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Original poster

Dosent like one of a levels in year 13

36 replies

Rox20 · 26/11/2024 16:21

My dd, does bio, chem and maths and she is quite a bright student who achieved mostly nines and a few eights at gcse. Although she is happy with bio and chem (wants to do dentistry), she wishes she did philosophy instead of maths as she would enjoy it more and find it easier. Often, she is angry and regretful about this choice. Is it worth retaking a year or not?

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ErrolTheDragon · 29/11/2024 00:10

do you think she can go from a B / A to an A / A*?

Doing lots of past papers can often pull up maths grades. I think that may be particularly the case with mechanics.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 28/11/2024 22:20

She's got about 15 school weeks left until study leave. 75 days. She needs to see it through.

Original poster
Rox20 · 28/11/2024 22:15

Julie168 · 26/11/2024 16:53

I'd say no. She's so close to finishing now. It's fine not to enjoy maths, but just slog on and in 6 months she'll never have to think about it again. Starting a whole new A-level at this point that she thinks she'd probably like better is just a waste of time IMO. Maths is also recommended for dentistry.

thats true. do you think she can go from a B / A to an A / A*?

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Original poster
Rox20 · 28/11/2024 22:14

yorktown · 26/11/2024 18:57

Where is she thinking she might study dentistry?

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her top choices are liverpool and leeds

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Original poster
Rox20 · 28/11/2024 22:13

clary · 26/11/2024 21:33

Yes I agree with everyone (I think!) else, she needs to suck it up for five-six more months of maths and then she’s done.

Btw can I take issue with “quite a bright student” all 8s and 8s is a very bright student indeed. As a pp says, if you do v well at GCSE, A level can be a shock. But the best thing for her future career is to do maths this year. Yes get a tutor if possible to support her to an A.

Has she already applied or is she planning to apply next year? If she’s applied, what grades does she need?

Hi, yes, she as applied already and she needs 3 grade As. Unfortunately in year 11 when she chose her subject choices, she didn't think as much about things and has now found herself spiralling around this regret. Do you have any suggesstions for how i can help her mentally? going to the gym has helped her but im not sure what else can be done.

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Original poster
Rox20 · 28/11/2024 22:10

FishScales · 26/11/2024 22:23

I'd just tell her to get her head down. She could jeopardise her whole career if she starts arsing about with her A levels now.

She can join a philosophy group when she's at university.

My dd is in year thirteen and their internal UCAS deadline is this Friday. This is not the time to be changing your A levels.

yes, she was thinking of doing a philosphy course in the future

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Original poster
Rox20 · 28/11/2024 22:10

Birdscratch · 26/11/2024 20:34

If she’s at A/B now, get her a tutor and consider one of the residential courses. She’ll probably need an A for dentistry and it sounds like she’s capable of getting there with some additional support.

Maths A level isn’t easy except for a very, very small percentage of students who are likely to study maths or physics at university. It probably comes as a shock for someone who has 8s and 9s at GCSE to find themselves struggling with something. It sounds like she’s fixed on an idea - that philosophy would have been easier. She’s right, it would, but that’s something you can fix by switching in the first term of an A level course, preferably before the half term break. It’s too late.

Universities expect A levels to be taken at the same time. They also expect the course to be done within 2 years. Any anomalies need to be explained. Serious illness that led to months off school would be an acceptable explanation. Your DD having to explain to university admins that she decided after over a year of A levels to drop maths for philosophy would not do her any favours. It makes her look flaky and like someone who gives up when things get difficult.

yes, she does need an A. I have enough faith that she can get there, it just depends on herself and how much work she puts in. She found the first term of maths pretty straightforward, wondering why everyone said it was a hard a level, and was shocked later on

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Charlotte120221 · 27/11/2024 11:39

OP honestly I was your dd in year 13. Hated maths. But I decided it was too late to change - got a tutor and worked hard and got the grade I needed (B).

The philosophy course is already well underway so she'd have a mountain of catching up to do.

Can she get some additional help with the maths? As people have said a course like dentistry probably wants 3 at one sitting so she needs to understand that fully before making any rash decisions?

FishScales · 26/11/2024 22:23

I'd just tell her to get her head down. She could jeopardise her whole career if she starts arsing about with her A levels now.

She can join a philosophy group when she's at university.

My dd is in year thirteen and their internal UCAS deadline is this Friday. This is not the time to be changing your A levels.

clary · 26/11/2024 21:33

Yes I agree with everyone (I think!) else, she needs to suck it up for five-six more months of maths and then she’s done.

