dd seems to think she needs A's to get into a good university...is she right

If it's the first exam result then is she doing a modular course? In which case she could resit this module in the summer and no-one would be any the wiser when she gets her final result. That's only if it's likely to really be a problem though, and it doesn't seem like it is.

ggirl - in my experience (admittedly 12 years out of date now) offers are v pliable. I was offered AAA to do English at Cambridge, got AAD and they let me in anyway. My sister was offered I think BBB to do maths at Leeds, which has an excellent maths dept. Agree she should definitely carry it on - according to sister, the maths/physics combo is v complementary - each will help the other. I think a B in Maths AS a year early is a tremendous achievement - well done her

My best friend in school was going to Oxford to read Maths. She was predicted AAAA. I can't remember the subjects, but it included Maths and Physics. She got a B in the end for physics and Oxford took her without any fuss.

If it's not med/vet med or Oxbridge that she's hankering for then I really don't think it would be a problem at all.

I was in a dreadful state over my exams (3/4 years ago) and drove myself round the bend. It was totally unnecessary. Perfection is not required to be good enough. I wish I had remembered that more!

same here the physics teacher said if ds2 doesn't get an A* in physics he's going to resign said sort of in jest but still???

DD's Physics teacher said, at the last Parents evening before GCSE's last year:

"And if that predicted A* becomes an A, don't be too upset will you"!!

I could have kicked her - Physics was her hardest subject and perhaps the one she could have coped with getting a B at, Teacher was suggesting an A would be dissapointing.

I think my dd suffers from the over achieving girl syndrome, although she is doing her GCSEs at the mo. She got an A in her physics modular test from January and is "devastated" - will resit later in the year to ensure that she gets the A* she wants. If she was doing it for A level - but she drops it and will concentrate on Chemistry and Biology as her sciences.

Too much pressure - I can't believe that stress that kids are under. I hardly remember sitting my O levels and as for revision - what was that?

I would hate to think it mattered bit would not be at all surprised. Ds1 is only yr9 but he desires Oxbridge place badly. No idea why not from us at all!!!!

arionater - does oxbridge take any notice of if a parent went there? does it help/not help at all? thinking about this for dsd who is very bright all round and would like to go to oxford (as her dad did) but really put off that cousin (mentioned before on thread very talented too) didnt even get an interview!!

sorry the post I just made, is a response to wendyweber's post at the bottome of page 1 of this thread.

It just shows you the problems Universities have making decisions on entry BEFORE they have exam results. Clearly your sons ACTUAL grades were more attractive to the admissions tutors than other candidates POSSIBLE grades.

The way the system should work is that places be warded AFTER the results are known.....

I am involved in admissions (though for Oxbridge) and I don't think she should be panicking about a B in AS Maths taken a year early! She should definitely continue if she can, especially as Physics without maths can end up being a bit useless (one of my sisters had this problem), and the two go very well together - is the plan to take the A-level next year, or to have two years to work up to it? The spread of subjects she has in mind, along with maths, should open up lots of possibilities for her. As for personal statement/outside interests/GCSEs etc - Oxbridge at least mind about these much less than schools (like to) think we do, but it makes sense that universities which don't interview probably pay more attention to personal statements than those which do, I only have experience of Oxford and Cambridge.

My eldest got the same grades I got 20 odd years before - AAB at A level and we both got to reasonable universities. Her sister got AAC (C in chemistry (Nuffield)) and the offer she had was AAB but they still took her - bit nerve wracking at the time but they did.

(And his GCSEs were very average - A in Maths, otherwise mostly Bs and a couple of Cs - actually I'm wondering now if they mixed his application up with someone else )

Anybody who doesn't quite make the grades they need can always take a gap year (or two) - it makes all the difference, if DS1's experience is anything to go by.

He got BBCC in 2006 - History, Politics, Eng Lit & GS, forget which grade is which but they were nowhere near enough to get into one of the "good" universities to do Politics - they mostly want AAB or ABB. He didn't even apply for a place in 06, I knew he wouldn't get As (lazy, and not as smart as he thinks he is ) so told him not to bother.

He then took 1 year out doing nothing much, and in Autumn 07 - with some fantastic guidance and support from a senior teacher at 6th form - he rang round the ones he was interested in to find out if they would consider him for autumn 08 with those grades. Several still said no, but he got his UCAS application in for the maybes just before buggering off to Chamonix for the winter as a Snow Ranger with Esprit.

He now has unconditional offers from Newcastle, Liverpool, Lancaster & Bradford - stated requirements for this year's Y13s AAB, BBB, ABB & 280 points (what?) respectively.

Maths is one of the hardest a levels you can do. My brother got BBC, got in to a goodish uni and is now earning 100k+

Seriously a B grade at a level maths is not somthing to be pissed off about!

Sounds like my DD!

She got 11 A*'s at GCSE and is freaking as thinks may not get 5 A's at AS level! Thinks needs 4 A's, but is aiming for Oxbridge, Warwick, LSE or similar - where they apparently do look at GCSE & AS results as so popular (according to HER sources).

It's such a terrible pressure - she had her last mock exam today, so hopefully will chill out this weekend.