Trying to get A*A*A*A*A* at A-level

You don't do all the textbook questions for your maths modules? Just exam questions??

You could literally finish a module every week, what's taking you so long??

You don't do all the textbook questions for your maths modules? Just exam questions??

You could literally finish a module every week, what's taking you so long??

Hi,

I'm creating this thread as a way to track my progress throughout the year and motivate myself to study. In my AS year I took AS-Maths, A-level Maths, AS Physics and AS Computer Science. I got 4A's. It might sound great but I missed the A* in Maths by 2 marks in my Core 4 paper. I got 100% in Core 1, Core 2 and Core 3 but my Core 4 dropped to just under 80%. This annoyed me a lot because I know I was ready for Core 4 and I know that I should've done miles better. It annoyed me because now I have to retake that module this year despite knowing it last year...it was just a bad day for me I reckon. My predicted grades are currently 3A*s (Maths, Physics, Computer Science) however my Further Maths looks to be an A, however I will try to get this bumped to an A* (I mean, I did really well in terms of UMS discounting Core 4). I am also taking the EPQ this year on Computer Science and I hope to be predicted an A*.

So my teachers believe me to be capable of achieving A*'s due to high A-grades last year however I must admit I think I won't manage it. I just feel like the margins for error are too high and I'll slip up like I did in my AS-year. I intend to try my hardest though and I hope this thread motivates others too.
I am applying to study Computer Science at Oxford, Imperial, Bristol, Warwick and Durham/Sheffield. My internal deadline for UCAS is next week. I also have to take the MAT in around a months time. Thus a lot of preparation is required. The work load is huge at the moment but I'm just about managing.

I will be working my socks off this year and I will begin my first post on Monday which will be my second full week at college. My first week was just appalling.
For Further Maths I will be studying the Edexcel syllabus (FP1,FP2,FP3,M2,S2,D1) and I hope to have FP1,M2,S2 finished by December.
For Physics I'm studying the AQA Syllabus and doing AstroPhysics for my option despite having chosen Turning points... my college sucks so bad.
For Computer Science I am doing the OCR exam board and I will be working on my coursework for the most part, I'm aiming to have that complete by December also. This will give me time to prepare for the exam.
Core 4, I will prepare for starting from January. There is no way I miss the A* in Maths next year. It scares me to think I might miss it again if I flop this exam.
My EPQ will be alongside my studies, I will sacrifice whatever time I have to it.
I am also a disadvantaged student in the sense that I attend a college that is underperforming and I am part of various schemes that allow me to apply to University. People from my area don't usually go to University and I will be the first in my family to attend University hopefully. Also I always thought Oxford/Cambridge were only for rich kids who could afford it lol..Glad they put that misconception away.
I am more than willing to pull my weight this year to achieve these grades. Oxford and Imperial are just hopes, I at least want to get offers from Bristol and Warwick and Sheffield/Durham.
If you have any advice about anything whether it be Universities, or how to succeed or A-levels I would be more than happy to receive it!
With that being said, I think this will be the opener to my thread.

Thanks for reading,
Someboady

EDIT: I am predicted 5A*s now. The support on this thread has been phenomenal and thank you everyone for your encouraging words, hopefully I'll meet everyone's expectations.

:0 did what?


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Update to my MAT progression...
So I tried MAT 2009, question 1.... yeah... no.. did not go well
I got for that question...20/40... and it took me 45 minutes. I am aiming for 40 marks and trying to get it done within an hour... so yeah not looking too good...
Yeah..pathetic I know xD...
So here's the issues (please download MAT 2009 to know what I'm talking about)


Question 1C:
I wasted way too much time on... I did not think to square root both sides of the equation.... I know... its a dead giveaway. Instead I expanded out the brackets and tried to take the discriminant of that but that clearly wouldn't work because I'd be left with more squares... Either way I tried to take multiple discriminants... and this ultimately failed and I was left with the solution c >= -1/2 or c>= 1/2 (this was not an answer xD).

Question 1D:
This was tough. Firstly I didn't read the question properly and didn't realise that n was part of the series... yeah very silly. I did, however get half-way through the solution before I got lost. i.e. i found the running totals

Question 1F:
This question was just not obvious... they wanted you to differentiate and find the turning points apparently... I didn't even bother with this question as I had no idea where to start...

Question 1H:
Pretty much didn't attempt this question as I've seen it before and I know that I wouldn't be able to get the answer even if I could remember the solution xD

Question 1J:
Again I didn't even attempt this question....

What's alarming is the number of questions about finding solutions in this particular paper...
I have a lot of work to do... there is no way I can lose this many marks in the real MAT paper... plus its just the first question goddamn it...

Lol MAT is not meant to be for everyone. Relax and be patient, once you learn more modules you'll become better at it.


Posted from TSR Mobile

Fair enough tbh! Yeah I'm going to keep practicing really, nothing to it!
What do you mean by once you learn more modules?

Are you going to take the MAT exam this November?
Sorry, I haven't actually read MAT - syllabus. I've just realised you only need to know C1 and C2 lol weird test. Quite shocking because if that's the only test required at Oxford, that must be so easy compared to STEP.
Good luck for the test, I'd rather you get 3 A*s and a good score in MAT than getting 5 A*s and a bad score in MAT? .
Just my opinion! - it is right though.

But, I'm sure that you can shock me and get 5 A*s and a good score in MAT lol (rare but motivate yourself to do it)

Yes it only requires knowledge from C1/C2 but it requires knowledge to be applied in different ways that just aren't very obvious! Yeah it's a lot easier than STEP but I'll be taking STEP too in June
You're right but I really haven't put much effort into my A-levels just yet, MAT is taken in November so I think I'll sacrifice October to revise MAT. I'm not hell-bent on getting into Oxford tbh but I will definitely give it my best shot!
I will try my best! xD no promises!

Yeah, of course it's not going to be straightforward lol. But dam, STEP is definitely the hardest ever test I've heard of then. Good luck for that too. I'd say do MAT now and A-levels after, MAT + 3 A*s will get you into Oxford with high UMS.

Do you go to Oxford

No lol. I'm a Year 12 student.

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