Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Flip

1 2 ··· 34 35 36 ··· 39 40

Original poster

Half way through Year 13 and the last school year.

999 replies

OhYouBadBadKitten · 14/02/2018 20:14

eep.

OP posts:

Original poster

OhYouBadBadKitten · 13/04/2018 16:37

hot chocolate on their desk when looking suitable focussed seems to help Catslife!

OP posts:

marmiteloversunite · 13/04/2018 16:59

Catslife you will need to change your name to "catsanddogslife"!

catslife · 14/04/2018 09:49

Perhaps I could marmite if that hasn't been used already.
Am not sure quite how much I will use mumsnet once dd has finished Y13 and obtained her results.
The apprenticeship threads are very quiet indeed!

catslife · 14/04/2018 09:52

Agree that chocolate treats (different varieties for canine and human) work well for both puppies and teenagers.
Cheese also works for both (in the form of pizza for teens).
Am deliberately posting lots of small posts to fill up thread.

catslife · 14/04/2018 09:57

The good news is that coursework for dds applied A level (worth 80% of the final mark) has been assessed as grade a by her teachers.
She seems to be on target for the other subjects (range B to D).
Am finding that some parents are a bit patronising, when I say that dd isn't intending to go to uni. I think she will have reasonable grades that would enable her to go to university if she wanted to - it's just that she doesn't want to, not that she wouldn't be capable iyswim.
Actually I think she is doing the right thing in making her own mind up and not just following the crowd / doing this just to meet other peoples' expectations.

TeresasGreen · 14/04/2018 10:45

catslife we had the same when DD decided medicine wasn’t right for her and went for a science subject. Sooo many assumed she had grade concerns and wasn’t academic enough. Actually she had taken a really mature decision to pursue a different path - likely into research, which will suit her better. I get really hacked off with the stupid hierarchies people have in their heads about stuff like that. The in laws are driving me nuts with their opinions on which direction DD should go in. Based entirely I think on what they can boast about to their friends.

We came very close to rehoming two additional cats yesterday. I think I may be losing the plot 😻

Nettleskeins · 14/04/2018 11:15

catslife and teresa this has been such a good year for getting rid of all my prejudices about what other people's children should and shouldn't do.

catslife · 14/04/2018 11:19

Hi theresa I made a very similar decision to your dd a generation ago and it worked out fine for me. It definitely was the right decision. Hope it works out well for her too.
Really annoyed me at the time that the school made so much fuss about those with the same (or even lower) grades with medicine offers. If her sixth form is doing this my advice is to ignore it.
Am aware of a "headline" pupil from dds old sixth form taking a prestigious course at a top uni dropped out after the first term. It's far more important that our dcs choose a path that's right for them than follow other's expectations.

Original poster

OhYouBadBadKitten · 14/04/2018 12:01

I completely agree, so many end up other wrong path because of subtle and not so subtle expectations.

OP posts:

marmiteloversunite · 14/04/2018 17:13

I agree too. Tried to let my DD decide on courses and final uni choices.

DD2 might look at an apprenticeship with degree option in 3 yrs time. Hopefully as they are more and more apprenticeships the threads will become more active.

chocolateworshipper · 14/04/2018 19:16

cats congratulations on the A - excellent news. I completely agree with you about the prejudice. It's a much more complicated decision whether to go to uni these days - whether it's worth getting into debt, and whether an apprenticeship is more what they want.

derekthe1adyhamster · 14/04/2018 20:54

Yay catslife that is fab news!
DS is seriously considering Bangor, as it is very good for marine biology. 120 points is not exactly low but the number of comments he's got is quite outstanding...

