What do you wish you'd known...

that the British are alcoholics

m'lady
you can confide in my arms and smoke a J

Brigton is so popular xD Yeeesss chemistry !! I don't like physics that much though, it is a bit too abstract or I don't know... I just prefer chemistry

Yeah the gap year is so necessary rn. Oh good idea ! You'll be super ready for uni after that o/

What IS university?

I was really shy when I started uni and I've suffered from anxiety for 10 years but getting to uni was the best thing that's ever happened. The day I first moved in couldn't come soon enough. I rarely got drunk in first year, but still made really good friends. It's impossible not to, considering just how big university is.

yeah you taking a gap year too? chemistry is amazing but physics is too :3 haha i love chemistry though, fave science of all time

the only physics i like is astrophysics.

Yup, I made applications with a deferred entry for all of my 5 choices of uni ! (I didn't send them yet though, I need to finish my personal statement and all that)
Yay, I'm doing chemistry at school at the moment and I liiiiike it

Astrophysics is fascinating, I studied a bit of it for a tiny piece of homework and It was soooo interesting

That's super cool ! I already heard this kind of story, people being quite introverted and shy and who actually embraced the social experience of university and made a ton of friends there.
I think university might be a sort of "trigger" for shy people to open themselves, and now I really can't wait to go and meet new people at my future university

Just how challenging, time-consuming and stressful a Maths degree at Imperial would be Despite things turning out rather well (I got a 1st), I had a lot less free time than I thought I would.

My message to future maths/science undergrads is this:

Uni life isn't just a party. You have to be prepared to work very hard!

ooooooh! that's good! I have to apply after A2s because i'm predicted BBB -_-

I love chem but OCR B is soooo hardddd ugh. But yeah astrophysics is really cooL! i know there's gonna be a lot of maths in chemistry so i wanna do that during my gap year and i might as well do physics too just because I did the AS and i liked it and i reckon i'd be better prepared in the gap year haha :3 It's really interesting, maths and physics, but i can't do them and i really want to so i'll try anyway haha i'll get like 2 different tutors for each and work part time to provide for it (maybe at a lab or something :3) but i am looking forward to the sleeeeeeeeeeppppppppppp

It really is. Uni's far too big to be cliquey like school is-everyone's always willing to make friends throughout their time at uni. I only met some of my closest friends towards the end of 3rd year (I'm now in 4th year, language student who did my year abroad in 2nd year).

Added to that my school (had a 6th form attached) was the most vile, toxic environment you could ever imagine. Literally full of genuinely nasty people. I couldn't leave soon enough and I was determined to not have such a destructive time at uni

Oh if you are predicted certain grades you will have to apply after a certain period ? Didn't know that ! (international student spotted ooooops)
I actually don't really know a lot about how UK student apply to uni, I just know the UCAS process and that's it ^^

I didn't do OCR and I don't think it is in my syllabus, but it seems quite hard indeed !
Yup gotta be prepared in that gap year Wow that's so cool if you can work in a lab !! I would love to get some work experience in an area linked to psychology (because this is what I want to study at uni) *-*
Ahaha this gap year will make me develop a strong relationship with my bed too

Finally, the cliquey thing was soooo present at my middleschool, not the coolest period of my life aha
Oooh a language student that's nice ! What language are you studying ?

In the school I am currently it is less like that, people are more open I feel and more determined to work seriously so we have quite a studious atmosphere but I can totally feel what your school must have been and I'm happy it ended at uni !

Oh you're international?! That's awesome! Where from? How it works in the UK is basically, we finish our AS levels in year 12 (aged 16-17) and then, based on our AS levels, we are predicted our (final) A2 grades. Usually it's 1 grade above what you get but it really depends on your subject teachers (I got BBCC and was predicted BBB but my friend got CCDU and was predicted BBC). So if the entry requirements for a course at some uni are higher than your predicteds, and you think that your predicteds are false and you can out-do them, you wait until you sit your A2 exams and get your final results! That would be August, the new cycle starts in September so you apply then, and then you get your offers and interviews and stuff and hopefully you get a place and start in the following September! That's it :3

OCR is hard T_T especially the Salters course, it's meant to prepare you more for university but it's just bringing my grades down atm haha.
Why don't you try getting experience in the mental health ward of a hospital? or like a mental institution? Or or or! volunteer for services in your country like the Samaritans and ChildLine - they're like 24 hour phone/chat counselling services...

Well international was a bit exaggerated, I'm right across the Channel : I'm French ! Ooooh ok, thanks for the explanation, it's way clearer now !

Oh yes, I know that subject-that-is-meant-to-prepare-you-for-the-future type of thing and they are really hard hard hard
It might be an easier thing in the UK but in France going to a hospital and "working" there is reserved to medical students/undergrad students But if I get the chance I would defenitely spend some time in the UK working in a hospital, I know someone who did that and I would looooooove it
And I already got the idea of the phone counselling, I did take a look at a SOS Suicide line and they only accepted volunteers aged 25 and more I totally understand it though, I aimed a bit too high aha, I'll take a look at other types of phone/chat counselling
I did engaged myself as a volunteer at the French Red Cross this year also and this might get me pretty busy during my gap year and I'm excited for that, can't wait to start this yearrrrr

Thannnnnks for all the nice ideas !!

I do Chinese with Japanese at uni and did my year abroad in Nanjing, China, although I did French and German for A Level at school.

Uni's definitely a lot different to school. Yes, people are there to work, but you have so much more freedom but also more responsibility. No one's going to chase you if you don't hand your work in and no one will remind you of deadlines-you have to do it all by yourself.

No problem!
Ohhhhh that's awesome! So wait you were in France all your life? No wayyyy! Your English is amazing! You must have grown up here or something.
Yepp subject is really hard but ... oh well haha what can we do :3
nope in the UK it's super hard to get any clinical experience unless you personally know a doctor! it used to be much easier like 5 years ago... maybe you could try going abroad to some third world countries and volunteering for charity there?
Yeah i'm sure there are ones that accept people aged 17/18! even 16+ maybe!
Ooooh that is awesome! Red Cross too! MAssive organisation that's awesome! no problem good luck