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GCSE grades for cambridge law, can i get in?
Any year 12/13/uni students please help!!Here are my GCSEs and I want to apply for law, ik that cambridge place less emphasis on gcses than oxford but i do want brutal honesty bc obviously it is still competitive.
9: sociology, re, english lit
8: history and english lang
7: spanish
6: business
55: science
4: maths.
it’s honestly the maths grade that’s discouraging me bc it wasn’t my strong subject but then again law doesn’t have much to do w it.
A*A*A* prediction for a levels in sociology, history, and philosophy & ethics.
9: sociology, re, english lit
8: history and english lang
7: spanish
6: business
55: science
4: maths.
it’s honestly the maths grade that’s discouraging me bc it wasn’t my strong subject but then again law doesn’t have much to do w it.
A*A*A* prediction for a levels in sociology, history, and philosophy & ethics.
Original post by Anonymous
Any year 12/13/uni students please help!!Here are my GCSEs and I want to apply for law, ik that cambridge place less emphasis on gcses than oxford but i do want brutal honesty bc obviously it is still competitive.
9: sociology, re, english lit
8: history and english lang
7: spanish
6: business
55: science
4: maths.
it’s honestly the maths grade that’s discouraging me bc it wasn’t my strong subject but then again law doesn’t have much to do w it.
A*A*A* prediction for a levels in sociology, history, and philosophy & ethics.
9: sociology, re, english lit
8: history and english lang
7: spanish
6: business
55: science
4: maths.
it’s honestly the maths grade that’s discouraging me bc it wasn’t my strong subject but then again law doesn’t have much to do w it.
A*A*A* prediction for a levels in sociology, history, and philosophy & ethics.
Hi I've got an offer to read law at Cam. Idk the applications system inside out but like you I had slightly lower GCSEs than what was considered ideal so I did as much digging as I could to see what my chances were.
It seems to come down to 2 main things:
1) extenuating circumstances
2) your school's average gcses (and the previous average of oxbridge offer holders)
For my school I was fairly above the average point score, but all previous successful applicants to oxbridge from my school got 8+ for their aps, I got 7.9 so was in a slightly risky place with a 5 in maths (your aps is 7, but you probably knew that already lol)
Extenuating circumstances can be really important, personally I had genuine and severe extenuating circumstances (ecs) which affected my entire gcses and my a levels, and although I have no way of knowing how that impacted my application I am in no doubt that it made an impact. What I was continually told was that any ecs are then 'added on' after they've considered your application, so they have to think that the rest of your application is strong enough anyway. And obvs no one actually wants ecs because if they take those into account it means you've been through a rough time sooo.. I was also predicted 3A*s, and that defo puts people in a good position.
Cam considers your entire application, for you that includes the lnat, you want to aim for about 28 and above, but the essay matters a lot to them too. The interview is also really important, you can show you off in a personal way, abouy 80% of applicants get interviewed so you're in with a chance! I'm not an expert, but I think you are in a risky place unfortunately. I'd suggest finding out the data about past oxbridge applicants from your school before you come to a decision. Personally I say never say never, but know that if you do apply there you are up against people with stupidly good grade profiles, but if you make a really good personal statement and do well in your interview and lnat etc then it's silly not to apply because you are worried about your gcses. If you don't apply you'd never know. But make sure you're applying there because you actually want to go there rather than because it's a good uni, I've yet to experience it but the workload is insane. Good luck! Hope this helps
Reply 3
Original post by StudentLM
Hi I've got an offer to read law at Cam. Idk the applications system inside out but like you I had slightly lower GCSEs than what was considered ideal so I did as much digging as I could to see what my chances were.
It seems to come down to 2 main things:
1) extenuating circumstances
2) your school's average gcses (and the previous average of oxbridge offer holders)
For my school I was fairly above the average point score, but all previous successful applicants to oxbridge from my school got 8+ for their aps, I got 7.9 so was in a slightly risky place with a 5 in maths (your aps is 7, but you probably knew that already lol)
Extenuating circumstances can be really important, personally I had genuine and severe extenuating circumstances (ecs) which affected my entire gcses and my a levels, and although I have no way of knowing how that impacted my application I am in no doubt that it made an impact. What I was continually told was that any ecs are then 'added on' after they've considered your application, so they have to think that the rest of your application is strong enough anyway. And obvs no one actually wants ecs because if they take those into account it means you've been through a rough time sooo.. I was also predicted 3A*s, and that defo puts people in a good position.
