Fy A	Physics – AS level
Fy B	Physics – A level
Kemi	Ke B	Chemistry – AS level
Matematik	Ma D	Mathematics – AS level

So judging by this I have beyond Biology B as I have an A level in it (even if it's a D grade), I have Fysik B, and I have Matematik E as I took mine to A level. I am currently doing the chemistry A level distance from England and traveling back and forth for exams. So I decided to submit my results day transcript for the AS results last year, not sure whether they will consider that, but if they do then it's the Kemi B fulfilled!
Do you not fancy going back to Stockholm? And final question, do you think it is considerably more competitive in the city unis such as Lund Goteborg and Stockholm than the rural ones?
Thanks again new friend