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Is AAB to high an insurance?

hi guys

I got an offer from Oxford of AA, and i'm sort of still stuck as to what my insurance should me. Things are not gonig to great in school at the moment, and i got a C in Fmaths and D in physics, and probably an E in goeg! (i didn't really revise).

was anyone in my situation last year, like getting C's and D's in mocks? If so did you end up making your offer. Also, how many people do not end up making their offers? i'm sort of depressed about school at the moment, and i dont even think i will make an AB for insurance...and revision tips/similar situaions?

also, my offers are: AB from Imperial, UCL, York and Durham, and BC from KCL. Which of these do you think i should put as insurance. Furthermore if i do put an AB one down, how likely is i to miss both, and still get in. If i miss an AB, what happens...will i be rejected straight....really depressed after these mocks - any tales of miraculous transformation for the final exam stories/people about?

P.S. was anyone ever in my situation before, and did they get into oxford in the end.

cheers

PK

Reply 1

F. Poste

I got CCD in my January exams as I'd just heard the news my dad got cancer and I was gutted and didn't pay attention or do any work.

Got high A's in every single one of my June exams and am at Oxford.

I'd say that in my case, there were exenuating circumstances- if you're not getting the grades and you've worked hard for them, I'd consider putting a low insurance.

Reply 2

teamvillage

I put AAB as insurance, but only because my only lower offer was BBC at Reading, which i didn't want to go to. If you'd be happy at KCL, put that down :smile:

Reply 3

Elles

17

might depend how lenient your potential insurance uni's tends to be?

my friend who missed her grades for both was told, when calling somewhere she'd turned down had she had them as an insurance they would have let her in..even missing the grades by the amount she did.. but now they didn't have any spaces - very helpful! :rolleyes:

i know i wanted to feel fairly secure that i'd definitely get my insurance grades, so chose an ABBD insurance over an AAB one, out of my 2 other medical offers. but then if you know you'd hate going to the uni that offered you the lowest grades, then there's no point putting them as insurance..

Reply 4

tango1

i know people last year who were getting Ds and Es in mocks and got As in real thing.

Reply 5

iluvcheesecake

I think that underperforming in mocks is quite common, particularly if you didn't revise that much. Someone in my further maths class got a D in that mock and a low B in her physics and she's hoping to head off to Oxford or ICL next year for physics. I guess what you put down really depends on how much better you think you could do in the real things, with more revision. Though I wouldn't put KCL down if you really don't want to go there

I think I'd contact the other unis and ask if they'd still consider giving you a place if you miss your grades if you put them as an insurance, as some seem to be more lenient than others. I know someone who missed their insurance offer at Durham for Maths and still got their place, but then he did have 1 and 3 in STEP 2 and 3, so maybe that swayed it.

Reply 6

Font

OP

what does everyone think? imperial or durham...thing with imperial is that they wont guarantee accommodation for first yr, if you put that as insurance..and i dont want to stay at home, aghhh confused :confused:

too many things to consider!

PK

Reply 7

Mooey23

My insurance is AAA (L.S.E) simply because all my offers are the same. It worries me a little as everytime I don't understand any little thing I'm thinking ****, this is going to cost me an A, esp maths. I'd put AAB down for your insurance because I'm guessing that if you've applied to places like Oxford, you're not going to be genuinely happy going to lesser uni's. (that is assuming that the offer at kings is ABC due to the course being not as highly rated, if not, then go ABC and take the pressure off... to an extent)

Reply 8

PurpleGecko

I can understand it's a hard choice to make. Personally I would ask yourself would you be happy at KCL? If the answer is 'yes, I would be as happy there as anywhere else than wasn't my first choice,' then i would put that down. Although you might want to think about ringing up your AAB offer and asking them if they would accept you with ABC should that situation arise. ironically I think that if you got AAB Oxford might very well accept you anyway (depending on course and college) so perhaps a AAB insurance is a little pointless? others might disagree with me though!

Reply 9

Font

OP

i rang them up, and none of them agve me a definitive answer; they all said that it'll depend on what everyone gets in august, which is understandable.

i wouldn't fancy kings only becasue the course is not highly rated. Do you think that Oxford will really accept me with an AAB? i mean surely there must be enough people with 3A's to go around? i thought at oxford it'd be an outomatic rejection???

I don't know why i'm worrying, but just thinking of getting rejected by both firm and insurance unis is a daunting prospect! Better get back to work...!

PK

Reply 10

PurpleGecko

Hmm, obviously I can't say they will absolutely take you, because you might get unlucky, but I know people who just missed their grades and still got a place. Because they have seen so much of you from interviews from work sent in...etc... when they offer you a place its because the tutors really want you to be there. so if you ring them up with one grade missing (say for example you're offer is AAA and you are doing history and you get A in history, A in english and B in french) then IMO you would have a good chance.

I wouldn't worry about mocks, ask yourself how much revision you did, I bet it wasn't alot! I won't patronise you by saying don't worry about not getting the grades because its only natural, by just use it as damn good reason to make sure you work your ass off!

Which college is your offer from, you're reading physics? maths? I'm guessing

Reply 11

PurpleGecko

oh... and i forgot to say...if you don't want to go to KCL it would be pointless to put it down, if its not where you want to be then take your chances. in my opinion having an insurance that you don't want to go to is more of a worry than its a comforter.

Reply 12

Hoofbeat

14

DO NOT HOPE THAT OXFORD WILL TAKE YOU IF YOU MISS YOUR OFFER!!!!!!!!!!

