Dropping Physics at AS level, ? bad idea

[Deleted User]

I agree points make prizes.

Probably be best for him to put all of his effort in the other subjects and do the bare minimum in the one he doesnt like. That way with what he picks up from maths and other courses hed prob fluke a result. Even 2 points might mean going to the uni he wants and going to a poly in the outer Hebrides.

Also dont be dismayed by low mid-year teacher tests that dont count towards the A level. I didnt do fantastic in some practice papers but by the exams it was all in there. Plus results are normalised meaning if there are a few too many people not doing to well they bump up the results this has been known on occasions to be fairly high. Like in my chemistry A level it was possible to get up to 112% LOL and one guy in our class got 103%. There was also absolutly no chance I got 87% in physics as i dont think i even answered that much of teh questions lol.

Apparently being a chemical engineer gives you the highest happyness to money ratio of all proffesionals with engineers being happy people despite the fact they cant pull girls (or maybe thats why they are happy :rotfl: ) -

http://www.newscientistjobs.com/insider/article.action?article.id=insider149&focusId=uk

lou-_3

If he really wants to head towards a biology based degree then he definitely needs biology and chemistry - chemistry is more important than most people think for a biological degree. So I would recommend him concentrating on those two the most, not dropping out of physics now, as a grade is better than no grade; and dropping it after as, as as long as he has three decent a-levels he'll be ok. Ultimately it's up to him though.

But then I failed me a-levels spectacularly, hated physics, worked for a few years before a change of heart and am now doing a physics degree and very happy!

Voyager2002

Speaking as a university academic, I say with confidence that a smaller number of passes at high grades is far more valuable than passing more subjects but bringing the grades down. So if there is any danger of that scenario, he should drop Physics like a hot cake!

Is there a local careers service? A professional careers adviser should be able to tell him whether dropping Physics would close any doors that are important to him.

However, suppose that he drops Physics now; goes on to get good grades in his other subjects; and then finds that he needs Physics for what he wants to do next. There are Colleges of FE where he could study it, and in that situation he would be very highly motivated to do well at it.

My conclusion: try to see a careers adviser or someone and find out if there is any compelling (to him) reason for continuing with Physics. If no such reason appears, then drop it, but do well at all the other subjects.

Helix

You can always decline the grade and then you don't have to tell the universities. I did this when I got a U in physics last year.

okra

Helix wrote: »

You can always decline the grade and then you don't have to tell the universities. I did this when I got a U in physics last year.

True, but if the university can see from your application that you're studying Physics and you don't provide a grade for it, they will know that your grades were too low for you to commit them to paper - it's the same thing.

I don't agree that points make prizes. If your son is going to apply for a competitive course and admissions have two candidates, all else equal, one with no physics AS and one with an E grade physics AS, who do you think they'll make an offer to? A poor physics result will make him seem a risk, particularly if he does as suggested and make a minimal effort in physics. He'll have to study subjects he's not keen on at uni, and knuckle down and do well at them regardless - deciding not to make an effort because he's not keen will create the wrong impression IMO.

My course had 11 applicants for every place, and AS results were incredibly important. I don't know anyone who got through the initial application process with poor AS results, let alone through the interviews to an offer.



As I see it, there are only two choices here. Either he keeps on ith his physics and gives it his all, going to every revision class going, taking up permanent residence in the library and possibly seeking some extra tutoring to ensure a good grade. Or, drop it and make sure the rest of his grades are top notch. Everything in between runs the risk of jeapordising his university applications.

Mary_Hartnell

We live in a global economy in which most people earn a living working in a business of some sort. All this hyper specialisation for some kid, who is not sure he knows what the hell is going on, is too much too soon.

What ever his "A" level results may be, tell him now you expect him to support himself for a year and achieve something during that gap year. Only then will you consider supporting him at uni.

It was the best thing I ever did, he turned from a long haired kid into a man in those 15 months and had the experience of a life time circling the world. He decided what he really wanted to do and what he really did not want to do.

He is now in his late 20's, debt free and with a degree of sorts plus a qualification from the university of life.

Not bad for a child that started off qualifying for an attendance allowance.

I also had a daughter, who had a bit of a problem staying nose to the grind-stone in her mid teens. She too learned something from her brother's experience and copied his example. Her "A" level results were poor, and she toured the country getting rejected by several uni's (we tried Scotland as sometimes they are prepared to take on someone from south of the boarder, as their exams don't match English ones, but even that ruse failed). Eventually she scraped into a course with a lesser known English college that qualified her for very little, but was in the same department as the course she really wanted to do.
At the end of the first year, the kids who has come directly from school flunked out from too much drink, drugs, boys(?). She was getting good grades and simply switched into the course she originally wanted, in the place of the drop outs.

She now has a place of her own and a fairly high powered job and an interesting social life.

People can only succeed if motivated by something they want to achieve.

peterbaker

Mary_Hartnell wrote: »

People can only succeed if motivated by something they want to achieve.

That looks like a good line until you try to apply it to a young person who hasn't even really decided what to do at Uni yet!

