Mum is trying to blackmail me into not doing French AS
So yeah, we got a letter from my school a short while ago saying that we would need to make inital AS decisions soon. For a while now I've been pretty sure about what I'm going to do for AS: Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and French (and possibly Physics). Then I'm going to apply to do Maths at uni.
However, my mum's always been unhappy about the fact that I don't plan on doing Biology. She says that I'm limiting my options on what I can do in Uni, and that Physics is useless. I think it's because she's wanted me to do medicine for ages, but I really don't want to be a doctor so she's pretty pissed about that. She's hoping that by making me take Biology, there may be a slim chance of me changing my mind and deciding to do medicine.
She recently came back from an open day in a school near us in Oxford and said that one of the Physics teachers there had said that if I did French AS, I would have a 0% chance of getting in Cambridge University for Maths (I hope to apply there). My mum said I shouldn't do French and just do triple science and maths. I love french though, it's one of my favourite subjects and I'd love to do it as one of my AS. I feel that I would be pretty miserable doing Biology because honestly, it doesn't interest me at all. So I refused. Then she started saying that I should not even both applying to Cambridge because my A-Levels are useless and that I need all sciences to apply for maths at Cambridge. We're supposed to be going to an A-Level talk at Cambridge next week, but she says that she's not going to take me unless I decide to drop French. And I REALLY want to go for it.
What should I do? Should I drop French? Is she right? Will it mean that I have no chance of getting into Cambridge?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks
However, my mum's always been unhappy about the fact that I don't plan on doing Biology. She says that I'm limiting my options on what I can do in Uni, and that Physics is useless. I think it's because she's wanted me to do medicine for ages, but I really don't want to be a doctor so she's pretty pissed about that. She's hoping that by making me take Biology, there may be a slim chance of me changing my mind and deciding to do medicine.
She recently came back from an open day in a school near us in Oxford and said that one of the Physics teachers there had said that if I did French AS, I would have a 0% chance of getting in Cambridge University for Maths (I hope to apply there). My mum said I shouldn't do French and just do triple science and maths. I love french though, it's one of my favourite subjects and I'd love to do it as one of my AS. I feel that I would be pretty miserable doing Biology because honestly, it doesn't interest me at all. So I refused. Then she started saying that I should not even both applying to Cambridge because my A-Levels are useless and that I need all sciences to apply for maths at Cambridge. We're supposed to be going to an A-Level talk at Cambridge next week, but she says that she's not going to take me unless I decide to drop French. And I REALLY want to go for it.
What should I do? Should I drop French? Is she right? Will it mean that I have no chance of getting into Cambridge?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks
Scroll to see replies
Original post by suzylemonade
So yeah, we got a letter from my school a short while ago saying that we would need to make inital AS decisions soon. For a while now I've been pretty sure about what I'm going to do for AS: Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and French (and possibly Physics). Then I'm going to apply to do Maths at uni.
However, my mum's always been unhappy about the fact that I don't plan on doing Biology. She says that I'm limiting my options on what I can do in Uni, and that Physics is useless. I think it's because she's wanted me to do medicine for ages, but I really don't want to be a doctor so she's pretty pissed about that. She's hoping that by making me take Biology, there may be a slim chance of me changing my mind and deciding to do medicine.
She recently came back from an open day in a school near us in Oxford and said that one of the Physics teachers there had said that if I did French AS, I would have a 0% chance of getting in Cambridge University for Maths (I hope to apply there). My mum said I shouldn't do French and just do triple science and maths. I love french though, it's one of my favourite subjects and I'd love to do it as one of my AS. I feel that I would be pretty miserable doing Biology because honestly, it doesn't interest me at all. So I refused. Then she started saying that I should not even both applying to Cambridge because my A-Levels are useless and that I need all sciences to apply for maths at Cambridge. We're supposed to be going to an A-Level talk at Cambridge next week, but she says that she's not going to take me unless I decide to drop French. And I REALLY want to go for it.
