DDs dreams in tatters

[OneHandFlapping]

She's been predicted AAA based on her AS results, so the unis she most wanted are out of reach. I don't know what to advise her to do.

1. Accept her limitations, and apply to the 2nd tier unis - and to be fair, I'm not sure to what extent her problems are academic or motivational
2. Work her socks off, get kickass grades and apply next year - she may not exceed her predictions, and a year would be wasted, except she could do with growing up a bit
3. ??

Has anyone got any advice? The school don't seem to.

I did number 2. I found a job as a teaching assistant for my gap year, worked and saved. And more importantly did a bit of growing up.

If your daughter does manage to get the grades she wants, it's probably best to defer entry and apply through UCAS as soon as it opens for the universities she wants to go to. As she will already have her grades, the decision will be a lot quicker and more likely than not, in her favour. I had four offers before the end of November. If she was to get the grades she wanted but only apply to universities she thought she could get into she would be annoyed with herself.

I started looking for my gap year job very early on and I would suggest you gently nudge her to do the same, if you take this route.

Good luck to your daughter.

Actually, just as I'm sure you do want to give your DD the best advice, that's just what we want to do for you too.
If you can take on board just a little of the sense of perspective advice from many posters here that will be even more important to you both than the specifics about grades and courses - useful though that is too

i guess the step up from GCSE to A/AS levels can be a bit of an adjustment/surprise for some students, so if she was a straight A/A* at GCSE then these predictions may have come as a shock and she'll be dissapointed and confused (especially if she found GCSEs fairly easy)

i'd say just have a good calm chat with her about options, being realistic but also optimistic...these are still very good grades after all and only predictions! maybe the school have intentionally given AAA to push her to working extra hard to ensure she does really well and strives for AAA*??

i guess it's always wise to apply for a range of unis (no recent exp so apologies if i'm out of the loop..went to uni in '99), so i'd say apply to warwick, and then to a few that ask for AAA or AAB, and then one that asks for BBB or lower in case thing go more pear shaped!

only you know if she'd benefit from a year out...if she used it wisely then she could build a great personal statement/application through work exp etc which could help her get into the 'top' unis for her chosen subject with less emphasis on grades?

good luck to her and you

I just want to give her the best advice.

"Accept her limitations, and apply to the 2nd tier unis" isn't the best advice, is it? For a start off, AAA is accepted BY THE COURSE SHE WANTS TO APPLY TO.

I think some growing up is needed here...that and a sense of perspective.

If she's predicted AAA I'm guessing she's pretty smart and isn't used to not being one of the top ones academically. There is no reason why she can't apply. Nothing has changed, those are not her actually grades. At uni there will likely be many people cleverer than her. It's often a tough lesson for the smart kids at school to learn. Tell her to stop tormenting herself and focus onher personal statement and exams!

Dd academic girls school only predicts As.

Mainly to help students manage expectations. It seems a good policy now I read this thread.

What don't the school seem to?

Maybe they sort of think her application is in hand?- has predicted grades to apply for course, applies for course, then takes next step depending on outcome of application/results.

5hell it's exactly that. She did well at GCSE without unduly exerting herself, and expected to do the same at A level.

Hopefully this is a wakeup call and she will learn to self study instead of coasting through and coming unstuck at uni.

And I'm not really an over emotional twat - just when she has been crying over the phone to me. I'm at work and can't talk to her until tonight

She is predicted 3 As!!! Have I missed something? 3 As are good, right?

For some courses a year out is discouraged - eg maths - don't know about Computer Science because they think you forget everything while you are gapping.
No downside in putting an aspirational choice and writing a stonking PS - even if she doesn't get it she will get on of her other four choices.

She expected to coast into 3 x A*s ?

Why are her dreams in tatters when she's is on track to exqctly fulfil them?? I don't understand at all.

OP do you actually accept that 3 As is enough for Warwick?

Do you accept that she (and you?) needed a plan B anyway as there is no guarantee whatever her predictions that Warwick will offer?

Her results are good, but it's a little disingenuous to put the 'blame' as it were on her teachers failing to predict higher than an A*. I would say it will be the B and D grades as AS which are more likely to be the issue.

Apologies if you didn't intend it to sound this way, but it does read like it, and I think that's why other posters are giving you a bit of a hard time.

As you know, all is not lost. She has various options. I would say she should just apply to all the courses she wants to do, regardless of grades. Then if she doesn't get the offers she wants, or does /doesn't ultimately improve her grades enough, she can reapply next year when either her grades will be high enough to be offered a place, or she can make a more realistic application.

I probably would give the above advice to everyone, as I'd be more inclined to encourage them to be realistic. If she really has her heart set on a particular course / university, then I think it's worth a go to avoid regrets later on.

Fucking hell...
So all a faff about nothing.....

You actually bothered to come back and share that, bigredball

Apply this year and if she exceeds her predicted grades, then she can go to a higher uni through a process called 'adjustment'. It's adjustment very easy process - this is what I did when I did better than expected.

And why are people being wierd about someone having high expectations - nothing wrong with that and goodluck to her !

People aren't being weird about having high expectations.

People are being weird about the concept of a child being predicted THE EXACT GRADES REQUIRED FOR HER CHOSEN COURSE and the OP posting stuff like 'dream in tatters', 'accept her limitations' and 'apply to second tier universities'

I would suggest she take a gap year if Warwick is what she wants. If she applies and attends another uni with lower entry requirements she may regret it. If she works her socks off, gets the grades, and then gets some valid/useful work experience in a gap year she will have many options open to her. Of course Warwick may still not happen, but at least then she can properly evaluate the grades she has actually achieved and look at the best possible option for her. She may not take this very well, at 17/18 a year seems forever, when in reality it is nothing, and the work experience/year to grow up may actually benefit her in the long run

I wouldn't say any dreams are in tatters until you know what they will offer. They may give an unconditional offer or require lower grades.

"I would suggest she take a gap year if Warwick is what she wants"

Or apply to Warwick- because she is predicted exactly the grades she needs for the course she wants to do

This is a seriously baffling thread!