Should DC drop maths to improve her chances of meeting her Cambridge uni offer for history

Which College has she applied to?

I've taught sixth form before and agree that she ought to drop it. Best of luck to her.

Cambridge told my DS to drop weak 4th AS and concentrate on subject he was applying for. (He didn't and went elsewhere ...)

I'm sure I heard that if you put down 4, you had to sit 4. Otherwise people would be saying, "I'm taking 10 A Levels" which would look very impressive and then they'd have no intention of taking any more than 3.

Oh that is very encouraging - thank you for the comment s

I think History, Economics and Maths would be a suitable combination for a History degree though might be worth him considering Economics or PPE as well. Each college can have its own preferred combinations so its worth checking when time comes with that college. I read Economics - one college said you needed Maths and Further Maths, one said you didn't need Maths. I didn't have Maths so applied to one who said you didn't need it and apart from a compulsory maths exam in part 1, you could choose less mathematical options. Economic History and politics were options, actually history was compulsory.

Not sure you can infer that - the offer might have just been made on the three most relevant from the four being taken, rather than suggesting that maths itself is not desirable. Indeed, I was just on the web-site for King's Cambridge and it says.

"If you think that you would like to study an arts or social sciences course at university but you are not sure which one, then English Literature, History, languages and Mathematics are good keystone subjects: choosing one or more of these will provide a good foundation for your subject combination.

Other good choices....Economics...."

So the suggestion is that History and Maths is just fine.

Slightly tangential, but can I just clarify about the maths being excluded? My son is choosing a levels at the moment and is trying to work out if history, economics and maths would be an acceptable combination for a history degree - if your daughter’s offer excluded maths from the offer satisfication conditions, it would suggest not.

Cambridge will not mind at all if you optimze your chances. I recall them asking me for a D in an irrelevant subject a long time ago! Focus the revision where it matters. Your kid could always just sit the maths with a whatever attitude.

If her offer is AAA then she needs to obtain those grades - from the mock grades you’ve given us it would seem sensible to drop one A level - mine already had a A in maths but doing three A levels ( inc furfher maths ) this summer - sadly flunked her Cambridge interview but her next two unis have ‘ weirdly ‘ made her offers of AA only - I would expect that you can only be certain of a place if you meet the offer so on the basis of the grades you’ve quoted I would advise to drop an A level - but do talk to her teachers as i would expect many but not all kids to exceed their mock grades ( assuming teachers have marked them hard ! )

They all got minimum 4 A/As and did masses of other stuff*

Well everyone I know who went to Oxford or Cambridge only got 3 ALevels at A*/A because that's all the school allowed them to do. Depends who you know I suppose!

Echo checking with her college before deciding. It's a few years ago now but dd was doing four, was having a wobble, and wanted to drop one (that wasn't particularly relevant to her future degree). Her college said she had to take the exam although her grade wouldn't be considered as it wasn't part of her offer. In the end she continued with four and it was fine, but worth checking.

My Cambridge offer named A Levels so its possible it did exclude maths. One of my A Levels was excluded and one had a grade stated.

They haven't specifically excluded the Maths they have just made a 3 A level offer so other than HIstory she could drop any of the others. However, that said my understanding is as mentioned above you do need to notify them of the drop.

Good luck with her A levels. I hope sge meets the grades. I think the other person who asked whether Cambridge is right for her as trying to say that of she is currently only working at a B and C in 2 of her A levels would she able to cope with the rigours of a Cambridge schedule rather than she is anyway intellectually inferior in any way. However if she drops a subject in order to bring her others up that will help. It is likely that the extra time and effort spent on maths would be much more wisely spent on improving her economics to offer level.

I did history at Cambridge and if it means she will bring the economics up to speed would drop the maths. Economics will be more relevant to the history degree, which is very focussed on depth of understanding for each subject. Good luck to her!

Def drop the maths if she can!

I would drop the maths though maybe ask her Cambridge college what they think - send an e-mail the admissions tutor.

I'm sure she will be fine - I went from a comp with 3 A Levels and beat the 2 private school boys with 4 and also I never used what you learn in the A Levels for the most part - may vary by subject. I can't see Maths A level being used much in a History degree and the fact they have excluded it from the offer implies they aren't concerned about her result, if any, in that. She sounds like a bright, lovely polite girl. I found Cambridge much easier and much more fun than A Levels and would definitely take the place.

Everyone I know who went to Cambridge were excelling at school. There was no issue with failing subjects or getting Cs. Or having to drop subjects. They all got minimum 4 A/A*s and did masses of other stuff. Are you sure Cambridge is right your your dc?

I am a Head of Sixth Form, and we would definitely recommend in this case that she drops Maths. If she was achieving high Bs then maybe not, but in this case it makes sense to concentrate on the other subjects.

The school will already have entered her for maths as the deadline was during February half term. However, exam boards recognise that there is still a lot of movement after this, so it will be free and no issue for them to withdraw her until mid-April. They can still do it after this time, but they would have to pay, and they could technically pass this cost onto you.

Your daughter should contact Cambridge to update them (despite it not being in her offer) and just to make them aware, or her Head of Sixth might do it for you. She should also inform her insurance offer. Cambridge will not care as it is not mentioned in their offer, and even if it is in her insurance then I've never known any university to change or withdraw an offer when a student drops from 4 to 3 subjects.

Good luck to her (and you as these are often stressful times!!)