Dealing with not getting into Uni and regret.
Where do I start..
Hello everyone,
I was a straight A student in my GCSEs. I loved learning and loved school, thus continuing on to Sixth Form was just the natural next step for me and as well as my teachers I thought I would thrive.
In hindsight I suppose I assumed the leap to AS Levels wouldn't be too intense and I was wrong. I struggled for the duration of my A Levels to really achieve the As and Bs I was predicted, my AS results were as followed:
Biology- C
English Lit-B
Geography-B
French-D
EPQ-B
My A Level results:
English Lit- B
Geography-B
Biology- D
Due to these results I was rejected from a place at uni (required grades ABB), this was back in 2014. I was heart broken when I was rejected, I couldn't eat for a while and I was just utterly disappointed in myself.
I considered resitting Biology to get a B and part of the English (the coursework possibly) to obtain an A. But my school kicked up a fuss, at first refusing my request, and then telling me I could resit there, but I couldn't attend any classes or revision. As a result I ended up not retaking my exams.
Nearly two years on, I carry around this huge sense of guilt and pure disappointment, because this really was not what I envisioned for myself.
I know this is very lengthy, but I was wondering if any of you had gone or are going through the same thing.
Hello everyone,
I was a straight A student in my GCSEs. I loved learning and loved school, thus continuing on to Sixth Form was just the natural next step for me and as well as my teachers I thought I would thrive.
In hindsight I suppose I assumed the leap to AS Levels wouldn't be too intense and I was wrong. I struggled for the duration of my A Levels to really achieve the As and Bs I was predicted, my AS results were as followed:
Biology- C
English Lit-B
Geography-B
French-D
EPQ-B
My A Level results:
English Lit- B
Geography-B
Biology- D
Due to these results I was rejected from a place at uni (required grades ABB), this was back in 2014. I was heart broken when I was rejected, I couldn't eat for a while and I was just utterly disappointed in myself.
I considered resitting Biology to get a B and part of the English (the coursework possibly) to obtain an A. But my school kicked up a fuss, at first refusing my request, and then telling me I could resit there, but I couldn't attend any classes or revision. As a result I ended up not retaking my exams.
Nearly two years on, I carry around this huge sense of guilt and pure disappointment, because this really was not what I envisioned for myself.
I know this is very lengthy, but I was wondering if any of you had gone or are going through the same thing.
Hi,
I'm currently near the end of my A2 year, after dropping out in my original A2 year and, like you, not achieving what I knew I was capable of. I currently need ABB and I had AS grades of CDD at first (I resat a few exams when I left).
First of, you should not feel disappointed. You got BBD. They're decent grades! Yeah, not Russel group grades, but considering how you struggled and the AS grades you had, well done, really. It's not like you did easy subjects.
There are a range of opportunities to still go to university, if you want to. And before you say 'But I'll be so old!', assuming you're 20/21 right now, you really won't be. I have a friend who had to retake AS twice due to health and I honestly did not realise she was 2 years older than all of us until it was her birthday. Plus, I'll be 20 myself when I go to university in September.
One thing you could do is a foundation degree. I don't know what type of degree you'd be planning to do (as you did a decent mixture of sciences and humanities), but I know that universities do offer them. In my college in Merseyside, we offer a foundation degree level for students who attend the university of Liverpool after 'year 0'. Their qualifications vary. For many degrees Liverpool uni asks for around ABB and I know people from my original classes who do the foundation year (who achieved the likes of BBC). There are also people who left education after A-Levels and worked and gained experience for a few years. My own Computing teacher did this. She achieved C's and D's at A-Level, worked as a programmer for a few years and then did a foundation degree and went to university at 27.
