AS Results!! Need HELP please...

GeneHunt_2

My daughter wants to go to Sussex Uni to study Economics. I was chuffed on results day as she got:-

A English Lit
A Biology
B Maths
C Economics

But now she doesn't know what to do. She got a little time to chat with the head of 6th Form on results day and he said the C might go against her if she applies to Uni for Economics. So now she doesn't know if she should apply to do Eng Lit or stick with Economics. She is happy to resit her AS Economics modules. (Her Mark in Economics was 66% which is a C on her board). Her teacher was in her last year and retired at the end of the summer. I don't know if this explains the poor grade.

She says her personal statement has to be aimed at her chosen subject so she doesn't think she can apply for both Economics and English Lit.

Can anyone help enlighten me as to how the system works?

Quackers1

Can't help with all of the questions, but your personal statement should explain why she wants to do the chosen course - having two that don't have much in common may make her look indecisive. I would say have another chat with her teachers as they know her best, at the school where I work students could start doing all four again in September if unsure about which to drop. I'm sure that someone else will be along to offer more advice.

GeneHunt_2

Thank you Quackers I think she wants to drop Maths but is just unsure whther to apply for Eng Lit or Economics.

Quackers1

I'm a Maths Teacher and the sixth form that also studied Economics found that Maths helped them with this. I don't know enough about the content of the Economics A-level to be able to advise but this made me think that she might prefer Eng Lit.

MrsManda

Congratulations to your daughter on her results, they're really good

As for her Economics grade it is still good and I think the fact that her other results are high and include Maths mean that she still has a chance to study Economics at degree level if she still wants to.

It's possible to apply to do different subjects when filling out the UCAS application - in theory she could apply to five different universities to do five different subjects. However as she's explained, the same personal statement is used for each course applied to which can make it difficult to apply for more than one subject, especially when they're as unrelated as Economics and English Lit and she really wants to economics.

Is she going to be studying all 4 subjects at A2 or dropping one?

I think she needs to take a few weeks to think about what she wants to do and see if she can work out why she didn't do as well as she expected on her AS Economics and whether she can improve in her A2.

I suggest waiting until mid September when the chaos of A-level results/clearing is over and then contacting the admissions tutors for the courses she wants to apply to to see if her grade is going to be the hinderance she thinks it will be.

She has until the 15th January to submit her UCAS application so she has some breathing space to speak to admissions tutors and make her decision.

mmmsnow

She may have a better chance of a job with Economics than English Lit. I would think beyond uni at this point - is there a particular profession that your daughter is drawn towards or does she want a degree just for the transferrable skills?

GeneHunt_2

MrsManda wrote: »

I think she needs to take a few weeks to think about what she wants to do and see if she can work out why she didn't do as well as she expected on her AS Economics and whether she can improve in her A2.

She's a little baffled. She got abou 65% (ish) on both papers. The grade boundaries are 70%+ for a B and 80%+ for an A she tells me.

On her Maths papers she got 80%, 76% and 73% which gave her a B.

She got good As on her Eng Lit and Biology.

To be honest I think it might have been her teacher. She was retiring this year but I can't know for sure.

My daughter has half A* and half A at GCSE.

Is it possible that she "can't do" Econmics do you think? She is up for resitting her Economics AS papers to improve her mark.

GeneHunt_2

MrsManda wrote: »

I suggest waiting until mid September when the chaos of A-level results/clearing is over and then contacting the admissions tutors for the courses she wants to apply to to see if her grade is going to be the hinderance she thinks it will be.

That's a great idea!!!:)

GeneHunt_2

mmmsnow wrote: »

She may have a better chance of a job with Economics than English Lit. I would think beyond uni at this point - is there a particular profession that your daughter is drawn towards or does she want a degree just for the transferrable skills?

She enjoys the Economics more but seems to be better at the English Lit

Quiet_Life

Can't advise regarding subject choice
but on the related matter of 'personal statements' and university admission,

there was a very enlightening programme on radio 4 this afternoon called

'How to write a personal statement'
It's available on the iPlayer

Good Luck with the choice

GeneHunt_2

Quiet_Life wrote: »

Can't advise regarding subject choice
but on the related matter of 'personal statements' and university admission,

there was a very enlightening programme on radio 4 this afternoon called

'How to write a personal statement'
It's available on the iPlayer

Good Luck with the choice

Thank you. I'll let her know