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Bad AS performance - PLEASE HELP! :(

Hi,

I was originally very set on taking Economics at university (at Cambridge or LSE etc) but after my exams, I don't think I'll stand a chance.

My Economics exam and my Biology exam both didn't go that well - I was expecting to do better.

However, the main issue is my Maths exams. As I am taking further maths, I am taking C1-C4 S1 M1 this year, which is all the modules including the A2 ones. I really need an A* in Maths to do Economics at any university.

However, after doing 17 past paper for C3 and C4 EACH, both exams went terribly. I just had my C4 exam, hoping that I would get a high enough mark to average my C3 mark to 90UMS, but the exam went awfully - I couldn't stop crying for hours. It's not even that I didn't work hard - I did almost all the textbook questions, I did 15-20 past papers for each Maths module, however THIS happens. I usually get over 90UMS in past papers however I just don't understand how the actual exam has gone so badly. I've checked with the model answers, and I know that I've gotten questions wrong.

Please help me, I feel like I can't even go to school tomorrow because I'm so upset - I haven't got good enough grades to go to university, even after so much hard work. I really just don't know what to do. I can't stop crying in bed because all my dreams and hard work have been crushed to pieces. :frown:

Thank you for reading my very long post...

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Reply 1
Please?
Reply 2
I'll try to help you !! What grade are you in?
Cambridge and Oxford aren't the be all and end all for universities. There are many very good russell group Unis that dont require A* is all subjects to get in for Economics, Dont let it affect you too much, just make sure you improve when you resit next year
Reply 4
Original post by drs5
I'll try to help you !! What grade are you in?


Thank you!

What do you mean? I don't know my AS results (and Maths A2 results) yet but as far as I can tell from my exams, they didn't go very well - especially Maths. I really need an A* in Maths to do Economics at university, however I think I got an A at best... I've tried so hard but it seems as if none of my hard work has paid off so I just don't know what to do now. All my plans have disappeared. :frown:
Reply 5
Original post by A level sufferer
Cambridge and Oxford aren't the be all and end all for universities. There are many very good russell group Unis that dont require A* is all subjects to get in for Economics, Dont let it affect you too much, just make sure you improve when you resit next year


All the good universities for Economics require an A* in Maths (Oxbridge, Warwick, Bristol, LSE, UCL, Nottingham etc) and As in everything else. I just feel so hopeless because I feel as I have done everything I possibly can for Maths, so I don't know what more I can do for Maths next year.
Reply 6
If you worked that hard and the results didn't meet your expectations, then you definitely did something wrong along the way.
I'm not familiar with the marks of C4 etc. but are you saying you didn't do well during the exam although your performance was good while practicing past papers?
Reply 7
Original post by Anonymous
Hi,

I was originally very set on taking Economics at university (at Cambridge or LSE etc) but after my exams, I don't think I'll stand a chance.

My Economics exam and my Biology exam both didn't go that well - I was expecting to do better.

However, the main issue is my Maths exams. As I am taking further maths, I am taking C1-C4 S1 M1 this year, which is all the modules including the A2 ones. I really need an A* in Maths to do Economics at any university.

However, after doing 17 past paper for C3 and C4 EACH, both exams went terribly. I just had my C4 exam, hoping that I would get a high enough mark to average my C3 mark to 90UMS, but the exam went awfully - I couldn't stop crying for hours. It's not even that I didn't work hard - I did almost all the textbook questions, I did 15-20 past papers for each Maths module, however THIS happens. I usually get over 90UMS in past papers however I just don't understand how the actual exam has gone so badly. I've checked with the model answers, and I know that I've gotten questions wrong.

Please help me, I feel like I can't even go to school tomorrow because I'm so upset - I haven't got good enough grades to go to university, even after so much hard work. I really just don't know what to do. I can't stop crying in bed because all my dreams and hard work have been crushed to pieces. :frown:

Thank you for reading my very long post...



I think you're setting really high standards for yourself. I think you're kinda like me cause I do that too! In fact a lot of people do it.

I'd try not to focus on the exams you've just done. Remember that you still have next year! I know several clever people in my school who did further maths but they didn't get the grade they wanted last year so they retook C3 and C4 with the rest of us. And They found it much easier the second time round cause they had more practice! Also, I know an A* would be great to have, but you should give yourself some slack. Sounds like you work really hard and thats what matters.

If you do want a tip on maths revision though, I would do the more recent past papers ( are you edexcel?) cause they seem to be getting harder n harder ( and the grade boundaries are getting lower too) I did C4 today and Trust me, everyone apart from the futher maths retakers found it HARD.So remember youre not the only one. Just try to not let it get you down and enjoy your summer!

