RE: Need help.

Hi,


I'll keep it brief.


Finished A-levels in 2022; achieved:

A* Econ

A Business

C Pure Statistics

= 136 UCAS Pts.


Would love to work in IB. Can go onto a foundation course for Uni at semi-target Durham. Also wondering where else I can apply with these grades? Many top unis wont accept Pure Statistics in lieu of Mathematics GCE A-Level... I also did poorly in this subject which didn't help. Was 1 mark off Business A* too , to add more salt to the wound.


Was wondering the following:

  • What target/semitarget unis can I apply to with my grades? (Contextual Offers are applicable as I'm from an area of low progression to Higher education, foundation years also if needed).

  • Will IB accept this A*AC?

  • What networking can I do in my gap year to be proactive? No-one will accept me for spring weeks.


Looking for any other useful advice too, if possible.


Thanks.

 

I recommend you go for the foundation course at Durham and join Durham after

  • Will IB accept this A*AC? 

Yes. The IBs that have A-level grade requirements generally seek AAB equiv or higher (you're ok) 

  • What networking can I do in my gap year to be proactive? No-one will accept me for spring weeks.

Reach out to ppl on Linkedin, attend in-person networking events etc. Be interesting

Looking for any other useful advice too, if possible.

If you're insecure about your A-level grades in the future, just remove it (and secondary school details) from your CV

 

Hey,

Thanks for the great response.

I recommend you go for the foundation course at Durham and join Durham after.

Yes, great. Hopefully get an offer again this year. I also want to apply to management at KCL/St. Andrews (AAB requirements - might be a stretch). Can't get into finance as I needed mathematics A-Levels at these. Do you think these are also good universities, or if not, could you recommend any other feasible targets/semi-targets in my situation?

Yes. The IBs that have A-level grade requirements generally seek AAB equiv or higher (you're ok) 

Of course, many take AAB but I feel I have been denied already for A*AC from some places I applied to from Spring Weeks/Experiences, maybe this is just my own brain playing tricks. But, that C feels and looks very bad. I am going to try retake the A-Level during a foundation course hopefully.

Following this, if I get B or higher, I will try apply to LSE 'Economic History' as this doesn't have the maths requirement. I don't have a strong GCSE profile; but worth a shot.

Reach out to ppl on Linkedin, attend in-person networking events etc. Be interesting

Can you recommend any / and could I even connect with you? So far, I have applied to a lot of spring weeks from september (when I thought I was going to University). I have applied to a few more programs since. I have also connected with some HR/Careers people on LinkedIn, which is good. I want to find more but many don't always seem receptive to conversation.

 

0xf1b.z

Hey,

Thanks for the great response.

I recommend you go for the foundation course at Durham and join Durham after.

Yes, great. Hopefully get an offer again this year. I also want to apply to management at KCL/St. Andrews (AAB requirements - might be a stretch). Can't get into finance as I needed mathematics A-Levels at these. Do you think these are also good universities, or if not, could you recommend any other feasible targets/semi-targets in my situation?

Yes. The IBs that have A-level grade requirements generally seek AAB equiv or higher (you're ok) 

Of course, many take AAB but I feel I have been denied already for A*AC from some places I applied to from Spring Weeks/Experiences, maybe this is just my own brain playing tricks. But, that C feels and looks very bad. I am going to try retake the A-Level during a foundation course hopefully.

Following this, if I get B or higher, I will try apply to LSE 'Economic History' as this doesn't have the maths requirement. I don't have a strong GCSE profile; but worth a shot.

Reach out to ppl on Linkedin, attend in-person networking events etc. Be interesting

Can you recommend any / and could I even connect with you? So far, I have applied to a lot of spring weeks from september (when I thought I was going to University). I have applied to a few more programs since. I have also connected with some HR/Careers people on LinkedIn, which is good. I want to find more but many don't always seem receptive to conversation.