Btw can I take issue with “quite a bright student” all 8s and 8s is a very bright student indeed. As a pp says, if you do v well at GCSE, A level can be a shock. But the best thing for her future career is to do maths this year. Yes get a tutor if possible to support her to an A.

Has she already applied or is she planning to apply next year? If she’s applied, what grades does she need?

Birdscratch · 26/11/2024 20:34

If she’s at A/B now, get her a tutor and consider one of the residential courses. She’ll probably need an A for dentistry and it sounds like she’s capable of getting there with some additional support.

Maths A level isn’t easy except for a very, very small percentage of students who are likely to study maths or physics at university. It probably comes as a shock for someone who has 8s and 9s at GCSE to find themselves struggling with something. It sounds like she’s fixed on an idea - that philosophy would have been easier. She’s right, it would, but that’s something you can fix by switching in the first term of an A level course, preferably before the half term break. It’s too late.

Universities expect A levels to be taken at the same time. They also expect the course to be done within 2 years. Any anomalies need to be explained. Serious illness that led to months off school would be an acceptable explanation. Your DD having to explain to university admins that she decided after over a year of A levels to drop maths for philosophy would not do her any favours. It makes her look flaky and like someone who gives up when things get difficult.

4titude · 26/11/2024 19:47

Has she already applied or is she trying for entry next year with grades in hand?

Miloarmadillo2 · 26/11/2024 19:30

Most dentistry course will want 3 Alevels at one sitting. Did she sit UCAT and apply this cycle?

Original poster
Rox20 · 26/11/2024 19:26

HollyBollyBooBoo · 26/11/2024 16:50

She needs maths for dentistry so she just needs to stay focused on her goal and stick with what she's doing. Short term pain for long term gain.

maths isnt a requirement, only biology and chemistry are

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Original poster
Rox20 · 26/11/2024 19:24

Birdscratch · 26/11/2024 16:36

What grade is she likely to get for her maths? A levels are only really 5 terms worth of learning and she’s already done 3.5. Unless her maths grade will stop her from getting onto the degree course she wants it would seem a bit late to change things now.

I think she is at an A / B at the moment. She has been finding a2 a big jump from AS and mechanics particularly hard.

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Pinkissmart · 26/11/2024 19:06

Admissions for Dentistry won’t be happy about her sitting 2 then just 1 A level. Most want to know applicants can handle a heavy academic load.

yorktown · 26/11/2024 18:57

Rox20 · 26/11/2024 18:55

She was thinking of doing bio and chem this year, and studying for philosophy now, but doing that next year

Where is she thinking she might study dentistry?

Original poster
Rox20 · 26/11/2024 18:55

She was thinking of doing bio and chem this year, and studying for philosophy now, but doing that next year

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Pinkissmart · 26/11/2024 18:16

MissRoseDurward · 26/11/2024 16:46

She's got just over a term's teaching to go, then the exams. She should just get her head down and get on with it. In dentistry, or whatever else she does, there will be aspects she doesn't enjoy. No part of education, no job, not even your dream job, is without its tedious or less enjoyable parts. Believe me, I'm old eough to know. You just have to get on with it.

Every single bit of this. Also, dropping and adding subjects now could result in messing up her chances for dentistry

ErrolTheDragon · 26/11/2024 18:07

Is the subtext of this that her predicted grade for maths wasn't enough to apply for dentistry this year, or maybe she just had some mocks in which she's falling short of predictions? If the latter, I think there can often be quite a difference between maths mocks results and the final grade because so much of the exam prep is doing past papers. Maths mocks seem to serve mostly as a wake up call I suspect!

The other thing to check is whether the dental admissions require 3 a levels taken at the same time - I seem to have heard this sort of thing in relation to medicine, but don't know if that's correct or if it's relevant for dentists.

AelinAG · 26/11/2024 18:02

Some dental schools want all exams done in the same sitting, so she does need to stick with it. What are her predicted grades?

tarheelbaby · 26/11/2024 17:57

Stick with current A levels. Score well. Get into desired university on preferred choice. Join philo club or sign up for some philo courses on the side.

lanthanum · 26/11/2024 17:54

I think changing A-levels at this point only makes any sense if someone discovers they need a particular A-level for their chosen career. She can always study philosophy by some other means at some point in the future, and it would be a bit of a waste of the effort she's put in so far on the maths to stop now.

If she doesn't make it on the grades she needs for dentistry, then there might be a decision to make on whether she retakes maths or finds somewhere that offers a different subject in one year - or perhaps both!

Octavia64 · 26/11/2024 17:44

Absolutely not

ErrolTheDragon · 26/11/2024 17:33

If she's in year 13, hasn't she already put in her UCAS application (dentistry is early application I believe)?