Oh and just to add, you are making assumptions before youve even got your result. You may have done fine and you just dont realise it!

:smile:
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by drs5
If you worked that hard and the results didn't meet your expectations, then you definitely did something wrong along the way.
I'm not familiar with the marks of C4 etc. but are you saying you didn't do well during the exam although your performance was good while practicing past papers?


I'm not sure what I did wrong though?? :frown: If anything, I didn't really work very hard until Easter, so I guess for Year 13, I'll have to work very hard from the get-go.

My performance with past papers have varied from 80-95% (with marks gradually improving with each past paper), however I felt like today's exam didn't go well at all. I checked my answers with the online model answers and quite a few of them were different, I made a lot of careless errors etc. I'm not sure if it is because I'm bad with exam pressure, or if I'm actually just bad at Maths. :frown:
Reply 9
If you had been getting high marks on the past papers, you are NOT bad at maths. I think the main reason for your not-so-good performance is exam "clumsiness". Consider that a mixture of being unable to deal with exam pressure, lack of time management and revision, and whatever would affect your performance on exam day particularly.

It's too late now. There's nothing you can do to change what has passed. However.... (First tell me, are you exam :"clumsy" ?)
Original post by Soffie
I think you're setting really high standards for yourself. I think you're kinda like me cause I do that too! In fact a lot of people do it.

I'd try not to focus on the exams you've just done. Remember that you still have next year! I know several clever people in my school who did further maths but they didn't get the grade they wanted last year so they retook C3 and C4 with the rest of us. And They found it much easier the second time round cause they had more practice! Also, I know an A* would be great to have, but you should give yourself some slack. Sounds like you work really hard and thats what matters.

If you do want a tip on maths revision though, I would do the more recent past papers ( are you edexcel?) cause they seem to be getting harder n harder ( and the grade boundaries are getting lower too) I did C4 today and Trust me, everyone apart from the futher maths retakers found it HARD.So remember youre not the only one. Just try to not let it get you down and enjoy your summer!

Oh and just to add, you are making assumptions before youve even got your result. You may have done fine and you just dont realise it!

:smile:


But I really needed an A* this year to do Economics at university (I think)... please correct me if I'm wrong anyone?? (All the people who have gotten in to do Economics in Year 13 that I know have gotten an A* in Maths...)

Yes I am on Edexcel - I definitely agree, I feel as if the 2008/9 papers can't compare with the recent ones. The thing is - I did every single past paper from 2008, including all the international ones too, so I don't understand why I did so badly - I think it's because I'm bad at Maths so I'm bad with dealing with questions that I haven't done before (e.g. integrating 3^x).

I'm not entirely assuming though - I looked at Arsey's model answers and I have different answers for quite a few of the questions :frown:

That's a relief to hear - it seems as if all my further maths classmates found the C3 and C4 exam easy apart from me :frown:
Original post by drs5
If you had been getting high marks on the past papers, you are NOT bad at maths. I think the main reason for your not-so-good performance is exam "clumsiness". Consider that a mixture of being unable to deal with exam pressure, lack of time management and revision, and whatever would affect your performance on exam day particularly.

It's too late now. There's nothing you can do to change what has passed. However.... (First tell me, are you exam :"clumsy" ?)


What do you mean by "clumsy"?

I'm not entirely sure what you mean but I'm probably very exam clumsy - I'm prone to making careless mistakes and if I am faced with a question that I haven't done before, I just panic and not know what to do (which happened in today's exam unfortunately). Hence why I think I am bad at Maths because if I am actually good, I would be able to face questions that haven't come up before.
All my friends that took the maths papers this year said they were incredibly difficult. See how you do on results day but until then just stop worrying, don't waste energy over things you can't change.

If you don't get brilliant AS grades there are always retakes next year. You'll just have to try bring your grade up in A2s. Having said that Oxbridge/LSE isn't the be all and end all. :smile:
Reply 13
Last year I bombed out on 3 maths exams leaving me with AB in maths and f.maths AS. I was a Cambridge hopeful but thought there was no point in applying with sub standard grades. Now this year I am well on track for 3 A*s and I am taking a gap year (doing an industrial placement) and hopefully reapplying :smile: Doing something similar is always an option.

Anyway try to forget about it until results day since there's nothing you can do - you never know you might have done better than you thought. Then take it from there.

