Core Science GCSE to A/S Chemistry - ?

MallyGirl

Martin Lewis did a whole program around student finance- not sure if it can be found online somewhere but well worth watching. I saved it and got my DD to watch it when she was getting a bit nervous about the money side of things

jrtfan

MallyGirl wrote: »

her school, a grammar, know what she wants to do but aren't going out of their way to support her so she is likely to move to an Indie for 6th form (which will). She is doing 3 separate sciences at GCSE but they all do as it is compulsory. She will do Biology, Chemistry and Maths at A level.
Work experience is a nightmare but the unis have brought down their expectations - Liverpool used to want 10 weeks work experience by the time of UCAS application! She has done a week each with 2 different small animal vets plus a day in a small animal hospital, a day with large animal vet, a day milking, 2 days lambing last Easter and she is doing another 5 days lambing next week. Now she is 16 she can volunteer at the local rescue centre once her GCSEs are over. It is hard work so they really have to want it.

Ooh, that rings a bell - I think I might have read something along those lines when I was looking through the websites a while back! And doesn't some or most of the work experience need to have been completed within the last XX months before the UCAS application? (This could apply across all of the colleges though, I can't remember offhand.) Trying to secure 10 weeks' worth of WE in the months leading up to the application, though - that could be stressful. Especially as the WE opportunities within veterinary practices often get booked up a year or more in advance. It's good to hear the unis have relaxed their expectations now

A friend's eldest did their secondary education up to GCSE at a grammar but then moved to a different 6th form college for their A-levels. In a nutshell, the grammar they'd been attending wouldn't allow them to stay on there for Yrs 12 and 13, because their GCSE grades weren't quite high enough for their liking (sorry, that sounds disparaging of them, but we're talking about one 6/B(ish) and above). The student has been finding their new college much more supportive and there's far less pressure on them to keep performing at their best; so they've been performing at their best, without really knowing it. I hope your daughter's experience will be similar

jrtfan

MallyGirl wrote: »

Martin Lewis did a whole program around student finance- not sure if it can be found online somewhere but well worth watching. I saved it and got my DD to watch it when she was getting a bit nervous about the money side of things

Wow, she definitely is taking this seriously isn't she, thinking about her student finance already! Good for her! That's the kind of determination she needs for what she's planning to do - my boy is away with the fairies by comparison! :rotfl:

I've been thinking about what you said earlier, regarding a possible gap year and retakes if necessary, and I was wondering if she's considered looking into the veterinary gateway option in this case, to find out if she'd be eligible? (It was your mention of an 'indie' 6th form college that made me think of this!)

MallyGirl

i am not expecting her to need retakes but who knows as As are such a step up from GCSEs - she is doing 11 this June and predicted 7 or higher in all of them. The school change is not forced - a different environment and much smaller class sizes is the appeal, and she is lucky that we can support that. The indie is selective and she got a scholarship based on her entrance exam. She is much more focused than I was at her age - much, much more!

jrtfan

It will be a big year for her this year, won't it? I hope she's feeling confident, in herself. Even though her predicted grades are amazing, she still has to go through the process of sitting the actual exams and I can remember that part as being a bit of an ordeal, wracked nerves and so on. With her focus and determination she is bound to do really well though. The 6th form college sounds very nice, and congratulations in winning the scholarship!

emsywoo123

Hi OP, I just wanted to share...

I was an A* student at GCSE, combined science, adamant I wanted to be a vet, started work exp aged 13 in practice every holiday and weekend (I really got some hours in, from aged 15 they actually paid me as I was doing the job of a VN!)

Started my A levels.... disaster. I could not hack them at all, and I had no plan B. I left at the end of Year 12 and became a VN for a few years, but always felt like I was "settling".:(

My DD is in Year 10 now and funnily enough we are trying to sort A levels, as her grammar school does not offer the one she wants to take

My point (I do have one!) is that all I have advised my DD, and all I would ever advise, is to have a plan B. She is predicted 10 grade 7-9s, but still, we are exploring as many options as possible. DD is determined to get to Cambridge, and I support her, but don't want to it be the be all and end all.

