Need some serous advice on what steps I should take
I got ABB at my a level results while I was predicted AAA*. (even performed better without revising much for mocks). Ive gone through clearing and got a place at Glasgow but here are my following concerns and thoughts.
Im worried that Glasgow (and my worries are supported by statistics) is not looked at favourably in the eye of law firms and it seems its often overlooked. Im worried that if I accept a place here I may ruin my chances at MC and SC firms in the future. To overcome this ive made a couple of plans.
Goto Glasgow This year:
Cons:
Pros:
My other option is as follows
Take gap year:
Cons:
Pros:
Questions:
How can I make the most out of my placement (how will universities know the difference between the fact I spent 9 months in an internship over some Joe Shmoe who spend 1 week photocopying his ass at a law firm) ?
Will doing this placement make me more eligible for places on courses that I may not meet the requirements for if my grades don't improve in the remark?
There were also some extenuating circumstances that my school failed to adequately make the universities I applied for aware of so when I apply again I can make sure they know.
So what do you guys this, out of all the people ive spoken to about this most have gone.. "rather me than you" and haven't been much help. With option would you take if you were me and is there any advice you could offer.
Im worried that Glasgow (and my worries are supported by statistics) is not looked at favourably in the eye of law firms and it seems its often overlooked. Im worried that if I accept a place here I may ruin my chances at MC and SC firms in the future. To overcome this ive made a couple of plans.
Goto Glasgow This year:
•
Do 2 or 4 year course
•
Complete postgraduate at oxbridge or other London based Uni
Cons:
•
Low employability at Glasgow for law in the UK
•
Far away from friends
•
Post graduate might not be at oxbridge or London uni and therefore running my chances of MC and SC
•
A post graduate may not be needed depending what path I choose so the whole postgraduate at oxbridge may be pointless
•
Im a bit hesitant to spend 2 to 4 years in a university im not sure about
Pros:
•
Immediate start
•
Chance to recover employability
•
Potentially cheap
My other option is as follows
Take gap year:
•
Apply for a remark
•
Go on one of the longer internship programmes to gain valuable experience for both applications and job prospects
•
Start UCAS cycle again with remarked grades and internship
•
Apply to more well perceived universities in the eyes of law firms e.g Edinburgh
Cons:
•
Have nothing to do during a gap year and I may fail to secure any kind of internship
•
Risk loosing my place at Glasgow
•
Would have to sort bureaucracy again
Pros:
•
Would have more time with friends
•
Have a better shot at getting into a more employable uni
•
Even if my grades stay the same I still meet the requirements for Edinburgh
•
If all goess wrong I can attempt clearing again
•
Potential to be both cheaper and more expensive
•
I would be happier about this
Questions:
How can I make the most out of my placement (how will universities know the difference between the fact I spent 9 months in an internship over some Joe Shmoe who spend 1 week photocopying his ass at a law firm) ?
Will doing this placement make me more eligible for places on courses that I may not meet the requirements for if my grades don't improve in the remark?
There were also some extenuating circumstances that my school failed to adequately make the universities I applied for aware of so when I apply again I can make sure they know.
So what do you guys this, out of all the people ive spoken to about this most have gone.. "rather me than you" and haven't been much help. With option would you take if you were me and is there any advice you could offer.
(edited 5 years ago)
I think your main difficulty is that Glasgow is Scottish law (unless you are potentially doing a course that covers English law?)
Its a difficult question for others to answer but it sounds like you have thought about it a lot... being far away from friends isn't necessarily anything to worry about - you have long holidays to see them in
If you get a good placement it will be obvious from the way you've talked about it about whether you did something worthwhile
I know that the top firms are (because they can be) picky about unis, but you don't sound like you're set on law anyway... Its up to you really and law is not my area of expertise I'm afraid
Its a difficult question for others to answer but it sounds like you have thought about it a lot... being far away from friends isn't necessarily anything to worry about - you have long holidays to see them in
If you get a good placement it will be obvious from the way you've talked about it about whether you did something worthwhile
I know that the top firms are (because they can be) picky about unis, but you don't sound like you're set on law anyway... Its up to you really and law is not my area of expertise I'm afraid
Original post by Interrobang
I think your main difficulty is that Glasgow is Scottish law (unless you are potentially doing a course that covers English law?)
Its a difficult question for others to answer but it sounds like you have thought about it a lot... being far away from friends isn't necessarily anything to worry about - you have long holidays to see them in
If you get a good placement it will be obvious from the way you've talked about it about whether you did something worthwhile
I know that the top firms are (because they can be) picky about unis, but you don't sound like you're set on law anyway... Its up to you really and law is not my area of expertise I'm afraid
Its a difficult question for others to answer but it sounds like you have thought about it a lot... being far away from friends isn't necessarily anything to worry about - you have long holidays to see them in
If you get a good placement it will be obvious from the way you've talked about it about whether you did something worthwhile
I know that the top firms are (because they can be) picky about unis, but you don't sound like you're set on law anyway... Its up to you really and law is not my area of expertise I'm afraid
Yea the course covers English law (both in Edinburgh and Glasgow). And while it seemingly didn't come across I am 100% set on doing law.
