Applying to programs without meeting the minimum requirements

[arturo_sb]

I am a 27 year old economist with 3 years of professional experience in data science. I finally made up my mind about studying a master's in data science and plan to send in my applications as soon as October to multiple schools in the UK and Canada. Unfortunately, I do not meet the so called 2:1 honors degree requirement. A 2:1 degree is the equivalent to an 8.5 out of 10 in my country's system and I'm a long way off, sitting at 8 out of 10.

How will this impact my applications? I would like to know whether or not schools will immediately reject me. Has anyone here been in a similar situation? If so, what was the outcome?

None of the programs I'm applying to require a GRE score (although most of them do encourage you to include it in your application). I will take the test soon. In your experience, will a good score improve my odds of getting in?

Here's a little bit of context regarding my options (in no particular order): University of Toronto, LSE, King's College and the University of Edinburgh.

Edited August 21, 2020 by arturo_sb