Oxford is now giving out Open Offers more commonly, particularly for science subjects. These people are GUARANTEED a place at Oxford if they meet their offer and they will be allocated to a college where someone else misses their offer. They are hovering in the wings waiting for someone to slip up!!! I was given an Open Offer and allocated to Lincoln College when 2 ( :eek:

) out of the 5 physicists missed their offers. Because I was waiting in the sidelines and had made my offer I had priority over the 2 of them and I was given their place. These 2 candidates were rejected.

In my opinion, I agree with everyone else: if you'd be happy at KCL then put that down, otherwise if you're good enough to get an offer from Oxford then I would have thought you'd be good enough to meet an insurance of AAB (except in extenuating circumstances). Ultimately, only you know how much work/effort/revision you put in for your mocks and only you know whether you really understand the topics and were just being lazy or whether you are genuinely struggling. My suggestion is to work damn hard for the next few months and make sure you meet your offer so that you don't even have to go to your insurance - if you find you're struggling ask for help.

Good luck. :smile:

Reply 13

Font

OP

Hoofbeat

if you find you're struggling ask for help.
Good luck. :smile:

i'm sort of struggling, because the teachers wont teach us properly...they expect us to understande everything straight away, and its like ridiculuos...we're getting no help, esp physics...i've got the worst physics teacher ever, and i know it should be down to the student and all, but when teh teacher who doesn't know his stuff makes sweeping claims, when the book says otherwise, its worrying! i only just scraped an A in physics last year, and might resit my practical and see if i can push my average to 90% or something. is A a constant 80% at A level?

also....on my interview feed back they said my application was strong in every respect; would i have any lookin on this account, if i miss my grades?

PK

Reply 14

Hoofbeat

14

Phil23

is A a constant 80% at A level?

No it does vary each year depending on difficulty of the paper and how others do. 80UMS is indeed an A. Generally, if you're getting 80% on your tests/past papers then you're likely to get an A. Always better to aim much higher though!

Phil23

also....on my interview feed back they said my application was strong in every respect; would i have any lookin on this account, if i miss my grades?

Not necessarily. As I said people with Open Offers will have PRIORITY over you if they make their grades. Only once these canditates have been taken will they assess how much 'space' is left for anyone who misses their grades. However, like I said briefly before, there were 5 people who had offers for Physics at my college. 2 of them missed their grades so I automatically got one of their places. However they then decided not to let either of them in.

I know it must be hard when you're teacher's useless and confusing you, but try and make a real conscious effort to grasp anything that's unclear and just read around the subject in several different books. For Physics there was a big book called "Understanding Physics" by Jim Breitbaupt (or something like that) which I always found useful. I know right now uni must seem ages away but these next few months will fly by, so just knuckle down and work hard, even if that means teaching yourself stuff (that's what I did in Biology for most of my last year at school!). When you get to Uni, learning is a lot more independent so think of it as good practise! :wink:

Good luck

Reply 15

H&E

3

Phil23

i'm sort of struggling, because the teachers wont teach us properly...they expect us to understande everything straight away, and its like ridiculuos...we're getting no help, esp physics...i've got the worst physics teacher ever, and i know it should be down to the student and all, but when teh teacher who doesn't know his stuff makes sweeping claims, when the book says otherwise, its worrying! i only just scraped an A in physics last year, and might resit my practical and see if i can push my average to 90% or something. is A a constant 80% at A level?

also....on my interview feed back they said my application was strong in every respect; would i have any lookin on this account, if i miss my grades?

PK

Don't lull yourself into a false sense of security - most people who miss their grades do not get away with it. If you are struggling, try to do something about it ASAP. Obviously revising for exams might be an idea, but if you genuinely think you're falling behind, make sure you use the Easter holidays to catch up. If the issue is with a teacher, get someone in authority (head of year, something like that) to try to sort it. And if they can't, try to get some sort of recognition of the fact you're not being taught properly.

Reply 16

spin

2

What a scary decision..

When I was applying for Universities one of my teachers (who looks like a tea bag) told me I was risking not getting into anywhere, because they were all top. But I decided if I didn't get into any of them then I didn't want to go to Uni.

If you can be happy at a Uni which has given you a lower offer then sure, put them as your back up.. if not I'd go with the higher one. My back up is Bristol AAB. But then as I'm aiming for AAA I'm hoping I won't screw up more than just one grade..

Good luck with it..!

Reply 17

Toni Mag

I have been through the oxbridge thing twice (obviously, the second time was with known results). There is only one way to decide (and this is what i did):
Would you be happy in the university you're thinking of for your second choice? If not, do not put it down. It's that simple.

Also, you can forget about Oxbridge letting you in with lower results. Just doesn't happen anymore. They have overfilled all courses and have open offers in the wings.

Reply 18

SpyMaster

Phil23

what does everyone think? imperial or durham...thing with imperial is that they wont guarantee accommodation for first yr, if you put that as insurance..and i dont want to stay at home, aghhh confused :confused:

too many things to consider!

PK

Given that choice, I think in your position I'd put down Imperial (it has a higher reputation than Durham, which is really cliquey and rah-ish), and if you feel things are still going badly later in the year get a teacher to help you write to them (not phone) and explain the situation, and see what they think. It won't be the first time they've faced such a situation, but the question should be phrased right, if you see what I mean. The fact that Imperial don't guarantee accommodation for the first year shouldn't be decisive. I imagine it probably just means that they offer places to a few more students than they can accommodate, and most who really want it should get accommodation. Good luck anyway.

Reply 19

RxB

1

Alternatively, you could be like me, do 3 A-levels, get AAB instead of AAA, fail your AEA, and somehow still get in.

(I'm incredibly unusual in this respect. Don't follow my example, and try not to get 14/90 in any of your papers)

Is AAB to high an insurance?

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