[toejoeson]

Hi. I've just got my standard grades back and I'm thinking about changing to different highers. I got AAAA1111 but my int 2 english was keich and I don't think I would do well in higher because I'm not very good at it and it is really boring. I'm wanting to do some sort of business course at university (eg. Finance, Accounts, Economics, Accounts with managment and marketing, Finance and account) but not business managment. At the moment, I'm taking:

Business Management *
Economics
English *
Maths
Physics

I'm not sure about the English and Business Management though. I was thinking of taking History instead of English because I'm much better at it ( I got 51% in the English prelim and 94% in the History prelim) but I was wondering if universities wouldn't like that because they always go on about it. The problem I have with english is I would probably get a C whereas if I took History, I think i could get an A and AAAAA would be better than AAAAC. So my question is would i be better taking english or history? I would do better at history but the universities like english.

Second question. Do universities not like business management? I've heard they don't but if I want to do a business course, surely it would be better than something like Chemistry?

Thanks

[lc0105]

As a Business Management teacher, I've never heard of Uni's not accepting it

[Ecosse_14]

Some schools require their students to take some level of English in 5th year, so you may have to look into that further. I'm sure if you worked hard in English you could get at least a B if you put your mind to it. Universities don't have a problem with business management, I self-taught it in my 6th year (because I didn't want to leave the business dept ) and it was originally in my conditional offer. It's good especially if you plan on doing a business related course at uni.

[Ailidh]

I have a friend who was in this position last year. He got the same results as you but always struggled with English and was dreading doing it at higher. He put in the work and got B which altogether gave him AAAAB.

You could considering getting a tutor for English which can be very beneficial? I would definitely speak to speak to your teacher for higher when you go back an ask for their opinion. History is still a good subject but I would strongly recommend you consider English as it is something you will need in the future.

I am just starting higher too and am a bit nervous. I recently bought the 'higher English grade booster' book by leckie and leckie which has got some usefull advice and you can buy it cheap second hand of amazon.

Good luck with what ever you choose x


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[TheFOMaster]

(Original post by toejoeson)
Hi. I've just got my standard grades back and I'm thinking about changing to different highers. I got AAAA1111 but my int 2 english was keich and I don't think I would do well in higher because I'm not very good at it and it is really boring. I'm wanting to do some sort of business course at university (eg. Finance, Accounts, Economics, Accounts with managment and marketing, Finance and account) but not business managment. At the moment, I'm taking:

Business Management *
Economics
English *
Maths
Physics

I'm not sure about the English and Business Management though. I was thinking of taking History instead of English because I'm much better at it ( I got 51% in the English prelim and 94% in the History prelim) but I was wondering if universities wouldn't like that because they always go on about it. The problem I have with english is I would probably get a C whereas if I took History, I think i could get an A and AAAAA would be better than AAAAC. So my question is would i be better taking english or history? I would do better at history but the universities like english.

Second question. Do universities not like business management? I've heard they don't but if I want to do a business course, surely it would be better than something like Chemistry?

Thanks

Do History if you think you'll do better at it. You can always do English in S6.

I don't know about Business. It'll be seen as less Academic compared to Chemistry, but for Businessy type courses Chemistry's irrelevant. I'd go with Business here.

[Hype en Ecosse]

If you struggle with English, follow my example. In 5th year, in my Higher English prelim I got a D. 26/50 for Close Reading, 9/25 and 11/25 for the essays. As exam time neared, I worked my butt off for English. Near the end of the year, I was pumping out 23/25 and 25/25 essays like nobody's business, and my Close Reading marks were in the 40/50s every time.

Exam time rolls around and I get an A. 25/25 and 23/25 for the essays (which was surprising as the questions were rubbish for my texts), and 31/50 for Close Reading - I was a bit disappointed in this, and thought it was the best Close Reading I had done all year, but oh well. Examiner obviously didn't think the same.

But I went from a D student in English at prelim time, doing terribly, worked hard and then got an A.

Just because you're not talented at the subject doesn't mean you can't get a good grade in it.

[animelover123]

(Original post by Hype en Ecosse)
If you struggle with English, follow my example. In 5th year, in my Higher English prelim I got a D. 26/50 for Close Reading, 9/25 and 11/25 for the essays. As exam time neared, I worked my butt off for English. Near the end of the year, I was pumping out 23/25 and 25/25 essays like nobody's business, and my Close Reading marks were in the 40/50s every time.

