Am i being too ambitious?
Hey,
I'll get straight to the point, i want to go to uni of Nottingham for politics degree (ABB-AAB offer). But i think my GCSE's are pretty bad, and im wondering how significant an effect that would have on my application.
Basically i got 1 A* (Eng. language)
3 A's (media, latin, eng literature)
5 B's (maths, stats, business, bacs, geography)
1 C (citizenship)
Aswell as some IT qualifications..
Now i know i did well in what i am doing at A Level (Eng, Latin + media)
and across the board not too bad.. but in comparison with many others, they look bad
people get so many A's / A*s and then complain, so you can imagine why i'm concerned.
Please help, have i still got a good chance of getting into a russell group uni??
p.s got B in my english AS recently, not too bad considering everyone else failed miserably as we took it waaaay too early
I'll get straight to the point, i want to go to uni of Nottingham for politics degree (ABB-AAB offer). But i think my GCSE's are pretty bad, and im wondering how significant an effect that would have on my application.
Basically i got 1 A* (Eng. language)
3 A's (media, latin, eng literature)
5 B's (maths, stats, business, bacs, geography)
1 C (citizenship)
Aswell as some IT qualifications..
Now i know i did well in what i am doing at A Level (Eng, Latin + media)
and across the board not too bad.. but in comparison with many others, they look bad
people get so many A's / A*s and then complain, so you can imagine why i'm concerned.
Please help, have i still got a good chance of getting into a russell group uni??
p.s got B in my english AS recently, not too bad considering everyone else failed miserably as we took it waaaay too early
(edited 13 years ago)
bump
You'll never know til you apply. 
A bit of ambition is good. I applied for archaeology and anthropology at Durham as a wildcard, because I'd recently had an AWFUL history teacher and a horrible sequence of bad luck which resulted in me getting a D for history AS. I know, right, applying for archaeology with a D in history? But, they must have seen something in me, because they gave me an offer, I've retaken and got it to a strong A
If I were you, I'd try my chance at a few retakes and work really hard on the personal statement and getting relevant work experience.
You might not get in if you apply. But you definately won't if you don't.
A bit of ambition is good. I applied for archaeology and anthropology at Durham as a wildcard, because I'd recently had an AWFUL history teacher and a horrible sequence of bad luck which resulted in me getting a D for history AS. I know, right, applying for archaeology with a D in history? But, they must have seen something in me, because they gave me an offer, I've retaken and got it to a strong A
If I were you, I'd try my chance at a few retakes and work really hard on the personal statement and getting relevant work experience.
You might not get in if you apply. But you definately won't if you don't.
I cannot stress enough how much more important your AS results and personal statement are. You can't do anything about your GCSEs now (which aren't even bad!)
I'm jealous of your Latin, I'd love to have had the opportunity to study that, sigh...
But, yeah, are you only doing the three subjects at AS? (Because you should have a fourth...)
Anyway, GCSEs aren't the be all and end all so just do exceedingly well this year and you have a chance- simple as!
I'm jealous of your Latin, I'd love to have had the opportunity to study that, sigh...
But, yeah, are you only doing the three subjects at AS? (Because you should have a fourth...)
Anyway, GCSEs aren't the be all and end all so just do exceedingly well this year and you have a chance- simple as!
Original post by TheSmithsIndeed
I cannot stress enough how much more important your AS results and personal statement are. You can't do anything about your GCSEs now (which aren't even bad!)
I'm jealous of your Latin, I'd love to have had the opportunity to study that, sigh...
But, yeah, are you only doing the three subjects at AS? (Because you should have a fourth...)
Anyway, GCSEs aren't the be all and end all so just do exceedingly well this year and you have a chance- simple as!
I'm jealous of your Latin, I'd love to have had the opportunity to study that, sigh...
But, yeah, are you only doing the three subjects at AS? (Because you should have a fourth...)
Anyway, GCSEs aren't the be all and end all so just do exceedingly well this year and you have a chance- simple as!
Ok, thanks
will definately try much harder for A-levels! heheReally? most people wouldn't go near the subject
hahaAnd no.. Im doing Government and politics aswell.. I didn't mention it because i didn't do it for GCSE, but yeah hopefully if all goes well i can get the grades required at AS/A2.
Thanks for the info
glad to know that there is still a chance
Like that other person said GCSEs aren't actually that important. If you get good enough AS results you may as well apply to Nottingham - you've got nothing to lose apart from one space on your choices list.
edit just seen you do media, that really isn't a well viewed A level, you can always spend another year at college and change it to a different subject.
edit just seen you do media, that really isn't a well viewed A level, you can always spend another year at college and change it to a different subject.
