What are the best universities I can apply to for Computer Science?

Hi, I want to apply for Computer Science at University. I do not have further maths or computer science a level but i do have 3 a* including mathematics A-level.

I know I can apply to most universities but which universities do I have a good chance of getting in.

List of the "top 50" here: https://www.reddit.com/r/6thForm/comments/17u2abu/here_are_the_entry_requirements_of_computer/

manchester have 3A* requirement

Is personal statement really important for comp sci? Or do they only mainly look at GCSEs and a levels?

Having sent off my application almost three months ago, I think that I am in a reasonable and credible position to answer this. I applied to study Computer Science at the following universities: Cambridge BA(rejection ☹️ ), Imperial BEng(had the interview on 29th and am now waiting for my decision), Durham BSc(Hons) (no news but no news is expected because Durham is notoriously slow with handing out offers), Edinburgh BEng(Hons) (3 A star offer within two weeks of sending my application off. I'm extremely happy because Computer Science is their flagship course) and Manchester BSc(Hons)(3 A* offer within a week of sending my application off).

All of my universities also offer the MEng course but I chose the basic degree as while I am enrolled at these universities, I have until the second year to make a decision as to whether I want to pursue a BEng or an MEng.

Other than Oxbridge (and maybe Durham), universities don't really look too much at GCSEs unless there is something outstanding (good or bad grades-wise). Some schools don't allow students to take more than 10 GCSEs so it puts people at a disadvantage if universities go about comparing students who have done 16 GCSEs vs students who have done 10 or fewer, it wouldn't be a fair metric of comparison. Furthermore, because of the breadth of the GCSEs available, some students may select GCSEs which are considered to be "soft" and so take more of them in comparison to some people who take the difficult ones both with regards to the volume of content and the difficulty of the topics within that subject, and so take fewer of them. However, GCSEs won't just be disregarded - it is the only evidence that the admissions tutors have regarding your work ethic. They know that your school will inflate your predicted grades so that you will have more available avenues to explore and so they look at the GCSEs that are related to your course.

If you are applying to a middle tier university, I would say that grades are of utmost importance and in often cases, if you are yoinks above the minimum entry requirements for your course, it can make up for a weaker personal statement. The first boundary that will be looked into is predicted or achieved A level grades - do you meet the minimum entry requirements?

The next question will be "Has this person sat an admissions test and if so, what can deduce from this regarding the merit of the applicant"?

And then finally, they will look into your personal statement. If anything, GCSEs are used as more of a determiner rather than a differentiator.

I would say that the personal statement is the most important thing. While grades tell the admissions tutors what you are like academically within school, they also want to see what you are like outside of school. What makes you eager to find out more? What have you done to learn about a chosen topic? What projects have you done? What other super curricular activities have you done to show that you have explored avenues and that CS intrigues you?

There have been several instances in the past where people have got into the top universities without doing Further Maths or Computer Science through them conducting their own projects and private study.

Thanks for this but I already sent off my application 1 week ago and got an unconditional offer from edinburgh and durham!
(my durham offer came a day after i sent it off so i dont think they are that slow giving offers)

I don't think it's a problem of grades for me (9999999988 at GCSE and 5 A*s in Maths Further Maths CS Chemistry and EPQ). I don't think it's my application either because it's extremely difficult to get an interview to Imperial and an offer from Edinburgh without a strong application.

You will probably get an offer. They might (just speculating may not be the case) prioritise people with achieved grades as 85% of predicted grades are over predictions. Also they might give offers to contextuals first. However, because the majority of applicants are applying with predicted grades I don't think you will be disadvantaged and even if you are, you would still get an offer.

I hope so...I've got an offer from Imperial so we'll see what happens from Durham. It's my last decision.

Cambridge - pre-interview rejection
Imperial - Offer (A*AAA with grade 2 in STEP II)
Durham - Waiting
Edinburgh - Offer (3 A*s)
Manchester - Offer (3 A*s).

Would you prefer Durham over Edinburgh and Manchester? I'd say don't worry because you have Imperial which you want to go to more, but for an insurance option Durham would be good because its A*AA not 3A*.

That's my plan....If I didn't get Imperial, I would have selected Manchester (most likely because my CS teacher says that the course is better and Manchester has stronger industry connections). I am going to firm Imperial but I haven't received my Durham decision so we will have to wait a bit.

I see, good luck!