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A-Levels...Universities...Rubbish!
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
The Media are CONSTANTLY going on about how muc heasier A-levels are getting, I it really annoying when you know it takes a lot of hard work to do well in your a-levels. BUT i still think there needs to be reform otherwise how will anyone differentiate between the top students. ALSO the whole predicted grades thing needs to stop and WHY does the government have such a high target for university attendance - there;s no point in going to university to study something you'd be better off getting practical experience of. ITS ALL SUCH A MESS!
I got all A's & A*s in my GSCEs and all A's in my a-levels yet i only got an offer from ONE uni (my backup one!) probably because one of my teachers predicted me an B in one of my subjects + i did all the extra curricular activities and everything.
basically, what im trying to say is... how can u prove you're better than anyone else who;se got the same grades as you & if you;ve all got the same grades - how do they choose between you?
I got all A's & A*s in my GSCEs and all A's in my a-levels yet i only got an offer from ONE uni (my backup one!) probably because one of my teachers predicted me an B in one of my subjects + i did all the extra curricular activities and everything.
basically, what im trying to say is... how can u prove you're better than anyone else who;se got the same grades as you & if you;ve all got the same grades - how do they choose between you?
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Comments
You write those horrid 'personal statements' where you whore yourself to the university saying how great you'd be and how you rescue sick dogs on weekends inbetween nursing poorly dolphins.
A person's potential for achievement bears little relation to any voluntary work or sport they do.
Getting into certain courses at certain universities will always be difficult, regardless. With most courses, though, at most universities, if you've got the grades then you're sorted.
Universities don't just want people with 54754757435474 A's at A Level though, they want people who will bring benifit to the university and get involved in things and not just sit there in their rooms 24/7 and study.
It depends totally on the course, if you are talking about Maths or Physics the university does actually want those wierd people with 10 A*'s.
As I said, some courses at certain universities may require something "extra".
Perhaps, but most people taking those subjects are nerds anyway.
I havent met one person who got straight A*'s who wasnt a little nerdy.
Once upon a time, when I was your age *is old*, goo a-level grades meant something. However, politics has intervened and so three A grades doesn't mean so much when 20,000 other people have them too and you are all vying for the same Uni spot.
So, what you are like as an individual matters. Which is how it should be IMHO.
So tell them what a wonderful human being you are, sell yourself to them. It's a good lesson TBH. Because it's just what you will have to do when you get to the job interview stage.
What you have to remember is that what you put on an application form (for anywhere) just gets you a foot in the door. It's doesn't guarantee you anything...
And I got all As in my a levels and I got offers from LSE, Warwick, Oxford, Sheffield, Durham and Southampton mainly due to my well written personal statement.
You can't blame only getting an offer from one university on getting predicted a B in one subject. As other people have said, it isn't all about grades. I got 6 offers and I wasn't predicted a single A in my A levels, from universitites with higher entrance grades than my predicted ones. One uni actually gave me a lower grade offer than their typical one. Why? Because somehow through my personal statement I managed to prove how I was better than anyone else with the same grades. Universities don't necessarily want working machines, they want people/students.
not really, they like you to have an interest in the subject and the capacity to actually learn and partially understand what's going on,, which most people don't - some peopel drop out of university after 2 year in physics, simply because their brains cannot take much more :shocking:
Yes, but if you have a large collection of A*'s especially in the subject you wish to study, like Maths, then you have already proved somewhat you can learn it and do have an interest.
I wasnt really suggesting all Maths courses, but the high end ones do demand a lot academically and they are less bothered about the extra-curricular stuff.
yeh the extra curricular thing isnt so important, in arts, and thing like medicine youre expected to partake in things outside your subject at university (mainly due to the lack of work for the BA students
3A levels in maths, further maths and physics is what all maths dept would prefer ....
debates board innit blud
That is true, you'll get no arguement from me about that.
P.S. did you just call me 'blud'?
Six applications to Oxbridge after being predicted Bs is a bit optimistic. In which case it is this person's own fault, as all teachers everywhere tell you to apply to universities across the spectrum, not just the ones who want 6 As.
Personal statements are bollocks though, there are plenty of very clever people who would be shit at writing personal statements and plenty of less clever people who would be good at writing them.
They prove nothing...........
But why does this matter as well?
If I am a university I want the people who are going to do the best at university. Why on earth does the fact that someone volunteered in a nursing home for a while make them any more likely to be get a first at a Maths degree than someone else with the same A-level grades.
It doesn't so why should the university care?
Why do they want interesting people? How much time do you spend engaging with any members of university staff, why the hell should they care if you are interesting or not?
In the end all the extra-curricular stuff, the personal statements etc is a load of bollocks because if the admission tutors said that basically the tossed a coin and it was just down to luck then people would get pissed off...........
Also, I don't think A level grades are an indicater of how intelligent you are at all. I've met plenty of people who got good grades who are just as normal as you and I. However, it does show that people are willing to work. I can't see grades in the future being as important as work experience and volunteering when getting in to university. The same with getting a job after.
I mean, in the 70's they'd ask "Write everything you know about x,y,z" whereas today it would be like "how did a,b,c affect x,y,z,"
yup apart from in science maths where it moved from 'what is this and calculate' to this is this, calculate this and explain the possible errors'
No-one wants and Idiot-savant at their university, they want capable well-rounded people.