The Student Room Group

Realistic University Application Choice Advice?

Its getting towards the time where I have to pick my 5 university choices, and I'm not sure which would be best suited to my academic performance. I completed my AS levels attaining an A in Maths, B in Further Maths, B in Chemistry and a C in Economics - although I am confident that with two retakes I can achieve A's in both Further Maths and Chemistry as I performed badly on two tests that I shouldn't have. I am carrying Maths, Chemistry and Further Maths forward to A level and am hoping to achieve A*AA respectively (although a B in Further Maths may be more likely) as well as taking the STEP and possibly AEA Maths exams too.

I was wondering which universities would be most suited to my academic performance (having also attained 5A*s 3As and 3Bs at GCSE level) as I was originally aiming to apply to Warwick, yet I fear that may be off the cards now. If anybody could advise me on which uni I should aim for as an absolute maximum, as well as one or two around my level and another safe option just below it would be much appreciated.

Finally, would non/less academic factors such as being a DofE Gold participant, being selected as a prefect at school or sporting activities have much of an influence on being accepted by unis or do they tend just to look for grades?

Thank you for taking the time for reading this, hopefully someone will have the answers!

A worried student.x
Reply 1
Original post by _JoshP_
Its getting towards the time where I have to pick my 5 university choices, and I'm not sure which would be best suited to my academic performance. I completed my AS levels attaining an A in Maths, B in Further Maths, B in Chemistry and a C in Economics - although I am confident that with two retakes I can achieve A's in both Further Maths and Chemistry as I performed badly on two tests that I shouldn't have. I am carrying Maths, Chemistry and Further Maths forward to A level and am hoping to achieve A*AA respectively (although a B in Further Maths may be more likely) as well as taking the STEP and possibly AEA Maths exams too.

I was wondering which universities would be most suited to my academic performance (having also attained 5A*s 3As and 3Bs at GCSE level) as I was originally aiming to apply to Warwick, yet I fear that may be off the cards now. If anybody could advise me on which uni I should aim for as an absolute maximum, as well as one or two around my level and another safe option just below it would be much appreciated.

Finally, would non/less academic factors such as being a DofE Gold participant, being selected as a prefect at school or sporting activities have much of an influence on being accepted by unis or do they tend just to look for grades?

Thank you for taking the time for reading this, hopefully someone will have the answers!

A worried student.x


If you think you have a chance of getting A*AA then you could still put Warwick down as your highest choice with a number of lower-offer institutions. But bear in mind that getting grades in STEP/AEA is very demanding and requires lots of preparation which you will need to factor in - don't overstretch yourself!

And for a Maths degree, extra-curriculars aren't all that critical :smile:

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