Bristol- how hard is it to get in?

[KittyMcKitty]

My dc is predicted AAA and has a good GCSE profile (9’s - 7’s so exceeds what they’re looking for but not all 9’s).

They are at a state selective school. Neither my husband or I went to Uni but we are not eligible for a contextual offer.

My dc is probably going to apply for two courses at Bristol- Philosophy and Politics (standard offer AAA) and Social Policy and Politics (standard offer AAB).

Obviously no one here knows him etc etc but is it possible he may receive an offer from Bristol? I read so much about how great Bristol is etc etc that I feel we’re not special enough for it - I know that sounds pathetic but I have no idea how uni offers work etc etc.

Guymere thank you that sums up how I feel.

OhTheRoses in answer to your question
Oxbridge - he’s not interested and our schools early entry deadline has gone.
Warwick - we live in the middle of nowhere he has no interest in a Uni in the middle of nowhere.
LSE - too small and insular in his mind (I like LSE but not my choice).
UCL only do Pol with Int Rel - he does want the Int Rel
Sheffield doesn’t like the course (I do but it’s not me applying).
Durham- not his thing & doesn’t want to go that far
Edinburgh & St Andrews doesn’t want to go that far.

The only other possibility is KCL who want A star AA (exceeding his predictions) but as it stands he thinks he’d rather apply for 2 at Bristol.

@NiamCinnOir thank you - well done to your dd - is that for 2021 entry? Ds had better get his personal statement finished (think school want them by early Nov).

I’ve known plenty of people who thought the university was great. Depends who you know. My contacts studied mfl, politics, history, engineering, medics, vets, law and Economics. All very happy with teaching and the university. Probably didn’t need or use pastoral care. Some of the above universities are not considered “better” than Bristol. By whom? Depends what you want to do with your degree too.

OP your son should go for it and apply to Bristol. I can’t see why he wouldn’t get in from what you’ve stated. He has great predicted grades and should back himself! Good luck to him. My DD1 has also applied to Bristol for a different subject.

Also when my daughter went to Bristol it was before the Government cap on places for those with AAB was lifted. She did not apply for law as thought it would be harder to get in (and did law after graduating). When my twins went to Bristol 3 years ago that cap was lifted. One did the same course she did and there were double the number of students doing it so probably I would guess it is easier to get into now if you have high-ish grades.

Daughter was 13 years before him.

It's worth looking at the what uni site to see what the actual average grades were of students doing various courses. Although they may be higher next year because of covid/exam debacle/deferrals etc leading to fewer places, it does give an idea.

For example, one of the courses ds is looking at says AAA but the actual grade profile of students on the course is BBB. DS currently predicted ABB with one B borderline A and one B borderline C. He is going to apply to the AAA choice, as well as others with lower grade requirements.

Whereas one of his courses asks for AAB and the grade profile was AAB. He is actually going to drop that one for a university asking for BBB.

Warwick - we live in the middle of nowhere he has no interest in a Uni in the middle of nowhere

It's really not in the middle of nowhere, but it's not the right choice if you want a city centre campus.

What about Cardiff as a back-up? Are places like Leeds and Liverpool too far?

I love the idea that 9s at gcse (an unspecified number - 2?) and 3x8 and 3x7 is a solid set of GCSEs. That’s 5 or 6 A* and 3 As in old money. So better than solid I would have thought. Many dc applying for university would die for those grades.

Warwick university life is concentrated on the campus. That’s true. It’s a different experience to Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Southampton and other universities where students and universities are very much integrated into the city. We live rurally and my DDs wanted more than a campus too.

One of mine is at Bristol and most of her friends seem to have three As. I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t get an offer as his grades are good and “extracurricular” stuff is pretty much shot for this year. He should really have applied for oxbridge. I can’t believe anyone with a genuine interest in Politics and the grades wouldn’t.

Everyone has their preferences but I would far ratehr live in Bristol than these 3 "Cardiff as a back-up? Are places like Leeds and Liverpool ". My twins found and the one still in Bristol finds it is the perfect form of town - has everything you need but not as big as where we are (London) so easier to get to things. (not everyone tries Oxbridge, Itisbetter. My 5 didn't (they said it was too much work and thought they wouldn't get in and I didn't))

@KittyMcKitty - yes, dd has applied for 2021 entry, and the offer is ABB for modern languages (in general more undersubscribed than other humanities subjects). She submitted her UCAS form early because she's also applied for Oxford, which is a long shot, but she thought it all through and still decided to apply.

