Univeristy preference to private school students!!

Univeristy preference to private school students...well i know a lot of TSR users come from independent schools, but i really want to know why state school students are looked down at by top universities despite some achieving the same or even better grades??

I know a friend of mine who applied to imperial, kings, st georges and queen marys for medicine and she was only invited for an interview at st goerges and queen marys. she didnt get offered a place at queen marys, but luckily she did at st georges!!
i really dont think it was fair that she didnt even get invited for an interview at imperial or kings considering she was a straight A's student. she got 1A* 8A's and 1B for her GCSE's and AAAA for AS and AAA in bio chem and maths for Alevel. what other reason could there be that imperial and kings did not even consider her for interview??

I would like to study computing/computer science at uni (2007) and my choices in order of preference so far are imperial, ucl, kings, queen mary, brunel and city. My GCSE grades are 6A*'s, 4A's and 2B's. i am currently studying AS maths chemistry, ICT and french. and im thinking of doing AS physics next year!!

Id like to know what my chances of getting into imperial,ucl,kings are with those grades and considering i am a 'state school' student??

Thanks

Considering you seem to have a distinct difficulty with essential SPG, such as "University" - notice the spelling, I don't think you should be worrying about university just yet.

your GCSE's are fine and nothing to worry about, but ICT is one of those 'non preferred' subjects (i hate to say it and be blunt, but i think that's kind of justified too). imperial, ucl, and king's are in different leagues to QMUL, brunel and city, i don't see you having a problem at all with those three. as imperial is probally the higher ranked out of itself, UCL, and KCL, and probally the better for CompSci (bear in mind i dont really know anything about compsci, i'm not applying for it.), i can give you a headsup on the admissions scenario there:

imperial's department of computing, AAB (one of those A's in maths). 726 applications recieved for 04/05, 117 admitted (6.2:1), average tarrif score of 352. imperial is ranked 3rd/4th? in the UK consistently.
i actually thought before checking the avg. points would be higher than that, but that's just under 3 A's (360),so maybe some are offering AAB + a good A/S. either way, if you think you can match that, get good references and personal statement, i don't see why not. i suppose it comes down to what you're predicted. never aim low though, someone thinking of imperial shouldn't even let city university enter their mind, i'd rethink those ones.

I would agree with your point about it being a typing error, except for the fact that it occurs in both the title and the first line of the post. Which, also means she makes the mistake every time she has written university so far.
What are you on about typical Oxford reply anyway? you dont even know me - I would recommend you didn't immedeately stereotype people you know nothing about.

the average points for imperial's computing department is 483 (4 A's inc maths)- go to the times online subject table

I would agree with your point about it being a typing error, except for the fact that it occurs in both the title and the first line of the post. Which, also means she makes the mistake every time she has written university so far.
What are you on about typical Oxford reply anyway? you dont even know me - I would recommend you didn't immedeately stereotype people you know nothing about.

your GCSE's are fine and nothing to worry about, but ICT is one of those 'non preferred' subjects (i hate to say it and be blunt, but i think that's kind of justified too). imperial, ucl, and king's are in different leagues to QMUL, brunel and city, i don't see you having a problem at all with those three. as imperial is probally the higher ranked out of itself, UCL, and KCL, and probally the better for CompSci (bear in mind i dont really know anything about compsci, i'm not applying for it.), i can give you a headsup on the admissions scenario there:

imperial's department of computing, AAB (one of those A's in maths). 726 applications recieved for 04/05, 117 admitted (6.2:1), average tarrif score of 352. imperial is ranked 3rd/4th? in the UK consistently.
i actually thought before checking the avg. points would be higher than that, but that's just under 3 A's (360),so maybe some are offering AAB + a good A/S. either way, if you think you can match that, get good references and personal statement, i don't see why not. i suppose it comes down to what you're predicted. never aim low though, someone thinking of imperial shouldn't even let city university enter their mind, i'd rethink those ones.

yeah, that does seem more like what i'd expect from imperial compsci! but! i got my figures from http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/pls/portallive/docs/1/62215.PDF page 8 (4 of 6), but i'm willing to go with your figures ;P

ah, i just read that page more in depth, "A level and tariff scores are based on the best three grades.". i can't see how on earth that helps anyone, but w/e.