I got my Physics degree in 1978, a 2:2. All this talk of AS and A2 astounds me. I haven't a clue where they fit in. I have a son of 13 so I'd better start learning what it is about. He is in a three tier system in the first year at a "Sports College" which is spending a hell of a lot of someone's money on new buildings currently. It all looks great on the outside so much so that his very bright sister has been refused a place due to it being oversubscribed. But I am beginning to get concerned about him having "boring" days, and now and then overhearing that this and that subject was "cr*p" today.
He is a good kid with a good report in all subjects ... why is he bored? At his age I didn't have time to get bored! I was doing Maths and French O Level next year (at age 14 I got top grades) plus German, Geography, Maths Physics Chemistry Biology Computing (on a Dec PDP11!) Art, History, Latin, German, English, half a Day Games one day plus 45 minutes on another week day, homework every night and a two hour journey to and from school every day including a mile on a bike in all weathers!

I went to one of the top 3 Physics departments in the country with 2B's, a C in Physics and an E in Further Maths!

That's A levels I'm talking about. No A*, AS, A2 jargon there!

At O level I was the best in my school; by end of A levels I was an also ran but with sufficient inertia to get the University place I wanted. I struggled a bit at Uni because I was taught alongside some real Whizz Kids who went off and launched Space Rockets and learned how to enrich Uranium in far flung countries and stuff.

But I enjoyed all of it before Uni, I just wasn't the best after age 15 - but all my teachers WERE the best. I am sorry to say it, but I think that is too often the reason why students begin to dislike subjects at A level is because the teaching in some way fails them.

The one thing I feel I got from my school years that is not typical thesedays is a real breadth of education and consequently a choice. Physics is actually a very general discipline. I was advised to choose it because it allowed me to postpone my choice of specialism for a career.

They were not wrong. When I left university, even with my humble 2:2 (which surely is as good as a 2:1 thesedays but try arguing the point!) I got offered jobs as a Government Scientist, a Financial Services fast-tracker, and an FMCG Super Salesman with a blue chip.

Since then I have successfully made three major changes during my career and still have massively wide options. Granted I don't earn money as a specialist who has exactly the right flavour of the month skills and has pursued them from the outset, but I am very happy with my lot and most grateful especially to my superbly consistent schoolteachers for that.

I read the intro and ending yesterday of a magazine interview of a 'successful' 42 y old corporate City lawyer. No doubt he earned six figures and probably had done for some time. But in the intro I detected a yearning for something more: "Hi I'm Joe Bloggs - who am I? Well I am the father of 4 children whom I'd really like to get to know better before they leave home....." and then later .... "Hobbies? Well I really don't think I understand the word anymore".

I have never earned six figures, but I do know my children quite well I think, and I have one or two hobbies that most people can only dream about!

So, would I advise dropping the physics? Well if it is too far gone then yes ( perhaps it is one all-encompassing or recurring aspect of physics like perhaps differential calculus he hates - but then he enjoys maths?). I didn't enjoy calculus and like another poster suggested, I got through with basic mechanics initially and then had to have extra tuition in calculus at Uni. If there was any chance of giving him extra tuition now to make physics easy again then I'd say give it another chance, but if he feels he has run out of time and is panicking then might be good to lance the boil/relieve the pressure.

THE most important thing is happiness of course, even if it might restrict options a bit later I guess.

Some A level students can apply themselves to tough times and blank out the other stuff that kids that age need to keep them happy. I think the latter kind of kid is the most common. We can't all be superstars from the outset, finding A levels easy AND having time to enjoy life with friends and gurlz! It's usually a compromise by the time you reach A levels. And who knows, things might all click later for your son and he will become a very mature later developing superstar, which I think is more common than most people think.

Good luck with you and yours. It's made me think I need to watch mine a bit closer now before they start closing options too soon through lack of encouragements that perhaps they and we ought really be able to take for granted.

anewman

I put AS Law on a backburner. I already had an A level in maths (old style rather than AS and A2) and was studying for psychology and IT A2, which I saw as more important. It didn't affect my place at The University of Huddersfield. I've since gone on to do a Masters at The University of Leeds, and I didn't even mention AS Law (I didn't even get a certificate that said U). Either way I think it's the top 3 that matter really.

I guess it really depends on how much continuuing with AS physics will affect the other subjects, but I don't think there'd be anything wrong with a poor grade in AS physics, so long as the other grades are ok. Your son may do better than he thinks!. He could even just turn up for the exam and do very little revision. Not great I know but sometimes you can do well taking that approach.

linzibean

I dropped Physics at AS level (feels like so many years ago!!Oh dear, it was!). Mainly because I had a pig of a teacher who said women shouldn't go Physics, and was the most unsupportive bigoted idiot who put me and the other 3 girls in the lessons down at every turn!! No thank you Sir! However I also studied Maths, Further Maths and Computing, so my overall scientific grounding wasn't too badly hit. I also did History, and went on to do an BSc in Archaeology, which was quite heavily lab work and science based, so I was glad to have some experience from my AS levels. If it getting to be a struggle, I would definately say drop it - lowering your morale is the last thing you need when you have the stress of the seemingly endless exams!

joapet

Your son sounds like a boffin which is a good thing, so him dropping an a level really isn't a big deal

it's people like me unis have to worry about. i'm doing a btec in media and an a level in maths and want to go to uni to study maths. so many people have looked down their noses to me becaus ethey dont think media is a 'real' subject.

well yeah i agree, but that doesnt give them the right to deny me university because i made some wrong choices! Anyway, the point im trying to make is that ucas and student support and people like that help people in these situations and if your son wants to drop physics then to me that wouldnt be a problem as its not like its going to affect the type of uni he goes to anyway.