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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

A Level Anxiety

895 replies

Toffee22 · 14/08/2011 22:42

Only 4 more "sleeps" until the A level results come out - not that I will be doing much sleeping...

Eldest son wants to study medicine. 3 "A's" required no slip ups allowed. Have just checked and most medical schools don't accept re-sits. How can I face looking at the cold hard facts at some point on Thursday. I'm sure it will be difficult for my son too! When I tried to talk to him about it today instead of a response he said he would do an "impression of a tree". It wasn't even a very good impression. What does this mean?

OP posts:
Ponders · 18/08/2011 19:09

well, if it helps, mrswt, DS2 is going to Sheffield - politics & philosophy - & his dropped AS level was a D (in French); a C is better than that! Smile

FellatioNelson · 18/08/2011 19:13

I'd say definitely concentrate on getting three good grades in your strongest subjects. A fourth is always nice, but not especially beneficial in the end. fine if you can do four at A or A* in your sleep, but if not, better not to dilute your efforts in the ones you stand the best chance in.

Lilymaid · 18/08/2011 19:21

mumofsoontobelawstudent
Another Exeter law alumna here. Fab place to go to university - hope the main building works on campus are now just about finished.
I lived in a friend's father's rental house in St James after living in hall, but the really smart set rented country cottages and some quite grand country houses outside Exeter. But that was a loooong time ago.

Congratulations to all who have got into their first choice or insurance and good luck to those who are still looking for places.

eatyourveg · 18/08/2011 19:23

mrswoodentop do you mean resit the AS unit even though you still dropping it?

ds1 is in the same position B on one unit last January but E today on the other making D overall. Figured if he got it up to a C/B it would be extra UCAS points which might come in handy if he falls short next year.

RustyBear · 18/08/2011 19:37

lilymaid - they were still building when we were there for DD's graduation a month ago - they had the graduation ceremonies in the Northcott Theatre instead of the Great Hall where DH & I had ours.

DD says she has had an 'invitation' to go back & see the finished product when it's complete, as a 'thank you' for putting up with the building work - but it only said something vague like hoping it would be early 2012.

mumofsoontobelawstudent · 18/08/2011 19:40

fifi law is still on main campus

lilymaid yes, I too hope building has finished, it was quite chaotic when we visited in February. Ooh, country cottages sound very posh, don't think our finances can run to that, we were thinking of a nice little 3 bed terraced! Hopefully when DS gets settled he might have a few friends who will happy to rent a room or two with/from him next year. Seems like the only way to get him on the property ladder and save him getting further in debt by having accommodation costs in years 2 and 3. We will see though

practicallyimperfect · 18/08/2011 19:47

Fell- he will be fine once he gets there. I was supposed to go to Durham, missed that by a mile and went to Nottingham. I cried for a few days, and couldn't get my head round it. But once I was there I loved it!

That was 12 yrs ago and today I was handing out results to my own students!

mrswoodentop · 18/08/2011 20:16

Oh that's reassuring Ponders ,well done to your ds .Ds1 is off to the Sheffield open day on the 6/9 but is also keen on Leeds .He wants to do straight politics although is tempted by the 4 year parliamentary studies course at Leeds .We shall see ,he's quite down tonight about the history,anyone know of a good AS level tutor in Suffolk Hmm

Anneni · 18/08/2011 20:35

my poor DD didn't even come close on her offers. She had swine Flu early in the year and was too stubborn to hold off. But she's in the US for the summer and I can't even give her a hug and tell her it'll be OK.
:(

I can't really say I told you so either ... not that I would.

I just miss her really badly right now is what I'm saying...

I think

RoseC · 18/08/2011 20:40

mrswoodentop If he's unsure as to where he went wrong would it be worth paying to have the script returned? DPs did this for one of my sister's papers, reasoning that in the long-term it would be worth it (especially as she had to pay to resit as well). It may be that he's missing some exam technique that his teachers could point out to him.

If it's something he's missed then it'll save the cost of a tutor and if it's something more then having the paper back could guide the tutor. If it'll help to cheer him up you can tell him that the first time I sat AS History I got a C and was told I'd never get a B. I did very badly in my ASs overall and decided to change schools. At my new school I took History and got an A (including 100% on one paper) and I'm Suffolk born and bred too Grin

RoseC · 18/08/2011 20:41

Anneni Your poor DD and poor you. Will she be able to retake some of her exams? Would the universities perhaps let her in due to extenuating circumstances?

sieglinde · 18/08/2011 20:42

Oh, Anneni, that's really hard, for both of you. Poor DD. But perhaps she can resit??

mrswoodentop · 18/08/2011 20:48

Yes we're definitely getting the paper back.My concern is that his teacher is quite rigid in his approach,in the run up to the exams ds would say every week that he thought he had it taped and every week he seemed to have gone wrong again even though he thought he was taking on board the teachers comments.I think the resit lessons at school
Will just be more of the same,and wonder if a fresh approach may help.Confused

dreamingofsun · 18/08/2011 20:49

i cannot believe there are no complaints about UCAS and the appalling sytem. They must surely know there are going to be high demands on the website and phone lines today. So why does the website repeatedly crash, or not let you on? Why don't the uni's put more people on the lines - i've spent literally hours today holding onto helplines at a uni.

its all very well for the boss lady apologising on tele, but when you aren't sure if you've got an offer and need to know so you can make plans quickly - its just not good enough. just added tonnes to my son's and my stress levels.

its like dealing with something out of the ark ages.

Ponders · 18/08/2011 21:00

she did say they had 4x as many calls at any one time as they did last year; if that's true it's no wonder they were caught out.

I can see it's pretty hard for a govt dept to provide a massive upscale of internet capability for just 1 day out of 365. maybe they should have laid on 100s of phone lines & operators just for today instead Confused

Ponders · 18/08/2011 21:01

(by calls I mean internet access attempts! Blush)

funnyperson · 18/08/2011 21:29

Wine clink Wine
cheers and good heath and happiness to all the DC, and their parents and grandparents, and to their successful futures

funnyperson · 18/08/2011 21:29

health

mumofsoontobelawstudent · 18/08/2011 21:31

Wine hic! x

funnyperson · 18/08/2011 21:34

Hello Ponders: congrats to your DS.
The internet access in the morning was non existent as far as we were concerned-luckily the human beings manned the phones from the crack of dawn so WineclinkWine cheers to the admin and clerks who entered all the data and manned the phones.
Support for all those still uncertain.

dreamingofsun · 18/08/2011 21:35

ponders - maybe not for 1 day but they could probably do it for a month if they had the inclination. if the website is unusable its not surprising they had so many calls.

Ponders · 18/08/2011 21:38

oh yes!

clink Wine & hic Wine & cheers Wine & just Wine to everybody involved in the process today Grin

Hulababy · 18/08/2011 21:38

missdisorganised1 - well done!

funnyperson · 18/08/2011 21:43

Cheers to Ponders and Pagwatch and Yellowstone and mumoverseas and fififi and fellatio and Betelguese WineclinkWine and mumofsoontobelawstudent and Sieglinde and the lurking donindisguise and milliways and so many others: it was fun at times and informative at all the right times because of you. I am so relieved it is over for me: two years of it has been enough Wine clinkWine I wish you all happy endings and good beginnings. WineclinkWine

waitofevidence · 18/08/2011 21:48

You should feel proud of your ds for getting a place at a good university.
My Ds has failed to do this and I am trying not to feel like a failure myself for not pushing him harder on studying etc. Well done to all your hardworking and intelligent DC. My dreams for ds have all disintegrated. Be glad you have something to celebrate.