derekthe1adyhamster · 14/04/2018 20:55

Sorry 128 points I think. Equivalent to ABB anyway 😃

HesMyLobster · 14/04/2018 23:41

I agree with the problems with other peoples' expectations. We had this in some ways when DD completely changed her mind about what subject she wanted to do. The change from Law to a less "tangible" subject choice (especially when it's a subject that nobody seems to have heard of!) was difficult for a lot of people to get their heads around. Not least DH - he's from a very working class background, his family have always been quite anti-university, and he was strongly against DD considering a less obviously professional degree that doesn't have an obvious career pathway.
Whereas I encouraged her to find and study a subject that she loves and the rest will fall into place.
We still get a lot of DH's Family reacting to her choice (once she's explained what it means) by asking "and what are you going to do with that then?"
Luckily DD has perfected her answer with her list of possible future careers and list of successful people who studied her subject.
I think they'd be more supportive and more proud if she was going to do medicine or law though.
I suppose I'd have had the same pre conceptions a few years ago though. Like Nettle said , this past year has been quite an eye opener.

HesMyLobster · 14/04/2018 23:43

Oops!
That turned into quite an essay!
Sorry for my ramblings - just returned from a day with DH's extended family and apparently needed to vent!

HesMyLobster · 14/04/2018 23:46

I'd have loved to study marine biology Derek. I was working on DD2 to go down that route (much more sciency than DD1)
But she changed her mind when she realised the chances of becoming a dolphin trainer were actually pretty remote.

Original poster

OhYouBadBadKitten · 15/04/2018 08:49

Last day of the holidays :(

OP posts:

TeresasGreen · 15/04/2018 08:52

Yes, I really wish we had another few days.

Icouldbeknitting · 15/04/2018 12:52

We've been back a week already.

When I was their age I was sick of hearing "with those grades you could go into medicine". Yes I could have done if there was a pathway that lead straight to a branch that didn't involve dealing with people. Even if you're going to spend your career working with the dead I think you have to start on the living first. I knew that I wasn't cut out for a job that involved people.

I am currently facing "what's he going to do with that then?". The question applies equally well to the pure maths degree that one of the cousins is taking, it doesn't have a deal of direct practical application but can lead to other things. I don't see her choice being questioned though. I wish I could tell them to take their noses out of what doesn't concern them, sadly it is not an option.

catslife · 15/04/2018 15:29

I don't think anyone can accurately predict the "what are you going to do with that then" type question but it sounds as if Hes dd is doing some advanced research could pay off. My understanding is that more than 50% of graduates end up doing a job that isn't related to their degree subject and that people can change over a 3/4 year course in ways that cannot be predicted now. I read somewhere recently that many of our dcs will end up doing jobs that don't exist yet.
Comparison between cousins can be tricky knitting.
Fortunately db and his dcs all live abroad where the education system is completely different so I don't have to deal with this issue in the same way.
As a teenager and later an adult, I had to deal with being compared (unfavourably) with a cousin a similar age regarding uni, degree and later career choice "why didn't you do ........ like your cousin" etc? It didn't work out well for my relationship with her. She died young so there are no comparisons now, but I really wish my parents had stood up for me a bit more and that I could have known her a bit better.

chocolateworshipper · 15/04/2018 16:50

Counting down to DD's 18th, and it's making me feel quite emotional as I'm thinking about how close we came to her not making her 18th.

She hasn't done as much coursework over the last 2 weeks as she'd planned, but she's got time and I'm just grateful to still have her.

catslife · 15/04/2018 17:33

chocolate here's some {flowers] for you. Hope this works!
Agree that most of the things that make Y13 i.e grades, uni applications etc are not as important as we are led to believe. In the long term our dcs health and well-being is far more important.

catslife · 15/04/2018 17:35

As exams approach let's not lose sight of the things that really matter.
Best wishes to those starting the new term tomorrow.
derek I agree that marine Biology at Bangor sounds great!

catslife · 15/04/2018 17:38

for chocolate it's ok to feel emotional.

marmiteloversunite · 15/04/2018 18:35

I have been feeling sentimental about going into the last term of school and DD growing up. UNTIL we had an argument about the totally unsuitable dress she has bought for the final music concert at school. Now I am just feeling argh!! (As is she)

Flip

1 2 ··· 34 35 36 ··· 39 40