The Student Room Group

Things you wish you were told at the beginning of your AS/A2 year

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dont go out and get drunk during exams
-How rubbish the mechanics teacher at our school is.

-Screw what seem like good subjects, just pick what you're actually good at.

-Get ICT coursework out of the way at the START of the year. You get too much less than your capable of when you do it at the last minute.

-Keep track of where your text books are. You miss a few words in your notes, it can make them ambiguous, which isn't good.

-Make agreements with your friends in the classes to keep each other concentrating on the work. Me and a friend did this at A2 after messing up AS, it's amazing how much it helped!

-Actually stick to all the things you say you're going to do. You let one tiny bit slip, and it all falls with it and you end up procrastinating, doing the bare minimum, and just not really getting what you should be out of it.

-Keep thinking about Uni. Look at the ones you want to go to early. It's a huge motivator to end up at a Uni you really like.
Reply 22
Mook
Well, that is just scaremongering, but I do think people need to realise the difference between GCSE and A level, particularly in languages. An excellent grade at GCSE can be achieved through an aptitude for memorising phrases; a good grade at A level is dependent upon actually being good at languages. Being good at GCSE does not automatically make you good at languages, as demonstrated by the fact that my badly dyslexic brother got an A.


I didn't mean my point to be taken as fact, just a personal response to my feelings about French at A level - although this is probably tainted due to a change of teachers and teaching styles from AS level to A2. I agree with you about GCSE and A level differences - I don't think it was highlighted enough at school when we were making our choices, it was more of a 'You got an A* at GCSE, you'll do fine', which obviously isn't the case. So many people dropped out after AS level, which obviously means something. I fell out of love with French, so wasn't motivated nearly enough, something which I'm going to regret come results day, although I still have a love of languages and learning them. Another thing that was so different was having to have strong opinions about a subject - it wasn't just the language barrier, it was having to justify something that you weren't even sure how to argue in English (luckily my politics lessons helped a little here).
Reply 23
there are no such thing as "free periods" after mocks.
hole punch=god. otherwise there is paper everywhere in your file.
take statistics if you want to die slowly.
if you're taking english lit, be prepared to feel like your hand's about to fall off during the exam. and memorise the quotations from the play/poem for the closed book exam.
FireDeuce
OCR Psychology is horrific in A2 year, do not do it if you have suicidal tendencies.

Do not do it if you find the concept of keeping a tidy and organised file difficult.
I HATED Psychology.
Reply 25
oh, i also wish i'd been told that module 1 chemistry is basically: "whatever we taught you at gcse is a lie...learn this instead."
Reply 26
start your revision from day 1
sweetlovinchick2k1
I wish they had told me how English Lit really didn't live up to it's reputation!


Why? Sorry but I don't get your gist.

*taking all essay subjects is not always the best idea - sore hand + many essays.
* taking essay subjects means it is harder to gauge marks as it is subjective.
* don't panic
* make sure you do plenty of past papers
* bring stationary to class
* don't listen to music during class
* when the teacher sets coursework deadlines follow them otherwise in the few nights prior to final deadline don't expect ANY sleep
Reply 28
sweetlovinchick2k1
Off topic but just looked in your spoiler! How cool is it that you did Japanese, didn't even know a GCSE in it existed!

I wish I went to your school!

On topic:

I wish they had told me how English Lit really didn't live up to it's reputation!


Yeah, they offer it as an after school class once a week for an hour, but in year 12 (when I was taking the exam) I had about 3 hours every Thursday, plus homework, so that I could cram. It's just like any other language GCSE - you have to do a speaking, a reading, a writing and a listening paper. I really enjoyed it though (obvious from the subject that I want to do at uni, I guess xD)

Hmm, I actually enjoyed English Lit, although a lot of my classmates think the same as you. How didn't it live up to your expectations? (Just curious...)
Reply 29
For the next 2 years you will be getting 4 hours homework per subject per night :rofl: I barely did 4 hours of school per subject per week
Reply 30
This is going back a few years now, but.

- The Library is there to be used, not walked past.
- Socialising is very important.
- The Free Time should be used productively.
- Revision should be started as early as possible.
- The A Levels are really not as important as they seem 'now'.
- You are not as clever as you think you are.
- Law AS is a waste of time
- Chemistry will give you many nervous breakdowns
- "The teachers will treat you like adults now" - LIES (in the majority of cases)
- Football and tennis do NOT count as revision
- You have to try in the first year - you can't just make up for it in the second year. Attempt this and you will probably die
Charlybob
-Get ICT coursework out of the way at the START of the year. You get too much less than your capable of when you do it at the last minute


Be prepared for the sheer weight if your ICT coursework folder.

What board do you do for ICT?
I wish they'd said how useful Further Maths is to Scientist/Engineer applicants, particularly to Oxbridge! It didn't affect me but I saw so many people wish they'd done further maths/pick up the AS in Yr13 once they started realising what subjects their target unis liked them to have.
Geography is not a soft option
Reply 35
they're all easy. dont bother working. at all
Reply 36
- Stagger your science coursework; just because your physics, chemistry and biology deadlines are all near each other, doesn't mean you have to do them all at the same time, at the last minute - do some coursework early.

- The amount of tv you watch will reduce dramatically during the next two years!
Psychology is crap.

If your teacher's rubbish then kick up a fuss, it's not worth keeping quiet. No right to bitch if you're not going to do anything about it.

Start visiting unis asap.
psycho is crap
I agree with the keeping your files in order and the chemistry ones lol.
Really didn't help my revision for organic chemistry trying to find my notes.

As has been said, a lot of stuff will contradict GCSE chemistry (electron shells especially). Also, try to remember GCSE equations. Acid + Base etc.

For essay subjects, how you write the essay is often more important than what's in the essay (at least in history).

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