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Ok, so until now I've been doing 4 Advanced Highers (like A2). I have been doing the 3 sciences and maths(although maths is a science 
) and have not been working in biology at all. I said this to my head of year where he hauls me and my mum to his office to have a chat about things.
We talked for over an hour and strongly advised against taking the 4, he thinks I should drop biology and do something more mathematical with my time(I'm applying for maths at Cambridge as a 1st choice).
What do you think I should do? And what could I do? He suggested some work experience with a statistician, but I already have a link with a private school where I get extra maths tuition once a week. I was thinking maybe I could email them and try to extend this into some of my free periods if I did drop bio? The periods I drop would be two doubles after lunch until the end of the day on tuesdays and thursdays, so this would give me adequate time to commute through to Edinburgh.
What do you think?
Also I need to choose a Cambridge college. For tomorrow. Any advice?
Any help is appreciated
) and have not been working in biology at all. I said this to my head of year where he hauls me and my mum to his office to have a chat about things. We talked for over an hour and strongly advised against taking the 4, he thinks I should drop biology and do something more mathematical with my time(I'm applying for maths at Cambridge as a 1st choice).
What do you think I should do? And what could I do? He suggested some work experience with a statistician, but I already have a link with a private school where I get extra maths tuition once a week. I was thinking maybe I could email them and try to extend this into some of my free periods if I did drop bio? The periods I drop would be two doubles after lunch until the end of the day on tuesdays and thursdays, so this would give me adequate time to commute through to Edinburgh.
What do you think?
Also I need to choose a Cambridge college. For tomorrow. Any advice?
Any help is appreciated
davidmarsh01
Ok, so until now I've been doing 4 Advanced Highers (like A2). I have been doing the 3 sciences and maths(although maths is a science 
) and have not been working in biology at all. I said this to my head of year where he hauls me and my mum to his office to have a chat about things.
We talked for over an hour and strongly advised against taking the 4, he thinks I should drop biology and do something more mathematical with my time(I'm applying for maths at Cambridge as a 1st choice).
What do you think I should do? And what could I do? He suggested some work experience with a statistician, but I already have a link with a private school where I get extra maths tuition once a week. I was thinking maybe I could email them and try to extend this into some of my free periods if I did drop bio? The periods I drop would be two doubles after lunch until the end of the day on tuesdays and thursdays, so this would give me adequate time to commute through to Edinburgh.
What do you think?
Also I need to choose a Cambridge college. For tomorrow. Any advice?
Any help is appreciated
) and have not been working in biology at all. I said this to my head of year where he hauls me and my mum to his office to have a chat about things. We talked for over an hour and strongly advised against taking the 4, he thinks I should drop biology and do something more mathematical with my time(I'm applying for maths at Cambridge as a 1st choice).
What do you think I should do? And what could I do? He suggested some work experience with a statistician, but I already have a link with a private school where I get extra maths tuition once a week. I was thinking maybe I could email them and try to extend this into some of my free periods if I did drop bio? The periods I drop would be two doubles after lunch until the end of the day on tuesdays and thursdays, so this would give me adequate time to commute through to Edinburgh.
What do you think?
Also I need to choose a Cambridge college. For tomorrow. Any advice?
Any help is appreciated
Only a few days ago you started a thread expressing your outrage that the school was not predicting the grades you thought you deserved. And now you tell us that, actually, you're not really doing the work for one of your subjects. Sounds to me like your teachers had a point - your little rant
And this gets worse - one of the assistant heads said that the predictions are solely a one way thing and I have no input. I'm working my ass off already, and I think this is a complete insult. It will ruin my future, these people at the school are going to ruin my chances of a sniff at Cambridge and severely hinder my Warwick application. I'm so angry right now, what can I do to get this changed?
As to the question you raise now, if you are planning to apply for Maths, the advice you've been given is correct. Assuming you get one, a Cambridge maths offer is usually highly challenging - not sure if you do STEP north of the border, but if you do you are likely to be expected to do this and do well. If you don't do STEP, you will certainly be expected to show a high level of ability in Maths and so the more you do the better placed you will be to put in a convincing application. Distracting yourself with a subject that clearly doesn't motivate you is pointless.
On the question of which college to go for, I would look at this with some care. I don't know what the Further Maths equivalent is in Scotland, but you need to make sure it's covered.
You also seem to assume that this private school will fall in with your requests/plans for additional support without question. Have you considered that they might not? What will you do if that's the case?