(edited 13 years ago)
Original post by IngensPolyspaston
Hey,
I'll get straight to the point, i want to go to uni of Nottingham for politics degree (ABB-AAB offer). But i think my GCSE's are pretty bad, and im wondering how significant an effect that would have on my application.
Basically i got 1 A* (Eng. language)
3 A's (media, latin, eng literature)
5 B's (maths, stats, business, bacs, geography)
1 C (citizenship)
Aswell as some IT qualifications..
Now i know i did well in what i am doing at A Level (Eng, Latin + media)
and across the board not too bad.. but in comparison with many others, they look bad
people get so many A's / A*s and then complain, so you can imagine why i'm concerned.
Please help, have i still got a good chance of getting into a russell group uni??
p.s got B in my english AS recently, not too bad considering everyone else failed miserably as we took it waaaay too early
I'll get straight to the point, i want to go to uni of Nottingham for politics degree (ABB-AAB offer). But i think my GCSE's are pretty bad, and im wondering how significant an effect that would have on my application.
Basically i got 1 A* (Eng. language)
3 A's (media, latin, eng literature)
5 B's (maths, stats, business, bacs, geography)
1 C (citizenship)
Aswell as some IT qualifications..
Now i know i did well in what i am doing at A Level (Eng, Latin + media)
and across the board not too bad.. but in comparison with many others, they look bad
people get so many A's / A*s and then complain, so you can imagine why i'm concerned.
Please help, have i still got a good chance of getting into a russell group uni??
p.s got B in my english AS recently, not too bad considering everyone else failed miserably as we took it waaaay too early
I don't know about Nottingham but I know Oxford and Cambridge don't accept Media Studies as a viable A-level which is one of the main reasons I swapped media for history.
Your GCSE grades are good and like someone else mentioned the grades you get at A-level and your personal statement is much more important in a sense then your GCSE grades so don't worry too much, and good luck!!
Original post by Charlottie93
I don't know about Nottingham but I know Oxford and Cambridge don't accept Media Studies as a viable A-level which is one of the main reasons I swapped media for history.
Your GCSE grades are good and like someone else mentioned the grades you get at A-level and your personal statement is much more important in a sense then your GCSE grades so don't worry too much, and good luck!!
Your GCSE grades are good and like someone else mentioned the grades you get at A-level and your personal statement is much more important in a sense then your GCSE grades so don't worry too much, and good luck!!
Yeah, have considered dropping media after As level so i can focus on the other 3.. but then I would be potentially sacrificing a relatively easy A at A2
Original post by IngensPolyspaston
Hey,
I'll get straight to the point, i want to go to uni of Nottingham for politics degree (ABB-AAB offer). But i think my GCSE's are pretty bad, and im wondering how significant an effect that would have on my application.
Basically i got 1 A* (Eng. language)
3 A's (media, latin, eng literature)
5 B's (maths, stats, business, bacs, geography)
1 C (citizenship)
Aswell as some IT qualifications..
Now i know i did well in what i am doing at A Level (Eng, Latin + media)
and across the board not too bad.. but in comparison with many others, they look bad
people get so many A's / A*s and then complain, so you can imagine why i'm concerned.
Please help, have i still got a good chance of getting into a russell group uni??
p.s got B in my english AS recently, not too bad considering everyone else failed miserably as we took it waaaay too early
I'll get straight to the point, i want to go to uni of Nottingham for politics degree (ABB-AAB offer). But i think my GCSE's are pretty bad, and im wondering how significant an effect that would have on my application.
Basically i got 1 A* (Eng. language)
3 A's (media, latin, eng literature)
5 B's (maths, stats, business, bacs, geography)
1 C (citizenship)
Aswell as some IT qualifications..
Now i know i did well in what i am doing at A Level (Eng, Latin + media)
and across the board not too bad.. but in comparison with many others, they look bad
people get so many A's / A*s and then complain, so you can imagine why i'm concerned.
Please help, have i still got a good chance of getting into a russell group uni??
p.s got B in my english AS recently, not too bad considering everyone else failed miserably as we took it waaaay too early
Those GCSEs are fine. A couple of people got into Oxford this year with only 1 or 2 A*s, so y'know.
The thing with TSR is that everybody seems to have 50A*s at GCSE and 10A* predictions for A-level. It's not representative. If you have a strong personal statement, strong AS results and maybe some work experience (although I appreciate that can be difficult to find for a Politics degree), then you have every chance.
Original post by Rascacielos
Those GCSEs are fine. A couple of people got into Oxford this year with only 1 or 2 A*s, so y'know.
The thing with TSR is that everybody seems to have 50A*s at GCSE and 10A* predictions for A-level. It's not representative. If you have a strong personal statement, strong AS results and maybe some work experience (although I appreciate that can be difficult to find for a Politics degree), then you have every chance.