Good luck, parenting doesn't get easier does it!

MallyGirl

Nope - it doesn't! DD is going to a vet school taster session at Cambridge over Easter. Her first time staying away without anyone she knows.

jrtfan

emsywoo123 wrote: »

Hi OP, I just wanted to share...

I was an A* student at GCSE, combined science, adamant I wanted to be a vet, started work exp aged 13 in practice every holiday and weekend (I really got some hours in, from aged 15 they actually paid me as I was doing the job of a VN!)

Started my A levels.... disaster. I could not hack them at all, and I had no plan B. I left at the end of Year 12 and became a VN for a few years, but always felt like I was "settling".:(

My DD is in Year 10 now and funnily enough we are trying to sort A levels, as her grammar school does not offer the one she wants to take

My point (I do have one!) is that all I have advised my DD, and all I would ever advise, is to have a plan B. She is predicted 10 grade 7-9s, but still, we are exploring as many options as possible. DD is determined to get to Cambridge, and I support her, but don't want to it be the be all and end all.

Good luck, parenting doesn't get easier does it!

Hi emsywoo123,

Thank you so much for sharing your own experience I'm feeling absolutely gutted for you now, though even though I know these things do happen. I'm sorry things didn't work out as you'd hoped.

Having a backup plan is great advice And no, parenting doesn't get any easier does it! We do get better at biting our tongues though, I think Because secretly, I would be happy if our plan B became our plan A instead - but I've managed to keep this all to myself! (Well, until now )

Our forthcoming visit to the RVC's open day might be kill or cure for him, I suspect. But if, after having been exposed to the reality of Vet school, he still wants to go for it, then of course I will continue to support him (he's wanted to be a Vet since the age of 3, so it's become a part of normal life now!). We shall see.

I wish you and your daughter all the very best in your journey towards university, and I hope that she will make it to Cambridge one day Good luck!

Tabbytabitha

jrtfan wrote: »

Hi emsywoo123,

Thank you so much for sharing your own experience I'm feeling absolutely gutted for you now, though even though I know these things do happen. I'm sorry things didn't work out as you'd hoped.

Having a backup plan is great advice And no, parenting doesn't get any easier does it! We do get better at biting our tongues though, I think Because secretly, I would be happy if our plan B became our plan A instead - but I've managed to keep this all to myself! (Well, until now )

Our forthcoming visit to the RVC's open day might be kill or cure for him, I suspect. But if, after having been exposed to the reality of Vet school, he still wants to go for it, then of course I will continue to support him (he's wanted to be a Vet since the age of 3, so it's become a part of normal life now!). We shall see.

I wish you and your daughter all the very best in your journey towards university, and I hope that she will make it to Cambridge one day Good luck!

Do you mean that you don't want him to train as a vet - is there a reason for that?

jrtfan

Tabbytabitha wrote: »

Do you mean that you don't want him to train as a vet - is there a reason for that?

It doesn't mean that I don't want him to train as a Vet, I would be over the moon to see him achieve his ambition and would move hell and high water, if needs be, to help him get there :rotfl: Unless, that is, his science teacher were to tell me in plain English that he really wasn't clever enough to be aiming so high. But they're not, and they know what he wants to do.

What I do feel, though, is that my son isn't currently living in the reality of what a huge challenge he's set for himself. He knows and he understands what he needs to do, he could describe everything to you if you asked him. I'm just not sure if it feels real to him at this point.

We've been discussing this tonight, he and I, funnily enough, and I likened it to getting into your car and starting to drive, with only a vague idea of how to reach your destination. You'll probably get there eventually via a meandering route, but it's much better if you've fixed the route in your head and know exactly where you're going, before you set off. I'm hoping the open day will enable him to fix this route in his head.

Otherwise, I think he might be better off doing the BSc in Animal Science (which he seems genuinely interested in). It would be less pressure than having final exam grades hanging over his head all the time.

I'm really not sure if I've explained this very well at all, does it make sense to you?