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/applying/before/foundation/
https://www.dur.ac.uk/courses/?q=foundation+year&s=Search&level=Undergraduate
http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/foundation-year/courses/
(that's just a few I found by typing 'universities with foundation years' into Google)
If you're in a position to do so, you could apply straight to university by working in a related job field and then reapplying. You should take a look at a few university pages and check out the 'mature students' section, or, if you find a degree you like, you could contact the university/department directly and discuss your experience/current qualifications. I know the likes of the university of York has this section on the entry requirements page for some of their degrees.
An example of a mature students requirements section (from York BSc in Computer Science, what I've applied to):
'We welcome applications from mature candidates and will assess any application on its own merits. However, we still expect you to have an appropriate background in Mathematics. We recommend that you contact us for an informal discussion before you apply.'
You could also apply to a university you already have the grades for (maybe one that asks for UCAS points). From the sounds of things, you were probably aiming for a more highly regarded university, but, depending on the subject, some lower grade universities can offer good degrees. Maybe take a look at some league tables and see what lower grade universities rank highly/moderately?
If you regret not going to university and you still want to, please don't feel guilty and disappointed. There are so many people who don't get to university the traditional way (myself included) and I feel like those stories never get shared. And if you go and end up dropping out because you don't like it, then you know it's not meant to be, but at least you can have piece of mind that you tried. Keep your chin up.
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/mature-students
https://www.gov.uk/mature-student-university-funding
I'm currently near the end of my A2 year, after dropping out in my original A2 year and, like you, not achieving what I knew I was capable of. I currently need ABB and I had AS grades of CDD at first (I resat a few exams when I left).
First of, you should not feel disappointed. You got BBD. They're decent grades! Yeah, not Russel group grades, but considering how you struggled and the AS grades you had, well done, really. It's not like you did easy subjects.
There are a range of opportunities to still go to university, if you want to. And before you say 'But I'll be so old!', assuming you're 20/21 right now, you really won't be. I have a friend who had to retake AS twice due to health and I honestly did not realise she was 2 years older than all of us until it was her birthday. Plus, I'll be 20 myself when I go to university in September.
One thing you could do is a foundation degree. I don't know what type of degree you'd be planning to do (as you did a decent mixture of sciences and humanities), but I know that universities do offer them. In my college in Merseyside, we offer a foundation degree level for students who attend the university of Liverpool after 'year 0'. Their qualifications vary. For many degrees Liverpool uni asks for around ABB and I know people from my original classes who do the foundation year (who achieved the likes of BBC). There are also people who left education after A-Levels and worked and gained experience for a few years. My own Computing teacher did this. She achieved C's and D's at A-Level, worked as a programmer for a few years and then did a foundation degree and went to university at 27.
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/applying/before/foundation/
https://www.dur.ac.uk/courses/?q=foundation+year&s=Search&level=Undergraduate
http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/foundation-year/courses/
(that's just a few I found by typing 'universities with foundation years' into Google)
If you're in a position to do so, you could apply straight to university by working in a related job field and then reapplying. You should take a look at a few university pages and check out the 'mature students' section, or, if you find a degree you like, you could contact the university/department directly and discuss your experience/current qualifications. I know the likes of the university of York has this section on the entry requirements page for some of their degrees.
An example of a mature students requirements section (from York BSc in Computer Science, what I've applied to):
'We welcome applications from mature candidates and will assess any application on its own merits. However, we still expect you to have an appropriate background in Mathematics. We recommend that you contact us for an informal discussion before you apply.'
You could also apply to a university you already have the grades for (maybe one that asks for UCAS points). From the sounds of things, you were probably aiming for a more highly regarded university, but, depending on the subject, some lower grade universities can offer good degrees. Maybe take a look at some league tables and see what lower grade universities rank highly/moderately?
If you regret not going to university and you still want to, please don't feel guilty and disappointed. There are so many people who don't get to university the traditional way (myself included) and I feel like those stories never get shared. And if you go and end up dropping out because you don't like it, then you know it's not meant to be, but at least you can have piece of mind that you tried. Keep your chin up.
