Panic: Am I suited to an English degree?

Everyone in this forum, even if they haven't all As, have at least a strong grade in whatever discipline of English they took last year. My problem is I haven't even got that. I achieved level 8 at KS3 and A*s in English Literature and English (language?) at GCSE, but I only just scraped an A by literally a few marks in my AS Literature exams. Now, after I got my results I initially thought that it was my exam technique that had let me down. I panic in exams, don't plan and after that it's the luck of the draw whether I come out with something vaguely coherent or otherwise. Yet when I looked at my results more closely, I noticed that the only module I achieved an A in was the drama/poetry exam, which I hadn't revised for properly. I got a C for the pre-1900 prose module, which I had studied hard for, reading the book three times and making lots of notes. My coursework was only a B, when that's supposed to be my forte, and cannot be explained by my tendency to panic. I know I would enjoy English at Uni and my teacher last year, upon receiving my first assignment, said I was working round about 2:1 standard already, but this seems ridiculous if I can't even get a good UMS in AS exams. What could I be doing wrong? Have I just been kidding myself all these years and I should really run off and do a degree in something random?

Reply 1

lost_puppy

1

yelwalkietalkie

Everyone in this forum, even if they haven't all As, have at least a strong grade in whatever discipline of English they took last year. My problem is I haven't even got that. I achieved level 8 at KS3 and A*s in English Literature and English (language?) at GCSE, but I only just scraped an A by literally a few marks in my AS Literature exams.

I think you seemed to answer your own question there...you obviously seem capable enough to do so. Remember, university is a house of learning (or something to that effect, it's what you make of it). Everyone has their flaws in a subject, and if you fully exploit the lectures, seminars and proffessors then I really don't know what the trouble is. I mean, you even mentioned that your teacher finds you of a 2:1 standard already.

I honestly only see one problem; low self esteem (which may seem fairly obvious but it can be quite a danger zone in examinations. I should know that for sure; I only got a B in my English A2 by messing up one exam due to panic.). My reading patterns don't even come close to about 100% of people in this forum :redface:

TBH I find this forum is to blame. If I had never found this site, I would never belittle a B in any sort of examination; but after receiving my results for A2, it made me ever so skeptical about making that step (nicely enough, this was shared by my fellow teachers (!) ), but people sometimes forget that university is a place where you hone your skills, not simply just showcase them.

Hope that helped :smile:

EDIT: Doing something random is most likely the worst thing you could do (to a miraculous chance it ends up being your preferred subject). I mean, I talked to this girl who got As and said she didn't feel capable of doing creative writing. And there was I sporting only BCC...I don't know what it is with english students in general, lol

Reply 2

silence

16

sod ums. an A is an A, and if you achieve one overall then well done. besides, individual modules can come in such weirdly marked batches that i wouldn't even worry about it. if you do get a really high ums mark in an individual module or the subject as a whole, then great but it's not really essential.

exams are also a different ball game to uni assignments, in my opinion. although you will have uni exams, they should hopefully be a bit better than a levels.

personally, i wouldn't have cared if i got an E in an A level module, as long as the end result was what i needed overall. i mean, i suppose i'd be a bit upset with regards to the odd relationship between grade and work put in, but don't let it worry you. just focus on that 480/600 at the end, or whatever you need out of 300 for A2. actually... not for english, but i did get an E in a A2 module (latin language)! found it a bit annoying, but with other modules of higher marks, i ended up with the overall grade i needed and just laughed it off.

seriously, by the time you're strolling around whichever uni you get into in less that a year's time, you could probably use your A level exam certificates as loo paper. (ok, well you might need them for registration or something but you know what i mean). it's a completely fresh start, so if you performed a bit less than expected in a random AS level module, you've got all the time, facilities and teaching to really improve in that area. besdies, there's a whole load of new topics and texts to explore. i'm sure you'll be absolutely fine. also; as you said, you're sure you'll enjoy it and that's possible the best qualification for this course, or any one for that matter. good luck in your application.

Reply 3

~Jen~

My friend scraped an A in her A-Level English (and by scraped I mean she got 481 UMS overall) - she just achieved a good 2.1 in her end of year exams. As has already been mentioned, uni work is *completely* different to A-Levels, from what I have seen so far there is no direct correlation between performance in the two :smile:

Reply 4

kateykat

I think it sounds as though you're suited to an English degree! I know it sounds naff, but really you have to listen to your heart rather than your head. I nearly chose French instead of English, but then went on a French exchange and decided I couldn't spend a year living in France. Although studying French would really benefit me in terms of job prospects, I can't forfeit my happiness for it.

Anyway, the fact is you got an A grade and should be very proud of yourself! You've done really well. :smile:

Reply 5

*starry_eyed_*

14

yelwalkietalkie

Everyone in this forum, even if they haven't all As, have at least a strong grade in whatever discipline of English they took last year. My problem is I haven't even got that. I achieved level 8 at KS3 and A*s in English Literature and English (language?) at GCSE, but I only just scraped an A by literally a few marks in my AS Literature exams. Now, after I got my results I initially thought that it was my exam technique that had let me down. I panic in exams, don't plan and after that it's the luck of the draw whether I come out with something vaguely coherent or otherwise. Yet when I looked at my results more closely, I noticed that the only module I achieved an A in was the drama/poetry exam, which I hadn't revised for properly. I got a C for the pre-1900 prose module, which I had studied hard for, reading the book three times and making lots of notes. My coursework was only a B, when that's supposed to be my forte, and cannot be explained by my tendency to panic. I know I would enjoy English at Uni and my teacher last year, upon receiving my first assignment, said I was working round about 2:1 standard already, but this seems ridiculous if I can't even get a good UMS in AS exams. What could I be doing wrong? Have I just been kidding myself all these years and I should really run off and do a degree in something random?