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How to overcome subject regret? Help!

At the end of year 12, and regret an a level subject. I’ve decided the best option is to just keep pushing through to year 13, as i’ve already gotten through a year of it, and know year 13 will go quicker. I have been getting A*s (in the subject) consistently throughout the year and in the end of year mock, so it wouldn’t be worth it to retake year 12 with a new subject (as it’s too risky and I am able to get into uni with my current subjects). The issue i’m having is just this constant feeling of regret. I think I regretted choosing it from the beginning, but I have no idea why I never did anything about it (just adds to my regret). But the regret has just been building up. I think it comes from the fact that I don’t like the subject much, and I keep thinking ‘what if’ I chose a different subject. The thing is I know that realistically if I had picked a different subject, I wouldn’t be doing as well grade wise and would likely be more stressed, it’s just that voice in my head reminding me of my mistakes. Does anyone know how to get over this immense feeling of regret, as it is so consuming? I feel like i’ve actually conditioned myself to hate the subject, like there’s times where I think that it’s not so bad and I actually like aspects of it, but then the regret and hatred returns. Can anyone offer any advice please :frown:
(edited 11 months ago)
Reply 1
Happened to me. I did chemistry, had As and A* all of last year and this year but I’ve lost my interest completely. Do you need to be doing it, like is it one of your 3 or are you doing 4. If you have the will power to push through then just do it even if you hate it as it gets you closer to uni with less effort as you are clearly doing good at it. If you’re really struggling then the only other option would be to start a new subject and go to as many of the year 12 lessons as you can and take up private study to ensure you finish the syllabus well before your exam date.

Good luck!
Original post by TOM87878787
Happened to me. I did chemistry, had As and A* all of last year and this year but I’ve lost my interest completely. Do you need to be doing it, like is it one of your 3 or are you doing 4. If you have the will power to push through then just do it even if you hate it as it gets you closer to uni with less effort as you are clearly doing good at it. If you’re really struggling then the only other option would be to start a new subject and go to as many of the year 12 lessons as you can and take up private study to ensure you finish the syllabus well before your exam date.

Good luck!

Thank you for your response. I only do 3 currently, so I’m not able to drop it. I did consider trying to learn the AS content of a different subject over summer, and then join year 13 as normal with that new subject, but I don’t think that is a good option, as I could be comprising all of my grades and it would take a lot of time and stress (was planning on using summer to consolidate year 12 content)! Chemistry was actually one of the subjects I was considering taking up (bio was the other), but it’s just super unrealistic with sciences. Did you just push through with chemistry then (if so, how did you do it/make it bearable)?? I assume you are doing your a levels atm? If so, hope all goes well!
Reply 3
This happened to me also. I took psychology and it is just so different from what I expected and not my thing at all.
I am at the end of Y13 now and I did continue with it, something that helped me is having a friend who does find interest in it. When studying with them it's a bit easier to forget about how much I don't want to do it, it also helps to try to link it to things I do find an interest in or just in general to life. I suppose it will depend how applicable your subject is to everyday life though.

If it's an essay subject you might have a bit of freedom to somehow bring your interests into expanded answers, which sets you apart from other people anyway.
Original post by jjeeeeeea
This happened to me also. I took psychology and it is just so different from what I expected and not my thing at all.
I am at the end of Y13 now and I did continue with it, something that helped me is having a friend who does find interest in it. When studying with them it's a bit easier to forget about how much I don't want to do it, it also helps to try to link it to things I do find an interest in or just in general to life. I suppose it will depend how applicable your subject is to everyday life though.

If it's an essay subject you might have a bit of freedom to somehow bring your interests into expanded answers, which sets you apart from other people anyway.


Ahhh, I would say psychology is my favourite a level atm lol, but everyone is different. Thank you for the advice- there are some good people on my course (a lot are pretty unserious though), so maybe i’ll try studying with them :smile: The subject is geo, so it actually is really relevant to everyday life and honestly I do think it has given me knowledge. I’ll see if I can develop an interest! Best of luck with your a levels!
Reply 5
Original post by username6120834
At the end of year 12, and regret an a level subject. I’ve decided the best option is to just keep pushing through to year 13, as i’ve already gotten through a year of it, and know year 13 will go quicker. I have been getting A*s (in the subject) consistently throughout the year and in the end of year mock, so it wouldn’t be worth it to retake year 12 with a new subject (as it’s too risky and I am able to get into uni with my current subjects). The issue i’m having is just this constant feeling of regret. I think I regretted choosing it from the beginning, but I have no idea why I never did anything about it (just adds to my regret). But the regret has just been building up. I think it comes from the fact that I don’t like the subject much, and I keep thinking ‘what if’ I chose a different subject. The thing is I know that realistically if I had picked a different subject, I wouldn’t be doing as well grade wise and would likely be more stressed, it’s just that voice in my head reminding me of my mistakes. Does anyone know how to get over this immense feeling of regret, as it is so consuming? I feel like i’ve actually conditioned myself to hate the subject, like there’s times where I think that it’s not so bad and I actually like aspects of it, but then the regret and hatred returns. Can anyone offer any advice please :frown:
I’m in a similar issue but the only thing is I literally have no idea what uni degree I would like to do or what career I want. The only degree I might be interested in is psychology because that’s my favourite subject but I feel really pressured by my sixth form to pick especially as I’m in this Oxford programme to push students to pursue Oxford courses (tbh I don’t know why I signed up I think I felt like I should’ve because of my gcse grades) but all in all I feel lost. I’ll try and pursue any work experience that I’m remotely interested in but I’m ngl I feel so much regret for one of my subjects because it’s boring and I could’ve picked something else that would have widened the degrees I do. I also don’t know if some degrees are worthwhile and I can’t stomach 27k debt very easily you know?

lol sorry for the rambling I hope you’re in a better place, how are you?

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