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The gap year and reapplying questions thread

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Has anyone started/completed their personal statement yet?

I'm waiting until i've heard back from all the unis i emailed about their stance on resitters for History. It would pretty much destroy me if they all said no, so not much point starting before then.

I'm hoping the fact i'm not resitting any exams will work in my favour.

Reply 141

Strüberry

How the hell was Results Day so long ago?! September is just around the corner already! Oh, I don't want to start studying yet. :sad:

Reply 142

skunky x

Original post by Strüberry

How the hell was Results Day so long ago?! September is just around the corner already! Oh, I don't want to start studying yet. :sad:

October seems awfully close and all I've bought/received for uni is a laptop.

Reply 143

nooneyouknow

Original post by sr90

That's what I'm thinking! We shall get into better unis and somehow figure out where we went wrong :s-smilie:

Original post by Omiclops

Just to let you know, KCL do not like resitters at all and said they wouldn't consider at all. Just a heads up :smile:

I did think they may be stricter now someone I know did get in on resits this year but they did really well in their LNAT so maybe that's what did it. Think I may be giving it a miss though it seems a bit redundant to do the LNAT for one uni. Thanks for the heads up though :biggrin:

Original post by chookieman

Yes i'm applying for Law again, i've asked Nottingham about it, weren't very helpful, basically said they dont accept resits, only fresh A levels like doing whole A levels in a year. Warwick were not as bad they said it would basically mean you were less competitive... Was your friend that got into exeter for Law? What uni were you planning to attend this year?

Thanks for the info that's good to know I didn't like Nottingham too much when I went so wasn't going to apply lol. It was a different friend he was in my law class at college, resat all the AS modules and one A2 but is off to study there in a couple of weeks. I was planning on Kent but as I got A*BC they couldn't fit me in it's so frustrating but I'm getting the Law remarked so I can hopefully go up to an A for it. Where were you planning on going this year?

Reply 144

chookieman

Original post by nooneyouknow

oh fair do's, I was planning on going to Warwick, got ABB needed AAA, was distraught, but i'm slightly over it... gonna do some work experience, and i'm already making a list of unis I can apply to next year. So far Warwick for Law or Law and Psychology, Queen Mary dont mind resits, and Exeter... Feel free to add more !

Reply 145

driftingaway

does anyone know when the last day to ask a university to be released is? Im mean to be enrolling on the 19th sept at staffordshire, but im considering a gap year.

still waiting for my remarks to come back too, most of my health and social care subject is coursework based, im worried that the teachers will refuse to help me out and i wont be able to resubmit my work again :frown:

Reply 146

Omiclops

Original post by chookieman

what other unis are you looking to go to? Warwick told me they wouldn't discount me but my application would not be as competitive and Nottingham told me that they dont accept resits for Law only 'fresh' A levels. Queen Mary do accept them...

Nottingham told me only extenuating circumstances were allowed and I was having problems in my first year (AS) with my Mum and stuff which meant I couldn't properly concentrate during exams. Same goes for UCL.

I'm looking to apply to: UCL, Nottingham, Newcastle, Queen Mary and Leeds.

What about you? Warwick is a good university but the place is so empty and looks so boring.

Reply 147

jelly1000

Good luck to all of you resitting/reapplying. I was in your position last year and managed to get 5 offers from Leeds, Birmingham, UEA, Portsmouth and Nottingham Trent in my second time of applying, albeit for International Relations which isn't as competitive as Law. I'll be going to UEA in September.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Reply 148

mzwoteva16

Original post by TheNamelessGrace

Why are you resitting the year: Achieved A*A*AB at A-level (B in Maths, my C3, C4 and M2 results were atrocious! Two Cs and an E respectively, but hopefully my resits in January will boost it up to an A :smile:

). I originally had an offer to study Medicine, but after thinking it over I realised that I'm not 100% committed to it, so I declined the offer and am applying for 2013 entry instead (essentially I'm having two gap years :redface:

).
What course are you applying for: English Literature :biggrin:

What universities do you have in mind: Cambridge, UCL, Sussex, Exeter, York, St. Andrews, Durham
What else (other than study) do you plan to do on your year off:
1. Read, read, read, read, read.
2. Self teach Philosophy A-level
3. Learn Latin & Italian (and maybe brush off my French and Spanish)
4. Find a job and get work experience in publishing, journalism and law.

I'm hoping universities won't hold it against me that I'm essentially taking two gap years (after being in 'medicine mode' for two years, I just need a year to get myself sorted and increase my confidence in myself before applying), and that I'm retaking my Maths A-level (although for English Literature I doubt it).