@Guymere - yes, I think her grades are very good, and probably (who knows?) at the higher end of the scale for her comprehensive school, but perhaps my thinking on stellar GCSE grades has been coloured by Mumsnet where x10 9s seems to be common

But then, somebody not actually wanting to go to Oxford or Cambridge who, if they did apply, would have a pretty good chance of getting an offer (which they might just make their firm on the grounds that Hey ho, everyone says I ought to want to go there so why not?) and also achieving the grades and not turning the place down at this point, either, because...) not applying in the first place, surely reduces the competition for those who genuinely do want to go, but might be the marginal one who loses out at whatever stage of the process?

It’s not about you and your DS being a “we” who are not special enough for Bristol, it’s about him solely. Don’t let your insecurities mar this for him when his predicted grades are what Bristol is asking for, so of course he has a chance!

But huge numbers of 9 grades are not common. In fact they are among the best results in the country.

I also think people can be put off Oxbridge by reading about so many hugely talented dc on here. I have said on another thread that DDs school couldn’t have been more surprised when she got a place at Oxford. She didn’t fit their mould of a successful Oxbridge candidate despite 9 A*s at GCSE and 4 x A at As levels. They said her UMS scores were too low. They didn’t factor in anything else like how she learns and whether that would suit Oxbridge. Nor how she could figure things out regarding the interview/test pieces, etc. There is more to a suitable Oxbridge candidate than pure grades. But, they do help get that interview.

But not everyone should head there or apply if it’s not for them. Yes, that does clear the way for others. But that applies to every subject.

I meant to add: DD isn’t hugely talented. Just good enough.

He has no interest in Oxbridge. Also they don’t actually offer a course he likes. Oxford is PPE and whilst he loves the P & P he really doesn’t like the E! Cambridge is Human, Social & Political Science so includes Sociology. (That said I have a slightly younger child who plans to apply for natural sciences).

He has some extra curricular stuff to offer on his personal statement- runs Pol Soc & Phil Soc (was founding member) and is a school politics ambassador so I guess it’s just down to crossing fingers (and if gets offers achieving the grades!)

I would have liked him to try LSE but stats are terrible- 230 applications, 58 offers, 29 accepted and he’s not sold on it - and doesn’t like the fact that students are spread far and wide in many halls.

I think one of the things about Bristol is not how unbelievably amazingly outstanding the teaching etc is, but just that it's so enormously popular. That fact obviously has an effect on the grades they offer places with (makes them higher) and how many people are disappointed.

I went from a very different world and it was an extraordinary experience, just because of the gorgeousness of the city, the proximity to London, to the south-west, to Bath, to the cotswolds. (I'm not from England but I do know that there are lots of universities with gorgeous surrounds before you all leap on me).

There also seemed to be a lot of people who knew each other, in that it was an extraordinarily popular place to apply from for some groups of people. A lot of those people were from very successful private schools. It was all very eye-opening, but twenty something years on many of my dearest friends are people I met there.

Oh, and I transferred from Law (very good and very popular) to English and the grades for the latter were higher! Purely because so many people applied that they had to filter them somehow, and they did that via grades.

So as well as the right predictions he has extra curricular experience he has showing his passion for and commitment to his intended subject. Of course he’s special enough

Forget LSE since he’s not interested. Doesn’t matter what the odds are if he doesn’t want to go there.

The majority of students at Bristol are state educated. Yes, it has a fairly high percentage of privately educated DC, as my DD was. I agree some will know each other. The grammar school cohort will too. I would say DD knew around 6. Bristol has been a long standing favourite of many DC in the big name private schools. However mixing with anyone and everyone is important and DD lived with DC from a variety of backgrounds in a cheap hall of residence. Education is a great leveller and being open to meeting people from all sorts of backgrounds is good and includes people from abroad.

dd is applying to Bristol for philosophy and theology. Leeds is excellent for philosophy and also Birmingham and Exeter. Those are her choices obviously not sure about Politics but QMUL doesn't do philosophy

@Janevaljane good luck to your dd. Yes QMUL is just straight politics- whilst everywhere does PPE they don’t all do P&P.

QMUL isn’t highly ranked for Politics. Is it London that appeals?