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literally what's the point of taking an EPQ?

im just starting y12 & i take 3 A levels as well as the EPQ,,
one of my y13 friends does 4 A levels + an EPQ and is predicted A*A*A*A for her A levels and an A* for her EPQ and she said that all the unis she applied to dont really differentiate applicants who have the EPQ, like they don't lower grades or anything. yet my friend said that she spent ages writing her 5k word dissertation. like she doesnt regret it but im thinking.. if unis dont lower grades / give u brownie points for doing it, why take it?
i got 10 '9's at gcse so i doubt i will struggle with my 3 a levels hence why i took the EPQ as my teacher told me it was either that or take 4 A levels.. but now im considering just dropping the EPQ if it doesnt count for anything?

Reply 1

erancl

In most universities an epq will lower your grades needed to get into uni (but not oxford or Cambridge). It’s good to have though if you do it on something related to the course you want to take at uni but it’s really not that big of a deal and unis won’t really looking more favourably on someone who has an epq rather than someone who doesnt