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2015 Yr 12 support thread

837 replies

Needmoresleep · 08/01/2015 11:48

Mocks this week, and the reality of AS exams in a few months is starting to hit home. I don't think it will be an easy journey, so would welcome some company.

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eatyourveg · 05/03/2015 20:42

Parents evening with combined ucas talk, here in a fortnight. ds3 has identified most of the open days but none of them have allowed him to register yet and two others haven't put up any dates so he's really not got any further than he was a couple of months ago. All in June/July but one clash means delaying one until early September.

Anyone know if there is a coach equivalent of a student rail card? ds seems to be predominantly looking at places at the other end of the country, the closest is just short of 200 miles away!

GentlyBenevolent · 05/03/2015 20:04

DD1 has booked 3 open days plus the oxbridge conference, and signed up to be informed when another open day goes live for booking. She's still waiting for mock results from 2 subjects which I think is a bit poor given they did them the week before half term. She's been in a show this week and has work experience next week (which also involves being in a show - on one day next week she has a school's matinee for one show and then the final performance of this week's show in the evening. She also has a band call most of the day in Sunday for next week's show, then a performance of this week's show in the evening (also performing Saturday evening).

Leeds2 · 05/03/2015 18:46

DD finished her mocks today.

Marni23 · 05/03/2015 18:08

DD is mid-mocks so is revising for them (and has been since half-term). Can't really see her letting up till the real things now because they're pretty spread out and won't really finish till a week before the end of term and then it'll be the Easter hols.

She's morphed from a laid-back Y11 who suddenly got turbo-charged at the last minute just before GCSEs into a Y12 swot (with definite perfectionist tendencies). I'm not complaining-she put years on me in that GCSE year. It's much less stressful knowing that she's doing the work and she says she feels more relaxed too.

AtiaoftheJulii · 05/03/2015 17:20

In some ways life is easier with natural swot dd2 (than with so-laidback-she's-horizontal dd1), except that she is an anxious perfectionist! I am usually wishing that the one was more like the other, and wondering why I can't have the happy medium ... ds perhaps, although I'm quite happy to wait for a while as he's only in y9.

Original poster
Needmoresleep · 05/03/2015 16:50

How is everything going? AS exams seem very close. No progress on Open Days. No progress on much as far as I can see. Sixth form social life is too much fun. However DD has always been good about hiding the fact she has been putting in effort so my fingers are crossed that it is all OK.

I think however I will demand to see some form of revision timetable over Easter. She is at a private school so she gets over three weeks. I have no idea how much is reasonable, but perhaps will start with what she is given by the school and get her to plan how to get through it. Life would be easier if she were a natural swot!

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SecretSquirrels · 24/02/2015 17:08

It is relentless for them. DS did well in his mocks and we have a parent's evening this week.
It's second (and final) time around for me as well. DS1 always knew what he wanted to do at university and so didn't look at enough alternatives really. I am amazed at how hard he has to work and how many hours he puts in.

DS2 on the other hand has really no clue where he wants to go or what he wants to study other than probably something mathsy or sciency. I think a mixed course would suit him but I don't really know what's out there. He had an idea he wanted to do medicine at one point but frankly he hates competition and wouldn't put himself through it.
He is adamant he wants to drop Physics next year. Maybe do FM AS instead.
We just had a short break in Edinburgh and added in a mini tour of the university. He quite liked it but at least it starts him off with something to compare when he visits others.

MorvahRising · 24/02/2015 13:47

Thanks needmoresleep - you're right about the past papers. He did a couple over half term but the trouble is they seem to be set so much homework on top that finding time to do extra isn't easy! He'll need to carry on with maths as he wants to do engineering.

It only seems like yesterday we were all on tenterhooks over GCSEs. There's no let-up!

Original poster
Needmoresleep · 24/02/2015 10:24

Please join. Sorry to hear about the maths. DS is two years older and a lot (70+) of his year group took double maths. Looking back the ones who did well were often the ones who worked hard and practiced lots of past papers. Those that slipped up were often ones who were naturally talented but having coasted through GSCEs failed to realise they needed to apply a bit more effort.

DS discovered that several quantitiative courses were looking for at least AS maths, so useful to keep it up if he can at least to AS. I never understood how the two A levels worked, but think that if you do both there is some scope to allocate some of your better papers to the A2 you need the grade in. He has also discovered that the pace at University, even when taking maths courses as part of a non Maths degree, is fast, so having done more at school helps.

DD is very aware of how close the exams are, though a bit of panic might not be a bad thing.

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MorvahRising · 24/02/2015 00:35

Hallo! may I join in? DS did his mocks way back at the end of the autumn term and then the remaining ones right at the beginning of this term. This seeemed rather early to me and frankly he was knackered by the end of term after starting Sixth Form College and all that that entails.

We're having traumas over Maths. He's perfectly OK at it but panics, and is getting more and more worried about it. He's doing maths and further maths but I'm wondering whether he should drop the FM. Not sure if you can though as he seems to think they're entwined. Also it's really useful for what he wants to do!

AS exams seem horribly close . . . . .

hellsbells99 · 23/02/2015 23:59

DD2 has had her mocks and the school are taking them to a UCAS event in a couple of weeks time. We looked round some universities last year as DD1 (yr 13) was applying. DD2 is considering medicine so she has been trying to build up experience etc. - but I think she may have a change of heart before October and apply for something totally different!

Leeds2 · 23/02/2015 18:51

Do they get guidance at school about gap years?

I would love DD to have one, but after graduation rather than before.

Marni23 · 23/02/2015 18:38

Brenda DD said similar when she came in tonight. Mocks are imminent and they had a UCAS talk today. She said it suddenly feels like all the pressure is piling on at once. I suppose they'll have to get used to it, poor things.

