Would I have been auto rejected from Oxford?

I got A*A*A*A* at A level and averaged slightly above 90 in the first year of my degree.

Not sure how impressive it is but I got into the "British Maths Olympiad" (first in schools history), and the physics entrance test does look very doable after bmo.

HOWEVER I had B/C average at GCSE due to stress at home/school and dropped out for a bit so wrote Oxford (and the top 10) off.

I would have been auto-rejected if I applied? R-r-right?

HOWEVER I had B/C average at GCSE due to stress at home/school and dropped out for a bit so wrote Oxford (and the top 10) off.

I would have been auto-rejected if I applied? R-r-right?

I got A*A*A*A* at A level and averaged slightly above 90 in the first year of my degree.

Not sure how impressive it is but I got into the "British Maths Olympiad" (first in schools history), and the physics entrance test does look very doable after bmo.

HOWEVER I had B/C average at GCSE due to stress at home/school and dropped out for a bit so wrote Oxford (and the top 10) off.

I would have been auto-rejected if I applied? R-r-right?

You didn't apply to any of the "top 10" (not sure which rankings you're using...)?

I mean... there would have been no harm in trying! Where are you firming instead? What subjects did you do at A-level and what are you looking to study? No they wouldn't "auto-reject" you... they may well have ended up rejecting you but it wouldn't be automatic. It depends on a lot of things and you have great A-levels. I know people at Cambridge with less than perfect GCSEs.

If you're really regretting it then there's no harm in taking a gap year and reapplying to at least 2 of the unis that you would've preferred to go to?

I've done my A levels and 1 year of my degree so can't really change now, it just bothers me a bit. Subjects were all "respectable" hard sciences. By top 10 I mean any of the good london ones, durham, warwick, edinburgh.

No, you wouldn't. The big advantage of the Oxford admissions process for you would have been the PAT. A high mark on that can out-weight other negative aspects of an application, as, I assume, an explanation could.

It's great that you're doing so well elsewhere. Perhaps you could think about applying for a higher degree?

I've done my A levels and 1 year of my degree so can't really change now, it just bothers me a bit. Subjects were all "respectable" hard sciences. By top 10 I mean any of the good london ones, durham, warwick, edinburgh.

I got A*A*A*A* at A level and averaged slightly above 90 in the first year of my degree.

Not sure how impressive it is but I got into the "British Maths Olympiad" (first in schools history), and the physics entrance test does look very doable after bmo.

HOWEVER I had B/C average at GCSE due to stress at home/school and dropped out for a bit so wrote Oxford (and the top 10) off.

I would have been auto-rejected if I applied? R-r-right?

I got A*A*A*A* at A level and averaged slightly above 90 in the first year of my degree.

Not sure how impressive it is but I got into the "British Maths Olympiad" (first in schools history), and the physics entrance test does look very doable after bmo.

HOWEVER I had B/C average at GCSE due to stress at home/school and dropped out for a bit so wrote Oxford (and the top 10) off.

I would have been auto-rejected if I applied? R-r-right?

I guess you have reason to be butthurt but I would say you would have better chance at Cambridge through extenuating circumstances, but for oxford I would say there is a chance but very small so most likely no

Well it's all "what ifs" and "grass is greener" and not really that important now. Just focus on your current course.

BUT you would have been competitive for any in the "top 10". Fundamentally vthey all view your most recent academic performance as more important than GCSEs (assuming you meet their minimum GCSE requirements).

Posted from TSR Mobile

what uni are you at now?

apart from oxford and cambridge and a couple of the london ones the rest of the top RG unis are basically the same... i think warwick, edinburgh and durham are just given more "prestige" because they're old and look fancy

what uni are you at now?

apart from oxford and cambridge and a couple of the london ones the rest of the top RG unis are basically the same... i think warwick, edinburgh and durham are just given more "prestige" because they're old and look fancy

You got 4 A* at Alevel? Please show me how... i was just like you in GCSE but got mostly B's

Mainly I worked very hard, and also had a lot of issues at home during GCSEs which probably led to under performance.

Things I'd recommend are

a) Go over past papers autistically until you can recite wordy answers word for word. My memory is considerably worse than the average persons and I could recite them perfectly for full marks. (this is not false modesty, it genuinely is way below average and I fully believe the average person can do the remembering part) I did it by writing things out multiple times, some people do it different ways.

b) Try not to get behind, if you can't do something practise at home until you can. Ask teachers if you still cant do it.

c) ACTUALLY believe you can do it. Don't go around saying it obviously but actually make it clear to yourself A*A*A*A* is your aim instead of just an unattainable dream.

I think this could have been of greater concern to them than the GCSE performance and whilst not ruling you out, would have certainly raised some questions:


Well done for turning things around, though. Really good.

Lol kind of regret posting that now. I wasn't a bully or picked on people if it appears that way.

School was quite rough and I used to be picked on a bit until I got fed up and would fight over stupid small things. At home I was on edge constantly which didn't help either.

It's going to sound stupid but I eventually considered threatening/fighting as normal behaviour since it was only way to solve anything. Couldn't really get parents to go in and complain.

I still have trust issues/paranoia now to be honest but it's not as bad and I do regret messing around in the past.

Quite possibly. Might have had a better chance at Cambridge since they have less emphasis on GCSEs. But yeah, you can apply for a Masters.



Warwick...is old and looks fancy?

Yeah guess I'm just not over it yet.

Also doesn't warwick have the highest A level offer like A*A*A* for maths? Not exactly typical