To want dd to drop a subject at the end of year 12?

[Lunchonawagon]

Dd currently doing 4 a levels- history, maths, biology and chemistry which she started with the premise of doing maths to AS and then sticking with the others for A2. However, she’s now saying that she really loves all her subjects and wants to opt out of the maths AS exam to do the full a level (have to let the school know), saying that she doesn’t want to stop doing maths and also that she’s much more likely to get a place on her chosen degree (medicine) with maths. My concern though is that she will have much more work than her peers, who’ll be sitting the same exams having had more time to prepare, with less free periods (5 hours a week less) to study in. Am I underestimating her or am I right to be concerned about her mental health and grades next year?

The decision doesn't need to be now. I did 4 a levels, but that choice was made on as results day. I got aabb with the bs in the subjects needed for medicine. I refused to drop an a which meant doing 4. I came out with asea and lots of medicine offers (all for 3 a levels with chemistry and biology specifically included).

Icantthinkofanewname the fact that you took 5 A levels is irrelevant. A levels have changed and are no longer modular. That even very academic schools are advising against 4 unless they include maths/FM should tell you something.

Having a full extra curricular programme with 3 excellent A level grades plus excellent UCAT results is far far more important for med school applications than 4 or 5 A levels with no work experience.

I think if she is on track to get good grades she should stick it out because history is not as good as maths in so many scientific degrees and if she changes from medicine to another scientific degree she would have many more options with maths A level. So if she doesn't want to quit history then keep doing the 4.

AABC to get into medicine?

Times have obviously changed a lot!

@Icantthinkofanewname87 is 1987 your birth year? If it was, 5 A levels wasn't unusual then for reasonable able kids. Things were all modular and you could make a decision about year 13 after year 12 results were in. It's so different now.

And yet I don’t get why it is so competitive as being junior doctor has literally gone down the pan- terrible new contract, often poor working conditions, constantly being ripped off for pay I am supposed to get for on-call (now that I am a fellow), tough training programs (now completed) only to discover that as a fellow my salary has been cut by 20k... Most Foundation doctors (approx 50%) don’t bother going on to training programs anymore now.

Why have you started two threads on the same thing-you’re getting the same answers on both apart from more showing off

It's a fallacy that you need 4 A levels for medicine, or indeed any university course. Far better to do 3 and have time for a life, work experience etc.

And yes I am saying that because I "only" did 3, but I can't see the point of all the extra work if you don't need 4 A levels and you can spend the time on enrichment activities and (whisper it) some fun too.

Or are medical students not expected to have any fun in their lives?

Why not sit the maths AS and decide once she's got the result?

In general I am of the view that quality of A level results is better than quantity. Maths would also be a better 3rd subject than history.

In general I am of the view that quality of A level results is better than quantity

Medical schools share your view Fifthtimelucky.

mrselijahmikaelson1 I started the two threads at basically the same time and started one on here because I know AIBU gets more traffic and more answers is always better as more knowledge is being shared. In no way am I trying to show off- this isn’t about me.

fifthtimelucky her school won’t allow you to take both the AS an A2 exam

Listen to the words she is saying. She hasn't told you she wants to do it because of pressure or because she feels she should but because she ENJOYS it. The medicine bit is an added bonus. She's saying she's enjoying the study and wants to carry on. Christ, I dream of the day any of my children comes home at A level and utters these words. Support her, and when the going is tough in year 13, make her snacks, make sure she sleeps and tell her you're proud of her. I'm rooting for her OP!

So the school is currently expecting her to take maths AS and then drop it. If she takes the exam, gets a really good mark, and asks to carry on, will they really refuse to allow her to continue? On what grounds?

I think it would be reasonable of them to say no more than 3 A levels, for the reason previously given (my children's school would not let anyone do 4 A levels unless the 4th was further maths, and that was even before the A level reforms).

But I can't see any reason for them to refuse otherwise. If she does really well at the AS, and is still enjoying maths, your daughter might want to change her mind and drop history, even if she feels that the year study will have been a waste. Has the school said why it will not enter children for AS history ?

fifthtimelucky well dd would take the AS exam in may and maths lessons would continue until they break up in July so she would have missed 2 months of content unless she carried on with the lessons just in case.
I think the school is slowly scrapping the AS exams with the a level reforms- they only run them for mfls and maths- it wouldn’t really be ideal for dd to be the only one in the year taking the AS in history anyway as the way the teachers teach the content isn’t focused on the AS exam