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Which subject to drop and what resits to do?

Okay... So I got a B in English literature, C in history, C in sociology and a D in government & politics. I was planning to drop sociology before results day but I ended up getting higher in that than I did in politics. However, the A2 course for sociology is so difficult whilst politics is more easy-going so I'm not sure of what one to drop?

Also, is 4 resits too much? Cause I'm planning to resit my English exam (A in coursework, C in exam), resit my lowest grade in history (B in one exam, C in the other) and if I do sociology, I'd have to resit both exams as I got C's in both, or should I just resit the lowest C?

I'm aiming for AAA in A2 so yeah, need to know what subject is better to drop and how many resits to do


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(edited 8 years ago)
ooo! I was in a similiar situation last year because I got a B in English, C in history, C in psychology and a D in sociology. I got a A and a E in history, and I got a B and a U in sociology.

I ended up dropping history because it drained me and ended up resitting the exam I got a U for AS Sociology.
A2 Sociology is a lot of stress - mostly because there's so much to remember. If you don't feel comfortable with the spec for sociology, I'd advise you to drop it. At the end of the day, it's something that you're going to have to enjoy. The only reason I stuck with sociology is because I loved the content, even though there was so much.

4 resits does seem like it's a lot. Remember that A2 is a lot harder than AS, and you're gonna have to juggle all that knowledge along with your AS knowledge. If you feel like you can juggle all that, then go ahead.

In sociology I ended up with a B in SCLY1, B in SCLY2, A in SCLY3, A in SCLY4 and ended up with a B overall. I don't know if you tried to aim for an A if you re-sat your lowest C, if it would equal an A overall.
Reply 2
Original post by viciousechoes
ooo! I was in a similiar situation last year because I got a B in English, C in history, C in psychology and a D in sociology. I got a A and a E in history, and I got a B and a U in sociology.

I ended up dropping history because it drained me and ended up resitting the exam I got a U for AS Sociology.
A2 Sociology is a lot of stress - mostly because there's so much to remember. If you don't feel comfortable with the spec for sociology, I'd advise you to drop it. At the end of the day, it's something that you're going to have to enjoy. The only reason I stuck with sociology is because I loved the content, even though there was so much.

4 resits does seem like it's a lot. Remember that A2 is a lot harder than AS, and you're gonna have to juggle all that knowledge along with your AS knowledge. If you feel like you can juggle all that, then go ahead.

In sociology I ended up with a B in SCLY1, B in SCLY2, A in SCLY3, A in SCLY4 and ended up with a B overall. I don't know if you tried to aim for an A if you re-sat your lowest C, if it would equal an A overall.


Wow, congrats on going from D to B in sociology, what would you advise I do to achieve well in it? I think exam technique is my hardest area but I don't know how to go about mastering it...

I really like the content and find it so interesting, its just the difficulty of the course that is putting me off it, but I'm leaning more towards keeping it and dropping politics instead as my ucas application would look better with BCC rather than BCD.

I'll have to double check my UMS for the two units in sociology, but I'm either going to have to do 3 or 4 anyway.
Original post by vices
Wow, congrats on going from D to B in sociology, what would you advise I do to achieve well in it? I think exam technique is my hardest area but I don't know how to go about mastering it...

I really like the content and find it so interesting, its just the difficulty of the course that is putting me off it, but I'm leaning more towards keeping it and dropping politics instead as my ucas application would look better with BCC rather than BCD.

I'll have to double check my UMS for the two units in sociology, but I'm either going to have to do 3 or 4 anyway.


Thank you! We were given this book in class, and from there I bought 2 huge notebooks to write all my notes inside. My teacher also gave us powerpoint resources that he printed out for each topic. I used this in combination with the book to make sure I understood everything.

Don't worry, exam techniques were also my hardest area. Timing too! I think the best thing is just to write essays for exam questions a few times to get used to the wordings of the questions then to make detailed and brief plans for the exam questions or topics. I did some from memory, just testing what I knew, and most from the book. From making plans, I started to link sociologists to each other so that made it a lot easier to remember certain sociologists from across all topics. You kinda have to link and reference across the whole entire spec which is why it's important that you know everything.
I think I still have my plans (so if you're doing Crime and Deviance for SCLY4 and Religion for SCLY3, I'll happily upload those!)

I know what you mean about the difficulty - I went into A2 with no clue about the difficulty so when my teacher first went over the spec, I honestly screamed inside my head :smile: but I stuck through it and I'm really glad I did. Since you already really like the content, that should help you get through it - it helped me!

