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A Level Results

13

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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    O_o wrote: »
    :lol::lol::lol::lol:
    It's not that outrageous, at the top schools these days it's the norm for most people to get a string of A* grades. For top unis they'll want an A* in the subject you want to do and having an A instead will be a problem. If everyone around you gets a clean sweep of A*s (which happens at the top schools) and you don't you'll feel like a failure, even though you've done better than 99% of the country.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ricardo R wrote: »
    For top unis they'll want an A* in the subject you want to do and having an A instead will be a problem.

    What uni's are these then? I know for some degrees you need a certain amount of A's at GCSE's, not A*'s.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yerascrote wrote: »
    What uni's are these then? I know for some degrees you need a certain amount of A's at GCSE's, not A*'s.
    All top 10 unis these days.. they won't make it an official requirement (maybe they do at like LSE, Imperial now) but say if you want to do English at somewhere like Warwick, Bristol or York, they'd expect A*s in English Language and Literature, quite a big disadvantage if you got an A when there's 10+ people applying per place and others will have A*s.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ricardo R wrote: »
    All top 10 unis these days.. they won't make it an official requirement (maybe they do at like LSE, Imperial now) but say if you want to do English at somewhere like Warwick, Bristol or York, they'd expect A*s in English Language and Literature, quite a big disadvantage if you got an A when there's 10+ people applying per place and others will have A*s.

    Of course, but if you seriously want to be considering doing English at a top uni then you're going to have to get an A* at in in GCSE.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ricardo R wrote: »
    It's not that outrageous, at the top schools these days it's the norm for most people to get a string of A* grades. For top unis they'll want an A* in the subject you want to do and having an A instead will be a problem. If everyone around you gets a clean sweep of A*s (which happens at the top schools) and you don't you'll feel like a failure, even though you've done better than 99% of the country.

    I only needed C's in English and Math at GCSE
    and BBB in my A Levels so that is bullshit.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    nicolalou wrote: »
    I only needed C's in English and Math at GCSE
    and BBB in my A Levels so that is bullshit.
    Um what's your point? If you want to study at a top 10 uni in 2007, having an A not an A* in your desired subject will be a disadvantage, period. Go to thestudentroom university forum you'll see people have been asked in their interview why they got an A not an A*.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Is that really true nowadays?

    I got offers from some good unis despite "only" having 1 A star and 4 As..that was considered pretty good back then! But I guess today so many people get 20 A stars (what is the point of anyone doing so many GCSEs anyway?) they have to differentiate somehow.

    (This was in 2000/2001)

    I find it sad though that unis would take an exam you did at 15 or 16 over how you are today (eg, by interviewing an applicant). A lot of GCSEs are just about regurgitating information by rote.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ricardo R wrote: »
    Um what's your point? If you want to study at a top 10 uni in 2007, having an A not an A* in your desired subject will be a disadvantage, period. Go to thestudentroom university forum you'll see people have been asked in their interview why they got an A not an A*.

    I got accepted to a top 10 university. I had a A in History and a B in French at GCSE. Wasn't a problem to them, I didn't even need to go for an interview.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    katchika wrote: »
    Is that really true nowadays?

    I got offers from some good unis despite "only" having 1 A star and 4 As..that was considered pretty good back then! But I guess today so many people get 20 A stars (what is the point of anyone doing so many GCSEs anyway?) they have to differentiate somehow.

    (This was in 2000/2001)
    I got AABB at AS-Level and got an offer from Oxford in 2002. These days that would be rare, you pretty much need AAAA minimum. Standards have changed drastically, an ever-increasing number getting the top grades. In the early 2000s getting all A*s would be a miracle getting you in the newspapers, now it's almost average at top schools.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    /
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ricardo R wrote: »
    Manchester's not a top 10 uni.

    http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/gug/gooduniversityguide.php - 29th, The Times
    http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/stug2006/stug2006.pdf - 15th, Sunday Times
    http://education.guardian.co.uk/universityguide2008/0,,2027789,00.html - 16th, Sunday Times

    Yes it's nearing the top 10, and will be in a few tables I'm sure, but (a) it's in a different league to Warwick, Bristol, York etc for your subjects French and History, and (b) it'll be harder to get into Manchester now then when you applied, everything's got more competitive.

