I now have two offers, my first was from Southampton (
site/
wiki), and now I have one from Exeter (
site/
wiki). The offer is nearly identical - AAB, with an A in Mathematics. I already have an A* in Mathematics, so it's a case of getting an A and a B in two of my three other subjects (General Studies doesn't count towards grade offers). It differs from the Southampton offer in that the B grade does not have to be in Further Mathematics. As I'm already on course for an A* in that, it means I need a B in Chemistry of Religious Studies as opposed to an A in either for Southampton.
However, further news re: Southampton. I found out yesterday that there are some awesome scholarships available. If I get four A grades or better (General Studies
does count towards this), then I will get an award of £1000 annually, and if I get five A grades or better (i.e. A or A* in EVERYTHING, which I am currently predicted to do) I will have all my tuition fees paid for me. Tuition fees are £3,225 per year, so if I do a three year course I will have nigh-on £10,000 less debt than your everyday Joe University-Graduate (nearly £13,000 if I do a four year course - plus I get £1000 in my fourth year if I do that as part of a different scholarship). That, ladies and gents, is exceedingly effing awesome. =D I feel I can get five A grades, so Southampton and Oxford and now just about equal in standings as for which university will be my first choice. ...Which makes me really quite worried, as while I do want to go to Oxford, I also wouldn't mind being £10,000 better off in later life. In some ways, it would be easier if Oxford were to reject me. xD;
In regards to my other universities, I've had a further letter of acknowledgement from Bristol (
site/
wiki), this time from their Mathematics Department in particular. I'd already had acknowledgement from the university as a whole, but I now know that the correct department has my application, which is good, I suppose. xD; I also had my first communication from Oxford (
site/
wiki). I had submitted an open application for Oxford, as I didn't know which college I wanted to go to, though my main choices were St Peter's or St John's. I now know which college my application has been received by, and I was overjoyed to find that it had ended up with St Peter's (
site/
wiki)! :D (Bear in mind that my application could have gone to any one of the 38 constituent colleges of Oxford, so this is very lucky indeed.)
And in other news, it's now half term! After a smidgeon under seven weeks of learning I now get a well-earned break for the next week. However, this time will not be wasted. I'm off to schedule out some stuff for the days, specifically in regards to homework, revision for the Oxford entrance exam, work on my
Religious Studies website and super-special-secret work on The BBS. 8D