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4 A* and no uni place!

Right so I heard about someone who got top GCSE grades and a level grades, was deputy head girl at her school and still didn't get a uni place. Not sure about you guys but I'd feel........errrrrrrrrr!

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Reply 1
Where have you applied and what course?
Original post by Sabz152
Right so I heard about someone who got top GCSE grades and a level grades, was deputy head girl at her school and still didn't get a uni place. Not sure about you guys but I'd feel........errrrrrrrrr!


What uni and what course? U know something its not only about the grades, people get rejected with 7A*s at A-Level and 13A*s at GCSE, they also look at your personal statement and work experience.
I think that's a great illustration of the general rule that the very best grades alone are not sufficient in all cases to gain admission to all courses.
If it's making you worry, honestly don't- that's such a rare occurrance. It is much more common (there were articles about it a while ago) for people to apply to top, competitive RG unis, mess up their exams, and get in with 3 Es, than for people to get rejected with 4 A*s. The only British unis that would realistically reject you with those grades would be Oxbridge and possibly Durham, but even that would be pushing it.
Reply 5
Not surprised if she was a medicine applicant.
Once you screwed your UKCAT/BMAT and it's over.
It's not that unreasonable. With those grades she should easily have got a place on an average course at a decent uni. But the very top universities and most competitive courses are swamped with people who have got those sorts of grades so if you only apply to those it's easy to mess up an interview or admission test or just not have a great personal statement and be out competed by others with similar grades.
The reason this makes the news is because it is such a rare occurrence. If I applied with 3/4 A*s and got rejected for Maths from every university I applied to i would send a letter requesting a reason as to why. I would then ask for a copy of my reference under the data information act, to check for hostile references.

For maths the likely hood of getting an offer if you have the grades is very high in most cases.

You can check the probability of receiving offers on this site.

https://www.ucas.com/advisers/offer-rate-calculator/

not sure how reliable it is but you can enter your grades and work out the likely hood.

from My understand I have a >90% chance in 3 of my choices giving an offer and 75% from imperial + 25% chance from Cambridge should I hit my target this year so that is (1-0.9)^3 *(1-0.75) * (1-0.25). for not getting an offer.

This gives me a 3 in 16000 chance of been rejected from all my choices. or 1 in 5333.333 times.

So I am pretty secure should I hit my grades. I can alter this should I fail to hit my desired grades,
Seems a bit strange, but it's possible that she just screwed up her interview. Or perhaps she didn't have an A* in one of the subjects that they require. (For some courses, they require grades in a particular subject. Just a bunch of A*s in random subjects won't matter if you're not doing the one subject they say they look for)

Also, the top unis get plenty of applications from straight A* students, so they can be very picky when it comes to sifting through personal statements and references.
because she was deputy and not the full head girl
Reply 10
Original post by surina16
because she was deputy and not the full head girl


Like that was the ultimate decider
Reply 11
If she was a medical school applicant, this is certainly understandable
Original post by Sabz152
Right so I heard about someone who got top GCSE grades and a level grades, was deputy head girl at her school and still didn't get a uni place. Not sure about you guys but I'd feel........errrrrrrrrr!


Hey

Don't worry about applying to university, universities take more than just grades into account when you apply. They also look at your personal statement and how you respond during your interview. Just because that person didn't get a place doesn't mean you won't :smile:

If you're feeling worried about applying feel free to check out our ucas guide: http://bit.ly/UcasWorried

If you have any questions let us know

Kyle
Original post by Reality Check
I think that's a great illustration of the general rule that the very best grades alone are not sufficient in all cases to gain admission to all courses.


head / ego deflation and acromio-clavicular chipectomy are often required for these problematic people to get a place. ..
Reply 14
Really? 😂
Original post by surina16
because she was deputy and not the full head girl
Reply 15
They were the achieved grades
Original post by JohnGreek
Were those achieved, or predicted grades?
Reply 16
See she was a medicine applicant ans she did soooo well on the ukcat! Just seems do sad that despite all the effort she didn't get in😔
Original post by ML8020
Not surprised if she was a medicine applicant.
Once you screwed your UKCAT/BMAT and it's over.
Reply 17
UCl, oxbridge,imperial, kcl, to do medicine
Original post by Rohit_Rocks10
What uni and what course? U know something its not only about the grades, people get rejected with 7A*s at A-Level and 13A*s at GCSE, they also look at your personal statement and work experience.
Original post by surina16
because she was deputy and not the full head girl


Of course!:tongue:
Reply 19
She applied to uni's like oxbridge, kcl, imperial ti do medicine. Maybe it's cause she didn't keep her options open for smaller uni's. Either way I'd be gutted if after so much effort I didn't get on to do what I wanted.
Original post by UWS
Where have you applied and what course?

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