    I'm not talking about Manchester, i'm talking about Warwick. I said I got accepted not I go to.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    nicolalou wrote: »
    I'm not talking about Manchester, i'm talking about Warwick. I said I got accepted not I go to.
    OK sorry lol my point still stands - would be hard-pressed to get into Warwick today with an A and B at GCSE in the subjects you want to do.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ricardo R wrote: »
    OK sorry lol my point still stands - would be hard-pressed to get into Warwick today with an A and B at GCSE in the subjects you want to do.

    Disagree, it's only been three years.
    A friends of mine wanting to study History got an A* in History at GCSE and an A at AS Level and was herself rejected from Warwick. A lot more than you think of it counts on your personal statement and extra curricular activities. For example, a university is more likely to accept you if you play a sport for your county. I've seen it happen with people who had Cs and Ds at A Level. Another thing is the school you go to. Friends of mine who went to Manchester Grammar got absolutely awful A Level results but were accepted very quickly on to their course or other courses.
    Finally, I believe Oxford and Cambridge have to accept a certain number of people from certain areas. For example, a girl in my school got into Cambridge simply because she was the only one who applied from our year and ours was the "rough school". Her results left a lot to be desired.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    nicolalou wrote: »
    A friends of mine wanting to study History got an A* in History at GCSE and an A at AS Level and was herself rejected from Warwick. A lot more than you think of it counts on your personal statement and extra curricular activities. For example, a university is more likely to accept you if you play a sport for your county. I've seen it happen with people who had Cs and Ds at A Level. Another thing is the school you go to. Friends of mine who went to Manchester Grammar got absolutely awful A Level results but were accepted very quickly on to their course or other courses.
    I'm not diagreeing other stuff like UCAS, extracurriculars can matter, but these days when it's so competitive for certain unis/courses you need to differentiate yourself and any missing link can be a blow. For example Medicine at any top 5 uni, no matter where you're from slipping up a grade in a key subject is a costly blow. About private schools it can work both ways, you have people with straight A*s/As from there rejected, it's a bit of a lottery.
    nicolalou wrote: »
    Finally, I believe Oxford and Cambridge have to accept a certain number of people from certain areas. For example, a girl in my school got into Cambridge simply because she was the only one who applied from our year and ours was the "rough school". Her results left a lot to be desired.
    There's no quotas whatsoever at Oxford or Cambridge. There are rough guidelines what they should be accepting but they do their own thing, each tutor has a different opinion, some are well known for remaining to favour white public schoolboys, others are more open to people from poor schools with lesser grades.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ricardo R wrote: »
    It's not that outrageous, at the top schools these days it's the norm for most people to get a string of A* grades. For top unis they'll want an A* in the subject you want to do and having an A instead will be a problem. If everyone around you gets a clean sweep of A*s (which happens at the top schools) and you don't you'll feel like a failure, even though you've done better than 99% of the country.

    Rubbish. When I was looking at which uni to go to, the subject I wanted to do, nearly every uni I looked at (including Cambridge & Oxford) all said A*-C in English, Maths & Science GCSE. Some did say Science or Maths though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote: »
    Rubbish. When I was looking at which uni to go to, the subject I wanted to do, nearly every uni I looked at (including Cambridge & Oxford) all said A*-C in English, Maths & Science GCSE. Some did say Science or Maths though.

    I agree, if you have Cs in the main subjects that's all they care about.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally Posted by Ricardo R
    Manchester's not a top 10 uni.

    http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/gug/...rsityguide.php - 29th, The Times
    http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/stug2006/stug2006.pdf - 15th, Sunday Times
    http://education.guardian.co.uk/univ...027789,00.html - 16th, Sunday Times

    Yes it's nearing the top 10, and will be in a few tables I'm sure, but (a) it's in a different league to Warwick, Bristol, York etc for your subjects French and History, and (b) it'll be harder to get into Manchester now then when you applied, everything's got more competitive.