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/mature-students
https://www.gov.uk/mature-student-university-funding
Is it still possible for you to retake biology? You'd probably have to pay, but you could find a school where you could enter privately. If you were doing well in your GCSEs you're obviously intelligent. There are a lot of resources for A level biology - maybe you could self-teach it?
Do you want to go to university for the sake of it or what. If we pretend for a moment that you did go to uni, would you feel regret then? For you its not about having fun or something at uni, you place uni high importance because you think all the smart people should go to uni and you are smart. You think all the smart people should get a degree in life and your talents are wasted somehow. I mean 10 years on who is actutally going to ask if you went to uni. However, people with good degrees do usually get higher paid jobs so I can understand your worry. It is kind of your fault that even after AS you didnt take it seriously or even retake AS subjects. Most do retakes without resitting the year so i dont know why you chose not to do that. Furthermore, if you still want to go to university you can retake your subjects and go. You probably wont get into a really good uni but a decent uni will still take you. But my advice would be that you are wasting your life going to uni. You probably wont enjoy it, you wont have many opportunities as a younger graduate and it will only be a decent uni so might not even get a higher paid job, not to mention the high cost of going to uni. Instead you should study something you love or continue with what you are doing now. Dont listen to anyone else
Original post by sophiebookley
Hi,
I'm currently near the end of my A2 year, after dropping out in my original A2 year and, like you, not achieving what I knew I was capable of. I currently need ABB and I had AS grades of CDD at first (I resat a few exams when I left).
First of, you should not feel disappointed. You got BBD. They're decent grades! Yeah, not Russel group grades, but considering how you struggled and the AS grades you had, well done, really. It's not like you did easy subjects.
There are a range of opportunities to still go to university, if you want to. And before you say 'But I'll be so old!', assuming you're 20/21 right now, you really won't be. I have a friend who had to retake AS twice due to health and I honestly did not realise she was 2 years older than all of us until it was her birthday. Plus, I'll be 20 myself when I go to university in September.
One thing you could do is a foundation degree. I don't know what type of degree you'd be planning to do (as you did a decent mixture of sciences and humanities), but I know that universities do offer them. In my college in Merseyside, we offer a foundation degree level for students who attend the university of Liverpool after 'year 0'. Their qualifications vary. For many degrees Liverpool uni asks for around ABB and I know people from my original classes who do the foundation year (who achieved the likes of BBC). There are also people who left education after A-Levels and worked and gained experience for a few years. My own Computing teacher did this. She achieved C's and D's at A-Level, worked as a programmer for a few years and then did a foundation degree and went to university at 27.
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/applying/before/foundation/
https://www.dur.ac.uk/courses/?q=foundation+year&s=Search&level=Undergraduate
http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/foundation-year/courses/
(that's just a few I found by typing 'universities with foundation years' into Google)
If you're in a position to do so, you could apply straight to university by working in a related job field and then reapplying. You should take a look at a few university pages and check out the 'mature students' section, or, if you find a degree you like, you could contact the university/department directly and discuss your experience/current qualifications. I know the likes of the university of York has this section on the entry requirements page for some of their degrees.
An example of a mature students requirements section (from York BSc in Computer Science, what I've applied to):
'We welcome applications from mature candidates and will assess any application on its own merits. However, we still expect you to have an appropriate background in Mathematics. We recommend that you contact us for an informal discussion before you apply.'
You could also apply to a university you already have the grades for (maybe one that asks for UCAS points). From the sounds of things, you were probably aiming for a more highly regarded university, but, depending on the subject, some lower grade universities can offer good degrees. Maybe take a look at some league tables and see what lower grade universities rank highly/moderately?
If you regret not going to university and you still want to, please don't feel guilty and disappointed. There are so many people who don't get to university the traditional way (myself included) and I feel like those stories never get shared. And if you go and end up dropping out because you don't like it, then you know it's not meant to be, but at least you can have piece of mind that you tried. Keep your chin up.