What should I do? Should I drop French? Is she right? Will it mean that I have no chance of getting into Cambridge?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks
However, my mum's always been unhappy about the fact that I don't plan on doing Biology. She says that I'm limiting my options on what I can do in Uni, and that Physics is useless. I think it's because she's wanted me to do medicine for ages, but I really don't want to be a doctor so she's pretty pissed about that. She's hoping that by making me take Biology, there may be a slim chance of me changing my mind and deciding to do medicine.
She recently came back from an open day in a school near us in Oxford and said that one of the Physics teachers there had said that if I did French AS, I would have a 0% chance of getting in Cambridge University for Maths (I hope to apply there). My mum said I shouldn't do French and just do triple science and maths. I love french though, it's one of my favourite subjects and I'd love to do it as one of my AS. I feel that I would be pretty miserable doing Biology because honestly, it doesn't interest me at all. So I refused. Then she started saying that I should not even both applying to Cambridge because my A-Levels are useless and that I need all sciences to apply for maths at Cambridge. We're supposed to be going to an A-Level talk at Cambridge next week, but she says that she's not going to take me unless I decide to drop French. And I REALLY want to go for it.
What should I do? Should I drop French? Is she right? Will it mean that I have no chance of getting into Cambridge?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks
It is up to you, nobody else. However I would say you really should drop AS French.
Try to compromise and say you will drop French but you are not doing Biology because it doesn't interest you.
I'm sure you could get into Cambridge with AS French, perhaps it would even improve your chances as it is a hard A-level subject - you need to check with the uni directly.
My advise is drop French and do something else. You will get into Cambridge without French and your mum will be happy too.
Good luck.
Original post by KH94
It is up to you, nobody else. However I would say you really should drop AS French.
Try to compromise and say you will drop French but you are not doing Biology because it doesn't interest you.
I'm sure you could get into Cambridge with AS French, perhaps it would even improve your chances as it is a hard A-level subject - you need to check with the uni directly.
My advise is drop French and do something else. You will get into Cambridge without French and your mum will be happy too.
Good luck.
Try to compromise and say you will drop French but you are not doing Biology because it doesn't interest you.
I'm sure you could get into Cambridge with AS French, perhaps it would even improve your chances as it is a hard A-level subject - you need to check with the uni directly.
My advise is drop French and do something else. You will get into Cambridge without French and your mum will be happy too.
Good luck.
Yeah, but I don't really care about whether my mum is happy or not- if she's not okay with my doing French, I couldn't care less.
My question was whether AS French is useless or not?
But thanks for your reply!
And also, if I dropped both Biology and French then I would only have 3 AS subjects
Have you checked what Cambridge's requirements are? What would your other A Level options be (besides French/Biology)?
Original post by sliceofcake
Have you checked what Cambridge's requirements are? What would your other A Level options be (besides French/Biology)?
Yeah, for Maths they say that they only require Maths and Further Maths and that Physics would be nice too. My mum says they're just saying that, they really want all sciences apparently.
And:
Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, Physics and French
Original post by suzylemonade
Yeah, for Maths they say that they only require Maths and Further Maths and that Physics would be nice too. My mum says they're just saying that, they really want all sciences apparently.
And:
Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, Physics and French
And:
Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, Physics and French
Sorry, that was poorly worded on my part. I meant what other subjects are available if you weren't to do French/Biology?
I don't think they are "just saying that", though of course, the more relevant any other A Levels you have the better you're likely to be at it.
Original post by suzylemonade
Yeah, but I don't really care about whether my mum is happy or not- if she's not okay with my doing French, I couldn't care less.
My question was whether AS French is useless or not?
But thanks for your reply! And also, if I dropped both Biology and French then I would only have 3 AS subjects
My question was whether AS French is useless or not?
But thanks for your reply!
