Is it worth taking a gap year even if you make your offer?

I took a gap year because I got abcc at AS , definitely because my head was not in a good place , and thought that was c r a p then got A*AAb and then got three unconditionals and I've spent my time self teaching further maths definitely got at least an A wanted an A*

My advice is gap years are very good for your mental state , I've just spent a tonne of time exercising and getting better at maths. It can be boring at times so you must prepare things to do - I live in a village so nothing to do here so learned to drive etc etc

Specifically if you get the grades, then that is unlike my situation , but all I can say is if your parents are very relaxed about a gap year, then it may just be the right thing to do if you don't feel ready for university absolutely 100%. I feel overprepared for uni now which I think is better

I don't want to reapply. I don't want to go anywhere else but my firm university, and I 99% know that I've done enough for my firm, so this shouldn't be an issue, right? I wouldn't be going through the UCAS process again, just attempting my A2s again.

Wait - would I need to reapply, even if I got the grades?

I don't want to reapply. I don't want to go anywhere else but my firm university, and I 99% know that I've done enough for my firm, so this shouldn't be an issue, right? I wouldn't be going through the UCAS process again, just attempting my A2s again.

Wait - would I need to reapply, even if I got the grades?

What if you miss again? You've just wasted a year of your life. It's a pretty easy decision to make weighing up the cost and potential benefits (there are none)

I would be coding, travelling and being able to do work experience at my uncle's firm in the USA, as well as hopefully saving money to help with maintenance costs and practising guitar + piano + singing. Even if I didn't retake my A2s, I'd still seriously consider a gap year. It's whether or not retaking is a good idea.

I would be coding, travelling and being able to do work experience at my uncle's firm in the USA, as well as hopefully saving money to help with maintenance costs and practising guitar + piano + singing. Even if I didn't retake my A2s, I'd still seriously consider a gap year. It's whether or not retaking is a good idea.

If you want to retake your A Levels, you will have to reapply yes, unless your firm allows you defer, but they might be suspicious of you retaking if you're retaking your A Levels even though you made the offer.

In your case, there are honestly no advantages of retaking. A Levels are nothing more than a means of getting you into uni. After that, they mean nothing.

My firm says they would be happy to let me defer my entry. If I retake some A2 exams, how will that change the UCAS process? Can't I just bring them updated certificates of improved results when I do start in September 2017, so that they can replace the ones of the results I get this summer? Or is there more to the procedure?

To be clear, I do not want to reapply. There's nowhere I'd rather go. My retaking is pretty much entirely a personal goal issue.

How would you save money when you're travelling to the US to work? Flights and work visas are expensive, so a lot of what you earn will go towards that. You can get generous grants to study or work abroad on the erasmus scheme when you're at uni, as well as summer internship, so again, not a reason to take a gap year.

There will be plenty of societies at uni where you can improve your musical skills, so again, not a reason to take a gap year.

Hi,

I'm fairly sure that I've met the offer of my firm choice, but that offer is quite low compared to my predicted grades and I am 100% certain that I haven't met my predictions of A*A*A*A - I feel quite disappointed in my performance during my A2 exams. I know that once you get into university, A-Levels don't matter hugely but I still don't think I've performed to my full potential due to some mental health issues and I really want a set of grades I know I couldn't improve on.

If I defer entry to my firm choice this year and take a gap year (in which I hope to, besides retaking a few A2 modules, sharpen my maths skills; improve my coding abilities; do some engineering work experience; and travel), would it be worth it?

Obviously if the worst thing happens and I miss my offer, I'll definitely take a gap year as my grades would need HUGE improving. But if I retake some modules, knowing that my university place is confirmed no matter what the outcome is, it would definitely take the pressure off and hopefully I'd be able to perform far better than I did this May/June - but would it be pointless and a waste of time?

Thanks.

Okay, true..
Damn, I was almost excited by the prospect

That's something people can do whenever, and usually something people who have failed look towards as a silver lining. I don't think I've ever come across anyone who'd want to avoid university for those reasons. And FYI university holidays are huge, you can do all that and more during Christmas break or during summer which is like 4 months. At Warwick term is only 10 weeks. Exam term time is non existent and exams are over by week 7.

If you are taking a gap year to improve your grades, DON"T do it. If you have mental health issues and would like to learn how to cope with it more, then it could be a wise decision. Honestly If I had the choice I wouldn't take a gap year in your shoes. Gap year should come after uni.but that just me speaking from experience.

Yeah, you're right.

But what about the thousands of students every year who defer their entry? Surely they're genuinely looking forward to doing these things?

If you achieve your offer there's no point retaking any A-levels. BUT taking a gap year and doing something constructive with it (e.g. a full year of relevant work experience) could certainly be an idea.

I really wouldn't sweat on "improving" grades from A's to A*s. There's nothing to be gained from it.

I wouldn't be taking the gap year to specifically tackle my mental health issues. I'd just kind of go with it and hope that improving mental health would be a by-product of a stress-free, productive gap year

What about taking a gap year to undertake constructive work experience AND retake a couple of A2 modules?

Wasting your time on something worthless is not a prospect to be excited by. University is. You'll gain far more life skills by moving out and living on your own studying something you really want to at a place you love. Plus why wouldn't you want to take advantage of generous funding for study abroad? You really want to waste your own money on it when you could get it funded for you?