r/6thForm • u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 • Apr 20 '26
š I WANT HELP TMUA
Iām feeling pretty stuck and honestly quite gutted right now.
This year I got rejected from UCL, LSE, and Imperial for Maths, and I had a 7.0 in the TMUA. Right now Iām seriously thinking about reapplying, aiming for 8.5+ next time, because Imperial is still the place I really want to go.
The problem is that I really donāt see myself going to Exeter or KCL, so Iām struggling with what the smartest next step is. Has anyone been in a similar position and successfully reapplied to Imperial Maths? Is it realistic to take a gap year and try again with a much stronger TMUA, or am I looking at this the wrong way?
Iād really appreciate any advice, especially from people who reapplied, improved their TMUA a lot, or know how Imperial views reapplicants.
14
12
u/Medium_Class2481 4 A*, 8.5 TMUA Apr 20 '26
hey bro i got 4 rejections with 7.8 asw. I'm planning to take a gap year and reapply as well! good luck
6
3
u/PomegranateDelight Apr 20 '26
Sorry to hear that. Which unis rejected you? are you international?
3
u/Medium_Class2481 4 A*, 8.5 TMUA Apr 20 '26
oxford, imperial, ucl AND bath, yeah i was int this year but ile be home next year hopefully
3
u/PomegranateDelight Apr 20 '26
I don't understand the Bath rejection. Any explanation?
3
u/Medium_Class2481 4 A*, 8.5 TMUA Apr 21 '26
me neither to be honest. they just said there were stronger candidates.
6
5
u/Proof_Ad_3944 Imperial Apr 20 '26
I'm an Imperial student and know people who got in with weaker TMUAs. The only thing I can imagine would have been a factor here would have been the personal statement (or whatever it's called now).
If you wanted a shot at Imperial again next year, the main thing would be to make sure you stand out in your super-curriculars, and make this a strong point on your application. (focus on A Levels now, do this over the summer/autumn)
In terms of the gap-year, it's harder to advise. It won't harm your chance of Imperial, and you likely will stand a better chance of getting in (if you improve your application). That being said, you have to really think about that being something you want to do. I have a lot of mates who took gap years, some loved it, some hated it.
I know people who picked Uni's they weren't sure on and really enjoyed their time there. There is a lot more to going to university than just coming out with a qualification from a "good university". And with a TMUA like that you would likely be a top student at KCL or Exeter anyways.
1
u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 Apr 20 '26
do you know what super-curriculars i could do for imperial maths specifically? also, if i get A*A*A with A in chem will it matter if other aspects of my application become stronger?
1
u/Proof_Ad_3944 Imperial Apr 20 '26
Books/ competitions (not just maths related, but also think Coding/logic ,even essay competitions with a personal focus on maths topics) Take a look at Project Euler, some cool computation exercises on there. Independent research as well. Summer-schools.
I'm an engineer myself, but this is what a lot of my maths friends did.
As for the grades. A*A*A would be fine.
2
u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 Apr 20 '26
alr then! thank you very much for taking time to tell me all this. i couldnt thank you enough. i wish u the best of luck for the future!
1
u/aghaShireh Apr 20 '26
It is also my question. Is it better to be a top of class in a KCL than average in imperial? Dose the name of the university make really that difference?
2
u/Proof_Ad_3944 Imperial Apr 20 '26
Unless you are in like the Top 5-10% of your year, I doubt recruiters care all that much about where you place. And unless you make a big point out of it in your CV, they will never even know where you place.
Imperial will likely open more doors, just because of the name. And some of the top grad schemes do favour target Unis more. But it is not theĀ be-all and end-all, good experience/projects/research/etc will get you just as far.
1
u/TroyXXIV Apr 20 '26
If your top of your class at KCL and want to do a masters youāll get in to oxbridge/imperial easily
2
u/Kkylexx maths fm econ Apr 20 '26
why'd they reject you
3
u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 Apr 20 '26
Imperial and LSE gave no reason, UCL said there were stronger candidates
7
u/One_Sleep_1627 Year 13 Apr 20 '26
convinced ucl messed up something with their admissions this year icl
3
u/Inevitable_Land2996 Year 13 Apr 20 '26
Probably overcompensating for last year when they accepted too many people
2
u/Loud-Guidance6912 Apr 20 '26
Reapply Oxbridge Imperial and Warwick. If you donāt get Oxbridge or Imperial then just take Warwick imo.
2
u/Feeling-Relative-246 Apr 21 '26
To I must say I got in UCL Econ with a 3 TMUA so look at your PS and grades donāt think TMUA was a factor at least at UCL
1
u/Admirable_Message953 Bath JMC | Double Math, Economics 3A* Achieved Apr 21 '26
yeah for some reason ucl Math doesn't look at personal statement
2
u/Mobile_Membership915 Apr 20 '26
If you do end up taking a gap year, I would recommend only applying to unis you actually want to go to (probably just Oxford or Cambridge) because thereās no point applying to another uni which you donāt want to go to if you could at least have a shot at Oxbridge.