Exam time rolls around and I get an A. 25/25 and 23/25 for the essays (which was surprising as the questions were rubbish for my texts), and 31/50 for Close Reading - I was a bit disappointed in this, and thought it was the best Close Reading I had done all year, but oh well. Examiner obviously didn't think the same.

But I went from a D student in English at prelim time, doing terribly, worked hard and then got an A.

Just because you're not talented at the subject doesn't mean you can't get a good grade in it.

Agree 100%! My story is basically the same as yours but my plot is thicker. My tough English journey started in 3rd year when i keep getting 3's and 4's for my essays. And in 4th year i got a 4 for writing in my prelim, i was devastated and convinced that English was just not my subject. In the end i got a 2 in my finals.

As a result my teachers were skeptical about my ability to do higher, i was therefore dumped in an Int2 class. I wanted to do Higher so badly so i showed my teacher what i was capable of, I read tons of books did a Newspaper article exercise every 2 days , listed to radio 4 twice a week and wrote a diary for 4 months. I passed my NABS for Higher English so my teacher let me sit the English prelim. I knew this was my chance so i grabbed it with both hands. I revised so much about 2 hours every night for 3 weeks prior to the prelims. Came out with an A, 33/50 for CR and 19/25 for both essays. As a result , i got an A in my Finals.

there's my story, I was in an Int 2 class but got the highest mark in the year for prelims. It shows you anything is possible and no one is destined to fail at a subject.

Good Luck

[SneakyDoug]

(Original post by Hype en Ecosse)

But I went from a D student in English at prelim time, doing terribly, worked hard and then got an A.

Just because you're not talented at the subject doesn't mean you can't get a good grade in it.

Good to see your hard work paid off! But how does one "improve their English"? Did you read the paper more often or what? If you could help that would be great; As my English (int2) didn't go great but want to try and get an A at higher.

[Hype en Ecosse]

(Original post by SneakyDoug)
Good to see your hard work paid off! But how does one "improve their English"? Did you read the paper more often or what? If you could help that would be great; As my English (int2) didn't go great but want to try and get an A at higher.

It's just learning what the examiner wants to hear, to be honest. It's got nothing to do with any ability at all, just to do with putting what the SQA wants to hear. I always thought Close Reading was a bit "it's either our opinion, or it's wrong."

Close Reading, you just practice picking up on certain things about writing and answer them in a way that suits the question. Understanding questions are just you rewording what the author has said in the passage, analysis questions, you take a quote, and you explain the quote. Evaluation, I would take the quote, analyse it, then say how effective it is at what the other's trying to do and why it's effective.

For essays, it's just structuring them correctly. Every single essay I wrote followed the same pattern: introduction (just follow a formula, TART: Text, Author, Relevance to the question, Techniques to be analysed), then every paragraph after that follows SEA - Statement, Evidence, Analysis. You make a statement relevant to your answer, you give your evidence, then you analyse the evidence.

Do that a few times, get to the conclusion, and sum up your argument. There you go - 25/25 essay.

[SneakyDoug]

(Original post by Hype en Ecosse)
It's just learning what the examiner wants to hear, to be honest. It's got nothing to do with any ability at all, just to do with putting what the SQA wants to hear. I always thought Close Reading was a bit "it's either our opinion, or it's wrong."

Close Reading, you just practice picking up on certain things about writing and answer them in a way that suits the question. Understanding questions are just you rewording what the author has said in the passage, analysis questions, you take a quote, and you explain the quote. Evaluation, I would take the quote, analyse it, then say how effective it is at what the other's trying to do and why it's effective.

For essays, it's just structuring them correctly. Every single essay I wrote followed the same pattern: introduction (just follow a formula, TART: Text, Author, Relevance to the question, Techniques to be analysed), then every paragraph after that follows SEA - Statement, Evidence, Analysis. You make a statement relevant to your answer, you give your evidence, then you analyse the evidence.

Do that a few times, get to the conclusion, and sum up your argument. There you go - 25/25 essay.

Thanks! I'll keep in mind the acronyms for essays and the techniques for close reading they are very useful and make a lot of sense actually. So thanks again, I appreciate it!