And also, if I dropped both Biology and French then I would only have 3 AS subjectsWhilst I do have comments on the initial op I would like I say you could add psychology and chemistry lol :P
Anyway I don't think doing French would limit your ability to go to Cambridge at all. You should prob check with them first maybe through email or something. But I'm not sure your mum is telling the truth no offence but she makes you drop it before you can ask them ? ? Not very nice.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by sliceofcake
Sorry, that was poorly worded on my part. I meant what other subjects are available if you weren't to do French/Biology?
I don't think they are "just saying that", though of course, the more relevant any other A Levels you have the better you're likely to be at it.
I don't think they are "just saying that", though of course, the more relevant any other A Levels you have the better you're likely to be at it.
Well.. I'm not sure really. Really, the only ones I would like to do are the ones that I'm taking
My Father pressured me into doing computer science, liked the subject although I had the worse teacher possible so I got a C in it. (Nobody got an A) although it hasn't substantially affected my university choices so I'd say just do French and try to tell your mother that you won't be able to do good in the subject as you dislike it or something.
I think the best advice you could get is from a Cambridge admissions tutors, so just give a Maths admissions tutor an Email and explain your options and what he/she would recommend.
As for the talk you want to go to, if you want to go super badly you could tell your Mum you've dropped french (which you won't) then go to the A-level talk and if you find out it really doesn't matter then just say you changed back to French and if it will really go against you by taking French and stop you from going to Cambridge then change to different AS course (it's really up to you if you take the last bit of my advice!).
As for the talk you want to go to, if you want to go super badly you could tell your Mum you've dropped french (which you won't) then go to the A-level talk and if you find out it really doesn't matter then just say you changed back to French and if it will really go against you by taking French and stop you from going to Cambridge then change to different AS course (it's really up to you if you take the last bit of my advice!).
(edited 10 years ago)
Language A Levels are useful when it comes to employment and being able to speak a foreign language is a good skill. You should also be doing subjects that you enjoy so choosing French would seem like the right thing to do.
Original post by suzylemonade
Well.. I'm not sure really. Really, the only ones I would like to do are the ones that I'm taking
As long as you're doing Maths and Further Maths (and preferably physics), Cambridge don't care about what your other subjects are, as long as you're good at and passionate about Maths. If you really want to do French, then I would probably do Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, Physics and French, but drop French at the end of AS and possibly chemistry if you would rather just do three A2's. Just forget about Biology. Even if you did have a sudden change of heart, chemistry is the main subject you need for medicine and you could probably get into most medical schools without biology.
Original post by Dilzo999
My Father pressured me into doing computer science, liked the subject although I had the worse teacher possible so I got a C in it. (Nobody got an A) although it hasn't substantially affected my university choices so I'd say just do French and try to tell your mother that you won't be able to do good in the subject as you dislike it or something.
Okay, yeah I think I will
Because that's true- It's always harder to do well on subjects you don't likeOriginal post by Rory456
I think the best advice you could get is from a Cambridge admissions tutors, so just give a Maths admissions tutor an Email and explain your options and what he/she would recommend.
As for the talk you want to go to, if you want to go super badly you could tell your Mum you've dropped french (which you won't) then go to the A-level talk and if you find out it really doesn't matter then just say you changed back to French and if it will really go against you by taking French and stop you from going to Cambridge then change to different AS course (it's really up to you if you take the last bit of my advice!).
As for the talk you want to go to, if you want to go super badly you could tell your Mum you've dropped french (which you won't) then go to the A-level talk and if you find out it really doesn't matter then just say you changed back to French and if it will really go against you by taking French and stop you from going to Cambridge then change to different AS course (it's really up to you if you take the last bit of my advice!).
I actually didn't think about that! I think I'll do that!
And sneaky, but yeah I think I'll do that. She'll never know xD
And yeah, I guess
Original post by audi_turbo
Language A Levels are useful when it comes to employment and being able to speak a foreign language is a good skill. You should also be doing subjects that you enjoy so choosing French would seem like the right thing to do.
