Top Universities Shouldn't Accept You Unless You Do 4 A2s

TenthBelt1993

Basically, I don't believe top universities (Oxbridge/Imperial etc) should accept you unless you to do 4 A2s. For the reason that you are

EITHER: Talented but would rather doss around than put more work into academia.

OR: Not able to cope with 4A2s which means you most definitely would no be able to cope with the workload at a top university.

Obviously there should have exceptions for where School's don't allow people to do 4 A2s.

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Reply 1

math42

You can doss around when doing 4A2s as well, trust me

Reply 2

TenthBelt1993

Original post by 1 8 13 20 42

You can doss around when doing 4A2s as well, trust me

Exactly.. So if you only take 3 Top Universities shouldn't consider you.

Reply 3

math42

Original post by Sabster

Exactly.. So if you only take 3 Top Universities shouldn't consider you.

But I don't think someone doing 4 A levels instead of 3 means they are more likely to be able to cope with the university workload, and I would guess that anyone who can get something like A*A*A*-A*AA could cope with 4 anyway, and not having done a 4th A level won't make a huge difference to their competence. I think the main issue is just that A levels in general are too easy.

Reply 4

HealthyBeanSnack

this in my opinion is ridiculous: i take 3 A2s and have recieved an offer from oxford. i do art, bio and english and my workload is phenomenal. not saying im struggling - but i am always working, it is taking up my entire life. i know that if i took a 4th a2 i would not be predicted As, and what good is that 4th A2 i you're not doing 4 subjects at degree? i see where you are coming from, but there is a lot of other stress relating to education regardless of a2, personal statement (i have 15 drafts) building an art portfolio, EPQ, sports (one guy i know is a top physics student, doing three a levels and going to cambridge, trains in a sport five days a week and goes abroad to take part in competitions, hoping to be in olympics in addition to physics or whatever, some others do charity work, d of e, etc) what im saying is there is more to life than endless a2 subjects as proof of intellegence. if you sat around doing nothing apart from study, regardless of unlimited a2s then unis would not accept you because your personal statement would be lacking in personal development, also that would just be really boring all the time. sorry for weirdly written post my keyboard is acting up

Reply 5

chi_cygni

Original post by HealthyBeanSnack

i do art, bio and english and my workload is phenomenal. not saying im struggling - but i am always working, it is taking up my entire life.

You are doing something wrong then. There is no way three A levels provides a "phenomenal" workload. Certainly English and Biology don't and unless you are doing something in Art that is terrible time consuming then I would think you are not working efficiently.

Reply 6

HealthyBeanSnack

Original post by chi_cygni

Although yes I might not be working as efficiently as I should be (even though english has significantly more work than I expected, the amounts of quotes I have to memorize is just silly) that's not really what I'm trying to say.

The best universities don't just want mindless academic drones, they want people who are well-rounded. I do get spare time because I don't do a 4th A2, I use that time to write. I'm part of a writing club. I put that on my personal statement. Along with gallery visits, articles, wider reading on all my subjects, I go to workshops on the weekend etc, which has all helped me in university applications/coursework projects. For students who are getting into the best unis, let me assure you they are not "dossing around". And even if I am leaving homework until later to go out with friends or have a really long bath or watch a movie (or go on TSR), so does that mean I don't deserve my offer? No it means I'm a human being not a degree robot.

Reply 7

chi_cygni

Original post by HealthyBeanSnack

The best universities don't just want mindless academic drones, they want people who are well-rounded.

To be honest they probably don't give a crap. In fact in some disciplines they probably prefer the drones.

Reply 8

Bulbasaur

Not to blow my own horn, but I barely scraped A*AA..

Got a 1st in my second year of Cambridge.

I am sure top universities know what they're doing.

Reply 9

Student403

Original post by chi_cygni

To be honest they probably don't give a crap. In fact in some disciplines they probably prefer the drones.

Although the US/UK admissions differ, I would like to quote this from MIT's website.