Ive doing even more thinking and my current thoughts are: At the very least my grades can currently get me to Edinburgh and Durham foundation with both leading to attaining a more employable degree that Glasgow would offer.
In this line of though it seems far more beneficial to take a year and take a shot at getting a good placement.
Sorry I meant law as a profession not as a course. You have to do what feels right for you - if you think you would be happier somewhere else then reapply. Would you be eligible for the foundation course with grades that good?
I am not an expert at law but I'll say some observations I've made about your case in general, given that I was quite active after results day this year in regards of talking to people on here in the clearing and UCAS section.
With regards of your other option which is to ask for a remark, taking a gap year and reapplying in the next UCAS cycle. How sure are you that even once you remark that you will have improved grades, i.e. at least AAA? If you remark them and end up with ABB or AAB then that is not much of an improvement. If you then reapply with just ABB or AAB then you wont get any school better than Glasgow and since you reapplied you will probably get even worse uni offers than Glasgow. The top unis, like Oxbridge for example, dont like reapplicants (although this mostly applies to candidates who retook exams rather than remarked and reapplied next year). You say that with ABB you still meet requirements for Edinburgh - that is quite risky because if they are just the bare minimum, it is always a gamble to assume you'd get an offer. Entering clearing multiple times will highly unlikely give you much better options and perhaps Glasgow might not even offer you again, as you rejected them before and they'll know that.
So, lets say the remarks end up being just ABB or AAB. What is option then? By the time the remarks are done (even if priority which is ~ 2 weeks), your Glasgow clearing offer is over - it will be over very soon in fact. The option I see as viable would be to retake the Bs in hope that they will turn out to be at least As next year. Even if you do manage to get A*s/A in the retakes, you'd be considered a retake student and that is disadvantageous when comparing yourself to another applicant with the same grades/similar PS.
In your gap year (regardless if you just remark the exams or retake them), doing the work experience you talked about is key. For my application, I spent 5 weeks at an investment firm and in that rather short time I learnt a lot of new skills and knowledge which I could not have found just randomly reading about my subject And unis can obviously see that. Doing placements and making good reflections on what you learnt and how it applies to your degree can make you a better candidate when you are compared on a basis of PS; however for your question of if a uni with requirements AAA and you only have AAB but a stellar PS, you will not get an offer as you do not meet the minimal requirements. That is, of course, unless your school/you/doctors can prove you have extenuating circumstances, in which case certain unis would give you a lower requirement.
Also for reapplying, you have to make a new PS, new references and if you do retake then actually studying for the subject(s) and aiming for that A*, so in actual fact you wont have that much time for work experience either (bc of all the studying you'd have to do).
As you mentioned in your post, you leaving clearing and not accepting Glasgow basically means you are running a gamble. A gamble in which you hope you will get remarked As. If that gamble does not pay off, you can enter UCAS in the next cycle but would probably be disadvantaged because you would not longer have high predicted grades, rather just ABB/AAB, etc. Alternatively, if the gamble didnt pay off you'd retake and hope you get As and A*s while being disadvantaged because of the fact you retook subjects, which doesn't look too good.
You have at least have a decent university on the table right now. The offer will probably expire in a couple hours or tomorrow. You got to make your choice quickly (ask them for a deadline if you dont know already).
Ultimately you got to decide for yourself. You got the pros & cons laid out well.
I like to take a gamble myself but this one seems to be quite big, as I would not be confident that two out of three subjects would be changed from a B to an A. If you dont accept Glasgow now, they will probably not offer you a spot in the UCAS next year or Clearing (as you rejected them).
With regards of your other option which is to ask for a remark, taking a gap year and reapplying in the next UCAS cycle. How sure are you that even once you remark that you will have improved grades, i.e. at least AAA? If you remark them and end up with ABB or AAB then that is not much of an improvement. If you then reapply with just ABB or AAB then you wont get any school better than Glasgow and since you reapplied you will probably get even worse uni offers than Glasgow. The top unis, like Oxbridge for example, dont like reapplicants (although this mostly applies to candidates who retook exams rather than remarked and reapplied next year). You say that with ABB you still meet requirements for Edinburgh - that is quite risky because if they are just the bare minimum, it is always a gamble to assume you'd get an offer. Entering clearing multiple times will highly unlikely give you much better options and perhaps Glasgow might not even offer you again, as you rejected them before and they'll know that.