Nottingham/Exeter could be other good options :)

What university were you putting down when applying to Spring Weeks? Most people get rejected from all that they apply to, so shouldn't be pointing to the C necessarily - also likely that you applied a bit too early and didn't make the best application you could. Imho, A-Level grades will never be the make or break for an application (unless it undermines a specified grade requirement which might lead to an auto-ding (but might not)).

Would be worth getting any experience you can while you're on your gap year and make the most of still being able to apply to sixth-form programmes for work experience programmes.

Cold-emailing might be useful for trying to get experience, and when people say no, can lead to networking instead. Keep your mindset as a sixth-form student that's ahead of the curve rather than a uni student that is behind the curve (try to reflect that in your story).

 

Loughborough is an option that doesn't require maths. IB will be a slog but attainable if you're willing to put in the work. Also if you don't break into IB straight out of undergrad there's still hope to move from things like Big 4 Transaction Services/Deals which are easily attainable from these kind of unis.

 

Yeah,

I've considered the Transaction Services. I even applied for an apprenticeship I found very interesting in this specific area at the Big 4. I'm assuming this would be a career builder spending time at Big 4 - and then what would the logistics behind moving to IB M&A be? And the feasibility even. How would it all work - if you know?

Loughborough would be tough, I think as you said. I'm also looking to do a more quant degree such as Finance preferable as opposed to Business. I Would still choose Durham's foundation over this as opposed to L'boro due to the bigger name. Will still be hard, and more expensive, but I guess that's the better brand (imo).

Good suggestion, thank you for this.

 

You realistically need to be doing at the very least AS maths. The content obviously is in no way going to help you with IB, but a C in stats isn't a good look and recruiters want to hire people who are numerate even if they do humanities at university etc.Honestly imo - take a gap year and resit the A-levels aiming for Durham or another semi target. Aim for A*AA - breaking into IB in emea is tougher than the US. You've still got plenty of time before recruitment for sure - but in all honesty - you're behind a lot of the hardos who are already motivated for IB but with multiple A*s and target/semi target offers, and all of the Europeans who are currently racking up internships, so start grinding.

 
Most Helpful

Hey, thanks for the message. I appreciate the honesty and I agree with you for the majority. I'll outline below where I am not wholly agreeing/sure.

I'm in a gap-year currently, saving up to make some money to afford university. It gets a bit awkward but I guess now, I will prepare to retry exams in 2024. I was considering beginning the foundation programme and simultaneously retaking A-level Stats (C grade). If it went successful; I'd reapply elsewhere. But, come to think of it I would have a lot of outgoings in not only the 9.25k fee at Durham but also the accommodation (8k min) + food over the year.

It might sound embarrassing but I will plan to take another gap year & go from there. Hopefully my college tutor understands, will organise a meeting to go over it with them. It is for the eventual greater good.

You are right that the C looks poor and it's all I thought about since the grade came out, to be honest. I kind of had a big reality check in my personal life recently, thinking about this. I feel very self-concious of when applying to apprenticeships, as I have done.

As for AS Mathematics, this is where I'm unsure. I want to focus on Statistics by itself - but I've never considered AS Mathematics. Many accept only full maths too. It would be a long time since I did GCSE, on top of that, but I guess it is fairly simple. Do you think taking this simulatenously would be a good idea?

Thanks.

 

I don't think you should worry in itself about the double gap year if that's something you do- everyone has a different route for their own reasons.

However, is there any way you can resit exams this year? As to avoid the above. Saving that, the foundation course at Durham is a good option assuming it results in a place on one of their courses and you get that C sorted.

As for Maths, I think it's worth a shot. Given you've already studied Stats (potentially to a high level)- that's already ~1/3 of the course (although been a while since I've done A-levels so not certain)

 

Tbh I think its worth resitting your A level you got a C in. From what I've heard IBs have AAB requirements so you would be screened out. Not an expert on this so worth researching it further. If you resit banks probably have no way of knowing anyway and I don't think they care

 

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