University Choice Help - LSE, Cambridge, Oxford, UCL

Your GCSEs rarely matter in these situations. Make sure you have some other extra curricular experience. They don't want robots they want well rounded people. A lot can change in a year too, be aware of that in terms of your predicted grades. Also there's no reason to do 4 subjects.

Thanks, my school make you do 3 and FM must be done as a ‘4th a level’. I’m trying my best to get extra circular experience done aswell I understand the importance of it.

I would drop one at AS. 3 A*s looks better than like 2 A*s an A and a B

The above comment about GCSE grades is not strictly correct. Generally, if an institution indicates a particular grade is required in a specific subject, this is usually pretty stringently enforced - particularly for somewhere as competitive as LSE. It is a very easy way for them to bin your application immediately.

Beyond that, while GCSEs generally aren't super important for most universities, Oxford do use them as part of their formal shortlisting process. The extent to which they get used seems to vary somewhat between subjects, but generally they will look at number and proportion of 8/9 grades at GCSE across your overall profile.

However, Cambridge do not have any GCSE requirements and don't weigh them that heavily, so I would recommend you focus on them. I think you would also be a good prospect for UCL. If you retake your English language GCSE to get above a 6 LSE might be an option. You might also like to consider Warwick, which has a well regarded economics programme and similarly mathematical to Cambridge and LSE.

+1 to what artful said about GCSE's mattering.

They all have their own policy, but those are min specs.
In a competitive uni it does you no harm to have good ones. see what the uni or course says about GCSE as some of them like to see a lot of A grades.

Thanks. If I miss one of the min. grades so the English Language in my case for LSE, would that likely affect my chance of getting an offer as I did get good a majority 8/9 in my GCSEs

LSE are tough. Ring and ask admissions, but it wouldnt surprise me if they reject you out of hand, because they state the min and you wouldnt meet it. Talk to them to avoid wasting a choice.

For my GCSEs I got 7 9s, 2 8s, 1 7, 1 6, 1 B and 1 5. The 5 was in English Language.
I’m taking Maths FM Econ Computer Science for A level. I’m looking to apply to LSE or Cambridge but I saw LSE require a 6 in English Lang , so I wanted to know whether it’s worth applying there and the if I still have a good chance.
I’m predicted A*A*A*A with the A in Computer Science.

All advice much appreciated, thanks 😁

The admission tutor was so vague and didn’t give a proper answer. Therefore, I was hoping someone in TSR could help and if anyone has a first has experience of applying to LSE.

Ring them again. I would reject you as you do not meet the criteria. They have discretion, but will have enough candidates who exceed the criteria.

What do you want to study?

I would say Oxbridge are both equal no 1 (but it sounds like you prefer Cambridge). And then you can still pick both LSE and UCL.

Apply for all 3 (but email LSE, just to make sure your 6 in English Language is not an automatic rejection, as if so no point wasting an application on it)

If LSE is no then Durham, Imperial, Warwick, Bristol, Notts, KCL are all also very reputable unis. I would have 1 safety uni choice probably at like the AAB mark, but if you have 3A* predictions you could easily put AAA down as an insurance on UCAS when you pick your final 2 unis.

That’s a bit harsh. I didn’t go to a bad school, therefore surely some context should be put on my grades

That’s a bit harsh. I didn’t go to a bad school, therefore surely some context should be put on my grades

They dont need to if its a literal sort. People dont have to make allowances for you and they will have many who wildly exceed the grades. Dont email, phone and talk to a human being.

Please bare in mind I did 13 GCSEs with 2 languages. I understand what you’re saying of course but I have a valid circumstance in which was a factor of my weaker grade in English Language. Wouldn’t my grade English Literature also show my literacy as I bagged the 7 in it.