"You'll Never Get Into a Good University..." GYG 2017

WELCOME!
I'm in Year 13, and will be sitting my A2 exams in summer 2017. I also have mocks in the first week of February!

My Motivation: I didn't work hard enough for my GCSEs, and although I thought I'd worked hard for my AS-levels, there was a real shock on results day. I'd been getting As all year. My Spanish teacher was particularly shocked; we got my paper back and had it remarked, but (much to both our annoyances), my grade remained the same. This year, I just really want to work hard so I don't disappoint my parents (again :redface:

), and make it to a good university! After I received my AS grades, my dad told me that he didn't think I'd ever get into a good university, so really this is my once chance to prove him wrong.

GCSEs:

Spoiler

AS-Levels:

Spoiler

A2 Predicted Grades:

Spoiler

Mock Results:
AAB

Results:
TBC

Universities:
University of Manchester, French and Spanish - Offer of ABB (Rejected)
University of Edinburgh, French and Spanish - Offer of ABB (Insurance choice)
University of Warwick, Modern Languages - Offer of AAB (Rejected)
Durham University, Modern Languages and Cultures - Offer of AAA (Firm choice)

May Goals:

Spoiler

I'll be updating this page weekly (at least), with my study techniques and maybe the odd picture! I'm open to any advice and constructive criticism. If there's anything you'd like to know, feel free to ask!

(edited 6 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

UWS

Great grades you have and a really good reason to be motivated :h:

Good luck with your journey, I'm sure you'll achieve your goals :biggrin:

Reply 2

SampleX

Original post by UWS

Great grades you have and a really good reason to be motivated :h:

Good luck with your journey, I'm sure you'll achieve your goals :biggrin:

Thank you! :smile:

Reply 3

SampleX

WEEK 1 UPDATE:

After all the craziness of applying for Oxford, this week has been a bit better. I had a French conversation class, which went really well; I managed to use the subjunctive, future perfect, conditional perfect and a couple of conditional clauses! I've managed to locate all of my AS vocab books, I plan to start re-learning the vocab this week. As for RE, I'm almost three-quarters of the way through my Body, Soul and Personal Identity notes - hopefully they'll be finished by next week!

Question: What learning techniques do you find most effective?

Reply 4

SampleX

QUICK UPDATE

So, I had my interview at Manchester yesterday, which wasn't too bad. However, preparation for that has put me behind a little with my RE notes. Not particularly happy with RE right now; our teacher marked our essays, and we all did very poorly (Ds, Es, Us). It turns out she had used the wrong mark scheme, yet refused to remark our papers because apparently we "didn't deserve any more marks, anyway". I'm really struggling to understand how she can mark our papers so badly when, with our other teacher, we are consistently getting As/Bs (and he's such a harsh marker). So today has been a bit of a struggle, and I don't really know where to go from here - this teacher doesn't even have any RE qualifications so I have no idea why she's teaching us. But, we soldier on!

Reply 5

EpicLettie

Good luck!! As someone who also could have tried harder and done better, I wish you the best. Hopefully things start to turn around :smile:

Reply 6

SampleX

Original post by EpicLettie

Good luck!! As someone who also could have tried harder and done better, I wish you the best. Hopefully things start to turn around :smile:

Thank you, hopefully they will! Good luck to you too :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 7

SampleX

WEEK 2 UPDATE:

After a bit of a shaky week, I've managed to pull myself back together. I'm well on track with my AS Spanish vocab (and I've started some AS French vocab, too). I'm worried that my RE notes may not be finished by the end of the month, but on the basis that I am now basically teaching myself Body, Soul and Personal Identity, I'm trying not to stress too much. My interview at the University of Manchester did put me behind a bit, as I was preparing for it. But the prep paid off; I got an offer the day after my interview to study French and Spanish at ABB! :smile:

Question of the week:

Do you prefer to work with music (or any form of background noise) or in silence?

Reply 8

DarkEnergy

Congrats on the offer!

And to answer your 'question of the week', complete silence.

Reply 9

SampleX

Original post by DarkEnergy

Congrats on the offer!

And to answer your 'question of the week', complete silence.

Thank you

Interesting, I prefer music when it's something tedious; it helps me to push through when I've got my favourite songs on in the background!