You will probably find that most of the universities that you stated earlier (bar oxbridge perhaps) will be in with a good chance of giving you an offer anyway. Trust me, everything will work out if you put in the effort :smile:
you need an A this year to get an A* next year.
An A* is 80% at AS but 90% for A2 modules.
Reply 15
Original post by Anonymous
But I really needed an A* this year to do Economics at university (I think)... please correct me if I'm wrong anyone?? (All the people who have gotten in to do Economics in Year 13 that I know have gotten an A* in Maths...)

Yes I am on Edexcel - I definitely agree, I feel as if the 2008/9 papers can't compare with the recent ones. The thing is - I did every single past paper from 2008, including all the international ones too, so I don't understand why I did so badly - I think it's because I'm bad at Maths so I'm bad with dealing with questions that I haven't done before (e.g. integrating 3^x).

I'm not entirely assuming though - I looked at Arsey's model answers and I have different answers for quite a few of the questions :frown:

That's a relief to hear - it seems as if all my further maths classmates found the C3 and C4 exam easy apart from me :frown:


If its any consolation, you will probably get more marks than you think because if you look at mark schemes you get a lot of method marks. You may only lose one or two for a question if your final answer is wrong.
Concerning your wanting an A*, I find it a little hard to believe that you would need such a high grade in maths for ALL universities. Surely there are many Russell group unis that would ask for, perhaps, an A in maths? And usually if you do further maths and apply for A*AA requirement, they often say an A in further maths overall is enough. ( i applied for engineering and they want A*AA the A* being in physics or maths, but if you do further you only need AAA).
Original post by WishIHadRevised
All my friends that took the maths papers this year said they were incredibly difficult. See how you do on results day but until then just stop worrying, don't waste energy over things you can't change.

If you don't get brilliant AS grades there are always retakes next year. You'll just have to try bring your grade up in A2s. Having said that Oxbridge/LSE isn't the be all and end all. :smile:


That's a relief to hear, I'm glad it wasn't just me who found it difficult.

I know that with Oxbridge/LSE, but those were my dream universities so I guess I just feel very crushed right now. But the thing is, other universities such as Nottingham and Bristol (which are good for Economics but aren't the best) still require an A* in Maths, so I just don't know what to do because I feel as if I won't get into any good universities for Economics.

I'm really trying to not feel upset and move on to try harder next year but it's proving to be very challenging - I've spent the last two months revising constantly and this is what I get? I don't really know... :frown:
Original post by Oraeng
Last year I bombed out on 3 maths exams leaving me with AB in maths and f.maths AS. I was a Cambridge hopeful but thought there was no point in applying with sub standard grades. Now this year I am well on track for 3 A*s and I am taking a gap year (doing an industrial placement) and hopefully reapplying :smile: Doing something similar is always an option.

Anyway try to forget about it until results day since there's nothing you can do - you never know you might have done better than you thought. Then take it from there.

You will probably find that most of the universities that you stated earlier (bar oxbridge perhaps) will be in with a good chance of giving you an offer anyway. Trust me, everything will work out if you put in the effort :smile:


Thank you so much - that has given me hope :smile:

What are you planning on studying at university? Did you still apply to Cambridge this year? And also, did you get an A in AS Maths or A2?
Reply 18
Original post by Anonymous
What do you mean by "clumsy"?

I'm not entirely sure what you mean but I'm probably very exam clumsy - I'm prone to making careless mistakes and if I am faced with a question that I haven't done before, I just panic and not know what to do (which happened in today's exam unfortunately). Hence why I think I am bad at Maths because if I am actually good, I would be able to face questions that haven't come up before.


If you practiced so many past papers, shouldn't you have identified this problem and dealt with it? Now all you can do is improve. Identify ALL of your problems. Do you make careless mistakes? Manage your time during the exam to allow for revision. This will help eliminate careless mistakes. Do you get stresses? Google a solution :P . Just solve all of your problems and don't let this bitter experience happen without milking it of its lessons. By that I mean that you didn't do all of these mistakes for nothing. Learn how to avoid these mistakes.Stop crying and cheer up! What's cool about life is that it ain't over if something like this happens! There are many other options! Cheer up! Smile right now! Did you do it? You better ..... Set a plan for this summer. Enjoy it, but at the same time, improve yourself so that you can nail the retake! And I reiterate : Identify all of your problems and find a solution. Only like this can you obtain the results you want :biggrin:
Original post by whydoidothis?
you need an A this year to get an A* next year.
An A* is 80% at AS but 90% for A2 modules.


I'm not sure if you've correctly read my first post - I am taking AS and A2 Maths this year, meaning that I needed an A* this year :/

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