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A level choice help!! (Urgent)

Hi all,

I have a bit of a dilemma here. I want to apply for Economics and French at university. However, I got a C at Maths AS level (199/300). 11 UMS off a B. Thing is, if I got a B, I probably would have kept it.

Yet, applying for Economics at university level does require Maths for a lot of the top universities. I am currently studying Economics, French and Politics. I like them all but I also really like Maths. Note that I already dropped Maths and am currently doing Politics and it feels kinda worthless because I don't really enjoy it...

My question is really what should I do? I could probably persuade my teachers at school to allow me to continue with Maths even after a month after starting school. The difficulty would be getting them to predict me an A or B, considering I already spoke to my Maths teacher and she said that students who get a C rarely ever move up from a C.

Any advice?

Thanks all :-)
(edited 7 years ago)
If you need the maths you should keep it but is there a reason you are struggling with it?
Reply 2
Original post by alleycat393
If you need the maths you should keep it but is there a reason you are struggling with it?


I can give you the exact reason. Last year I left stats until the last week before the exam and got a D (55/100). It brought me down quite a bit getting 75/100 and 68/100 in C1 and C2 respectively. I really like Maths but I don't want to limit myself with university choice.

Would I still get an offer from Bristol Economics with a year abroad if I had A*AB predictions?
Reply 3
Original post by Landau99
Hi all,

I have a bit of a dilemma here. I want to apply for Economics and French at university. However, I got a C at Maths AS level (199/300). 11 UMS off a B. Thing is, if I got a B, I probably would have kept it.

Yet, applying for Economics at university level does require Maths for a lot of the top universities. I am currently studying Economics, French and Politics. I like them all but I also really like Maths. Note that I already dropped Maths and am currently doing Politics and it feels kinda worthless because I don't really enjoy it...

My question is really what should I do? I could probably persuade my teachers at school to allow me to continue with Maths even after a month after starting school. The difficulty would be getting them to predict me an A or B, considering I already spoke to my Maths teacher and she said that students who get a C rarely ever move up from a C.

Any advice?

Thanks all :-)


You need to figure out why you got a C, and what you can do to improve it. Even if you can get a prediction of an A or B that will be pointless if you can't then get that A or B. So be honest with yourself. Did you mess around too much and not put the effort in? Did you coast all year and just expect to be able to cram at exam time? Do you think you didn't do enough practice? The real reasons will be personal so you won't want to post them publicly, and I'm not expecting an answer, but you need to think carefully before deciding what to do
Ok so your teachers will know this or talk to them about it because it sounds like you're capable but didn't work hard enough. You will be more competitive with maths if it's preferred but still stand a chance if the uni doesn't need it. Neither I nor any one else can predict how the uni will view your application. Contact them and ask.
Reply 5
Original post by Juno
You need to figure out why you got a C, and what you can do to improve it. Even if you can get a prediction of an A or B that will be pointless if you can't then get that A or B. So be honest with yourself. Did you mess around too much and not put the effort in? Did you coast all year and just expect to be able to cram at exam time? Do you think you didn't do enough practice? The real reasons will be personal so you won't want to post them publicly, and I'm not expecting an answer, but you need to think carefully before deciding what to do


Hi Juno,

Thanks for your reply. I'd like to say firstly that I'm not at all a lazy student. In fact, Maths was the only C I got at AS level. I got an 3 other As in French, Politics and Economics. It was only just the Maths that struck me down.

The reasons as to why I got a C is because every time I couldn't do a question, I would look at the answer and then say to myself that I would've done that in the exam if I was concentrating. I did every past paper known to man twice over but I didn't discipline myself to learn the logic behind the question.

I feel that if I took Maths now, I could discipline myself and teach myself the correct way. With support from my clever friends and teachers, I could get there in the end.

Just need a bit of advice on what to do...

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