Cam considers your entire application, for you that includes the lnat, you want to aim for about 28 and above, but the essay matters a lot to them too. The interview is also really important, you can show you off in a personal way, abouy 80% of applicants get interviewed so you're in with a chance! I'm not an expert, but I think you are in a risky place unfortunately. I'd suggest finding out the data about past oxbridge applicants from your school before you come to a decision. Personally I say never say never, but know that if you do apply there you are up against people with stupidly good grade profiles, but if you make a really good personal statement and do well in your interview and lnat etc then it's silly not to apply because you are worried about your gcses. If you don't apply you'd never know. But make sure you're applying there because you actually want to go there rather than because it's a good uni, I've yet to experience it but the workload is insane. Good luck! Hope this helps
It seems to come down to 2 main things:
1) extenuating circumstances
2) your school's average gcses (and the previous average of oxbridge offer holders)
For my school I was fairly above the average point score, but all previous successful applicants to oxbridge from my school got 8+ for their aps, I got 7.9 so was in a slightly risky place with a 5 in maths (your aps is 7, but you probably knew that already lol)
Extenuating circumstances can be really important, personally I had genuine and severe extenuating circumstances (ecs) which affected my entire gcses and my a levels, and although I have no way of knowing how that impacted my application I am in no doubt that it made an impact. What I was continually told was that any ecs are then 'added on' after they've considered your application, so they have to think that the rest of your application is strong enough anyway. And obvs no one actually wants ecs because if they take those into account it means you've been through a rough time sooo.. I was also predicted 3A*s, and that defo puts people in a good position.
Cam considers your entire application, for you that includes the lnat, you want to aim for about 28 and above, but the essay matters a lot to them too. The interview is also really important, you can show you off in a personal way, abouy 80% of applicants get interviewed so you're in with a chance! I'm not an expert, but I think you are in a risky place unfortunately. I'd suggest finding out the data about past oxbridge applicants from your school before you come to a decision. Personally I say never say never, but know that if you do apply there you are up against people with stupidly good grade profiles, but if you make a really good personal statement and do well in your interview and lnat etc then it's silly not to apply because you are worried about your gcses. If you don't apply you'd never know. But make sure you're applying there because you actually want to go there rather than because it's a good uni, I've yet to experience it but the workload is insane. Good luck! Hope this helps
Hi, thank you so much for the detailed response. I really appreciate it, to answer your questions.
No, I don't have any extenuating circumstances, I was just better at humanities than the sciences but in terms of my school's average GCSEs I will ask my head of year after the Easter break. My school is a state school for reference and it not many people want to go to Oxbridge nor apply, in 2021 two people at my school went to Cambridge one for English one for Linguistics. In 2020, only one person got into Oxford for History. In all the other years nobody got into either, I don't know if the lack of people applying to Oxbridge will hinder me or be good so I'm not sure about that.
The minimum aps needed to get into my 6th form is 4.0, I got a 7.0 and although it isn't bad, it's just an A and the grade profile for Cambridge will probably be more like an 8.0. The aps of students when I did my GCSEs last year wasn't on the website either but I ballpark that the average aps was around 6 considering people's grades on results day. I did do quite well in terms of my school, the people who did better were more STEM people who got an aps of around 7.5 but they prefer LSE/UCL/Imperial over Oxbridge.
Thank you for the honesty, and would you mind telling me exactly what it is that is putting me at risk if I am predicted 3 A*? I have done some super curriculars, have work experience and volunteering planned out for the summer and attended some Cambridge lectures too when I went for 4 days for a trip. I'm also enrolled in PASS (Peterhouse Applicant Support Scheme) so I believe that that will help me formulate my personal statement and UCAS application.
Original post by Anonymous
Hi, thank you so much for the detailed response. I really appreciate it, to answer your questions.
No, I don't have any extenuating circumstances, I was just better at humanities than the sciences but in terms of my school's average GCSEs I will ask my head of year after the Easter break. My school is a state school for reference and it not many people want to go to Oxbridge nor apply, in 2021 two people at my school went to Cambridge one for English one for Linguistics. In 2020, only one person got into Oxford for History. In all the other years nobody got into either, I don't know if the lack of people applying to Oxbridge will hinder me or be good so I'm not sure about that.
The minimum aps needed to get into my 6th form is 4.0, I got a 7.0 and although it isn't bad, it's just an A and the grade profile for Cambridge will probably be more like an 8.0. The aps of students when I did my GCSEs last year wasn't on the website either but I ballpark that the average aps was around 6 considering people's grades on results day. I did do quite well in terms of my school, the people who did better were more STEM people who got an aps of around 7.5 but they prefer LSE/UCL/Imperial over Oxbridge.
