Uni Rejections

[itszamora]

I was predicted 3 x A in 2004 before this A* nonsense, and I got rejected by 4 of my 6 choices. One of the places that gave me an offer was Exeter, where I went and had the time of my life alongside getting a good degree and doing extracurricular stuff that told me what I want to do in life, and lead to what I'm doing now. So don't worry, he'll be fine, get an excellent education and have a great time wherever he goes.

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

I was predicted 3 x A in 2004 before this A* nonsense, and I got rejected by 4 of my 6 choices. One of the places that gave me an offer was Exeter, where I went and had the time of my life alongside getting a good degree and doing extracurricular stuff that told me what I want to do in life, and lead to what I'm doing now. So don't worry, he'll be fine, get an excellent education and have a great time wherever he goes.

Indeed.

 

[HseagullsH]

Just a minor point but this isnt necessarily true. Your stat may be but in general not really. Im only in my 3rd year now and you certainly didnt need more than 3 A2s to get in to Oxbridge when I left college, and you still dont. The average acceptance is probably hugely inflated by the freaks you get who do 5/6/7. The majority do 3/4.

His point is partly correct. You don't NEED five A*s to get in Oxbridge but their are loads and loads that apply with those predictions. This can push those that are taking less A levels to the side a bit. Of course there's more to it - personal statement, EC's, interview but I'd expect the applicants applying with five a levels and immaculate predictions will stand a better chance.

 

[KneeOn]

Just a minor point but this isnt necessarily true. Your stat may be but in general not really. Im only in my 3rd year now and you certainly didnt need more than 3 A2s to get in to Oxbridge when I left college, and you still dont. The average acceptance is probably hugely inflated by the freaks you get who do 5/6/7. The majority do 3/4.

I'm just going off the average number of UCAS points last year and nothing more, since i didn't look at Oxbridge until after I got back from the Edinburgh fringe (which clashed with AS results) and had a friend say "apply - you might as well". I didn't really look past that point though. So I speak from a position of little knowledge!

 

[seagulls4ever]

out of interest, how did you find out the predicted grades? Assume you asked the teacher?

Don't put too much by it... i've applied for 5 (B'mouth, Portsmouth, Sussex, Kent and Solent for back up) and had B'mouth, Portsmouth and Solent get back to me. My first choice (B'mouth) want 300 points with at least a B in computing - BBB basically. Uni's print stuff in their prospectus but it changes. B'mouths prospectus was actually ABB minimum, Portsmouth was BBB and they want a BBC or a BCC (i forget which). On the otherhand Solent wanted 120 in their prospectus and offered 160 including a D which is more. Oxbridge say they want A*A*A* but actually you need somethign like A*A*A*A*A*. The average acceptance for Oxford on (i think) English last year was 511 points.

You may get one rejection from a top uni, but it means nothing if its Warrick because as said, they're well up there with the best in the country.

Them Oxbridge requirements are completely untrue. Generally, A*AA will get you into Oxbridge. But they place much more emphasis on other areas of your application. 5 A* would be 700 points. The average applicant also exceeds their offer, hence the 511 figure. Plus many applicants have Advanced Extension Awards as well, which are worth 20 or 40 points each depending on your grade.

 

[KneeOn]

Them Oxbridge requirements are completely untrue. Generally, A*AA will get you into Oxbridge. But they place much more emphasis on other areas of your application. 5 A* would be 700 points. The average applicant also exceeds their offer, hence the 511 figure. Plus many applicants have Advanced Extension Awards as well, which are worth 20 or 40 points each depending on your grade.

Fair, i've based my A*x5 thing off of an average 511. I even cocked up the maths there!

 

[CP 0 3 BHA]

Oxbridge say they want A*A*A* but actually you need somethign like A*A*A*A*A*. The average acceptance for Oxford on (i think) English last year was 511 points.

Whilst most people accepted at Oxbridge will have A* predictions and very strong GCSEs and AS results, the standard Oxford offer is still AAA (daughter just got an offer to read Physics there) and A*AA at Cambridge. Doing more than 3 A Levels is unnecessary and won't feature in any offer.

 

[seagulls4ever]

Whilst most people accepted at Oxbridge will have A* predictions and very strong GCSEs and AS results, the standard Oxford offer is still AAA (daughter just got an offer to read Physics there) and A*AA at Cambridge. Doing more than 3 A Levels is unnecessary and won't feature in any offer.

Well, doing more than three A levels is only going to help your application. Also, in some cases there are offers made based on 4 A levels.

There is also one college which makes a third of its offers EE! Although that's usually reserved for ridiculously strong candidates.

 

[clarkey]

Well, doing more than three A levels is only going to help your application. Also, in some cases there are offers made based on 4 A levels.

There is also one college which makes a third of its offers EE! Although that's usually reserved for ridiculously strong candidates.

If you do 4 A Levels your offer will be for four A Levels. If you only do 3, then the offer wont be 4. They dont really care about your other subjects, just the one you're applying for. It doesn't increase your chances of getting in by doing more A Levels.