    It depends what subjects you want to do. Certainly, doing dual honours with a language is going to increase you chances more than if you choose straight history, because us Brits are terribly monolingual and so the competition is going to be less - especially with fewer pupils doing languages at GCSEs.

    When I got into Bristol (in 2000) they offered me a place to do History with German for 3 Bs. In the end I got ABB. My GCSEs were 1 A*, 3 As, 4 Bs and a C (the latter being Art :lol: ). I think the offers tended to be a fair bit higher for the straight history peeps.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Meryn wrote: »
    It depends what subjects you want to do. Certainly, doing dual honours with a language is going to increase you chances more than if you choose straight history, because us Brits are terribly monolingual and so the competition is going to be less - especially with fewer pupils doing languages at GCSEs.

    When I got into Bristol (in 2000) they offered me a place to do History with German for 3 Bs. In the end I got ABB. My GCSEs were 1 A*, 3 As, 4 Bs and a C (the latter being Art :lol: ). I think the offers tended to be a fair bit higher for the straight history peeps.

    True, offers for straight History for me were AAB whereas History and French was BBB. However there are 300 places for History and 30 places for History and a modern language at Manchester so I don't see how the chanes are more for getting into a dual course when there are less places. I can't remember how many applicants there were to my course when I looked it up before I went but I remember the number was huge.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    well done to those who posted their results.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That really clever boy who got 7 "A" grades who was on the news today (in London anyway) is my nephew...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That really clever boy who got 7 "A" grades who was on the news today (in London anyway) is my nephew...

    What did he get?

    I should be getting my Science GCSE resilt next week adn I've still not got my NVQ results yet. (should be a distiction though, as I was only one mark off before submitting my final unit and doing the exam) :confused: :crying:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm not sure what all the subjects were. Most of them were Scientific subjects.

    Today is also the day I got a wonderful job offer from a very top-grade investment bank (although I already work for one, this job offer is definitely a step up) and am getting a good salary. But I've had to struggle for this. I am now 42 and it's 20 years since I graduated with a 2-i in Maths from University College London. I can now feel satisfied with my career path and I hope everyone else here will do the best they can, and not worry about what others have achieved.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Argh! Jomery is back!!!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    nicolalou wrote: »
    True, offers for straight History for me were AAB whereas History and French was BBB. However there are 300 places for History and 30 places for History and a modern language at Manchester so I don't see how the chanes are more for getting into a dual course when there are less places. I can't remember how many applicants there were to my course when I looked it up before I went but I remember the number was huge.

    Again, as you say, it completely depends on the number of applicants. It doesn't matter if there are only 30 places if only 45 or 60 or however many people apply, it's still likely to be a higher chance than for the subject on its own. Though maybe less so for French, as it is probably the most popular language, I doubt the applicants would be so many for a less popular/weirder language.....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My nephew is nothing like Jomery
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    They were talking about Ricardo.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    hhhhmmmm not contributing to the whole debate because I'm not sure any of it is more than speculation but....

    i got 4 As and a distinction in my RS AEA. so i'm off to Cambridge in 6 weeks :D:D:D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I got 2 B's and a C. I was 5 marks off an A in one though :banghead:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    squeal wrote: »
    I got 2 B's and a C. I was 5 marks off an A in one though :banghead:

    That's mean. (I was just as bad at GCSE - one mark off passing GNVQ ICT; surely they could've found that one mark somewhere?) Well done.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote: »
    That's mean. (I was just as bad at GCSE - one mark off passing GNVQ ICT; surely they could've found that one mark somewhere?) Well done.

    Thanks :) I know, another annoying this is for one paper i spent 2 months revising it and got a C and then the other I spent 2 days revising and got an A, what's all that about :confused:
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