I would agree with your point about it being a typing error, except for the fact that it occurs in both the title and the first line of the post. Which, also means she makes the mistake every time she has written university so far.
What are you on about typical Oxford reply anyway? you dont even know me - I would recommend you didn't immedeately stereotype people you know nothing about.

Oh really? well - i must say that most people here are too drunk to give a toss...who was the person who was so stuck up? i hope it didn't/wont put you off applying

your GCSE's are fine and nothing to worry about, but ICT is one of those 'non preferred' subjects (i hate to say it and be blunt, but i think that's kind of justified too). imperial, ucl, and king's are in different leagues to QMUL, brunel and city, i don't see you having a problem at all with those three. as imperial is probally the higher ranked out of itself, UCL, and KCL, and probally the better for CompSci (bear in mind i dont really know anything about compsci, i'm not applying for it.), i can give you a headsup on the admissions scenario there:

imperial's department of computing, AAB (one of those A's in maths). 726 applications recieved for 04/05, 117 admitted (6.2:1), average tarrif score of 352. imperial is ranked 3rd/4th? in the UK consistently.
i actually thought before checking the avg. points would be higher than that, but that's just under 3 A's (360),so maybe some are offering AAB + a good A/S. either way, if you think you can match that, get good references and personal statement, i don't see why not. i suppose it comes down to what you're predicted. never aim low though, someone thinking of imperial shouldn't even let city university enter their mind, i'd rethink those ones.

I know a friend of mine who applied to imperial, kings, st georges and queen marys for medicine and she was only invited for an interview at st goerges and queen marys. she didnt get offered a place at queen marys, but luckily she did at st georges!!
i really dont think it was fair that she didnt even get invited for an interview at imperial or kings considering she was a straight A's student. she got 1A* 8A's and 1B for her GCSE's and AAAA for AS and AAA in bio chem and maths for Alevel. what other reason could there be that imperial and kings did not even consider her for interview??

very bad example.
medicine isn't about being a 'straight A student' & the schools where it might have been the most relevant - she didn't apply to!

reasons they might not have invited her: lack of medical work experience, lack of voluntary work, lack of breadth & depth of relevant extra curriculars, unrealistic/poor motivation for medicine, poor reference, plenty of other 'better' candidates..

she was lucky to get a medical place at all, plenty don't.

& if you want an anecdote - ICL called me to their second day of interviewing for medicine & gave me an offer - i was from a state 6th form = conclusive proof there's no discrimination..

thanks for all the info.
As for A-level ICT...i didnt have any other choice. my school doesnt offer computing, otherwise i would have definately chosen that instead. what are the ideal subjects for computing/computer science?? I have to apply to city incase i dont get into all of the other top universities because i know this girl from my school who got AAA and excellent GCSE results, and she thought she would definately get into a top university, but in the end she didnt and now she is having to take a gap year.

np, i can't really advise on compsci subjects, it's not my path, i'm going for european studies personally. the problem i faced when i chose my alevels was that i didn't know what i wanted to do at uni, so i just tried to be as broad as possible, rather than some peeps i know who do 3 sciences and maths and don't know what they want to do afterwards. bar the ICT issue, all your subjects are strong, academic subjects imo, and i recon having a language in there helps you even if not applying for language courses.
on the subject of city, if you didn't get into those 'top' uni's, i'd do what your friend did. without trying to create an air of arrogance, why on earth would a realistic imperial candidate want to spend 3 years (of time, and tuition fees at 3k/an + living) at city? i'm applying at the moment, but if i don't get my top two (UCL and KCL, who want AAA and ABB respectively), chances are i'm taking a gap year. yeah, i /could/ go to cardiff, manchester, or bath (all respected unis imo), but i've spent 12 years in compulsory education, 2 years in sixth form, i'm predicted AAAA and i fooking work hard. i'm not letting that go to waste on some uni who just wants BBB. the point is, aim high.