As it happens Royal Holloway offered me EE. If I'd accepted I wouldn't have needed any marks in the summer exams.

 

[seagulls4ever]

If you do 4 A Levels your offer will be for four A Levels. If you only do 3, then the offer wont be 4. They dont really care about your other subjects, just the one you're applying for. It doesn't increase your chances of getting in by doing more A Levels.

As it happens Royal Holloway offered me EE. If I'd accepted I wouldn't have needed any marks in the summer exams.

Your offer isn't always four A levels if that's what you take, it depends on the circumstances. Also, I respectfully disagree that it does not help your chances by doing more A levels. I don't think it does in such a way that some people are led to believe, but as I say it doesn't hurt. In addition, a couple of college's actually require four A levels.

 

[clarkey]

Your offer isn't always four A levels if that's what you take, it depends on the circumstances. Also, I respectfully disagree that it does not help your chances by doing more A levels. I don't think it does in such a way that some people are led to believe, but as I say it doesn't hurt. In addition, a couple of college's actually require four A levels.

OK, I can only pass on what I've been told in person by one of the Admissions People at my college. Guess it depends on the college. At mine, the number of A Levels is essentially irrelevant, regardless of what it can say about a person. Obviously its natural for there to be a link between the better universities and the number of A Levels taken by students there, but the general presumption that you have to have a certain number, or you need to get more than 3 is not always true. I know this wasn't your point, I'm just trying to clear up what I said earlier.

 

[CP 0 3 BHA]

If you do 4 A Levels your offer will be for four A Levels. If you only do 3, then the offer wont be 4. They dont really care about your other subjects, just the one you're applying for. It doesn't increase your chances of getting in by doing more A Levels.

As it happens Royal Holloway offered me EE. If I'd accepted I wouldn't have needed any marks in the summer exams.

Sorry, but that's just not right. Virtually all - if not all - universities base their offers on 3 A Levels irrespective of how many you are doing. Sometimes you may be able to count any three (generally excluding GS), in many cases they will specify what you need to get in each subject. I can also accept that doing more wouldn't do any harm and could help (e.g. doing Further Maths if applying for a Science or Maths subject).

If doing only three A Levels placed you at a disadvantage, quality schools wouldn't allow/encourage their pupils to put all their efforts into just three - as is the case at my daughter's grammar school where they generally drop their 4th subject after AS exams.

 

[seagulls4ever]

Sorry, but that's just not right. Virtually all - if not all - universities base their offers on 3 A Levels irrespective of how many you are doing. Sometimes you may be able to count any three (generally excluding GS), in many cases they will specify what you need to get in each subject. I can also accept that doing more wouldn't do any harm and could help (e.g. doing Further Maths if applying for a Science or Maths subject).

If doing only three A Levels placed you at a disadvantage, quality schools wouldn't allow/encourage their pupils to put all their efforts into just three - as is the case at my daughter's grammar school where they generally drop their 4th subject after AS exams.

I think maybe you tried to quote me?

We're not talking about 'virtually all' universities, we're talking about Oxbridge.

 

[seagulls4ever]

OK, I can only pass on what I've been told in person by one of the Admissions People at my college. Guess it depends on the college. At mine, the number of A Levels is essentially irrelevant, regardless of what it can say about a person. Obviously its natural for there to be a link between the better universities and the number of A Levels taken by students there, but the general presumption that you have to have a certain number, or you need to get more than 3 is not always true. I know this wasn't your point, I'm just trying to clear up what I said earlier.

I think it is generally the case, but not always the case. If they have some candidates who are neck-and-neck, with no other way to distinguish them other than their A levels, I think that's what they'll do. In favour of your argument, when I applied a couple of years back I did 5 and got rejected, my friend did 3 and got accepted.

 

[Lush]

Oxford this year had 16,000 applicants, virtually all of whom were predicted to get straight A's.

There are only 3,200 places.

So offers must be based on personality, interests and performance at interview. Just as it is in the real world when applying for jobs.

 

[El Presidente]

All the top uni's this year are looking for more than A grades, as they are seen as a given. Admissions officers are scrutinising the personal statements for signs of a more rounded individual than just a pure academic.

It is essential that whatever you apply for this year that you hit your predicted grades, as clearing will be a nightmare with lots of students chasing next to no places. It was bad enough last summer, when on day 2 of clearing we had 4 places to offer out of an annual intake of 1,500.

 

[ryeseagull]

Is it common for people to get rejections or is (has) the expectation been that if you have the grades the course requires you'll get offered a place?

In this case he did have projected grades that the course required. As you say - maybe they moved the bar up because of the very high quality of the applicants.

It's been a long time since I applied, but I got bags of rejections. Ended up with a First and now have a Ph.D. I wouldn't worry about rejections.

 

[Beach Hut]

My niece has a place next year at Durham, sadly Junior is not interested.....

 

[MrShaun15]

applied last few weeks,

London, Leeds, Manchester, Southampton, Bournemouth, hopefully ill get in to leeds, but we will have to wait and see

 

[Couldn't Be Hyypia]

Good luck MrShaun15