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/mature-students
https://www.gov.uk/mature-student-university-funding
I'm currently near the end of my A2 year, after dropping out in my original A2 year and, like you, not achieving what I knew I was capable of. I currently need ABB and I had AS grades of CDD at first (I resat a few exams when I left).
First of, you should not feel disappointed. You got BBD. They're decent grades! Yeah, not Russel group grades, but considering how you struggled and the AS grades you had, well done, really. It's not like you did easy subjects.
There are a range of opportunities to still go to university, if you want to. And before you say 'But I'll be so old!', assuming you're 20/21 right now, you really won't be. I have a friend who had to retake AS twice due to health and I honestly did not realise she was 2 years older than all of us until it was her birthday. Plus, I'll be 20 myself when I go to university in September.
One thing you could do is a foundation degree. I don't know what type of degree you'd be planning to do (as you did a decent mixture of sciences and humanities), but I know that universities do offer them. In my college in Merseyside, we offer a foundation degree level for students who attend the university of Liverpool after 'year 0'. Their qualifications vary. For many degrees Liverpool uni asks for around ABB and I know people from my original classes who do the foundation year (who achieved the likes of BBC). There are also people who left education after A-Levels and worked and gained experience for a few years. My own Computing teacher did this. She achieved C's and D's at A-Level, worked as a programmer for a few years and then did a foundation degree and went to university at 27.
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/applying/before/foundation/
https://www.dur.ac.uk/courses/?q=foundation+year&s=Search&level=Undergraduate
http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/foundation-year/courses/
(that's just a few I found by typing 'universities with foundation years' into Google)
If you're in a position to do so, you could apply straight to university by working in a related job field and then reapplying. You should take a look at a few university pages and check out the 'mature students' section, or, if you find a degree you like, you could contact the university/department directly and discuss your experience/current qualifications. I know the likes of the university of York has this section on the entry requirements page for some of their degrees.
An example of a mature students requirements section (from York BSc in Computer Science, what I've applied to):
'We welcome applications from mature candidates and will assess any application on its own merits. However, we still expect you to have an appropriate background in Mathematics. We recommend that you contact us for an informal discussion before you apply.'
You could also apply to a university you already have the grades for (maybe one that asks for UCAS points). From the sounds of things, you were probably aiming for a more highly regarded university, but, depending on the subject, some lower grade universities can offer good degrees. Maybe take a look at some league tables and see what lower grade universities rank highly/moderately?
If you regret not going to university and you still want to, please don't feel guilty and disappointed. There are so many people who don't get to university the traditional way (myself included) and I feel like those stories never get shared. And if you go and end up dropping out because you don't like it, then you know it's not meant to be, but at least you can have piece of mind that you tried. Keep your chin up.
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/mature-students
https://www.gov.uk/mature-student-university-funding
Thank you so much for your reply, after discussing my options, firstly I will definitely look at the foundation degrees, but I'm strongly considering retaking Biology and English to get an A.
Your comment has definitely given me other options to think about and a great sense of encouragement.
Thank you!
Original post by Anonymous
Thank you so much for your reply, after discussing my options, firstly I will definitely look at the foundation degrees, but I'm strongly considering retaking Biology and English to get an A.
Your comment has definitely given me other options to think about and a great sense of encouragement.
Thank you!
Your comment has definitely given me other options to think about and a great sense of encouragement.
Thank you!
Sounds like a good plan.
I just suggested what I did because I thought you might not be considering resits after the hassle with your old college.Good luck whatever you do.
Compare the cost of resits v a foundation year.
Foundation is handy if you want to brush up on your knowledge
You arent good at teaching yourself.
You should also consider doing a foundation at the place you want to do your degree.
Be careful about 2 year foundations as it might have a knock on effect on your funding.
Foundation is handy if you want to brush up on your knowledge
You arent good at teaching yourself.
You should also consider doing a foundation at the place you want to do your degree.
Be careful about 2 year foundations as it might have a knock on effect on your funding.
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