I'd really like her to have a gap year-I think 3 consecutive years of public exams plus university applications is tough.

BrendaBlackhead · 23/02/2015 18:27

Ds said today was fraught with ramped-up nagging at college. There was a talk on how they must think about future careers, and from now on it's going to be very hard work. Ds's friends were all talking about where they hope to go (and some are looking at European universities...).

Ds said he wants to stop the train and get off!

Leeds2 · 23/02/2015 17:01

Good Luck to her, Needs. Hopefully, if she knows what she wants to do it will motivate her to work hard to achieve it. Does she have much work experience? Friends with DC applying to do medicine seem obsessed with this, so I gather it is important for aspiring medics!

Original poster
Needmoresleep · 23/02/2015 15:16

Atia, I am more than happy to have advice from someone who has been through the system, however UKCAT seems to be done at some point during the summer, and I understand this needs to be booked and she will need a couple of weeks beforehand to practice. There are then some amazing Student Room schedules which suggest which Universities are looking for what. These will be pinned to the wall so once she has the UKCAT score and AS results, we can cross the ones where she is unlikely to get a place. I dont think she will do BMAT unless her UKCAT score is awful, or unless her AS results are so good that it makes sense to apply for some of the more academic courses. (I dont know about others but the work in Yr 12 is so different it is hard to know how well she is doing.)

Then it has to be a pretty quick decision as applications need to be in in early October. The good thing about medicine, though happy to be corrected, is that the University does not matter too much. They should all take you to the same place. Perhaps the trick will be to visit some which offer different types of teaching, plus look at campus vs city.

As well as UKCAT there is work experience and reading round her subject. Poor girl will have a busy summer. A recently qualified doctor has warned her this is only the start. Medical school will be even harder. I think she do it, she is a work hard play hard sort of girl, but at this stage it looks rather daunting.

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Original poster
Needmoresleep · 23/02/2015 14:59

I think things for DS have become amplified by being on a course with a high proportion of very hard working overseas students and an equally high proportion of students whose ambition appears to be becoming highly paid investment bankers. Far too much talk about internships, firsts and networking.

This is obviously coming straight after three years of GCSE/AS/A2 and for DS, 13+CE. I dont think it is his course particuarly, as a friend was expressing concern recently about her DS, at Oxford, who was finding that the workload was leaving little time for other things.

The job market, housing market and much more will be harder for our children's generation. I don't know what DS thinks, but I would love him to take some time out, hopefully doing something constructive, before launching into a career. There is so little security that resiliance and flexibility seem important life skills.

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AtiaoftheJulii · 23/02/2015 14:56

When do they sit UKCAT, Need? Will she do BMAT too? It doesn't sound like for medicine there's much time to be pondering choices after results, so I guess you have to have looked into everywhere thoroughly before August.

Leeds there are quite a few clashes between open day dates, so it's definitely worth having a look at dates and thinking about them a bit earlier than the end of June, but not to worry yet!

Leeds2 · 23/02/2015 14:11

Does your DS wish he had taken one, Needmoresleep?

I am glad that, so far, my DD hasn't mentioned this as a possibility, as I would prefer any gap year to be taken later. There is still time though!

Original poster
Needmoresleep · 23/02/2015 14:03

Thanks Atia, and no breach of etiquette. I think there have been a couple of attempts to start up something relating to Yr 12, yet with no joy. Even though Yr 12 brings a whole set of new challenges. The Yr 13 one is going like a train.

My working assumption has been that once DC2 starts at University I can sign off from mother duties, though people tell me that will not be the case. Hand-holding for AS/UCAS/A2 over the next 15 months feels a bit daunting. Booking open days is just one part. Difficult for us as DD wants to study medicine and so really need to know her UKCAT score and AS results before deciding which Universities to consider. (Or indeed whether she is being a bit ambitious.) I hope it will not be too important that she has not visited somewhere before applying.

And Brenda, DS is in his first year at University. He was very clear what he wanted to do. However the reality of three years hard work (and he is working much harder than I ever did), looking for internships in the holidays, and then a lifetime of employment, is starting to hit home. His friends taking gap years seem to be enjoying themselves, and one or two have used the time to consider more carefully what couse they want to take. Life is much tougher for this generation. I think a gap year is a valuable thing to do.

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Marni23 · 20/02/2015 21:08

DD was away on a History trip for the first few days of half-term but has been revising for mocks since she got back. Feels like the mocks are quite late (they're spread through March) so she's pretty much revising for them and the real thing now. Am hoping she can keep the momentum up- it's only 11 weeks or so till they start. Eek!

AtiaoftheJulii · 20/02/2015 20:51

Oh, I missed this thread completely in January and started another y12 thread the other day! Oops, bad etiquette, sorry :)

Think the open day directory link is just www.opendays.com/

Dd2 has been churning out essays this week. She only has a week back at school, and then she's off to France for a week. A bunch of the schools round here organise an exchange, and the students spend four days in a junior school, basically TAing and doing a bit of English teaching. And then we have a week's gap and a French girl back here for a week Smile

Anyone else got any trips coming up?

Leeds2 · 20/02/2015 16:57

At DD's school, I think they typically go to open days when the ASs have finished. I don't know whether she is meant to be drawing up a list of potential targets though!

Sammy3 · 20/02/2015 16:55

...and registration hasn't even opened for them yet.

Sammy3 · 20/02/2015 16:53

Don't worry, Brenda, my DS & his mates haven't even started thinking about open days yet. I did mention it since I remember my niece started going to open days in year 12. DS thought they didn't need to do that till year 13. So, he's only just started drawing up a list of potential places. They seem to be mostly in June & Sept.