(edited 13 years ago)
Id drop it, I took a similar attitude as you and wasted alot of time being dragged to lessons in an attempt to coast it - I ended up 2 UMS off what I wanted overrall which was really annoying. Save yourself the hassle and annoyance and drop it. Theres no point in having a grade if it is a crappy one.
edit: you seem like a spoilt brat. Just sayin'.
edit: you seem like a spoilt brat. Just sayin'.
(edited 13 years ago)
Getting extra tuition from a private school is not what your head meant by "work experience with a statistician" by the way!
Aside from that, why were you and your mum 'hauled' to the office. All the advice given to you on the other thread about getting your predicted grades up was to get your parents involved. Did you do that or were you 'hauled' into the office for a different reason? Were you there to get predicted grades higher or to discuss your work in biology (strange if so, as you told us you had an A grade last year and had been working your ass off)?
You may want to give us the full story. I hope you did get the predicted grades up to an A as the school seemed to be unfair in not predicting this, but you will definitely have to work on your attitude to impress in an interview. If you're already needing extra tuition to get the maths grades and being advised to drop the 4th subject, you may find it hard at Cambridge anyway.
Aside from that, why were you and your mum 'hauled' to the office. All the advice given to you on the other thread about getting your predicted grades up was to get your parents involved. Did you do that or were you 'hauled' into the office for a different reason? Were you there to get predicted grades higher or to discuss your work in biology (strange if so, as you told us you had an A grade last year and had been working your ass off)?
You may want to give us the full story. I hope you did get the predicted grades up to an A as the school seemed to be unfair in not predicting this, but you will definitely have to work on your attitude to impress in an interview. If you're already needing extra tuition to get the maths grades and being advised to drop the 4th subject, you may find it hard at Cambridge anyway.
(edited 13 years ago)
notanumber
Getting extra tuition from a private school is not what your head meant by "work experience with a statistician"!
I agree.
And if you really dont want to carry on with biology then drop it. Theres no point in doingf it if you dont want to do it.
notanumber
Getting extra tuition from a private school is not what your head meant by "work experience with a statistician" by the way!
Aside from that, why were you and your mum 'hauled' to the office. All the advice given to you on the other thread about getting your predicted grades up was to get your parents involved. Did you do that or were you 'hauled' into the office for a different reason? Were you there to get predicted grades higher or to discuss your work in biology (strange if so, as you told us you had an A grade last year and had been working your ass off)?
You may want to give us the full story. I hope you did get the predicted grades up to an A as the school seemed to be unfair in not predicting this, but you will definitely have to work on your attitude to impress in an interview. If you're already needing extra tuition to get the maths grades and being advised to drop the 4th subject, you may find it hard at Cambridge anyway.
Aside from that, why were you and your mum 'hauled' to the office. All the advice given to you on the other thread about getting your predicted grades up was to get your parents involved. Did you do that or were you 'hauled' into the office for a different reason? Were you there to get predicted grades higher or to discuss your work in biology (strange if so, as you told us you had an A grade last year and had been working your ass off)?
You may want to give us the full story. I hope you did get the predicted grades up to an A as the school seemed to be unfair in not predicting this, but you will definitely have to work on your attitude to impress in an interview. If you're already needing extra tuition to get the maths grades and being advised to drop the 4th subject, you may find it hard at Cambridge anyway.
To be fair step is hard, and the OP is too spoilt to do anything for himself (explains all the ******** threads he makes expecting people to give a ****)
notanumber
Getting extra tuition from a private school is not what your head meant by "work experience with a statistician" by the way!
Aside from that, why were you and your mum 'hauled' to the office. All the advice given to you on the other thread about getting your predicted grades up was to get your parents involved. Did you do that or were you 'hauled' into the office for a different reason? Were you there to get predicted grades higher or to discuss your work in biology (strange if so, as you told us you had an A grade last year and had been working your ass off)?
You may want to give us the full story. I hope you did get the predicted grades up to an A as the school seemed to be unfair in not predicting this, but you will definitely have to work on your attitude to impress in an interview. If you're already needing extra tuition to get the maths grades and being advised to drop the 4th subject, you may find it hard at Cambridge anyway.
Aside from that, why were you and your mum 'hauled' to the office. All the advice given to you on the other thread about getting your predicted grades up was to get your parents involved. Did you do that or were you 'hauled' into the office for a different reason? Were you there to get predicted grades higher or to discuss your work in biology (strange if so, as you told us you had an A grade last year and had been working your ass off)?
