Should DC drop maths to improve her chances of meeting her Cambridge uni offer for history

[nandio]

DC does history English economics and maths A level.

Cambridge offer for history is A star AA and excludes the maths.

DC is currently working at a B in economics and a C in maths based on mock results. Other 2 subjects are at A star.

Should DC give up the maths to concentrate on economics?

All advice very greatly received.

Yes.

Definitely

Yes

What are the offers for the other places she might go? Would dropping the maths affect them?

What do school think?

Yes from me too....

Would be tempted to give up.

Might it not show as a fail as the entries are already done and you'd have to tell the unis .

Oh no, now I'm feeling a bit remiss as a parent. I think there may still be time to withdraw but would need to check.

Why are the school not giving her guidance on this?
There’s must be a good reason she was doing 4 in the first place and if she had been struggling to cope with four why didn’t she drop it sooner?

It seems odd to me she would get to within a few weeks of exams starting and only be having these discussions with you right now.

Maths teacher has said not to make maths a priority. There have been discussions since getting the offer but DC rationialised not dropping it by saying that they should be able to do 4 well if they are to cope at Cambridge.

I’m a history teacher and part of a Sixth Form leadership team. If this was one of my students I would say drop the Maths or just enter for AS and not the full A Level if they really don’t want to give it up entirely.

Dumbledore'sApprentice I thought AS levels were no longer available.

They still exist but most schools aren’t doing them any more. We don’t routinely enter our students for AS levels now. However, if a student is finding 4 A Levels too much and they only need 3 for their uni offers then we let them enter for AS instead, which examines them on just under half of the A Level content. Just last week we had two students (one with a Cambridge offer) ask to switch their 4th A Level for an AS, which we let them do.

I am a Head of Sixth Form, and we would definitely recommend in this case that she drops Maths. If she was achieving high Bs then maybe not, but in this case it makes sense to concentrate on the other subjects.

The school will already have entered her for maths as the deadline was during February half term. However, exam boards recognise that there is still a lot of movement after this, so it will be free and no issue for them to withdraw her until mid-April. They can still do it after this time, but they would have to pay, and they could technically pass this cost onto you.

Your daughter should contact Cambridge to update them (despite it not being in her offer) and just to make them aware, or her Head of Sixth might do it for you. She should also inform her insurance offer. Cambridge will not care as it is not mentioned in their offer, and even if it is in her insurance then I've never known any university to change or withdraw an offer when a student drops from 4 to 3 subjects.

Good luck to her (and you as these are often stressful times!!)

Thank you all so much for your valuable insights. She is feeling much more confident about dropping it now. She has covered all of the content for maths and is glad to have the knowledge. DH thinks it's a shame to not get a qualification in it.

The AS idea is interesting but she now seems to just want to focus on the 3 that matter. She also feels that she could push her maths up to an A if she spent more time on it. In a strange way that feeling is making it easier for her to give it up.

She says thank you all very much.

It turns out that a friend with a Cambridge offer for medicine wrote to their college to tell them they were thinking of dropping their EPQ and economics. They were told not to drop them but to sit for the exams. Apparently it's OK if they get a U grade.

What's the point of that I wonder?

DD says that if they said the same to her she wouldn't mind as they would be giving her permission not to study for the maths.

Everyone I know who went to Cambridge were excelling at school. There was no issue with failing subjects or getting Cs. Or having to drop subjects. They all got minimum 4 A/A*s and did masses of other stuff. Are you sure Cambridge is right your your dc?

talktoo I'm guessing the admissions team think so or they wouldn't have made the offer. Are you suggesting otherwise? Many students who don't get an offer make the grades, so contrary to popular belief it's not all about the grades. She will still need to get Astar AA that being said. If she drops the maths she'll aim for 3 Astars.

I would drop the maths though maybe ask her Cambridge college what they think - send an e-mail the admissions tutor.

I'm sure she will be fine - I went from a comp with 3 A Levels and beat the 2 private school boys with 4 and also I never used what you learn in the A Levels for the most part - may vary by subject. I can't see Maths A level being used much in a History degree and the fact they have excluded it from the offer implies they aren't concerned about her result, if any, in that. She sounds like a bright, lovely polite girl. I found Cambridge much easier and much more fun than A Levels and would definitely take the place.

Def drop the maths if she can!

I did history at Cambridge and if it means she will bring the economics up to speed would drop the maths. Economics will be more relevant to the history degree, which is very focussed on depth of understanding for each subject. Good luck to her!

They haven't specifically excluded the Maths they have just made a 3 A level offer so other than HIstory she could drop any of the others. However, that said my understanding is as mentioned above you do need to notify them of the drop.

Good luck with her A levels. I hope sge meets the grades. I think the other person who asked whether Cambridge is right for her as trying to say that of she is currently only working at a B and C in 2 of her A levels would she able to cope with the rigours of a Cambridge schedule rather than she is anyway intellectually inferior in any way. However if she drops a subject in order to bring her others up that will help. It is likely that the extra time and effort spent on maths would be much more wisely spent on improving her economics to offer level.

My Cambridge offer named A Levels so its possible it did exclude maths. One of my A Levels was excluded and one had a grade stated.

Echo checking with her college before deciding. It's a few years ago now but dd was doing four, was having a wobble, and wanted to drop one (that wasn't particularly relevant to her future degree). Her college said she had to take the exam although her grade wouldn't be considered as it wasn't part of her offer. In the end she continued with four and it was fine, but worth checking.