Where should I apply for a safe option

Original post by snow.fall15

How's St Andrews? It's a very good uni

But that has a standard of A+A+A which is 1 grade below my predicts.

Reply 4

sound-famous-

Do you want to apply for a safe option? You don't necessarily have to if you are confident you'll get the grades/get at least one offer.

Reply 5

McGinger

Too many high-risk options. Applying to all of these could mean no offers at all - every year thousands (yes, thousands) of applicants for competitive Unis like these for courses like Maths, CS, Mech Eng and Economics who meet or even exceed the entry requirements dont get an offer. You need at least one, or possibly two, lower-grade and less-competitive options like York and Cardiff to spread the risk.

You could apply to just Cambridge plus two of those high risk Unis before the October deadline, and add the other two choices before the January deadline - this means you might know by then IF you had any offers from the initial three choices and could make more strategic choices.

Reply 6

Original post by McGinger

Too many high-risk options. Applying to all of these could mean no offers at all - every year thousands (yes, thousands) of applicants for competitive Unis like these for courses like Maths, CS, Mech Eng and Economics who meet or even exceed the entry requirements dont get an offer. You need at least one, or possibly two, lower-grade and less-competitive options like York and Cardiff to spread the risk.
You could apply to just Cambridge plus two of those high risk Unis before the October deadline, and add the other two choices before the January deadline - this means you might know by then IF you had any offers from the initial three choices and could make more strategic choices.

Surely I can do UCAS Extra. A lot of these places people recommend do clearing anyways.

Reply 7

Don Chee

They may be hard to get into but your predicted grades are perfect. If you are confident about your personal statement and be sure enough you can meet the conditions offered by unis (esp Math, FM A+), you don't necessarily need to worry too much. If you still want a safe option, then maybe a local, less prestigious university (depends where you live) is fine.

BTW, I noticed you are to take STEP exams which is really hard, so do get well prepared. At least two ONEs are required by Cambridge. Good luck on your mathematics journey!

Reply 8

LunaB

Original post by hwhejfjejsjx

My predicted grades are A+A+A+. I take maths fm chem
I will take TMUA and STEP. I want to do maths
I originally wanted to apply to
Cambridge
Kings college (A+AA)
Manchester (A+AA)
UCL ( A+A+A)
Imperial.
But I am unsure. Where should I apply for a safe option. People tell me they're too hard to get into.

Your predicted grades are really good and you're in an amazing place to get offers from these unis a safe option only needs to be a major consideration when it comes to having an offer confirmed as it's more than likely you'll get some offers

That being the case considering predicted grades id recommend applying for a lower prestige Russell group I personally recommend for this: Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle tho I am of course biased in my own right but yea around the rankings of those are going to be solid safe choices for you at least in my personal opinion

Reply 9

McGinger

Original post by hwhejfjejsjx

Surely I can do UCAS Extra. A lot of these places people recommend do clearing anyways.

A grade A level Economics courses are not going to be available in Extra or in Clearing.
Thats like relying on the January sales to get you a Uni place. Do you really want to risk that.

Reply 10

AriTem

With your grades I'd say Manchester and UCL would be your insurance options :biggrin:

Reply 11

I am confident I could get atleast A*AA. I want to Ideally be in London, with Manchester and Cambridge as exceptions as Cambridge is prestigious and I love Manchester.

It's why I was considering Manchester or KCL for safety. Manchester even do foundation yr if I screw up that badly. UCL was more of a 'middle of a road' which was 1 grade below my predicted and Imperial and Cambridge were Aspirational. Perhaps I could swap UCL for Warwick or Imperial for Bristol. Don't know. I did look at southampton but idk. I could apply.

(edited 3 weeks ago)

Reply 12

The part I fear most is not getting an offer form all 5 of my unis. How likely is that?

Reply 13

Original post by hwhejfjejsjx

The part I fear most is not getting an offer form all 5 of my unis. How likely is that?

You've been asking the same question over at least three different threads now and the advise you've been getting is much the same.

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7514802

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7514155

All the options listed are inherently a bit risky, and don't make offers to everyone who meets the grade requirements. You can mitigate some of that risk by applying early, (which you'll have to do anyway if you apply for Cambs), but holding one or more choices and waiting and seeing if you get some decisions back before Jan 31st might help you make an informed choice regarding your last choices.

Reply 14

Original post by hwhejfjejsjx

Surely I can do UCAS Extra. A lot of these places people recommend do clearing anyways.

This isn't true. None of those options recommend Clearing or Extra.

eg. UCL were only officially in clearing this year for the first time in many, many years, and had a limited range of options, Economics was definitely not one of them.

As above, Econ is a headline course for most unis which greatly reduces the chances of it being available in clearing, (if it's a uni that even takes part in it).

I suspect you're trying to have a risk free application which isn't possible with unis of that calibre.

Reply 15

Original post by Admit-One

You've been asking the same question over at least three different threads now and the advise you've been getting is much the same.
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7514802
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7514155
All the options listed are inherently a bit risky, and don't make offers to everyone who meets the grade requirements. You can mitigate some of that risk by applying early, (which you'll have to do anyway if you apply for Cambs), but holding one or more choices and waiting and seeing if you get some decisions back before Jan 31st might help you make an informed choice regarding your last choices.

I'm just anxious.

Reply 16

Original post by Admit-One

This isn't true. None of those options recommend Clearing or Extra.
eg. UCL were only officially in clearing this year for the first time in many, many years, and had a limited range of options, Economics was definitely not one of them.
As above, Econ is a headline course for most unis which greatly reduces the chances of it being available in clearing, (if it's a uni that even takes part in it).
I suspect you're trying to have a risk free application which isn't possible with unis of that calibre.

I wanna do.maths not economics

Reply 17

McGinger

Original post by hwhejfjejsjx

I wanna do.maths not economics

Same applies unfortunately - Maths is a mega-competitive course at 'top Unis'.

Reply 18

Original post by hwhejfjejsjx

I wanna do.maths not economics

As above, exactly the same applies.

Reply 19