So, lets say the remarks end up being just ABB or AAB. What is option then? By the time the remarks are done (even if priority which is ~ 2 weeks), your Glasgow clearing offer is over - it will be over very soon in fact. The option I see as viable would be to retake the Bs in hope that they will turn out to be at least As next year. Even if you do manage to get A*s/A in the retakes, you'd be considered a retake student and that is disadvantageous when comparing yourself to another applicant with the same grades/similar PS.
In your gap year (regardless if you just remark the exams or retake them), doing the work experience you talked about is key. For my application, I spent 5 weeks at an investment firm and in that rather short time I learnt a lot of new skills and knowledge which I could not have found just randomly reading about my subject And unis can obviously see that. Doing placements and making good reflections on what you learnt and how it applies to your degree can make you a better candidate when you are compared on a basis of PS; however for your question of if a uni with requirements AAA and you only have AAB but a stellar PS, you will not get an offer as you do not meet the minimal requirements. That is, of course, unless your school/you/doctors can prove you have extenuating circumstances, in which case certain unis would give you a lower requirement.
Also for reapplying, you have to make a new PS, new references and if you do retake then actually studying for the subject(s) and aiming for that A*, so in actual fact you wont have that much time for work experience either (bc of all the studying you'd have to do).
As you mentioned in your post, you leaving clearing and not accepting Glasgow basically means you are running a gamble. A gamble in which you hope you will get remarked As. If that gamble does not pay off, you can enter UCAS in the next cycle but would probably be disadvantaged because you would not longer have high predicted grades, rather just ABB/AAB, etc. Alternatively, if the gamble didnt pay off you'd retake and hope you get As and A*s while being disadvantaged because of the fact you retook subjects, which doesn't look too good.
You have at least have a decent university on the table right now. The offer will probably expire in a couple hours or tomorrow. You got to make your choice quickly (ask them for a deadline if you dont know already).
Ultimately you got to decide for yourself. You got the pros & cons laid out well.
I like to take a gamble myself but this one seems to be quite big, as I would not be confident that two out of three subjects would be changed from a B to an A. If you dont accept Glasgow now, they will probably not offer you a spot in the UCAS next year or Clearing (as you rejected them).
Original post by Interrobang
Sorry I meant law as a profession not as a course. You have to do what feels right for you - if you think you would be happier somewhere else then reapply. Would you be eligible for the foundation course with grades that good?
Original post by SomMC1
I am not an expert at law but I'll say some observations I've made about your case in general, given that I was quite active after results day this year in regards of talking to people on here in the clearing and UCAS section.
With regards of your other option which is to ask for a remark, taking a gap year and reapplying in the next UCAS cycle. How sure are you that even once you remark that you will have improved grades, i.e. at least AAA? If you remark them and end up with ABB or AAB then that is not much of an improvement. If you then reapply with just ABB or AAB then you wont get any school better than Glasgow and since you reapplied you will probably get even worse uni offers than Glasgow. The top unis, like Oxbridge for example, dont like reapplicants (although this mostly applies to candidates who retook exams rather than remarked and reapplied next year). You say that with ABB you still meet requirements for Edinburgh - that is quite risky because if they are just the bare minimum, it is always a gamble to assume you'd get an offer. Entering clearing multiple times will highly unlikely give you much better options and perhaps Glasgow might not even offer you again, as you rejected them before and they'll know that.
So, lets say the remarks end up being just ABB or AAB. What is option then? By the time the remarks are done (even if priority which is ~ 2 weeks), your Glasgow clearing offer is over - it will be over very soon in fact. The option I see as viable would be to retake the Bs in hope that they will turn out to be at least As next year. Even if you do manage to get A*s/A in the retakes, you'd be considered a retake student and that is disadvantageous when comparing yourself to another applicant with the same grades/similar PS.
In your gap year (regardless if you just remark the exams or retake them), doing the work experience you talked about is key. For my application, I spent 5 weeks at an investment firm and in that rather short time I learnt a lot of new skills and knowledge which I could not have found just randomly reading about my subject And unis can obviously see that. Doing placements and making good reflections on what you learnt and how it applies to your degree can make you a better candidate when you are compared on a basis of PS; however for your question of if a uni with requirements AAA and you only have AAB but a stellar PS, you will not get an offer as you do not meet the minimal requirements. That is, of course, unless your school/you/doctors can prove you have extenuating circumstances, in which case certain unis would give you a lower requirement.
Also for reapplying, you have to make a new PS, new references and if you do retake then actually studying for the subject(s) and aiming for that A*, so in actual fact you wont have that much time for work experience either (bc of all the studying you'd have to do).
