Take a gap year and reapply to Oxbridge?

[tyngedyriaith]

DD has been rejected from Cambridge. People with far worse grades have gotten in. She's disappointed. She mentioned retrying next year if she exceeds the standard offer?

Is it worth it considering Welsh fees are going up next year?

Haha Notjust, I don't think I'll encourage that particular selection criteria!

The lure of Mary Beard almost swayed her to Cambridge! She's reading one of her books at the moment.
However, she reasoned that the chances of actually being taught by her were too slim to base her university choice on.

Thankyou Anna. I think I'll be gently advising against 4, but would hate to think she'd be at a disadvantage as a result.
She is about halfway through her EPQ, fortunately in a relevant subject just because it was something she found interesting. She has really enjoyed it and hopefully will give her something else to write about on her personal statement.

I would advise 3 as well partly because you shouldn't underestimate the input required for Oxbridge entry. My DD was similar to yours in finding a subject that interested her but that she wasn't directly studying - so as well as the normal personal statement, entrance exam, submitted work, interview prep, interview days and visit days she did a huge amount of extra reading around the subject - she enjoyed it and it confirmed to her she had picked the right subject but it was all time consuming and a distraction from 6th form studies in the first term of upper sixth.

Your DD sounds as though she has her act together, Lobster. Fwiw, different subjects but mine started 4, dropped one after AS to concentrate on the remaining 3, plus a very relevant EPQ which was indeed good for the PS and interviews. You're lucky your DD has similar possibilities at her school.

She won't in any way be at a disadvantage with three, especially not in the new world of linear exams - but can she actually cash in English? I'm not sure that works - or do you mean she's doing the AS course as a stand alone?

Definitely no need to continue 4 subjects to A2 imho - and agree re what pp said about Oxbridge prep being time consuming in and of itself so could be a disadvantage. Also, if applying to Cambridge they are known for giving non standard offers to some applicants - i.e. if you are offering 4 A levels you could get a 4 A level offer (Oxford don't do this and their standard offers are (to date at least) lower than Cambridge). One of s2's contemporaries has this year a 2A* and 2A offer for a science course. EEEEK!

Ds2 started 4 A levels, did no ASs (his school had dropped doing them in first year of 6th Form and any courses still with AS component have to be sat in last year of school at same time as A2s. He decided to drop one at the time of his UCAS application. It was mentioned in his reference. Didn't do him any harm but a shame he has nothing "official" to show for a year of very hard work....

I'm not sure exactly how it works. But yes, sorry, I think "cash in" was probably the wrong way to put it.
I know she has until the end of February to decide if she wants to be entered for the AS exam in one of her subjects, which she will then drop.

Then yes, if she did that she would have a public exam result to put on her application. Sounds like a plan...

I think the ASs are going to be meaningless currency for the purposes of admissions. I'd say do the subject if she really enjoys it and it doesn't detract from her other subjects or the rest of her life, but don't weigh it up in terms of admissions, because it will be neither here nor there - that's the same whether her school does the stand alone AS or only the linear exam.

Crikey Giddy, that is a terrifying offer!

So the next question is which one to drop? English Lit is, on paper at least, her weakest subject. But more relevant to Classics.
Would it make more sense to do the AS in maths instead and carry on with English?

Lobster are you sure her school is doing ASs in all her subjects still?

She should do what she enjoys most which will probably coincide with what she's best at - don't overthink it. And actually, is English really more relevant to Classics than Maths?

Lobster, feel free NOT to tell your daughter this to keep things simple, but Classics is a small faculty and she would certainly be attending Mary Beard's lectures, but also have a good chance of some sort of seminar work!

HesMy for what it's worth from what I have heard English is very relevant and useful to Classics both at the stage of interview with regards analysing and appreciating classics literature and for the degree itself

None of the subjects seem irrelevant is really what I mean sendsummer - so sticking to her favourite three seems to best way forward unless she hugely enjoys all four and can manage four easily.

Goodbye I'm not sure at all! My understanding is based purely on what DD has told me. She's usually pretty reliable about such things though.

Send I thought the same. But is it worth risking a lower grade? She thinks if she works at it she can probably reach an A star in English.
However she's very confident that she will achieve one in Maths.

Which is more important, subject relevance or higher grade prediction?

Oh NotJust, I don't think I can NOT tell her that!

Goodbye yes, I agree.

HesMyLobster if your DD actually prefers English to maths and is now sure that she wants to Classics (so not closing doors from dropping maths) then I think that what she gains from continuing English outweighs the potential loss of an A. Even for Oxbridge an offer for Classics is very unlikely to require an A in English.

On college choice, why they choose things can be baffling.

DS decided he liked x college, "the accommodation, Mum".

Grrrr.

He then discovered, only after applying, that it has four dons who are specialist in an area in which he is not especially interested (yet. He will be, Oscar, he will.).

Grrrr.

But they have offered him a place.

[Grin]. Grin.

This is SO NOT the way to do it.

And actually he so adores his subject it comes out in spots.

Unstealth boast.

He can be f'ing boring about it too.

Giddy - if you think thats bad, for Cambridge engineering whereas DD's offer is 2A (physics and FM) plus A for maths, we've heard of people doing 4 a levels needing another A - any advance on that?

On college choice, mine haven't spent long on it either - much as Anna's DD. They have all gone for the older colleges though, and avoided one which has a reputation for being a bit too intense and another one, nearly next door to the former, which has a reputation for being very divided between rich independent school kids and the rest.

Lobster - I expect your clued up DD has already been googling course requirements and found stuff like http://www.classics.cam.ac.uk/prospective/undergraduate/faq#9

On A Level subject choice it's also worth looking beyond what is actually required and thinking about what will be most helpful once she's doing her degree. Eg DD is doing English at Oxford and has found that her Latin A Level has helped a lot with the understanding of grammar necessary for certain aspects of the course and with the classical allusions in a lot of literature.

I would have thought that studying English to A Level could only help in terms of preparing for the literature elements of a Classics degree whilst Maths would not have such direct relevance.

I'd only say that grades are all important. Drop the weakest unless she adores it, but it will hold her back,