dd seems to think she needs A's to get into a good university...is she right

[brimfull]

please give me some reassuring facts to tell her.SHe's had her maths As results for some exam ,not the final or anything ,and she is disappointed she got a B.She says she may as well drop it after As.

She doesn't know what she wants to take at university,probably something businessy.But surely a B grade is ok..isn't it?

My eldest got the same grades I got 20 odd years before - AAB at A level and we both got to reasonable universities. Her sister got AAC (C in chemistry (Nuffield)) and the offer she had was AAB but they still took her - bit nerve wracking at the time but they did.

I am involved in admissions (though for Oxbridge) and I don't think she should be panicking about a B in AS Maths taken a year early! She should definitely continue if she can, especially as Physics without maths can end up being a bit useless (one of my sisters had this problem), and the two go very well together - is the plan to take the A-level next year, or to have two years to work up to it? The spread of subjects she has in mind, along with maths, should open up lots of possibilities for her. As for personal statement/outside interests/GCSEs etc - Oxbridge at least mind about these much less than schools (like to) think we do, but it makes sense that universities which don't interview probably pay more attention to personal statements than those which do, I only have experience of Oxford and Cambridge.

Arioneter= she is taking the two yrs to get the A level. Well I will certainly advise her to keep up with the maths especially with the physics.Thanks

It just shows you the problems Universities have making decisions on entry BEFORE they have exam results. Clearly your sons ACTUAL grades were more attractive to the admissions tutors than other candidates POSSIBLE grades.

The way the system should work is that places be warded AFTER the results are known.....

sorry the post I just made, is a response to wendyweber's post at the bottome of page 1 of this thread.

arionater - does oxbridge take any notice of if a parent went there? does it help/not help at all? thinking about this for dsd who is very bright all round and would like to go to oxford (as her dad did) but really put off that cousin (mentioned before on thread very talented too) didnt even get an interview!!

I would hate to think it mattered bit would not be at all surprised. Ds1 is only yr9 but he desires Oxbridge place badly. No idea why not from us at all!!!!

I think my dd suffers from the over achieving girl syndrome, although she is doing her GCSEs at the mo. She got an A in her physics modular test from January and is "devastated" - will resit later in the year to ensure that she gets the A* she wants. If she was doing it for A level - but she drops it and will concentrate on Chemistry and Biology as her sciences.

Too much pressure - I can't believe that stress that kids are under. I hardly remember sitting my O levels and as for revision - what was that?

I agree figroll.
They think they've failed if they get less than an A.

DD's Physics teacher said, at the last Parents evening before GCSE's last year:

"And if that predicted A* becomes an A, don't be too upset will you"!!

I could have kicked her - Physics was her hardest subject and perhaps the one she could have coped with getting a B at, Teacher was suggesting an A would be dissapointing.

same here the physics teacher said if ds2 doesn't get an A* in physics he's going to resign said sort of in jest but still???

My best friend in school was going to Oxford to read Maths. She was predicted AAAA. I can't remember the subjects, but it included Maths and Physics. She got a B in the end for physics and Oxford took her without any fuss.

If it's not med/vet med or Oxbridge that she's hankering for then I really don't think it would be a problem at all.

I was in a dreadful state over my exams (3/4 years ago) and drove myself round the bend. It was totally unnecessary. Perfection is not required to be good enough. I wish I had remembered that more!

dd is much more conscientious than I ever was.
I was a last minute reviser and fairly relaxed about exams.She tends to panic in exams and has now realised that she needs to be prepared to stop the panic.
I don't expect her to get a's really.

christie-well no stress for your dc's then!

I am heartened that the offers are somewhat pliable.

Dd did seem disheartened looking at some websites and there requirements.

ggirl - in my experience (admittedly 12 years out of date now) offers are v pliable. I was offered AAA to do English at Cambridge, got AAD and they let me in anyway. My sister was offered I think BBB to do maths at Leeds, which has an excellent maths dept. Agree she should definitely carry it on - according to sister, the maths/physics combo is v complementary - each will help the other. I think a B in Maths AS a year early is a tremendous achievement - well done her

well she hasn't finished the As just had her first exam result.
Thanks for the encouragement though.

If it's the first exam result then is she doing a modular course? In which case she could resit this module in the summer and no-one would be any the wiser when she gets her final result. That's only if it's likely to really be a problem though, and it doesn't seem like it is.