Good luck if you do 3 or 4 resits!
Reply 4
Original post by viciousechoes
Thank you! We were given this book in class, and from there I bought 2 huge notebooks to write all my notes inside. My teacher also gave us powerpoint resources that he printed out for each topic. I used this in combination with the book to make sure I understood everything.

Don't worry, exam techniques were also my hardest area. Timing too! I think the best thing is just to write essays for exam questions a few times to get used to the wordings of the questions then to make detailed and brief plans for the exam questions or topics. I did some from memory, just testing what I knew, and most from the book. From making plans, I started to link sociologists to each other so that made it a lot easier to remember certain sociologists from across all topics. You kinda have to link and reference across the whole entire spec which is why it's important that you know everything.
I think I still have my plans (so if you're doing Crime and Deviance for SCLY4 and Religion for SCLY3, I'll happily upload those!)

I know what you mean about the difficulty - I went into A2 with no clue about the difficulty so when my teacher first went over the spec, I honestly screamed inside my head :smile: but I stuck through it and I'm really glad I did. Since you already really like the content, that should help you get through it - it helped me!

Good luck if you do 3 or 4 resits!


Hey I saw you all talking about sociology and the grades you got, and I was just wondering if you can help me and give me advice. Basically I got my AS-level results on Thursday and I got a U in sociology, btw that's the only A-level I took the rest is Btec level 3 in applied science and EPQ. Anyway I dropped sociology but I have no idea how it's going to effect me later on when I apply to uni.
Original post by Loren24
Hey I saw you all talking about sociology and the grades you got, and I was just wondering if you can help me and give me advice. Basically I got my AS-level results on Thursday and I got a U in sociology, btw that's the only A-level I took the rest is Btec level 3 in applied science and EPQ. Anyway I dropped sociology but I have no idea how it's going to effect me later on when I apply to uni.


I will private message you! I don't wanna hijack the thread ahaha
Reply 6
Original post by viciousechoes
I will private message you! I don't wanna hijack the thread ahaha


Ok
Reply 7
Original post by viciousechoes
Thank you! We were given this book in class, and from there I bought 2 huge notebooks to write all my notes inside. My teacher also gave us powerpoint resources that he printed out for each topic. I used this in combination with the book to make sure I understood everything.

Don't worry, exam techniques were also my hardest area. Timing too! I think the best thing is just to write essays for exam questions a few times to get used to the wordings of the questions then to make detailed and brief plans for the exam questions or topics. I did some from memory, just testing what I knew, and most from the book. From making plans, I started to link sociologists to each other so that made it a lot easier to remember certain sociologists from across all topics. You kinda have to link and reference across the whole entire spec which is why it's important that you know everything.
I think I still have my plans (so if you're doing Crime and Deviance for SCLY4 and Religion for SCLY3, I'll happily upload those!)

I know what you mean about the difficulty - I went into A2 with no clue about the difficulty so when my teacher first went over the spec, I honestly screamed inside my head :smile: but I stuck through it and I'm really glad I did. Since you already really like the content, that should help you get through it - it helped me!

Good luck if you do 3 or 4 resits!


Yeah that's the same book we use, and I'm doing power not religion but I am doing crime and deviance so if you could upload those that would be really helpful! :h:

It seems like I'm going to have to learn a whole new routine then... but thank you for those tips anyway, I'm going to take them on board and I hope I enjoy the course as much as you did :smile:
Original post by vices
Yeah that's the same book we use, and I'm doing power not religion but I am doing crime and deviance so if you could upload those that would be really helpful! :h:

It seems like I'm going to have to learn a whole new routine then... but thank you for those tips anyway, I'm going to take them on board and I hope I enjoy the course as much as you did :smile:


That's fine! I'll upload them now in this thread! [I'll add the theory too]

Oh don't take my way as the only way - do what allows you to learn the best! But I hope you doo!
Sociological Theory

I'd just like to say and apologise for using so many abbreviations - w/c means working class, r/c means ruling class, b/c means because. But these are the only ones that I have at the moment :biggrin:
Reply 11
Original post by viciousechoes
Sociological Theory

I'd just like to say and apologise for using so many abbreviations - w/c means working class, r/c means ruling class, b/c means because. But these are the only ones that I have at the moment :biggrin:


Omg thank you so much for these and don't worry, I'll see what works for me through trial and error but hopefully it will all work out :smile:
Original post by vices
Omg thank you so much for these and don't worry, I'll see what works for me through trial and error but hopefully it will all work out :smile:


That's alright! Good luck with everything, hope you completely smash them!

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