As you mentioned in your post, you leaving clearing and not accepting Glasgow basically means you are running a gamble. A gamble in which you hope you will get remarked As. If that gamble does not pay off, you can enter UCAS in the next cycle but would probably be disadvantaged because you would not longer have high predicted grades, rather just ABB/AAB, etc. Alternatively, if the gamble didnt pay off you'd retake and hope you get As and A*s while being disadvantaged because of the fact you retook subjects, which doesn't look too good.
You have at least have a decent university on the table right now. The offer will probably expire in a couple hours or tomorrow. You got to make your choice quickly (ask them for a deadline if you dont know already).
Ultimately you got to decide for yourself. You got the pros & cons laid out well.
I like to take a gamble myself but this one seems to be quite big, as I would not be confident that two out of three subjects would be changed from a B to an A. If you dont accept Glasgow now, they will probably not offer you a spot in the UCAS next year or Clearing (as you rejected them).
With regards of your other option which is to ask for a remark, taking a gap year and reapplying in the next UCAS cycle. How sure are you that even once you remark that you will have improved grades, i.e. at least AAA? If you remark them and end up with ABB or AAB then that is not much of an improvement. If you then reapply with just ABB or AAB then you wont get any school better than Glasgow and since you reapplied you will probably get even worse uni offers than Glasgow. The top unis, like Oxbridge for example, dont like reapplicants (although this mostly applies to candidates who retook exams rather than remarked and reapplied next year). You say that with ABB you still meet requirements for Edinburgh - that is quite risky because if they are just the bare minimum, it is always a gamble to assume you'd get an offer. Entering clearing multiple times will highly unlikely give you much better options and perhaps Glasgow might not even offer you again, as you rejected them before and they'll know that.
So, lets say the remarks end up being just ABB or AAB. What is option then? By the time the remarks are done (even if priority which is ~ 2 weeks), your Glasgow clearing offer is over - it will be over very soon in fact. The option I see as viable would be to retake the Bs in hope that they will turn out to be at least As next year. Even if you do manage to get A*s/A in the retakes, you'd be considered a retake student and that is disadvantageous when comparing yourself to another applicant with the same grades/similar PS.
In your gap year (regardless if you just remark the exams or retake them), doing the work experience you talked about is key. For my application, I spent 5 weeks at an investment firm and in that rather short time I learnt a lot of new skills and knowledge which I could not have found just randomly reading about my subject And unis can obviously see that. Doing placements and making good reflections on what you learnt and how it applies to your degree can make you a better candidate when you are compared on a basis of PS; however for your question of if a uni with requirements AAA and you only have AAB but a stellar PS, you will not get an offer as you do not meet the minimal requirements. That is, of course, unless your school/you/doctors can prove you have extenuating circumstances, in which case certain unis would give you a lower requirement.
Also for reapplying, you have to make a new PS, new references and if you do retake then actually studying for the subject(s) and aiming for that A*, so in actual fact you wont have that much time for work experience either (bc of all the studying you'd have to do).
As you mentioned in your post, you leaving clearing and not accepting Glasgow basically means you are running a gamble. A gamble in which you hope you will get remarked As. If that gamble does not pay off, you can enter UCAS in the next cycle but would probably be disadvantaged because you would not longer have high predicted grades, rather just ABB/AAB, etc. Alternatively, if the gamble didnt pay off you'd retake and hope you get As and A*s while being disadvantaged because of the fact you retook subjects, which doesn't look too good.
You have at least have a decent university on the table right now. The offer will probably expire in a couple hours or tomorrow. You got to make your choice quickly (ask them for a deadline if you dont know already).
Ultimately you got to decide for yourself. You got the pros & cons laid out well.
I like to take a gamble myself but this one seems to be quite big, as I would not be confident that two out of three subjects would be changed from a B to an A. If you dont accept Glasgow now, they will probably not offer you a spot in the UCAS next year or Clearing (as you rejected them).
Talked this over with some family friends who are very familiar with education system and careers and im stick with Glasgow. Its a good offer and im sure ill enjoy it.
As for employability if I complete a masters at London or oxbridge im sure will be a boost to that.
Original post by Yenson
Talked this over with some family friends who are very familiar with education system and careers and im stick with Glasgow. Its a good offer and im sure ill enjoy it.
As for employability if I complete a masters at London or oxbridge im sure will be a boost to that.
As for employability if I complete a masters at London or oxbridge im sure will be a boost to that.
Good choice. congrats
Original post by Yenson
Talked this over with some family friends who are very familiar with education system and careers and im stick with Glasgow. Its a good offer and im sure ill enjoy it.
As for employability if I complete a masters at London or oxbridge im sure will be a boost to that.
As for employability if I complete a masters at London or oxbridge im sure will be a boost to that.
Glad you've made a decision, enjoy!
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