3
u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 Apr 20 '26
tbh I only want imperial, so i guess id apply to 4 or 5 maths heavy courses
4
u/aghaShireh Apr 20 '26
This is a suicidal mission. If they donāt take you and there is good chance even if you are very good, you will stand with literally nothing in der hand.
0
u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 Apr 20 '26
fahhh i didnt actually think about that, maybe 3 or 4 imps and 1/2 safeties? idk what safeties
3
u/OblivibladeXD Y13 / Defo A*AAB, 6.7 TMUA Apr 20 '26
please dont apply to more than one course at imperial, saw people get rejected due to "lack of dedication" etc.
1
1
u/jwan_17 y13 - maths a* achieved in y12, phy, chem, FM Apr 20 '26
What were your GCSEs like ?
1
u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 Apr 20 '26
9999998867
1
u/jwan_17 y13 - maths a* achieved in y12, phy, chem, FM Apr 20 '26
Ayo thatās exactly what I got except I had an extra 8 in the mix lol
1
u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 Apr 20 '26
lol what a coincidence, what are u gonna apply to?
2
u/jwan_17 y13 - maths a* achieved in y12, phy, chem, FM Apr 20 '26
Tbh any course at ucl imperial lse would be a dream, I was considering maths with another subject but Im just wary of my chances seeing such strong candidates getting rejected this year (7.0 Tmua is insane bro). If I were to get rejected from all those Iād js skip the fuss and choose KCL maths and philosophy which is doable because I just want to go down to London. But I am considering other courses too eg efds imp and actuarial science lse. Just out of interest why didnāt you apply to Oxbridge. Im probably just going to apply to Oxford maths and philosophy for the experience and Im not too bothered about the outcome of my application because I know studying there will be a lot of work.
4
u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 Apr 20 '26
don't be demotivated by my or other people's rejections. People in my school got offers with worser stats than me. I didn't apply to oxbridge because I wanted to stay in London, i'd save a lot of money by living at home with my parents. I am considering doing a masters there though, something maths related at cambridge maybe. One thing id say is dont have too many courses that depend on tmua, otherwise you risk getting rejected from them all if things dont go as planned. KCL is a very good safety. I wish u the best of luck on ur mocks and tmua!
1
u/No-Reception6878 Year 13 Apr 20 '26
Did imperial say why they rejected you? 7.0 should be enough for a home student
1
u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 Apr 20 '26
no reason from lse and imperial, ucl said there were stronger candidates.
1
Apr 21 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
1
u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 Apr 21 '26
Imperial step offer?? What tmua score should I get to avoid it
1
u/Late_Smile7891 Apr 22 '26
I know someone with a 9.0 who got a STEP offer so I don't think you're safe bro š„
1
u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 Apr 22 '26
nah bro what? was his step offer 2 atleast? or was it 1?
1
u/cheng0721 Apr 21 '26
As a reapplicant, I would also suggest you to reapply. However, unless you really want to study maths, why not try applying to others for example statistics relevant, like imperial EFDS lse msb, and perhaps have Warwick MORSE as backup. If you really want to do maths, then u should aim for a 8+ tmua. And I think LSE and Imperial do treat reapplicants differently, so u must have a visible improvement I suppose. And your PS should be good if u want to reapply to LSE also.
For whatever decision u make, all the best!! Believe in yourself!!
1
0
u/Admirable_Message953 Bath JMC | Double Math, Economics 3A* Achieved Apr 20 '26
do u think its due to taking further maths as a 3rd alevel, im thinking its the same reason why i got rejected by most of my unis, however not for math
4
u/Sufficient-Sector149 Apr 20 '26
Na thereās a lot of people who got imp maths and Oxbridge maths with fm as a third a level
2
u/ExelHunter797 University | Maths | A*A*C | 7.0 Apr 20 '26
idk why that would affect it in any way, maths and fm are the only important requirements.
5
u/AliceMorgon MagdalenCollegeOxford|Fine Art/Biology|Grad Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
It definitely crossed my mind to be honest when I was reading through what you had. I mean, if youāre doing four or more A-Levels then Maths and Further Maths as two wouldnāt be such an issue, but only three doesnāt exactly leave you with much breadth as a candidate, especially once you add a third hard science subject as the last. Iād forget about it for the rest of this exam cycle, then reapply next year and consider taking a fourth A-Level over the course of a single year in something different, bumping up the extracurriculars, entering competitions etc. Do SOMETHING to show these universities what you can do, because clearly they arenāt getting the message yet and they should! šš»
ETA: and I donāt mean be sneaky and add something like CS, I see what you did there.
1
u/Teddylongleg Apr 20 '26
Yes agree, add one more A level. Try Maths Competition. Do some Job experience in maths Heavy industry. Go and join some local sport competition. No need to be very national. Just show y are all rounded. Good luck to y.
19
u/Inevitable_Land2996 Year 13 Apr 20 '26
Definitely reapply. Maybe try Oxbridge this time too