think of it like this, you put the hard work in now, and through university, working life will be a lot more enjoyable. talking of stereotypes, theres so many people i know who frown on academic excellence, i mean people try and abuse me for reading books lol.. but they're the sort of people stuck in dead end jobs going no where..
Tell me about it, so many people at my school look down on me for being intelligent :s It's pathetic I've learnt to tolerate it...
My sixth form basically accepts most people in the county who get, at least, mostly As in their GCSEs. So being intelligent is normal and I am lucky in that it's no longer looked down upon to be good at a subject. However it does come with the downside that a lot of people are weird. In my physics and maths classes there is a total of 5 girls (none are fit) and about 40 boys, and only about half of the boys I would consider normal. So I think it will be like that at university, so I guess you just have to look for friends outside your course.
So I think it will be like that at university, so I guess you just have to look for friends outside your course.
really don't think that's the case at any university tbh. oxford seemed like it was full of normal people. some (very few) of the other people at the open day seemed a bit keen/weird but maybe i'm just not used to being in a room full of southern accents
2) The Code Book: The Secret History of Codes and Code-breaking. Simon Singh.
I absolutely loved this book! and his Fermat's Theorem aswell
I'll be applying for maths in 2012 GCSEs: 6A*s 2As 5Bs (yeah I took a lot haha :/) IB: HL- Maths, Music, French. SL-Phys, History, English.
I’ll be applying to Edinburgh and maybe Surrey for the Maths w/ Music course which only a few unis do Otherwise I haven’t decided. Won’t be applying to Oxbridge because I know my other subjects might let me down points-wise. Maybe Warwick as my top one.
really don't think that's the case at any university tbh. oxford seemed like it was full of normal people. some (very few) of the other people at the open day seemed a bit keen/weird but maybe i'm just not used to being in a room full of southern accents
lol when I went there, my sister gave some workbook she had stolen from postgrad room and some other guy (he was my age, not a professor or student)was starring at me like I had just murdered someone.
Current A Levels: Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Philosophy, Government & Politics (AS only).
Considering applying to: Cambridge, Imperial, Warwick, Southampton, Reading. Looking at others too.
Other bits: Looking at STEP / AEA papers, got a couple of maths / theoretical(ish) physics reading books and probably teaching myself M3 as an extra unit.
Not to be rude.... but why are people doing 5+ AS's with less than outstanding GCSE results, im not saying its not possible but im pretty damn sure the two are correlated. If you can do them all AND get 90+ ums on all of them, congrats but it seems a little bit questionable. Tbh I wonder why the school would let you do them all in the first place ... but as I said before if you do well in them all good on you.
Not to be rude.... but why are people doing 5+ AS's with less than outstanding GCSE results, im not saying its not possible but im pretty damn sure the two are correlated. If you can do them all AND get 90+ ums on all of them, congrats but it seems a little bit questionable. Tbh I wonder why the school would let you do them all in the first place ... but as I said before if you do well in them all good on you.
I'm doing six as levels. What counts as outstanding GCSEs?
I'm doing six as levels. What counts as outstanding GCSEs?
Well I dont consider mine to be 'outstanding' (7A*'s, 4A's, C). I would say all A*'s or mainly A*'s (say one or two A's in there). Thats my opinion anyway.
Well I dont consider mine to be 'outstanding' (7A*'s, 4A's, C). I would say all A*'s or mainly A*'s (say one or two A's in there). Thats my opinion anyway.
those are pretty damn good to me. I think 5 ASs are stressful for anyone. Especially when doing subjects like chemistry (which require loads of memory work together with understanding) or essay subjects (maybe its because I was always better at maths/science than the general essay subjects).
those are pretty damn good to me. I think 5 ASs are stressful for anyone. Especially when doing subjects like chemistry (which require loads of memory work together with understanding) or essay subjects (maybe its because I was always better at maths/science than the general essay subjects).
Aha thanks, I suppose its difficult for everyone and I personally only do 4 (lol and gen studies) but im going to continue with them all next year. It just seems like anyone and everyone is doing a ridiculous amount of AS's to try and compete but surely 4 very high AS's > 5+ average ones. I suppose if you can pull of 5+ high marks then thats brilliant aha and then im screwed =p.
Cambridge/Oxford, Warwick, Imperial, LSE... I live in Oxford so I'm not sure whether I should apply there. I'm going to go to some open days so that I can form some more opinions.
You do understand that LSE doesn't offer maths as a stand-alone course but with finance/economics and that Imperial doesn't offer maths with finance. potential personal statement problems?
Aha thanks, I suppose its difficult for everyone and I personally only do 4 (lol and gen studies) but im going to continue with them all next year. It just seems like anyone and everyone is doing a ridiculous amount of AS's to try and compete but surely 4 very high AS's > 5+ average ones. I suppose if you can pull of 5+ high marks then thats brilliant aha and then im screwed =p.
I think it also depends on how relevant the AS level is to your course - e.g. the guy who got into Cambridge this year in my school now does Further Maths, Physics (completed his maths in jan). He dropped Psychology after AS as it simply wasn't relevant to him and he wasn't enjoying it. But yes I do agree four is enough and I believe you gain no advantage doing 5+ . Having said that, if you think you are up to challenge and are capable, hard working then why not?
You do understand that LSE doesn't offer maths as a stand-alone course but with finance/economics and that Imperial doesn't offer maths with finance. potential personal statement problems?
I am and was fully aware of this. There are people applying this cycle who got offers from LSE maths with econ (the course I am planning to apply for) despite not having mentioned any econ in their personal statement so I am not particularly worried.
I will be applying for maths 2013! Just wandering if choosing philosophy and ethics (also choosing maths, further maths and physics) will harm my application as its not math based?