Advice for new Sixth Formers (Sept 2014)

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Reply 60

MoHoosen9167

expanding one haha sorry :smile:

you're welcome! Give me a rep if you like, I always wanted one aha

Reply 61

WriterOfWrongs

Original post by overthelove

Hello! I do French and I guess you can use these tips for German too: it will take some work, but it is definitely doable. This summer, before you start, brush up on your grammar because if your grammar is poor, your french/German will be too! Keep yourself constantly immersed. I have a little book I carry with me that I put all new vocabulary, verbs, and tips on grammar etc and go over it after lessons and in my spare time. Keep your folders and work neat, because in my experience, languages have loads and loads of handouts and packs you need to get through, and it's awful trying to organise thousands of sheets! Try and learn new vocabulary everyday so it literally flows out when you're speaking. Tips for the speaking aspect of languages: don't be shy. Even if your accent is a bit off, confidence goes a long way! Good Luck!

Hey! Thanks for your help! My German grammar isn't bad but my French could be better, so I'll certainly brush up on it! I'm quitet daunted by the speaking part of it though

I'm pretty disorganised so it'll be difficult to stay neat and on top of things haha

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Reply 62

leahmshaya

I use a big lever arch file for each subject which stays at home and I have a corresponding ring binder for each which I take to school. When the ring binder gets full I transfer into the lever arch. Much easier than carrying around giant files
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Reply 63

Oxford Computer Science Dept

Original post by thatapanydude

is Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computing a good selection for compsci at uni

This is an Oxford answer, but we're not too different from other top unis when it comes to CompSci, so hopefully it will be useful to you. That's a great combination. For us Maths is essential, and further Maths strongly recommended. We also suggest a science subject such as Physics. You've got those covered nicely.

We talk more about this here, in the "subject choice at school" section: http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/ugadmissions/why_oxford/standard_conditional_offers.html#

Reply 64

CBftw

Hey, I'm planning to do English Literature, History, Psychology & Politics - I was wondering if anybody had any advice concerning these subjects, how challenging they are etc, especially since they're all essay based subjects.

Thank you :smile:

Reply 65

Gorwell

Has anyone got advice for making friends at sixth form? All my friends have moved away or are going to different colleges/sixth forms. I'm staying at my school's sixth form as I have an offer and it's good so I've decided to stay put. I'm worried that I won't make friends as the people staying on that I know aren't the nicest bunch. :redface:

Also is there any point of making friends? I know it sounds like a silly question but friends can be distracting and I need really good grades so idk...

Also any tips for essay subjects? Particularly History and Literature. :smile:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 66

MoHoosen9167

Original post by Gorwell

Making friends comes naturally in Sixth Form because you're with people who have the similar mentality of wanting to succeed; it's easiest to branch out and make friends who do subjects similar to you. You'll soon find that the people you're friends with, the people you're in classes with, will become useful support structures during exam season and right now (the precession to Results Day).

And yes, you need to make friends in order to maintain a social life because that is probably one of the most important aspects if VI Form.

Essay subjects: I do Classical Civ and English Language. All I can say is that you need to be both analytical and critical of the questions. Make sure you structure your argument in a way that both answers the question and links back to it.

Good luck :smile:

Reply 67

Gorwell

Original post by MoHoosen9167

Thank you! You've made me feel a bit better about it. :biggrin:

Just going to go there with a positive attitude!
What other subjects did you take if you don't mind me asking? :smile:

Reply 68

Sandtrooper

Volunteer Team

What stationery will I need for Critical Thinking, Economics, English Literature (Pre-U), History and Japanese?

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Reply 69

Sandtrooper

Volunteer Team

Also, what's AQA Economics like?

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Reply 70

MoHoosen9167

Original post by Gorwell

Thank you! You've made me feel a bit better about it. :biggrin:

Just going to go there with a positive attitude!
What other subjects did you take if you don't mind me asking? :smile:

You're welcome, glad I could help you! Honestly, when people say that A-Levels get different they really mean it.
I took: Maths, Chemistry, English Language, Classical Civ and Further Maths (AS). Also doing General, but that's like what haha.

I'm really enjoying my subjects, so if you need a hand with any of them then don't hesitate to ask :smile:

Reply 71

s906

Original post by Gorwell

I was the only one out of my whole school who went to the sixth form I did, but as long as you're yourself you'll be totally fine! I started talking to my table in a group exercise in my first ever lesson and they're my best friends now :smile:

Reply 72

Gorwell

Original post by MoHoosen9167

Oh woah that's a cool combination! :biggrin:

Glad you enjoy them, best of luck for results. Thanks so much :tongue:

Reply 73

Gorwell

Original post by s906

That's reassuring, thank you. :smile:

Glad that you managed to settle in!

Reply 74

iJess

Original post by Gorwell

I found making friends so much easier at sixth form. You're constantly around people in frees, I joined in with class discussions and then suddenly people were coming back with sweets to classes and asking me to join them. In my philosophy class, I'm friends with every single person in the class. However friends do sometimes distract me a bit at sixth form especially in frees when I could have done more work, so its important to have a balance.

Reply 75

MoHoosen9167

Original post by Edminzodo

Also, what's AQA Economics like?

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I did AQA Economics for about three weeks but then swapped it for Classics because, for me, it was just so boring. If you've never done Economics (like myself) and think that it's going to be very maths based (like myself) I wouldn't risk taking it without reading the spec and looking at a few past papers initially. I found it very much like GCSE Geography, which I got a C in, so I didn't want to a subject that I knew I was going to badly in because I found it boring.

Any other help, just PM me :smile:

Reply 76

MoHoosen9167

Original post by Edminzodo

What stationery will I need for Critical Thinking, Economics, English Literature (Pre-U), History and Japanese?

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Critical Thinking: A pen, maybe access to a computer for some research
Economics: A pen, calculator, pencil, ruler and eraser (for those messy PPBs)
English Lit: A pen, dictionary, thesaurus and highlighters
History: A pen
Japanese: A pen, a dictionary and index cards to do SAFMEDS with

Reply 77

MoHoosen9167

Original post by Gorwell

Oh woah that's a cool combination! :biggrin:

Glad you enjoy them, best of luck for results. Thanks so much :tongue:

Thanks! Kind of bricking it because I know I'll have to resit a few but I just hope that I don't have to resit more than the two that I've planned for!

Another note on friends: Sixth form is the time to shine. If you'd been introverted, like myself, throughout your schooling career and only kept yourself to a small group of people then now is your time to sort of break your own confines. You'll find that the 'popular' people aren't popular because they're not intelligent; if you're good at your subjects, people ask you for help and you build up friendships like that.

It's all about being able to show you love a subject without people thinking it's weird. Good luck for your results too :smile:

Reply 78

Georgiecat

Don't worry yourself too much about Sixth Form - if you work hard and are studying subjects you enjoy, you'll have a great time.
If anyone has any questions I do biology, chemistry, maths and geography - so I'm happy to answer anything relating to those subjects, or just general questions about sixth form.

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(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 79

Zozzy

Original post by Edminzodo

What stationery will I need for Critical Thinking, Economics, English Literature (Pre-U), History and Japanese?

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I didn't take any of these subjects, but ALL my friends who took English literature purchased a set of staedtler (that may not be how you spell it!) fine liners and they found them exceptionally useful for annotating class notes or handouts. I believe many people also used them for history to make easy source annotations.