The thing with TSR is that everybody seems to have 50A*s at GCSE and 10A* predictions for A-level. It's not representative. If you have a strong personal statement, strong AS results and maybe some work experience (although I appreciate that can be difficult to find for a Politics degree), then you have every chance.
Really??
hehe wow, i thought it was all about the grades Ok, that makes me feel a lot better about applying for a russell group, it goes without saying though that i will have to knuckle down and do well in the A-levels
Original post by IngensPolyspaston
Yeah, have considered dropping media after As level so i can focus on the other 3.. but then I would be potentially sacrificing a relatively easy A at A2
Just check to make sure they accept it as an A-level if they do then go for it, if not then I would suggest dropping it, at the end of the day its what makes you happy. I didn't enjoy media studies so I dropped it after the first month of college for history which I love because I prefer subjects where I know I'm going to work hard otherwise I get complacent and I'll not get the grades I can achieve if I revise.
Are you doing AQA Politics? If so what did you get in the January Exam?
Original post by IngensPolyspaston
Really?? hehe wow, i thought it was all about the grades
Ok, that makes me feel a lot better about applying for a russell group, it goes without saying though that i will have to knuckle down and do well in the A-levels
hehe wow, i thought it was all about the grades Ok, that makes me feel a lot better about applying for a russell group, it goes without saying though that i will have to knuckle down and do well in the A-levels
A lot of it is about that grades. But if you can make up for it elsewhere, then Nottingham will overlook 'average' GCSEs. Not that yours really are average - a lot of people don't even get 5 GCSE passes, never mind an A*!!
Also, do you go to a below average school?
Original post by Charlottie93
Just check to make sure they accept it as an A-level if they do then go for it, if not then I would suggest dropping it, at the end of the day its what makes you happy. I didn't enjoy media studies so I dropped it after the first month of college for history which I love because I prefer subjects where I know I'm going to work hard otherwise I get complacent and I'll not get the grades I can achieve if I revise.
Are you doing AQA Politics? If so what did you get in the January Exam?
Are you doing AQA Politics? If so what did you get in the January Exam?
Yeah, will do, thanks
erm no i think it's Edexcel.. my exam is in June
Original post by Rascacielos
A lot of it is about that grades. But if you can make up for it elsewhere, then Nottingham will overlook 'average' GCSEs. Not that yours really are average - a lot of people don't even get 5 GCSE passes, never mind an A*!!
Also, do you go to a below average school?
Also, do you go to a below average school?
Erm.. don't know whether it is deemed 'below average' or not
It's dover grammar school for boys.
Original post by IngensPolyspaston
Erm.. don't know whether it is deemed 'below average' or not
It's dover grammar school for boys.
It's dover grammar school for boys.
If it's a grammar school, then probably not. They tend to measure your GCSE scores according to your school's reputation. For example, someone who got 5A*s at a school where the average is 5Cs has done a lot better than someone who got 5A*s at a school where the average is 7A*s.
Original post by IngensPolyspaston
Hey,
I'll get straight to the point, i want to go to uni of Nottingham for politics degree (ABB-AAB offer). But i think my GCSE's are pretty bad, and im wondering how significant an effect that would have on my application.
Basically i got 1 A* (Eng. language)
3 A's (media, latin, eng literature)
5 B's (maths, stats, business, bacs, geography)
1 C (citizenship)
Aswell as some IT qualifications..
Now i know i did well in what i am doing at A Level (Eng, Latin + media)
and across the board not too bad.. but in comparison with many others, they look bad
people get so many A's / A*s and then complain, so you can imagine why i'm concerned.
Please help, have i still got a good chance of getting into a russell group uni??
p.s got B in my english AS recently, not too bad considering everyone else failed miserably as we took it waaaay too early
I'll get straight to the point, i want to go to uni of Nottingham for politics degree (ABB-AAB offer). But i think my GCSE's are pretty bad, and im wondering how significant an effect that would have on my application.
Basically i got 1 A* (Eng. language)
3 A's (media, latin, eng literature)
5 B's (maths, stats, business, bacs, geography)
1 C (citizenship)
Aswell as some IT qualifications..
Now i know i did well in what i am doing at A Level (Eng, Latin + media)
and across the board not too bad.. but in comparison with many others, they look bad
people get so many A's / A*s and then complain, so you can imagine why i'm concerned.
Please help, have i still got a good chance of getting into a russell group uni??
p.s got B in my english AS recently, not too bad considering everyone else failed miserably as we took it waaaay too early
ask the uni,
but probs not too ambitious
You've got five choices so even if it was a "risk" at least you can have a couple of safety choices too
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