Good luck to everyone else on a gap year! :biggrin:

Sorry to butt in but my friend did the same thing, only she took on eyear out...They definately won't care about the resit! My mate originally applied for a subject specific course and then got a B in that subject and was rejected despite having A*A*A B and susequently got an Unconditional offer to read Literature at Cambridge! She also resat the B and got an A! Good luck! :biggrin:

Reply 149

IloveIt

Why are you resitting the year: I got ACC and was so close to achieving my target ABB *sigh* :s-smilie:

What course are you applying for: Nutrition and Dietetics (4 years)
What universities do you have in mind: Nottingham, King's, Leeds and Surrey
What else (other than study) do you plan to do on your year off: Work experience in the NHS hopefully, working to earn money for university, getting my driving license and visiting family/friends. I will be taking intensive sociology a-level too.

Reply 150

Milky Milk

Still waiting to hear from my college about whether or not they'll let me resit.

This means I haven't yet informed my insurance of this yet :ninja:

Reply 151

Phenylethylamine_

Original post by Milky Milk

Still waiting to hear from my college about whether or not they'll let me resit.

This means I haven't yet informed my insurance of this yet :ninja:

What is your insurance? Why are you thinking not to go to your insurance? :smile:

Reply 152

Phenylethylamine_

Guys, does it actually matter how many modules you're resitting? I'm thinking to resit two modules from maths and two from chemistry to try and get A*s. Is that too much resitting?

Also, for Economics AS I got an A, I'm thinking of picking that up again at A2, do you guys think I should? I'll need to refresh myself on AS economics, attend classes at school. Anyone did economics at A2? Is it a big step up from AS?

Reply 153

Ilovesourskittles

Why are you resitting the year: I needed ABB for my course and got BBB ):

What course are you applying for: History/English

What universities do you have in mind: Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield,

What else (other than study) do you plan to do on your year off:
Learn to drive
Get a second job :smile:

Join a gym
Help my mum out more :3

Reply 154

Milky Milk

Original post by Phenylethylamine_

What is your insurance? Why are you thinking not to go to your insurance? :smile:

My insurance is UCLAN.

I was never set on going from the start, I was so adament that I was going to Lancaster (my firm). Due to that naivety, I never went to any open days or anything and I'm just so set on trying to get into Lancaster again!

It might sound selfish but I have my heart set on Lancaster :h:

Reply 155

angelic03

Original post by Phenylethylamine_

I did economics and they are both very different to A2. some macro topics are the same as AS such as employment, but just in more detail. You learn more graphs and links between things like inflation and unemployment.. etc. It actually depends on your exam board as well, I was on AQA. You need to be VERY analytical and learn everything very thoroughly.

Reply 156

Ilovesourskittles

Original post by Milky Milk

That's so sweet :love:

Hehe, thankyouuu :colondollar:

^_^

Reply 157

Phenylethylamine_

Original post by Milky Milk

Ahh I see, no I totally understand. :wink:

Goood luck with trying for Lancaster again!! :biggrin:

Reply 158

Phenylethylamine_

Original post by angelic03

Ahh I see, I also did AQA :wink:

So, I know the format of the paper, unless it changes at A2? Multiple choice qs? a 5 marker/8 marker/12 marker/25 marker? Do you think it would be too big of a jump considering I haven't done economics for a year? I did it 2010 for my AS, but then dropped it at A2, got 92/100 for Micro and 75/100 for Macro...

Reply 159

Phenylethylamine_

Original post by Milky Milk

What course are you looking to apply for and which universities?

If you want to get the grades for you aswell, I'd definately resit if you think you can get the A*s. I mean university is the main reason you're doing this, however how awesome would it be to carry around A*s with you? :biggrin:

Not literally of course...

Ask your teachers and tutors if you really need guidance!

Ahh my situation is so complicated! :P Long story short: Well, initially I applied for medicine with predictions of AAA, got two interviews but then got post-interview rejected. So, I had a backup through UCAS Extra at Birmingham for Medical biochemistry, needed ABB, but only got BBB :mad:

I had a lot of problems at home this year unfortunately.

So, now I'm applying for Biomedical science/Biochemistry/Chemistry courses and hoping to get into postgraduate medicine. I'm hoping to apply at Sheffield/Newcastle/Liverpool/maybe Birmingham/St.Georges maybe/King's/Nottingham
I've emailed King's and Birmingham, they said they might not take your application as competitively and Birmingham said they will issue higher entry requirements.

I definitely think I can get the A*s, especially since we have so much more time now :wink:

I've asked my chemistry teacher, she said it's fine as long as I put the work in. I'm not doing any retakes for biology because the exam board I did, Edexcel SNAB is really unreliable.

So, I'm hoping to end up with A*A*B :biggrin:

So, do you think two resits for maths and two resits for chemistry are too much? both A2 modules so I can aim for the A*'s. I'm also thinking maybe to pick up A2 economics, because I did AS economics and got an A. So, I'll have two extra exams.

P.S. What's your situation like? besides hoping to get into Lancaster again! I think I need to make some gap-year friends :smile: