DD Biology AS result/A2 options/Uni application Anyone help? Especially any tutors or admissions people

[Turningupsidedown]

DD's AS results were three A's and an unexpected D in Biology. We have got the papers back so she can look through them with her teacher and firstly just check whether a re-mark might be useful and also to see where she went wrong with it. Advice on results day was limited and contradictory and it took some effort to get help with requesting her papers back as well, so DD is trying to look into her options and get advice before going to sign on day tomorrow so she is clear about what she wants to discuss with school.

She wants to study Archaeology and Anthropology at Uni and none of the courses she is looking at ask for specific subjects, offers are around AAA-AAB. However some of them do say a background of science as well as arts subjects may be useful. Her A's were in English, History and Philosophy so the Biology was the only science. The A's were high A's so she should hopefully get good enough predictions from those to meet the requirements but she is wondering what effect the D in Biology will have and what she can do about it if anything.

She is thinking her options are to

Just drop it and do A2 in the three she got A's in

Resit modules to bump up the AS result but not carry on with A2

Carry it on to A2 maybe resitting AS modules to try and bump up grade.

School has also suggested she do an EPQ this year which would be more work on top if she carries any Biology on.

On results day, she had all three of the above options suggested to her by different people but with little information on pros/cons of any of them. Would she spread herself too thin by carrying some level of Biology? How much attention might Uni's pay to an AS result if subject then dropped? What would be their view on resits? If she carries on, might Uni's base their offer on all 4 subjects even though they only specify three? Etc.!

Has anyone had DC making this sort of choice who can share what they did and how it went?

If there are any admissions people around what would be your view on the different options and how they might affect her application?

Grateful for any opinions!

Sorry, have accidentally posted this twice, have reported and asked for one to be deleted...

I would now just concentrate on the 3 she is taking to A2.I can see little merit in diverting her attention with a resit.

Another option, drop Biology and take a second AS in something else sciency such as human biology or applied science

Thanks for replies. sashh thanks that isn't something DD had thought about, she will ask about that tomorrow.

Applied science a level is not regarded as suitable for admission to a science degree, and a level biology is pretty much human bio anyway so unlikely to be offered as well.

I'd advise dropping it - she does at least have a science at AS, and three A grades in non sciences will be better than 2 As and a C.

I would suggest ringing the admissions dept of a couple of unis that she's interested in, and get their advice, straight from the horse's mouth! I have rung a few in my time, and found them really friendly and helpful.

Thanks for the further opinions and suggestions. DD was quite disappointed with the mark, she was getting good predictions and coursework grades so wasn't expecting it to be so low and feels it doesn't show what she is capable of. She is also interested in the biological anthropology aspects of the courses so disappointed from that angle too and worried the low biology mark would look bad because of this content. From looking I think it may be less of an issue for some courses than others where they focus more heavily on social anthropology than biological anthropology so maybe DD needs to look again at the courses and go more with the strengths of the results she got (than the one she wanted!). It seems so far that most people think she should concentrate on the other three. I have been a bit worried that she wanted to resit/carry on to prove a point rather than it be in her best interests and she was very confused by the completely conflicting advice she got from teachers. Hopefully someone will go through it a bit more thoroughly with her tomorrow. Mindgone that's a good suggestion, I wondered whether they would want to be hassled with questions like this, but if you have found they are happy to help will get DD to do that tomorrow.

As a friend of DDs is doing Arch & Anth at Bristol I have just looked at their web site. Their standard offer is ABB. (BBB contextual). There are no specific subject requirements and they welcome all arts subjects at A level, all science subjects, or a mixture of both. They also weight GCSE passes when making an offer. This is interesting as many posters on MN say GCSEs do not count!

I would therefore say drop the Biology. Bristol welcome deferred entry so she could spend a very productive year preparing for the degree if she wanted to. I doubt Britol is unique in its subject requirements. So the better results are just fine but I would have a look at a few other good universities to see if they have similar entry requirements.

We have got the papers back so she can look through them with her teacher and firstly just check whether a re-mark might be useful

As an aside I don't think you can have the paper re-marked if you've already asked for a copy of the script; it's one or the other.

Thank you Milly that one looks good and wasn't one DD had looked at in detail before. GCSEs were all pretty good so that helps! I wasn't sure what contextual means, but clicked on the link and it seems that DD would maybe get the lower offer as her school is on the list. DD is now coming round to the idea of forgetting the biology and concentrating on the others and going back through the courses again to check all the entry requirements. She is looking happier She is very set on studying Arch and Anth and has been volunteering in a museum over the summer as well as going on a week archaeology field school - it hasn't put her off despite being very wet and cold!

Jean sorry should have said we got the photocopies not the originals so can still request a remark. DD thinks she just mucked it up on the day though, particularly one paper. However she is just a few marks off a C overall so she is going to look with her teacher just to see if its worth it. A C would be a little better for her pride!

Def get a remark

Thought I would update on this in case it is useful feedback for next year's exam results, and also to thank those who commented with helpful advice.

Both papers went off for a remark and came back with an extra 19 additional Raw marks over the two and this on a science paper! So DD ended up not just with a C but almost with a B. The teacher was so shocked he appealed and got remarking opened up again for the whole class.

Most of the marks, although not all, were on the paper DD was surprised at getting a low mark on. It was just the one she knew she mucked up on that brought her down overall. So I would say to anyone for next year, it is worth checking if your DC are surprised by the result even if you have to push the school to go for a remark like we did (it was sent reluctantly on the last possible day!).

DD did also drop it

The good news is, that DD's UCAS went off with the new grade and she already has 3 offers, including a BBB offer for Bristol thanks MillyMollyMama for flagging that one as well as offers for UEA and Exeter. So far so good!

Great news Turning! Thanks for coming back with an update, and congratulations to your DD! Btw, did you ring any admissions people, and if you did, were they friendly and helpful?

Thanks Mindgone for your helpful advice too, sorry I forgot to say we followed up on that. DD did email a couple, Durham where she also applied and Exeter. They were both friendly and helpful and encouraging. Basically both said science not essential if other grades good, they would definitely consider her application, and as joint degrees with a lot of module choice, she could choose more of the non-science based subjects. She was too nervous to email her top and very aspirational choice of Oxford, however in the end decided to put it down anyway and just give it a try, so nervously waiting to see if she will get an interview at the moment. The admissions tutor there has been very helpful already with information on her application, so I think would have been fine if she did get in touch before. So I would definitely recommend following your advice and asking admissions if unsure. It definitely reassured DD to apply to some of her choices, and now she already has three offers.

Turning, that's great news! Well done your DD! I am so glad too that you found the admissions people friendly and helpful! :)