Finance degree?

[herewegoagainmymy]

Anyone got a DS doing Finance? DS is mathematical (doing Maths A level) but really doesn’t want to study Maths. He’s really interested in investing (has a portfolio with his saved birthday money!) and how markets work/crypto etc… He’s also quite interested in psychology and Far Eastern culture/music. I think Accountancy would be boring for him.

Not sure on grades yet but I’d say aspirational would be AAB.

Any experience /thoughts? Thanks.

Coming at this from a different angle why not use the remaining time of yr12 to find out from his teachers what he needs to do to bring up that B/C grade. Then he can work on that over summer and his choices aren't limited by where he can apply to for grade entry. Also increase that A to an A star. Maths is mainly practise. He can look at past papers, answer each question and then compare it to the mark scheme. See which type of questions he needs to work on.

The issue with entry grades is that universities take applicants which higher grades. A personal statement does go a long way to demonstrate interest but grades are key. There are freedom of information requests performed by WhatDoTheyKnow website which you may be able to see that just because a university says their entry grade is AAB what applicants actually achieved. Have a google.

This does come down to how much you want something, if you want choices then you work at your A levels to get the best grades and then no door is closed to you.

@HillCrestingGoat
At plenty of universities they accept lower grades than advertised. Bums on seats. Few universities read a PS unless it’s to differentiate between borderline students.

@TizerorFizz yes bums on seats for lower grade universities is true however, the OP has rejected looking at courses because the grades are too high, ie Money, Banking and Finance at Birmingham but that is AAA and your own suggestion of Accounting and Finance at Bath, again AAA.

So either he pulls his grades up to widen his choices or he accepts that he will apply to a less globally recognisable university. This is all about choices, why wouldn't you talk to your child about increasing their grades and choices. The FOI request thing is for all universities however, if universities are massively oversubscribed then of course they get to pick the best applicants. They want to retain students and so would choose the more able ones to keep up with the course.

@HillCrestingGoat
I mentioned Bath because AAA might be achievable if he could convert a B to an A. I don’t think a globally recognised university is the issue here. Most people other than top high flyers get to go to those but plenty do well from fairly standard universities. So it’s all about course and job opportunities. AAB should secure a decent university. Even ABB will. I never noticed practice at maths improved my grades. It’s a language I didn’t understand. Poor teaching didn’t help I suspect.

@TizerorFizz I do understand what you are saying, but this isn't a child with low grades they have 1 middle grade of B/C that is preventing them possibly accessing courses with entry grades at AAA. The globally recognised bit was because Hertfordshire university ranks around 80th or 90th depending on which website you look at, I had to google it. If they just brought that grade up to an A then they would be accessing top 20 universities.

I scraped a maths GCSE but Dh did engineering for a degree, Ds2 is doing GCSEs and gets top 90%s in maths, Ds1 did maths and further maths A level and achieved A* in both getting in the 90%s. They all play with maths, learn not just apply the formula to something (eg area of a circle) but understand why this works. I know there are a couple of maths teachers on here who teach GCSE and A level, it is about identifying where you are weakest and then working on those areas. They say practise really helps.

A child should not be defined by their predicted grades but they can apply themselves, get help from their teachers and improve their grades.

In what world is the university of Hertfordshire world class? Not rated very highly in the uk I’m afraid. However no doubt some courses are ok. I get the grades issue which is why both aspirational and less demanding should be chosen when he decides on the subject.

I was weak at everything mathematical. Never understood any of it! I don’t have an O level in it. Luckily I’m old enough to say it never gross me back.

DH is CEng bug I didn’t know him at school
for coaching. Or even explanations of maths.