Are Good Grades the Be All and End All?

RichyRich

Entry Requirements are usually "flexible" - if you can show enthusiasm and knowledge you will be in with a chance (at the very least).

Your circumstances may mean that you are invited for interview. Use this to your advantage! I would say if you are as passionate as you say you are then you have more chance of getting in if you are invited for interview than if you are not. But apply - surely it's worth the effort for £15.00 or whatever the UCAS fee is nowadays.

Oh, and nearly forgot to add, Good Luck!

Rich

si1503

RichyRich wrote:

Entry Requirements are usually "flexible" - if you can show enthusiasm and knowledge you will be in with a chance (at the very least).

I don't know where you have been applying? In my experience entry requirements will be upheld regardless of how enthusiastic you sound, if you need a certain grade you need a certain grade, if not you won't even get looked at. Entry requirements are set for a reason.

Perhaps you missed my original comment, but the best advice is to phone them and actually ask them yourself. You will get a straight answer, even if its not the answer you want to hear.

pinginal

I'm 20 and have just started at university. I got in on the last year possible for me to be a school leaver even though I'd taken two gap years. I needed some resits do get the grades required, but that was fine.

I'm here now and there are people 40 and over doing the same full time course as me. Obviously they don't have A-Levels, it just goes on personal merit because you are classed as a mature student. I think you need to set up a personal meeting with the head of the school and show them what you have to offer. I don't think grades matter anymore, because apparently A-levels are so easy now.

From personal experience the courses that start at colleges in January tend to be more vocational rather than proper A-levels such as biology.

Another thing you could do, rather than apply for one course and switch to another a year later (wasting a year), is apply for a course that's very close to it. You'll find that some modules overlap and/or you can pick up some of the modules from the course that you wanted as subsiduaries.

What's been said about it being easier once you have your foot in the door is so true. The hurdle is getting there but if you can show enthusiasm you'll be fine. I don't think at 23 you can apply through UCAS or clearing. It really is best to contact the university directly.

RichyRich

si1503 wrote:

I don't know where you have been applying?

Cambridge.

Most courses have a "typical offer" - normally AAA here, but I received an AA offer.

I have friends at other universities who have applied to university after receiving their A-Level Results, which were lower than the prescribed requirements, but still got given an offer - many of which never even had to go to interview. I don't mean via clearing, I mean in the next application cycle.

In my experience most educational institutions will waive one entry "requirement" if they believe that the student has the potential to do well. My FE College, for example, said that you needed 5 GCSEs A*-C to gain a place on an A-Level Course. However I know lots of people who didn't have these grades and yet still studied there.

EEK!!!

Have you thought about applying for a foundation degree in a relevant subject then topping it up to a full BSc Biology?
Just a thought.
I'm 27 and have applied to Plymouth, Bournemouth and UCLAN. I really don't have anywhere near the points they asked for so applied to both the foundation degrees and the full Bsc degrees. I am currently doing a 10 points module with the Open University and in March will start another 10 pointer. All 3 have come back with Conditional offers - if I complete one of the OU modules I can join the FdSc and if i complete both then I can join the BSc course. Just a case of whether I can now complete both in time and which Uni to go to. If I choose a FdSc course they all have the opportunity to do a third year and top it up to a full BSc
So anyway after my little rant the point I'm trying to make is that even me someone with only very bad GCSE's, some worky vocational qualifications can get accepted at the ripe old age of 27.
Good luck with your decisions.

djhworld

For my course it didn't state you needed an 'X in N Subject' sort of thing, it based the entry on UCAS points, in my case, 280.

Places like Cambridge won't have you (it's like AAA or something ridiculous there), nor the top few, but I reckon if you show enthusiasm for the subject and demonstrate your knowledge of life experience, they'll put you in with a chance.

djhworld

RichyRich wrote:

Cambridge.
My FE College, for example, said that you needed 5 GCSEs A*-C to gain a place on an A-Level Course. However I know lots of people who didn't have these grades and yet still studied there.

Hahaha.

When I was at college, it was required that I had at least 5 Cs (which I got) + any subjects that required more.

I took 'Computing' which strictly required a B in GCSE Maths, I got a D, but due to an admin error, they enrolled me on the A level and I completed it with just under 100% marks with an A.

Take that bureaucracy!

Rikki

djhworld wrote:

For my course it didn't state you needed an 'X in N Subject' sort of thing, it based the entry on UCAS points, in my case, 280.

Places like Cambridge won't have you (it's like AAA or something ridiculous there), nor the top few, but I reckon if you show enthusiasm for the subject and demonstrate your knowledge of life experience, they'll put you in with a chance.

My eldest has his University offers in now so I am learning about the point system and grades.

280 points equates to BBC and 300 is ABC. The top grade is normally in a specified subject.

djhworld

Remember that grades from any subject you took at AS level (but dropped for A2 level) can be added to your UCAS score!

For example I took

Computing - A (120 points)
Media Studies - C (80 points)
Geography - D (60 points)

At A level and took

Product Design - D (30 points)

At AS level, giving me a total UCAS score of 290.

extractor_fan

EEK! got me thinking. What is a 10 credit level one Open University course worth in terms of AS/ A' Levels? (That's only my frame of reference I'm afraid!) because I'm wondering if it would be a good idea for me to sign up onto 2, Level One courses e.g

http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?C01SK183

http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/bin/p12.dll?C01SK185

Your help is much appreciated!