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My Year 13 Journey to A*A*A*A*

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Reply 40
Original post by Chittesh14
Yeah, but doing the whole of the A-level in Year 12 is different lol. I just realised he hasn't done Further Maths but oh well, yeah I understand where you're coming from lol. C3 and C4 helps with FP2, FP1 only requires C1 and C2 knowledge - I don't even know how it requires C2 because I haven't done it yet.


I think quite a few schools teach further maths like this, i.e. AS and A2 maths in y12 and AS and A2 Further maths in y13. My school does this too.
Original post by mrhedgehog
Chemistry needs a little more work but other than keep it up! Good luck!


Seriously? Chemistry needs a little work?

Go suck an educational sponge.
Original post by Maths is Life
Seriously? Chemistry needs a little work?

Go suck an educational sponge.


Well yeah if he wanted a A* overall. I didn't read the bit where he mentioned he was dropping it.
Original post by 98matt
Thank you! Yeah I understand that the modules get more challenging but I'm willing to put in the work for them so hopefully I'll do okay :smile:

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Good luck dude, because if you do - you're definitely going to a good uni :wink:

Original post by joodaa
I think quite a few schools teach further maths like this, i.e. AS and A2 maths in y12 and AS and A2 Further maths in y13. My school does this too.


Awkward, haven't heard of that :P. Interesting.
Reply 44
I want to pick up AS further maths and do FP1 FP2 M1 as they would be most relevant for my uni course does edexcel allow this combination for AS in further maths. Offcourse i know D1 is easier than FP2 but its is not relevant for my uni course.
Reply 45
Original post by mrhedgehog
Well yeah if he wanted a A* overall. I didn't read the bit where he mentioned he was dropping it.


You're right dude, my chemistry knowledge is pretty poor - I'd certainly struggle to get a good A2 grade if I did carry it on! Thankfully I'm able to drop it - I very much doubt I'd get above a B if I were to stick with it

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Original post by 98matt
Thank you :biggrin:
I'll be doing the whole A level - FP1 FP2 FP3 M2 M3 S2. I may self teach S3 if I have time & depending on how I find the other units

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Just wondering but is S3 really needed? You're just adding extra work.


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Reply 47
Original post by DamnDaniel2
Just wondering but is S3 really needed? You're just adding extra work.


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No it's not needed but is one extra module really that much more work? WJEC offer 13 modules so it would be nice to have actually done all 13.

I did better in S1 compared with M1 so perhaps I'd also find the other stats modules easier? I hope not since I want to do physics at uni but if doing S3 meant my overall ums was higher I'd definitely consider it




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Reply 48
**DAY 1**
It feels kinda weird calling this day 1 since it's not really the beginning of anything. But it's the first day of this diary/journey thing that I've documented so calling it day 1 seems appropriate :P

I continued my work on M3 today, looking at impulsive tension. It didn't seem too bad & I managed to do quite a few past paper questions. So far M3 has been okay (I've only done moments apart from this) but I know that differential equations will be a little more...challenging....

After feeling confident enough on impulsive tension I attempted the assignment set by my school. Each topic has an assignment(sometimes two) that I must complete - it will eventually be set as homework so I might as well start working through them now. Overall I spent 3 ½ hours working today - more than usual for summer holidays but I hadn't done much work recently.

Tomorrow I plan to start simple harmonic motion. It looks like quite a big topic so I doubt I'll finish it in one day. I might also start drafting the dreaded personal statement :'(

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Original post by 98matt
No it's not needed but is one extra module really that much more work? WJEC offer 13 modules so it would be nice to have actually done all 13.

I did better in S1 compared with M1 so perhaps I'd also find the other stats modules easier? I hope not since I want to do physics at uni but if doing S3 meant my overall ums was higher I'd definitely consider it




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Ah ok! Completely understandable :smile: All I can say is amazing work! You'll get far in life and I wish you all the best.
Will be following this thread :smile:


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Reply 50
Good luck man, I had a similar ambition last year and it worked out. You've got a solid base to build on with those AS results and it sounds like you are doing a lot of work very early which is what you need really. I actually ended up with similar Maths UMS to you and took essentially the same further maths modules: I just took D1 instead of M3. M3 is probably more useful. My advice is to keep up the good work, just don't burn yourself out too early. Have fun as well as there is still several months to exams, work consistently like it seems you are as that will reduce stress at the end. Seriously though don't go too crazy with work in the beginning, you need to be steady and consistent. That's just something to be aware of, I'm sure you know what you're doing. Good luck!
Reply 51
Original post by N.Tesla
Good luck man, I had a similar ambition last year and it worked out. You've got a solid base to build on with those AS results and it sounds like you are doing a lot of work very early which is what you need really. I actually ended up with similar Maths UMS to you and took essentially the same further maths modules: I just took D1 instead of M3. M3 is probably more useful. My advice is to keep up the good work, just don't burn yourself out too early. Have fun as well as there is still several months to exams, work consistently like it seems you are as that will reduce stress at the end. Seriously though don't go too crazy with work in the beginning, you need to be steady and consistent. That's just something to be aware of, I'm sure you know what you're doing. Good luck!


