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Taking 4 A levels VS 3 A levels?

I'm posting this in the Oxford forum since none of the other universities would ask for more than three As ordinarily.

If I took 4 A levels, how likely is it that the university or college would demand 4 As, as opposed to only being able to demand 3 As if I continued 3 of my AS levels?

Does it depend much on the college? I'm thinking about Merton, for a joint honours degree. Liked the college, only slightly put off by the idea that everyone there works even more than elsewhere, although the people seemed incredibly friendly!

Reply 1

Hedgeman49

17

At Oxford, not very likely at all. However at Cambridge they quite often ask for AAAA.

Reply 2

MEK

OP

*None of the other universities to which I am probably going to apply...

:P

Reply 3

TeamBlueGravy

12

..

Reply 4

MEK

OP

English and French

Reply 5

TeamBlueGravy

12

..

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 6

MEK

OP

kam -

Are you/ were you at Merton? (Or is it pretty much the same across the board?) My teachers have advised me to do 3 and just concentrate on them, since for my degree I will only be working on two subjects. I suppose I would keep up the potential fourth subject in my spare time anyway, as I love it too much to neglect it completely!

Reply 7

Audrey Hepburn

12

Joint honours ftw! :biggrin:

I took 5 A levels and only got asked for three As - as I have said on every single one of the billions of this exact same thread that have been appearing almost every day :rolleyes:

Reply 8

MEK

OP

AH - I've not been on TSR for a while... but I wanted more of a general idea, I mean, is it likely they'd ask for 4 As, were I to take 4 A levels, would that be representative, do certain colleges tend to go more one way than the other... etc.

It's true I should have searched before.

Am really looking forward to French and English actually. Think (and hope it works out this way) that they will complement each other fantastically! :smile:

Reply 9

Tyraell

13

Search function! YAAAY! :woo:

Reply 10

Audrey Hepburn

12

MEK

AH - I've not been on TSR for a while... but I wanted more of a general idea, I mean, is it likely they'd ask for 4 As, were I to take 4 A levels, would that be representative, do certain colleges tend to go more one way than the other... etc.

It's true I should have searched before.

Am really looking forward to French and English actually. Think (and hope it works out this way) that they will complement each other fantastically! :smile:

Essentially, it's very rare for them to ask for more than three As.

And yes, they will probably fit together really well - if there's a conflict with the workload then the French will immediately surrender and all will be well :yep:

Reply 11

Teebs

16

Audrey Hepburn

Joint honours ftw! :biggrin:

I took 5 A levels and only got asked for three As - as I have said on every single one of the billions of this exact same thread that have been appearing almost every day :rolleyes:

I did 5 and they asked me for 4. Humph.

Reply 12

Audrey Hepburn

12

Teebs

I did 5 and they asked me for 4. Humph.

Unlucky

Reply 13

.SK.

I was told by both my school and Oxford that they do not consider more than 3 A-levels in your offer, and the fact that a candidate does more will be taken into appreciation as evidence of academic merit and competance, and not with regards to a final offer.
For Cambridge, they will more often (than Oxford) ask for more than 3A. I was under the impression, however, that doing 3 and getting AAA will be more desirable in your application than doing 4 and getting AAAB, as that represents a blip that most other applications will not have.

This, however, may have been advice tailored for me as I'm from NI and its pretty rare for anyone to be doing more than 3 A-levels: most of our Grammar schools simply don't accommodate or encourage it, and likely couldn't timetable it (I know my school wouldn't).
Stick with 3, concentrate on them, and do well would be my advise.
Anywho . . . most English I've met who say they have done 5 or more A-Levels usually have social skills/general studies/ [insert fake A-Level here]. Stick with 3 real ones :biggrin:

Reply 14

Teebs

16

.SK.

Anywho . . . most English I've met who say they have done 5 or more A-Levels usually have social skills/general studies/ [insert fake A-Level here]. Stick with 3 real ones :biggrin:

Maths, Further Maths, Economics, Politics, German.

Blow me.

Reply 15

.SK.

Gj with taking on so many proper subjects then :p:

How did you do and where did you end up going for uni?

Reply 16

Teebs

16

.SK.

Gj with taking on so many proper subjects then :p:

How did you do and where did you end up going for uni?

Erm... I'm posting in the Oxford forum, my signature says Oxford PPEist... AAAAA

Reply 17

jazzie815

Original post

by Teebs

Erm... I'm posting in the Oxford forum, my signature says Oxford PPEist... AAAAA

well excuse the **** out of me.

Reply 18

BrasenoseAdm

Official Rep

16

Original post

by MEK

I'm posting this in the Oxford forum since none of the other universities would ask for more than three As ordinarily.

If I took 4 A levels, how likely is it that the university or college would demand 4 As, as opposed to only being able to demand 3 As if I continued 3 of my AS levels?

Does it depend much on the college? I'm thinking about Merton, for a joint honours degree. Liked the college, only slightly put off by the idea that everyone there works even more than elsewhere, although the people seemed incredibly friendly!

All standard offers are over three A-levels. If you take an early qualifying A-level and have three left to take, you might be asked for (say) AAB from the remaining three if the standard offer is AAA and you achieved an A or higher in the early A-level.

Taking 4 A levels VS 3 A levels?

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