Applicants for English Literature and Creative Writing at Warwick (2015)

Just London, that's pretty boring But I'm mixed race.

I live in London too, but am originally from Germany. Oh and btw! Warwick finally replied!! They sent me their questions and requested my portfolio, and then they said that they want to give me an offer, but that I need to meet the interview requirements Just as I came to terms with my possible rejection

See? I told you not to give up, well done Good luck with answering them and hopefully you will get in. I'm starting to come to terms with most likely not getting in just to soften the blow.

Thank you, I hope I will manage to finish everything within two weeks. But you already got an offer, didn't you? You should get in then. I still try to be pessimistic about their email, because if my hopes are too high, I will only fall deeper.

I did, and I put them as my firm choice. Agreed, I really don't want to be dropped after I get my results but I'd be smart to prepare myself beforehand knowing it could happen. During the talk where the staff only spoke to our parents, my mum told me that they said they care more about portfolios than grades but because they're a top university they're supposed to look at grades before anything else. Though, the woman there said if she ever doesn't know who to choose between people who didn't meet the grades, she will go by portfolio alone.

You never know indeed. I am honestly surprised that they decided to interview me after all, since I didn't even get the grades I need, and I strongly doubt that they interview everyone. According to them they still have the capacity to give me an offer, but you never know. I don't even know how many people they are interviewing at this very minute.

Well, they definitely don't broadcast it because the staff were flattered but annoyed by how many people apply every year who are obviously (by their standards) not cut out for a place. She said, in her own words, over a 1000 applicants per place and they can seat a very maximum of 35 but they would prefer 30 because of the number of teachers. I think they only teach two classes. And they didn't reduce my offer, they're asking for 3 A's :'(

I heard that as well. When I went to the open day in September/October last year, they showed us examples of poor personal statements, and one of them had a sentence that said "I have been attracted to books for over three years", which obviously doesn't sound quite right. Well, even if you don't get the grades you need, you might still have a chance as it is a creative course in which you need to demonstrate your skills rather than your academic excellence. For me it was pure misfortune, as my predicted A*'s came back as C's and D's by the IBO, which was so annoying as I literally studied more than 9 hours every day. And during my Chemistry exam, everyone discovered that they asked us things that weren't even in the syllabus -_-'' But at least I received good grades in English, psychology and German.

I really do hopeso, but they don't really talk about people who got into the course without getting the grades which makes it seem impossible. That's very unfortunate, has happened to me before as well. I am doing English and Psychology as well, and I'm hoping I will do the best in those subjects out of all the ones I'm doing.

I know one girl that got into Warwick without the grades, so it is possible. I also asked them during the open day if they still consider people that missed out on the grades, and they basically said that they accept them as long as they aren't too far off. English and psychology were my favourite subjects, so I did automatically better in them than maths, bio and chemistry.

That's good I know at the open evening they gave the impression that even the AS levels they'd received were low in general which put me at an advantage. Are you currently studying?

Many people are just extremely naive these days. I know a few people from my old school who wanted to apply to MIT and Harvard, but who didn't study at all and kept asking me to do their homework for them. They ended up failing every single exam and they still were positive about getting in. I'm just at an advantage because I did the IB, which is basically like doing 6 A-levels, but more in depth + you need to do some other courses and work, and everything is based upon luck. I am currently taking a gap year, so I am not studying. I'm working within hospitality in order to earn money for uni and to improve my communication skills. Which A-levels are you taking, except of English and psychology?

I did RS last year and I'm doing Fine Art and an Extended Project. They're not difficult but the work load is hard to manage, even with my naturally being an organised person. It's definitely not enjoyable which is why I want to go to uni so I can just focus on literature.

Yeah, same here. IB is really annoying as well, as it is mandatory to choose one subject from each category (like sciences, humanities etc.), and I had to spend most of my time on maths, when I would rather have spent it on improving my writing and studying literature.

That's unfortunate. It does sound very difficult, especially doing it as well as other subjects. But hopefully the fact you undertook it at all should stand for something in the eyes of the admissions team.

Warwick seems to like the IB, seeing as they hosted one of the IB conferences the other year. Unfortunately, many universities don't like the IB at all, as they are more used to the A-level curriculum, and IB students study different topics -- usually already at an university level, which makes it more difficult (but also easier) to tutor them.

I got an offer from Warwick today, about a month after sending off my portfolio. I already have my grades, but they require an additional reference as their 'condition' so I'm hoping that will all be okay now!!