Can I apply to Oxbridge?

I would like to apply for law at Oxford or Cambridge, or even UCL, LSE etc but not sure if my backgrounds strong enough.

I achieved 9988777766 at GCSE with 6 in food tech and 76 in combined science, but this was achieved with extenuating circumstances of being chronically ill at the time of exams and coursework, not sure if this will change anything.

I am taking English Lit, Psychology, RS and core maths for a level and will hopefully get at minimum A*AA predicted.

Ive got lots of law work experience etc that could look good on a PS and I would perform well in an interview but is there any point applying for Oxbridge? How big is their focus on GCSEs and would it be better to have somewhere like UCL as my target?

Also how would I strengthen my application now in year 12 to actually make myself a competitive applicant.

Reply 1

DoctorJorts

You get five choices. If you make all of them safe, there will be a point where you have five offers all of which kind of look the same. Why not go for a punt on a couple of them?

Those GCSEs are good but some places put more value on GCSEs and some put more value on other things. See if you can sniff out selection processes (a lot of the time places are a least a bit open about this, if you spend enough time digging on their websites) and if you do make an aspirational application, make it a strategically.

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

I don't see any reasons to complete rule it out. As above you have 5 choices so it's reasonable (and expected) to have a couple of "aspirational" choices.

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Original post

by erinmmmm

I would like to apply for law at Oxford or Cambridge, or even UCL, LSE etc but not sure if my backgrounds strong enough.
I achieved 9988777766 at GCSE with 6 in food tech and 76 in combined science, but this was achieved with extenuating circumstances of being chronically ill at the time of exams and coursework, not sure if this will change anything.
I am taking English Lit, Psychology, RS and core maths for a level and will hopefully get at minimum A*AA predicted.
Ive got lots of law work experience etc that could look good on a PS and I would perform well in an interview but is there any point applying for Oxbridge? How big is their focus on GCSEs and would it be better to have somewhere like UCL as my target?
Also how would I strengthen my application now in year 12 to actually make myself a competitive applicant.

If your main worry is your GCSEs, I would recommend you apply to Cambridge as out of all those unis, I believe they place the least weighting. Also they interview 70% of applicants, and it’s extremely likely you get one if you meet the requirement and have a good PS. you definitely have a good shot if you think you’ll do well in the interview and work hard on the LNAT.

Reply 4

erinmmmm

Original post

by Anonymous

thank you thats really helpful, do you think its also fine to apply to all russell groups, obviously with lower ranked ones as safety options but would i be putting myself at risk or no?

Reply 5

Anonymous #2

Original post

by erinmmmm

thank you thats really helpful, do you think its also fine to apply to all russell groups, obviously with lower ranked ones as safety options but would i be putting myself at risk or no?

I’d recommend you apply to QMUL for law, after checking your eligibility for a contextual offer, almost everyone I know qualifies for this with respect to QMULs criteria, and as long as you meet the entry requirement and have a decent PS, you’re almost guaranteed a place. It is a highly ranked law school, and has an entry of AAA which is beneficial as a safety as many of the others are A*AA. If not, I’d still say all russel group choices is a good idea, if the stats you have said are likely, you will at least get one offer for sure. Consider which unis use LNAT as well.