Thank you so much! I'll be careful not to burn out early, but I enjoy my subjects so hopefully I will be okay.

I know this sounds contradictory to the purpose of this thread but I genuinely enjoy studying maths & physics - sitting exams and getting (hopefully good) grades is just an added bonus to learning cool stuff :biggrin:

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Original post by 98matt
awww haha thank you <3 It's quite frustrating though, I let the pressure get the better of me in C3. Since that was my first A2 exam I was really nervous and felt kinda intimidated by all the year 13s in the exam hall. It's probably my strongest module and I was doing a lot better in past papers than I did on the day.

As for M1, that was completely my own fault. It was my last exam of the summer so I knew it wouldn't do much to affect my overall grade (either I had an A* or an A) therefore I slacked my revision and only fully concentrated on it the weekend before the exam. I also made a really stupid error with an eqn of motion that cost me 2/3 marks. Just wish I'd taken it a bit more seriously so I might've been in the 590ums crew :frown:


590UMS crew is a bit specific since you should be going in lots of 6 for averages and overall 👍

So yeah 594UMS Crew for 99 average.

Or stupid me with 588UMS Crew for 98 average.

Or the I-don't-make-mistakes 600UMS crew
Reply 53
Original post by Maths is Life
590UMS crew is a bit specific since you should be going in lots of 6 for averages and overall 👍

So yeah 594UMS Crew for 99 average.

Or stupid me with 588UMS Crew for 98 average.

Or the I-don't-make-mistakes 600UMS crew


One boy from my school got 600/600 in A level maths and 597/600 in further maths. He's doing maths at Oxford now I think. I'd like to know how many people get 1200/1200, that would be pretty special...
Original post by 98matt
One boy from my school got 600/600 in A level maths and 597/600 in further maths. He's doing maths at Oxford now I think. I'd like to know how many people get 1200/1200, that would be pretty special...


No chance I have a chance with oxford with these GCSEs
Reply 55
**DAY 2**

So today went a little bit off course & I didn't start any work on SHM from M3 like I'd planned.

I made the mistake of starting my personal statement this morning which resulted in me staring at my laptop screen for 3 hours, having written one sentence. This afternoon I tried to make up for my morning's blunder - I've just finished my second paragraph, currently at 1200 characters :smile:

I also attempted the maths section of a recent PAT past paper. I found it surprisingly okay, except I'd forgotten the formulae for geometric progression :embarrassed: I need to work on my graph sketching since they like to ask those type of questions & then I'll devote most of my efforts to nailing the physics side of things.

Tomorrow I'll try to tidy up my personal statement a little, make a start on SHM and perhaps try another maths section of a PAT paper

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Three hours for one sentence, me-wow.
Reply 57
Original post by ColossalAtom
Three hours for one sentence, me-wow.


I think I've deleted that sentence now too :bricks:
Original post by 98matt
No it's not needed but is one extra module really that much more work? WJEC offer 13 modules so it would be nice to have actually done all 13.

I did better in S1 compared with M1 so perhaps I'd also find the other stats modules easier? I hope not since I want to do physics at uni but if doing S3 meant my overall ums was higher I'd definitely consider it




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Nice!

I did WJEC also and got 89UMS in C3 and 99UMS in C2 so good going.

Also have to complain about that stupid C2 chord question I had no knowledge was so simple
Reply 59
**DAY 3**

I spent this morning finishing, then tidying up my personal statement which is now around 3800 characters. This is only my first draft but it feels good to actually have something written down now.

After lunch I decided to test myself on the maths section of the 2014 PAT - to which I was pleasantly surprised. My biggest issue at the moment is timing since it took near 1½hrs for me to answer this section. I think I've covered all the maths content necessary, I still have soooo much physics left though.

My plan to start simple harmonic motion was, once again, delayed but I've promised myself I'll at least make a start on it tomorrow. Hopefully my physics revision guide will turn up next week; school starts then as well so I'll be bumping up my workload to around 80% of max. For all of October I intend to study heavily for the PAT, a similar amount to my June exams , perhaps a little more intensely if I can :smile:


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