"When we admit a class of students to MIT, it's as if we're choosing a 1,100-person team to climb a very interesting, fairly rugged mountain - together. We obviously want people who have the training, stamina, and passion for the climb. At the same time, we want each to add something useful or intriguing to the team, from a wonderful temperament or sense of humor to compelling personal experiences, to a wide range of individual gifts, talents, interests and achievements. We are emphatically not looking for a batch of identical perfect climbers; we are looking for a richly varied team of capable people who will support, surprise and inspire each other."

Reply 10

tcameron

Original post by Sabster

This is ridiculous, I'm not sure if you're doing A2 right now but 3 subjects is more than enough to completely take up a student's whole time.
3 A*s will always be better than 4As and majority of the time students always are doing one or mor subjects that have absolutely nothing to do with their future degree so why take it on just for the sake of it?
What statistical evidence do you have that students who took 3 A levels are coping less than those who took 4 anyways??
Us young people need a break at it is, not bursting our blood cells trying to juggle 4 workheavy subjects and not have a life.

Reply 11

chi_cygni

Original post by Student403

Oh - they'd like it in a perfect world - but if the drones perform better and the university is getting paid then they'd go with drones.

Reply 12

RayApparently

Or you could just do the IBDP.

Reply 13

Student403

Original post by chi_cygni

Oh - they'd like it in a perfect world - but if the drones perform better and the university is getting paid then they'd go with drones.

There are too many drones and not enough places.

They care less about reputation and money, because they have already made their mark. It's not the guy who locks his room every night to study who will change the world. It is the person who goes out there and does something extraordinary.

I'm sure I do not need to explain how many people with perfect scores get rejected in favour of someone with slightly lower grades who has built something his classmates would stare in awe at.

Reply 14

Indeterminate

Original post by Student403

Hope the bit in bold is true :redface:

PRSOM as usual :frown:

Reply 15

HealthyBeanSnack

Original post by chi_cygni

To be honest they probably don't give a crap. In fact in some disciplines they probably prefer the drones.

I disagree.
1. If they didn't give a crap then they would be crap unis. Simple as. Students are investments in the top unis, they really work with them to mould them into good students.
2. The interview process was so rigorous, 4 days, flying over people from all over the world, most of whom weren't going to make it. Why? Because loads of people can get As. But what does that show? It's three letters. How do we differentiate these three or four letters? If they didn't give a crap, they wouldn't have spent nearly as much effort on the (frankly a little bit over the top) interviews.

Also, my mum is a senior lecturer in KCL, and she doesn't give a crap about grades. Every student who emails her asking for work experience or this or that or whatever has good grades. She looks at what they as a person can offer her in her lab. No experience with tissue cultures? Well why would I need you then. Goodbye. (that being said, she doesn't work in admissions, moreso with MA or PhD students)

That being said, having 4 A2s wouldn't really hurt in your applications. But it won't guarantee anything either.

Reply 16

Student403

Original post by Indeterminate

Hope the bit in bold is true :redface:

PRSOM as usual :frown:

It definitely is, from browsing the US equivalent of TSR, visiting the place twice, and having a long chat with an alumna.

Heck, I met a British international freshman at my last visit to the Institvte who had lower predicted grades than I do! (And mine aren't even perfect :laugh:

)

Reply 17

username1560589

Basically, I don't believe top universities (Oxbridge/Imperial etc) should accept you unless you to do 5 A2s. For the reason that you are

EITHER: Talented but would rather doss around than put more work into academia.

OR: Not able to cope with 5A2s which means you most definitely would no be able to cope with the workload at a top university.

Obviously there should have exceptions for where School's don't allow people to do 5 A2s.

On a more serious note, for some people there aren't enough enjoyable or relevant subjects to justify taking more than 3, so it shouldn't be a requirement. It would be stupid to have to do extra subjects that you don't want to do just to satisfy this. Obviously someone who would struggle with 4 A2s can't handle the workload of university, but there are other things to work on(STEP etc.).