I sat my A levels this year and am hoping to apply for land economy post qualification. I know the standard offer is A*AA but would applying with those exact grades mean that it was unlikely that I would win a place? Would it depend on the subjects each grade was in? I'm taking maths, econ and french - will an A* in french be seen as unimportant as it isn't relevant to the course?
I saw online a document which had the difference in performance of Cambridge students compared to their A level results. For Land Economy it said that there was no significant difference in performance at degree level between those with 1,2 or 3 A* at A level, do you think admissions tutors take this into account or is it largely irrelevant?
I am still hoping to get A*A*A in August (although I am very anxious as I didn't feel the exams went as well as they could/should have and A*AA is very possible) but I know that in maths it is impossible for me to get the A* I was predicted due to a terrible C3 paper (I didn't notice there was a question 9 on top of some stupid mistakes). If this was the case and I had a B in one paper (I've estimated that it will be around 78 UMS) but my overall maths average UMS was 90 would you recommend retaking the C3 module or do you think admissions tutors will view it as an anomaly anyway? As maths is probably considered the most challenging of my subjects do you think an A here will be particularly worrying to admissions tutors?
Please could you also tell me how admissions tutors normally compare achieved A level grades with predicted - I know that in my case predicted grades were given on the assumption of "with everything going well on the day she should achieve..." when in reality it is rare that every paper goes as well as it possibly could. Do GCSE grades have any importance at all or are these overshadowed by AS/A level performance? Would having 10 A* grades at GCSE give me an advantage even if my A level grades weren't quite as strong as someone with weaker GCSEs' predicted grades?
How much does a genuine interest and enthusiasm for the subject matter? If I managed to convey how much I wanted to study this course in my application would this have a significant bearing on my chances of being awarded a place or would grades, references and test scores be considered better indicators of how suitable I was for the course?
Finally, how important is the TSA? Would a strong mark in the TSA compensate for slightly weaker A level results or is this unlikely?
Thank you and sorry for such a long list of questions, I have some good offers this year (but for a subject I am less interested in studying) so want to make sure that I'm in full possession of the facts before I give those places up.