Thank you for the honesty, and would you mind telling me exactly what it is that is putting me at risk if I am predicted 3 A*? I have done some super curriculars, have work experience and volunteering planned out for the summer and attended some Cambridge lectures too when I went for 4 days for a trip. I'm also enrolled in PASS (Peterhouse Applicant Support Scheme) so I believe that that will help me formulate my personal statement and UCAS application.
No, I don't have any extenuating circumstances, I was just better at humanities than the sciences but in terms of my school's average GCSEs I will ask my head of year after the Easter break. My school is a state school for reference and it not many people want to go to Oxbridge nor apply, in 2021 two people at my school went to Cambridge one for English one for Linguistics. In 2020, only one person got into Oxford for History. In all the other years nobody got into either, I don't know if the lack of people applying to Oxbridge will hinder me or be good so I'm not sure about that.
The minimum aps needed to get into my 6th form is 4.0, I got a 7.0 and although it isn't bad, it's just an A and the grade profile for Cambridge will probably be more like an 8.0. The aps of students when I did my GCSEs last year wasn't on the website either but I ballpark that the average aps was around 6 considering people's grades on results day. I did do quite well in terms of my school, the people who did better were more STEM people who got an aps of around 7.5 but they prefer LSE/UCL/Imperial over Oxbridge.
Thank you for the honesty, and would you mind telling me exactly what it is that is putting me at risk if I am predicted 3 A*? I have done some super curriculars, have work experience and volunteering planned out for the summer and attended some Cambridge lectures too when I went for 4 days for a trip. I'm also enrolled in PASS (Peterhouse Applicant Support Scheme) so I believe that that will help me formulate my personal statement and UCAS application.
Yeah me too I'm much better at humanities than mathsy science stuff. I'm not sure about your school situation being helpful or not, ik that they're actually making an effort to admit people from state schools, especially ones which are 'struggling', so please don't be put off by the idea that your school isn't an 'oxbridge one' whatever that is, and yeah by the sounds of it you've got a great grade profile compared to the average. The PASS will really help you, I found that going to a school which has previously had successful oxbridge applicants was helpful for giving me an idea of what the process was like etc, so hopefully that scheme will make the playing field more level for you!
In regard to the risk with your application, while 7 as an aps is really good and something to be proud of, its lower than ideal. In my view, it's not so low that you shouldn't apply, it just means you aren't in a favourable position. I get why it looks contradictory when I'm saying that your A level grades are great and in the same sentence saying your gcses are a bit risky, but what I'm trying to get at is that it means compared to others it's risky. Sadly this process is basically comparing people with other people, and they have to pick the 'best'. Again I'm not an admissions expert, but I have been told that sometimes the colleges have a 'cut off' so they won't consider you for an interview if something is too low (that applies for A levels too, I saw on tiktok that someone thought it was a good idea to apply to cam with some fails in their gces and AAB as predicted grades, and obvs that cut ofd got applied to them), but I don't actually know what that number is or if it exits, so again it would be silly not to apply based on that. To my mind, if you perform 'well' across the other parts, and there is someone equally matched in those parts, but with an 8 as an aps, they would be in a better position than you. The 'risk' element is that if you apply and don't perform as well as you would have liked in the other bits of the application, your gcse aps is already in a risky place. But the same reason I'm saying you should apply (just with your gcses in mind) is because you clearly are capable if you're predicted 3A*s in that category, and you've got loads of time to prepare your personal statement and for the lnat etc, and I think that determinism is a horrible killer of ambition! Use the PASS thing as much as you can, I was on something similar and it really boosted my confidence and helped me articulate myself in my personal statement better 🙂
Reply 5
Original post by Anonymous
Any year 12/13/uni students please help!!Here are my GCSEs and I want to apply for law, ik that cambridge place less emphasis on gcses than oxford but i do want brutal honesty bc obviously it is still competitive.
9: sociology, re, english lit
8: history and english lang
7: spanish
6: business
55: science
4: maths.
it’s honestly the maths grade that’s discouraging me bc it wasn’t my strong subject but then again law doesn’t have much to do w it.
A*A*A* prediction for a levels in sociology, history, and philosophy & ethics.
9: sociology, re, english lit
8: history and english lang
7: spanish
6: business
55: science
4: maths.
it’s honestly the maths grade that’s discouraging me bc it wasn’t my strong subject but then again law doesn’t have much to do w it.
A*A*A* prediction for a levels in sociology, history, and philosophy & ethics.
Tell me if anyone responds, i have the exact grades you do!
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