See, that's what I thought. I did think languages benefited employment prospects, especially Mandarin
Original post by brittanna
As long as you're doing Maths and Further Maths (and preferably physics), Cambridge don't care about what your other subjects are, as long as you're good at and passionate about Maths. If you really want to do French, then I would probably do Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, Physics and French, but drop French at the end of AS and possibly chemistry if you would rather just do three A2's. Just forget about Biology. Even if you did have a sudden change of heart, chemistry is the main subject you need for medicine and you could probably get into most medical schools without biology.
Thanks, I think that's what I'll do. I don't even want to do Biology anyways, so yeah xD
Original post by suzylemonade
So yeah, we got a letter from my school a short while ago saying that we would need to make inital AS decisions soon. For a while now I've been pretty sure about what I'm going to do for AS: Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and French (and possibly Physics). Then I'm going to apply to do Maths at uni.
However, my mum's always been unhappy about the fact that I don't plan on doing Biology. She says that I'm limiting my options on what I can do in Uni, and that Physics is useless. I think it's because she's wanted me to do medicine for ages, but I really don't want to be a doctor so she's pretty pissed about that. She's hoping that by making me take Biology, there may be a slim chance of me changing my mind and deciding to do medicine.
She recently came back from an open day in a school near us in Oxford and said that one of the Physics teachers there had said that if I did French AS, I would have a 0% chance of getting in Cambridge University for Maths (I hope to apply there). My mum said I shouldn't do French and just do triple science and maths. I love french though, it's one of my favourite subjects and I'd love to do it as one of my AS. I feel that I would be pretty miserable doing Biology because honestly, it doesn't interest me at all. So I refused. Then she started saying that I should not even both applying to Cambridge because my A-Levels are useless and that I need all sciences to apply for maths at Cambridge. We're supposed to be going to an A-Level talk at Cambridge next week, but she says that she's not going to take me unless I decide to drop French. And I REALLY want to go for it.
What should I do? Should I drop French? Is she right? Will it mean that I have no chance of getting into Cambridge?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks
However, my mum's always been unhappy about the fact that I don't plan on doing Biology. She says that I'm limiting my options on what I can do in Uni, and that Physics is useless. I think it's because she's wanted me to do medicine for ages, but I really don't want to be a doctor so she's pretty pissed about that. She's hoping that by making me take Biology, there may be a slim chance of me changing my mind and deciding to do medicine.
She recently came back from an open day in a school near us in Oxford and said that one of the Physics teachers there had said that if I did French AS, I would have a 0% chance of getting in Cambridge University for Maths (I hope to apply there). My mum said I shouldn't do French and just do triple science and maths. I love french though, it's one of my favourite subjects and I'd love to do it as one of my AS. I feel that I would be pretty miserable doing Biology because honestly, it doesn't interest me at all. So I refused. Then she started saying that I should not even both applying to Cambridge because my A-Levels are useless and that I need all sciences to apply for maths at Cambridge. We're supposed to be going to an A-Level talk at Cambridge next week, but she says that she's not going to take me unless I decide to drop French. And I REALLY want to go for it.
What should I do? Should I drop French? Is she right? Will it mean that I have no chance of getting into Cambridge?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks
AS French = not useless. You may use it for internships (let me tell you, big banks go crazy for mathmos who have a knowledge of another language, and it may give you easier/more enjoyable opportunities to work abroad), jobs, or just for pleasure - with friends in other countries, having a working knowledge of another language is ace. I have several times used AS French (which I last studied in 2005) to dig my friends out of holes, most notably at a wedding of two Cambridge friends in France this year. I had to deal with miserable hostel landladies, taxi drivers who didn't turn up, coach drivers who wanted me to translate to other wedding guests, cinema staff over a ticket mix up and Easyjet about a lost phone. You won't regret taking AS French, and your friends will buy you many vers de vins rouges as a reward.
Do French. Cambridge will be more impressed with a great French grade than a flop biology one. You're doing great subjects already - everyone knows languages are difficult.
PLUS, Loads of unis want a language! Seriously, if you ace French then they'll be impressed
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PLUS, Loads of unis want a language! Seriously, if you ace French then they'll be impressed
Posted from TSR Mobile
Pie Biology. If you don't wanna do it then you won't have motivation to study it and may come out with a bad grade.
