are these uni choices realistic?

11

hello, i am in year 13 and applying to unis within the next few weeks. i just wanted a few opinions on if my uni choices were realistic, especially ucl as i know they are very competitive. for context i am applying for a bsc in neuroscience.

GCSE GRADES:
english lit - 8
english lang - 8
maths - 8
bio - 8
chem - 9
physics - 9
re - 9
history - 8
german - 8
media - 8
food tech - 7

A-LEVEL UCAS GRADES:
bio - A
chem - A
psychology - A (very close to bumping it up to an A*)
epq - A

i haven't started writing my PS yet but these are my extracurriculars/supercurriculars:
- piano grade 5
- biology prefect
- bronze dofe
- silver dofe
- silver UKMT
- EPQ on psychosis in film
- neurobiology of addiction MOOC
- ai in bioinformatics MOOC
- debate club
- badminton club
- biology society
- library volunteering
- hospital work experience
- warwick neuroscience work experience
- springpod psychology virtual work experience
- university of reading scientists of the future day workshop
- edx course on intro to neuropsychology by uni of cambridge
- taking part in UCL psychological study
- uni of kent bioscience work expereince
- lectures on chemical biology + cancer
- uni of reading neurosparks work experience
- i also have a few lines from books and podcasts that i would like to add

UNI CHOICES:
UCL - AAA
KCL - AAA
warwick - AAA
southhampton - ABB

any advice on the unis i am applying to/ on my supercurriculars/ how to include them in my PS/ anything else i should do?? i would really appreciate ur opinion on this!

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 1

ageshallnot

21

Original post

by li1503

hello, i am in year 13 and applying to unis within the next few weeks. i just wanted a few opinions on if my uni choices were realistic, especially ucl as i know they are very competitive. for context i am applying for a bsc in neuroscience.
GCSE GRADES:
english lit - 8
english lang - 8
maths - 8
bio - 8
chem - 9
physics - 9
re - 9
history - 8
german - 8
media - 8
food tech - 7
A-LEVEL UCAS GRADES:
bio - A
chem - A
psychology - A (very close to bumping it up to an A*)
epq - A
i haven't started writing my PS yet but these are my extracurriculars/supercurriculars:
- piano grade 5
- biology prefect
- bronze dofe
- silver dofe
- silver UKMT
- EPQ on psychosis in film
- neurobiology of addiction MOOC
- ai in bioinformatics MOOC
- debate club
- badminton club
- biology society
- library volunteering
- hospital work experience
- warwick neuroscience work experience
- springpod psychology virtual work experience
- university of reading scientists of the future day workshop
- edx course on intro to neuropsychology by uni of cambridge
- taking part in UCL psychological study
- uni of kent bioscience work expereince
- lectures on chemical biology + cancer
- uni of reading neurosparks work experience
- i also have a few lines from books and podcasts that i would like to add
UNI CHOICES:
UCL - AAA
KCL - AAA
warwick - AAA
southhampton - ABB
any advice on the unis i am applying to/ on my supercurriculars/ how to include them in my PS/ anything else i should do?? i would really appreciate ur opinion on this!

Seems sensible. Perhaps leave your final choice until you get some decisions, though you might have decided to do that already?