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 10

SampleX

WEEK 3 UPDATE:

Well, this week has gone pretty well! I'm catching up with my work, and I've finished half of my RE notes. The re-learning of my AS vocabulary seems to be going well, and I've made mindmaps in both French and Spanish for all the tenses.
In other news, I passed my driving test first time on Wednesday! And, yesterday, I received an invite to interview at Lincoln College at the University of Oxford, to read French and Spanish!

Question of the week: Do you find mind maps useful?

Reply 11

SampleX

WEEK 4 UPDATE

It's been a busy week! I had my mock Oxford interview (which went surprisingly well), and have been bombarded with homework. I have until Wednesday to write and a plan a huge Spanish essay on unemployment, and revise the entire Ontological Argument unit for a test (which I'm not looking forward to!) I've been struggling to manage my time this week, with the sheer amount of school work and interview prep I'm trying to balance, but I'm trying my best!

I'm proud to say I managed to complete my November goals - all my RE notes are done, AS vocabulary revision is well underway and I'm really getting to grips with French grammar.

Question of the week: How do you manage your time?

Reply 12

Aniki_

Nice progress! For curiosity's sake, what career do you want to go into?

Reply 13

SampleX

Original post by Aniki_

Nice progress! For curiosity's sake, what career do you want to go into?

Thank you! :smile:

I'm interested in a career in translation/interpretation, and I'm considering the civil service. :smile:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 14

loubae18

Hi, this is so strange as i am in last year of school, -applying for 2017 french and spanish at uni and i study french spanish and re also for a2 level haha... also strange my as grades were -bbcc (i did 4)..
Where abouts are you from?
I live in northern ireland and want to go to qub :smile:

Best wishes, academic twin haha

Reply 15

SampleX

QUICK UPDATE:

CHRISTMAS IS HERE! I am away for all of Christmas, so I'll be updating my blog in full when I get back.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 16

SampleX

UPDATE:

Hi, everyone! Sorry I've been gone so long, everything has been so hectic!

I had an interview at Lincoln College at the University of Oxford, to read French and Spanish, but unfortunately I got rejected. The rejection has got me down a little, in all honesty. It's difficult to find motivation when someone tells you that you're best isn't good enough, but I'm getting there.

Mocks are coming, which means I'm trying to buckle down with my revision. I didn't do nearly as much as I should have done over the Christmas break, what with being abroad, but I'm catching up slowly.

I think we have study leave during mocks, but my plan up until then is just to try and do languages past papers, and continue with my RE revision cards. I've been really struggling with the new material in the synoptic unit, but we soldier on!

Also, if anyone is after a conversation partner for French and Spanish, let me know, as I'm in search of one!

Reply 17

SampleX

UPDATE:

This week has just flown. I've had tonnes of homework, and mocks are coming, too! Parent's evening was on Thursday, and it didn't go too badly.
So, what did I actually do this week?
RE: I've been making more notes on the significance of life after death, colour-coded by religion! That seems to be working, as my brain is currently associating everything yellow with Christianity!
French: I've recently discovered Lang-8, and have been uploading written work regularly. I absolutely love this site, as it's great to have your work checked by native speakers, who can tell you what is and isn't the norm. (E.g., 'Aussi' is rarely used in French - I used to use it all the time!)
Spanish: I've been doing a lot of research for my oral exams, and some past papers in preparation for my mock exam. I really like the website iTalki, as it provides with the opportunity to speak with native speakers.

Reply 18

SampleX

This week:

RE: In all fairness, I haven't done much studying for RE at all this week. My mocks are coming up, but I don't have an RE mock, so it isn't my priority.
French: I've been doing past papers, and drilling vocab on Memrise every single day. I've also been given my essay title, so I've been planning my essay (on 'Kiffe Kiffe Demain') and learning quotes.

Spanish: Again, vocab on Memrise has been a life saver. I've been doing past papers, but the OCR format is so different from that of AQA.

I'll let you know how I get on with my mocks! I have Spanish on Tuesday afternoon and French on Thursday morning. I'm off all week, so hopefully I'll get plenty of work done!

Reply 19

SampleX

I had my Spanish mock this afternoon. I think I can safely say it didn't go too badly. The two listening exercises were manageable, as was the first reading exercise. The second reading exercise was a lot harder, but I answered all the questions, which is a plus.
Now we are full steam ahead with revision for my French mock on Thursday, and my timed Spanish essay on Monday!