Saying that you have 0% chance of doing Maths at Cambridge if you did French AS is complete BS, I reckon.
Are you definitely gonna five AS levels? Or is Physics a big maybe? Because the 3 most relevant subjects for Maths at Cambridge (or any other top institution, really) are Maths, FM and Physics. So if you're only doing four AS levels and are torn between Physics and French, then i'd plump for Physics.
But if you're gonna do five and you think you can handle the workload then definitely go for French as well. I did it to A2 and thought it was pretty good.
Your decision at the end of the day, though. Don't let your mum make your decisions for you.
If you're still in doubt, email Cambridge and see what they say.
Saying that you have 0% chance of doing Maths at Cambridge if you did French AS is complete BS, I reckon.
Are you definitely gonna five AS levels? Or is Physics a big maybe? Because the 3 most relevant subjects for Maths at Cambridge (or any other top institution, really) are Maths, FM and Physics. So if you're only doing four AS levels and are torn between Physics and French, then i'd plump for Physics.
But if you're gonna do five and you think you can handle the workload then definitely go for French as well. I did it to A2 and thought it was pretty good.
Your decision at the end of the day, though. Don't let your mum make your decisions for you.
If you're still in doubt, email Cambridge and see what they say.
Original post by suzylemonade
Yeah, for Maths they say that they only require Maths and Further Maths and that Physics would be nice too. My mum says they're just saying that, they really want all sciences apparently.
And:
Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, Physics and French
And:
Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, Physics and French
Haha yeah, I'm so sure that your mum knows more about cambridge admissions than the cambridge admissions team themselves. She's lying and attempting to manipulate you, she sounds like an awful parent.
Contact someone at cambridge and ask them to double check, though you really don't need A level biology to do a maths degree, physics will be sufficient.
French AS is absolutely fine - it's a respected A Level, and languages are sought after by universities and employers alike!
The ideal combination for applying to Maths is taking Maths, Further Maths and Physics at A2. If you're planning on doing 3 subjects at A2, then I wouldn't recommend carrying French through as you'll be up against the vast majority of applicants who do have Maths, FM and Physics, but if you're planning on doing 4 subjects at A2 then continuing with French would be fine. Admissions tutors will focus your three most relevant subjects when assessing your application, but a good grade in French AS would count in your favour. This means that if you were to take all 4 to A2, then French would most likely not be part of an offer, but you could do it for fun.
Ignore your Mum, is my advice here. Also, Physics is most definitely not useless - you're better off taking Physics than Chemistry if you're heading in the Maths direction, but having three science subjects at A2 is what you need.
The ideal combination for applying to Maths is taking Maths, Further Maths and Physics at A2. If you're planning on doing 3 subjects at A2, then I wouldn't recommend carrying French through as you'll be up against the vast majority of applicants who do have Maths, FM and Physics, but if you're planning on doing 4 subjects at A2 then continuing with French would be fine. Admissions tutors will focus your three most relevant subjects when assessing your application, but a good grade in French AS would count in your favour. This means that if you were to take all 4 to A2, then French would most likely not be part of an offer, but you could do it for fun.
Ignore your Mum, is my advice here. Also, Physics is most definitely not useless - you're better off taking Physics than Chemistry if you're heading in the Maths direction, but having three science subjects at A2 is what you need.
Original post by suzylemonade
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks
Tell your mum she's lying. The only subjects required are Maths and Further Maths to A2 (or FM to AS only if you can't do it to A2). Another science, Physics ideally (I'm applying this year and doing Chemistry instead since I'm better at it) is a good choice for A2, but for AS Biology is not really relevant to Maths, and neither is French. Both are hard so either is fine. French AS will allow you to do a foreign exchange course more easily while at uni so I'd say it's probably more valuable.
Do what you want, you could do Media as your fifth AS and they probably wouldn't care
and if you can justify it briefly at interview, even better.Quick Reply
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