Reply 2

Uni of Southampton Students

Official Rep

16

Original post

by li1503

hello, i am in year 13 and applying to unis within the next few weeks. i just wanted a few opinions on if my uni choices were realistic, especially ucl as i know they are very competitive. for context i am applying for a bsc in neuroscience.
GCSE GRADES:
english lit - 8
english lang - 8
maths - 8
bio - 8
chem - 9
physics - 9
re - 9
history - 8
german - 8
media - 8
food tech - 7
A-LEVEL UCAS GRADES:
bio - A
chem - A
psychology - A (very close to bumping it up to an A*)
epq - A
i haven't started writing my PS yet but these are my extracurriculars/supercurriculars:
- piano grade 5
- biology prefect
- bronze dofe
- silver dofe
- silver UKMT
- EPQ on psychosis in film
- neurobiology of addiction MOOC
- ai in bioinformatics MOOC
- debate club
- badminton club
- biology society
- library volunteering
- hospital work experience
- warwick neuroscience work experience
- springpod psychology virtual work experience
- university of reading scientists of the future day workshop
- edx course on intro to neuropsychology by uni of cambridge
- taking part in UCL psychological study
- uni of kent bioscience work expereince
- lectures on chemical biology + cancer
- uni of reading neurosparks work experience
- i also have a few lines from books and podcasts that i would like to add
UNI CHOICES:
UCL - AAA
KCL - AAA
warwick - AAA
southhampton - ABB
any advice on the unis i am applying to/ on my supercurriculars/ how to include them in my PS/ anything else i should do?? i would really appreciate ur opinion on this!

Dear student

You’re in a brilliant position, your grades, predicted A-levels, and wide range of experiences all show how well-suited you are for studying neuroscience. The subject you’ve chosen fits perfectly with your interests and everything you’ve explored so far, from your EPQ to the courses and work experience you’ve taken part in. When you write your personal statement, my personal suggestion is try to show your passion by explaining what sparked your interest and how you’ve followed it up, rather than just listing everything.

I can see that you’re clearly thoughtful, motivated, and prepared. Wishing you all the best with your application! Let me know if you got more questions about University of Southampton. I will be happy to answer all.

All the best
Junfan

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post

by li1503

hello, i am in year 13 and applying to unis within the next few weeks. i just wanted a few opinions on if my uni choices were realistic, especially ucl as i know they are very competitive. for context i am applying for a bsc in neuroscience.

GCSE GRADES:
english lit - 8
english lang - 8
maths - 8
bio - 8
chem - 9
physics - 9
re - 9
history - 8
german - 8
media - 8
food tech - 7

A-LEVEL UCAS GRADES:
bio - A
chem - A
psychology - A (very close to bumping it up to an A*)
epq - A

i haven't started writing my PS yet but these are my extracurriculars/supercurriculars:
- piano grade 5
- biology prefect
- bronze dofe
- silver dofe
- silver UKMT
- EPQ on psychosis in film
- neurobiology of addiction MOOC
- ai in bioinformatics MOOC
- debate club
- badminton club
- biology society
- library volunteering
- hospital work experience
- warwick neuroscience work experience
- springpod psychology virtual work experience
- university of reading scientists of the future day workshop
- edx course on intro to neuropsychology by uni of cambridge
- taking part in UCL psychological study
- uni of kent bioscience work expereince
- lectures on chemical biology + cancer
- uni of reading neurosparks work experience
- i also have a few lines from books and podcasts that i would like to add

UNI CHOICES:
UCL - AAA
KCL - AAA
warwick - AAA
southhampton - ABB

any advice on the unis i am applying to/ on my supercurriculars/ how to include them in my PS/ anything else i should do?? i would really appreciate ur opinion on this!

They seem perfectly reasonable. However I would caution about the very long list of activities you have written there. The key to the PS is to write analytically, in detail, about a few things you've done. You should avoid just listing things uncritically with little reflection or analysis. The PS is about showing not telling!

Some of the things also seem kind of irrelevant on the whole; I think having participated in a psychological study is pretty marginal; the various volunteering, DofE, sporting, musical, prefectual and similar generic club type activities aren't enormously relevant - I wouldn't spend more than one line on those and focus instead on the academic things you've done e.g. wider reading (including e.g. MOOCs, lectures, etc) and relevant work experience directly connected to the course (e.g. if those various work experience activities were based in research labs and so on working on neuroscience related projects/activities - that's great material to reflect on and write analytically about!). The EPQ also seems a little unrelated as it seems a bit more media/film studies oriented (rather than being a scientific lab project).

Remember you don't have to tell them everything you've done - you want to tell them about the most relevant activities that made the most difference to you and shaped your decision to pursue this area, and write deeply and thoughtfully about those :smile:

are these uni choices realistic?

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