Making a competitive Comp Sci Application

You've got the perfect subject combo, and UCL's CS course isn't *that* competitive so they *might* let you in with AAA, but no-one can tell you for sure. Why don't you email them? The PS isn't really very useful/relevant to CS. I'm not sure how much weightage UCL give to it, but I know Cambridge don't care about it at all. Your GCSEs are alright, and if you get AAA at AS and have some decent predictions I think it's definitely worth giving it a shot. Always worth being slightly ambitious and risking a rejection rather than having 5 offers and not having anywhere you really want to go.

Hi, thanks for your reply!

Are you sure about the ps not being relevant? Is this true for UCL or the CS everywhere or both? Does that leave it up to grades and interview? They still acknowledge it though right?

Should i be worried that its not a competitive course in a sense it may not be a good course? Or is Comp Sci nationally an unpopular degree?

I'm plan to apply to atleast 3 AAA or better Unis so i as long as i get that, somewhere will take me (hopefully XD)

I would email them but idk what to ask, if i ask the entry requirements they'll simply come back with what i already know so :/.

Nationally, not a particularly popular course. UCL's dept. is good (I liked it enough to insurance) but not the very top tier necessarily (that'd go to Oxbridge and Imperial). It's roughly on par with Edinburgh and Bristol I reckon, and it ranks well internationally (better than Bristol/Edin I believe). Because CS is a sciency subject it's not that important how well you can write (as long as your essays are half decent, it's probably fine) and it's not particularly easy/relevant to get significant experience in CS. Warwick and Bath have good courses at AAA if you're interested. I'd definitely mention any interesting things that relate to CS that you've done, but don't think you have to have any to get in; I had basically nothing and got all 5 offers.
Good luck with your AS exams

Yeah i'm also applying to Imperial! XD same requirements basically! Thanks for your replies! Cleared that all up haha

Ah I loved the Imperial interview day (apart from the horrible interview) even more than Cambridge's but bear in mind, Imperial have ridiculously high standards. My offer is A*A*AA in Maths, FMaths, Phys, Comp and a 1 in STEP II for their pure CS course. I would have insuranced them if they hadn't have given me a STEP offer
Their A*AA is a 'minimum' so if you're doing maths in Y12 FM in y13 and miss the A* your chances are slim there.

By pure CS is that the mathematics and CS course? I saw that looking through the courses, seemed interesting.

I'd expect the A* to be a definite requirement to at least one of them.

Sadly not, by pure CS I mean the Computing course without anything extra (no maths, or specialisations etc. though the Computing with pure maths did look good)

Ah. Gutted. Guess i'll just have to put the work in XD

No substitute for that I'm afraid

Thats life, thats what people say.

Though it's true, grades aren't everything. I got a Cambridge offer with sub par UMS so if you can sufficiently impress them with whatever else you have, then it's a valid method. But getting the grades is the most reliable/straightforward.

Yeah, i think AAA is for me very achievable at A2, its just that A* i'm worrying about. Is work experience relevant at this stage? But would it have to be very specific?

What about the EPQ? Do imperial/UCL like them? It would be based on CS of course :P

If you want to do it, do it. But I wouldn't recommend doing it for the sake of a checklist for a UCAS app, it's not essential at all. This goes for EPQ and work experience.

With the A* just do all the past papers for C3 + C4 twice so you maximise your chances, it's what I did. What I did was go through all the past papers and looked at the ones that were not trivially easy, and solved them on paper. If they were straightforwardish I moved on. If they were more interesting or had some 'trick' to doing them, I made a note of them. The second time round, I only did these questions and before the exam I made sure I memorised all these 'tricks' to maximise my chances. Make sure you do as well as you can for AS, it takes the pressure off somewhat if you only need an A in A2 as well, because if you're sitting on 90+ UMS you only need a high C/low B to get an A overall. Plus it's the most recent qualification you've done for unis. Are you not considering Cambridge or Oxford at all? If your results turn out very well (85+% for two or more subjects) then definitely consider applying to Cambridge. I honestly didn't expect to get in at all, but I did and I think they have a great course.

Eh, if i'm honest, Oxbridge is a kind of Elitist group i'd rather not join. By that i dont mean to insult anyone that goes there but i think to get to Oxbridge are those who are really intelligent. I like to put myself in the next bracket down. Also i'd like to live in Central London so thats why i'm focusing on both UCL and Imperial.

Also another maths exam is a no go for me after 12 Of them.

If you're referring to STEP then you wouldn't have to sit that. Most colleges don't require it unless you're going for CS with maths. Central London does sound great. I'd like to think I'm not elitist and I got an offer. And trust me, I am NOT very intelligent. I still don't know how I got an offer honestly.

I might apply for one, but i don't want to apply to too many top-end ones as well.