How to help direct DD

[massistar]

DD is just starting Y13, it’s going to be UCAS time before we know it and she really doesn’t know what she wants to do and is feeling a bit overwhelmed. She’s doing a levels in maths, biology and chemistry alongside Welsh Bacc. She got A* in those subjects at GCSE and got As in maths and Welsh bacc and B in chem and bio at AS level. She was originally thinking vet med but struggled a bit with chemistry and unlikely that’ll go up enough to get A or A star in her sciences. She loves maths and in retrospect would’ve been better off doing further maths but she can’t pick that up in a year at her school.

She’s now thinking marine biology but I feel that this is based on a bit of a romantic idea of swimming with dolphins (we do live by the sea and she’s always been fascinated by sharks etc). I think she’d be better off doing engineering or computer science (DH and I both in IT) but she’s adamant she doesn’t want an office based job.

Any ideas as to how I can help direct her a bit as it all seems a bit too open. A lot of her friends know exactly what they want to do (medicine/finance etc) but she’s been swayed by the promise of boat trips and scuba diving.

Natural sciences - broad start narrowing to her interests - and a good solid degree?

the O'NET Interests Profiler is a free, quick and easy career aptitude test. Don't take the results as gospel, but they do provide a useful starting point.

https://onetinterestprofiler.org/

If she has interests in both Maths and Marine Biology, a multi-disciplinary course where she gets to combine them (e.g. Natural Sciences somewhere like Durham) could be the answer

I was doing some similar research, idly browsing on behalf of my DS and found this very interesting course at Liverpool: Maths with Ocean and Climate Science https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/courses/mathematics-with-ocean-and-climate-sciences-bsc-hons#course-content

I've bookmarked it for DS, as it's currently right up his street. It might be a direction that would interest your DD too.

Defence is the big sector that's growing. Has she looked into the navy? I bet they pay for marine biologists to train dolphins to kill people or something.

🙄 Just what everyone teenage marine wildlife lover aspires to eh?

She absolutely can do Maths at university without Further Maths. A number of my children’s friends have done so. Obviously things are different at the top Maths universities, but the RG universities my DD applied to said that the first term was basically a crash course in FM.

However I would be a little wary - my DD applied for Maths (in a variety of combinations with Spanish!) on the back of A* at the end of her Lower Sixth (her school did FM in this way). She did not enjoy FM (although eventually did well) & sensibly decided if she didn’t like FM she wouldn’t like a Maths degree. She took a year out and is doing a completely different subject now.

I’m not sure I’d encourage computer science at this point. I work in IT and AI is tearing through the sector at a truly alarming rate.

Engineering is an option but I’m guessing there’s a reason she didn’t do physics? Chemical engineering maybe? I wouldn’t necessarily rule out biology courses - there’s a desperate need for better climate knowledge.

In case this hasn’t already been posted, the Fields Studies Council run some great week long camps for students thinking of science/geography/environmental courses. This one is for marine sciences which may inspire her/put her off??

https://www.field-studies-council.org/courses-and-experiences/static-courses/marine-science-camp/

Oh this looks brilliant. Thank you!

Thanks for thinking outside the box but she’s definitely not suited for the armed forces!