The Student Room Group

Can I apply to LSE or UCL with ABC grades?

I have an A in Math, B in Economic and C in Accounting in AS. Is it possible for me to have a place for Economics in LSE or UCL? Or should I just apply to normal universities? T_T
Reply 1
I would rate your chances as slim. Maybe apply to UCL in hope, but set your sights a little lower for your other four options.
Reply 2
No chance unless you can get an AAA prediction. But even then, a lot of people have Further Maths (or a fourth A Level) with 3 good subjects, Accounting is not seen as a good subject by LSE (LSE's view, not mine...) http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/undergraduateProspectus2009/howToApply.htm .

Also UCL Economics will give offers of A*AA with A* in Maths which is pretty tough, can you get A* in Maths?

For Economics LSE tends to accept students with at least 5A* at GCSE and the rest As so your GCSEs have to be pretty good, same for UCL.

Maybe you can try to apply to either one but don't expect anything, don't get your hopes up, have a look at the Econ forum (see Paulwhy's sticky threads) for help.
Reply 3
Hanoi
No chance unless you can get an AAA prediction. But even then, a lot of people have Further Maths (or a fourth A Level) with 3 good subjects, Accounting is not seen as a good subject by LSE (LSE's view, not mine...) http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/undergraduateProspectus2009/howToApply.htm .

Also UCL Economics will give offers of A*AA with A* in Maths which is pretty tough, can you get A* in Maths?

For Economics LSE tends to accept students with at least 5A* at GCSE and the rest As so your GCSEs have to be pretty good, same for UCL.

Maybe you can try to apply to either one but don't expect anything, don't get your hopes up, have a look at the Econ forum (see Paulwhy's sticky threads) for help.


Well, I will have Futher Math in my A2 but I think it doesn't help when I plan to apply this September for university :frown:. What are the requirements for A* in Math? you know? I think I can get quite good marks in Math

Also, I'm an internaltional student therefore I didn't learn GCSE here, how can I show them my grades I got at my country? Can they accept them? Oh I'm dying here with my Accounting exam....how stupid to chose it at the beginning :woo:
Reply 4
No chance, absolutely no chance, really don't bother applying.... Being realistic... Economics is extremely oversubscribed at UCL and LSE.
Reply 5
bublemjj47
Well, I will have Futher Math in my A2 but I think it doesn't help when I paln to apply this September for university :frown:. What are the requirements for A* in Math? I think I can get quite good marks in Math

Also, I'm an internaltional student therefore I didn't learn GCSE here, how can I show them my grades I got at my country? Can they accept them? Oh I'm dying here with my Accounting exam....how stupid to chose it at the beginning :woo:


You can put a prediction for FM in your UCAS if you haven't done it yet, so it will help. A* in A Level Maths is 80% average + 90% in C3 and C4.

What country are you from? Most international qualifications can be entered into UCAS.
Reply 6
I'm from China :biggrin: there fore it's hard to give them the right score of my GCSEs. Also, do people normally wait to finish their A-level and then apply for universities or just apply when they finish AS? It's quite hard for me to decide since my grades ain't that great, maybe I should retake
Reply 7
bublemjj47
I'm from China :biggrin: there fore it's hard to give them the right score of my GCSEs. Also, do people normally wait to finish their A-level and then apply for universities or just apply when they finish AS? It's quite hard for me to decide since my grades ain't that great, maybe I should retake


You should email the universities you're interested in applying to about your secondary school qualification before you apply.

You may also need to do an English proficiency exam for some universities (I know you need to for LSE).

People normally apply from September - January in the A2 year but it's better to send your application early (before the Christmas) than at the last minute in January.

You would have to retake if you're serious about going for a competitive course.
Reply 8
bublemjj47
I have an A in Math, B in Economic and C in Accounting in AS. Is it possible for me to have a place for Economics in LSE or UCL? Or should I just apply to normal universities? T_T


So you only have 3 AS levels? And they're ABC, with a B in the subject you want to study? Not a chance I'm afraid...
Reply 9
i know loads of people who got straight As and failed to get into both UCL and LSE. I think you should consider resitting some modules and consider applying to other unis.
Reply 10
jkyng1
i know loads of people who got straight As and failed to get into both UCL and LSE. I think you should consider resitting some modules and consider applying to other unis.


:ditto:
Everyone seems to get AAA minimum these days, so you wouldn't get into the top 10 unis with those grades being honest here.

However never the less I know people who got into UCL with poor AS grades but managed to pull them up. This one guy got ACDc and managed to retake everything and pulled it up to AABc, however he went for biochemical engineering which isn't as competitive as economics. You have plenty of time to pull it up to AAA, you can revise solid for AS and A2 in the last 3 months and can still get AAA if you did most modules again. However places like UCL and LSE want an A* for their offers and getting one is hard, however, you can still get into top 10 unis with AAA such as Bristol and Warwick.
Reply 12
You should probably be looking at applying to somewhere like Southampton or York as an optimistic choice, and then places like Loughborough, as more realistic options.
And even for that level you will be needing predictions of ABB or better I would think.
Economics is very competitive.
The result of my application this year is in my sig, and i had AAAac predictions/obtained in Maths, Physics, Business, Further Maths and English respectively, as well as 4A*s, 6As, 1B at GCSE - I was similarly unimformed with regards just how competitive economics was prior to applying.
If you look through the economics offers thread you will see lots of applicants with much better academic records than me with 4 or 5 rejections.
Reply 13
up it to AAA some how!
or AAB would get you a place somewhere else like maybe manchester
Absolutely no hope whatsoever. Not a chance. Even if you're predicted AAA, you're never going to get in.
Reply 15
quite true. even you are predicted AAA as the AS grades count unless you have a specific reason of not doing well in AS
Reply 16
bublemjj47
I have an A in Math, B in Economic and C in Accounting in AS. Is it possible for me to have a place for Economics in LSE or UCL? Or should I just apply to normal universities? T_T

Weaknesses:
i)Only 3 AS levels
ii)Accounting is ranked as 4th rate (see http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=810355)
iii)Accounting not distinct enough from Economics
iv)poor (predicted?) grades.

Hence I can't see you getting offers from top 11 unis (even in the extreme case of you doing FM and PHysics next year). Hence suggest you focus on the AAB.2.1 unis and the grades requried for getting into them. So suggest you need to focus the grades required by them e.g. AAB and that doing extra qualifications in your case would just be a distraction.
always have hope the end is near, just like the gunners have hope every year1!

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