You may want to give us the full story. I hope you did get the predicted grades up to an A as the school seemed to be unfair in not predicting this, but you will definitely have to work on your attitude to impress in an interview. If you're already needing extra tuition to get the maths grades and being advised to drop the 4th subject, you may find it hard at Cambridge anyway.
It's not about getting the maths grades, it's about gearing my maths up towards a Cambridge interview if I get one
Full story: Working my ass off in everything but Biology. That better?
It was to discuss the predicted grades AND my subject choices. He advised me to drop Biology. He said he'd put money on me getting 3As but not 4As. Have I sufficiently set the story straight?
Also I don't see why work experience with a statistician would be helpful, I don't want to be a statistician, it's just the only job using maths that I could reasonably go on a work placement to. I feel getting extra maths tuition to bridge the gap between AH Maths and Physics to A level Maths and Further Maths.
What do you think?
davidmarsh01
It's not about getting the maths grades, it's about gearing my maths up towards a Cambridge interview if I get one
What is that supposed to mean? AH Maths covers everything you could be asked, except you will need to use a lot of ingenuity with the knowledge you have in hand to solve the problems, which is true for everyone. People get in fine without special "preparation" for the interview.
davidmarsh01
I feel getting extra maths tuition to bridge the gap between AH Maths and Physics to A level Maths and Further Maths.
I feel getting extra maths tuition to bridge the gap between AH Maths and Physics to A level Maths and Further Maths.
Why would you want to do that? The Scottish syllabus is perfectly fine for getting into Cambridge without augmentation. In any case the difference between them is minuscule and you would only need a few weeks, rather than a whole year, to learn what's in the English syllabus that is not in the Scottish.
ukdragon37
What is that supposed to mean? AH Maths covers everything you could be asked, except you will need to use a lot of ingenuity with the knowledge you have in hand to solve the problems, which is true for everyone. People get in fine without special "preparation" for the interview.
I'm already getting an hour a week in which I travel through to edinburgh after school to help train me for an interview. Are you saying that won't help at all?
davidmarsh01
I'm already getting an hour a week in which I travel through to edinburgh after school to help train me for an interview. Are you saying that won't help at all?
You might like to hear it from the horse's mouth:
"Some candidates worry that they have not received ‘interview training’. This is not something to be concerned about. We do not believe that it is possible to ‘coach’ candidates for Cambridge interviews – indeed, our experience is strongly to the contrary: that in fact coaching is usually counter-productive, as coached candidates tend to fall back on prepared speeches and, in contrast, seem exceptionally uneasy when discussing questions that are new to them." --Sidney Sussex College's Interviews Advice
"There aren’t any special tricks to preparing for interviews, and interviewers can usually tell if an applicant has been over-rehearsed
by well-meaning teachers or parents." --Cambridge Interviews: the facts published by the university
In other words it's good to practise with mock interviews but any "training" or "coaching", especially with regards to what to say, is likely to be counter-productive.
(edited 13 years ago)
ukdragon37
You might like to hear it from the horse's mouth:
"Some candidates worry that they have not received ‘interview training’. This is not something to be concerned about. We do not believe that it is possible to ‘coach’ candidates for Cambridge interviews – indeed, our experience is strongly to the contrary: that in fact coaching is usually counter-productive, as coached candidates tend to fall back on prepared speeches and, in contrast, seem exceptionally uneasy when discussing questions that are new to them." --Sidney Sussex College's Interviews Advice
"There aren’t any special tricks to preparing for interviews, and interviewers can usually tell if an applicant has been over-rehearsed
by well-meaning teachers or parents." --Cambridge Interviews: the facts published by the university
In other words it's good to practise with mock interviews but any "training" or "coaching", especially with regards to what to say, is likely to be counter-productive.
"Some candidates worry that they have not received ‘interview training’. This is not something to be concerned about. We do not believe that it is possible to ‘coach’ candidates for Cambridge interviews – indeed, our experience is strongly to the contrary: that in fact coaching is usually counter-productive, as coached candidates tend to fall back on prepared speeches and, in contrast, seem exceptionally uneasy when discussing questions that are new to them." --Sidney Sussex College's Interviews Advice
"There aren’t any special tricks to preparing for interviews, and interviewers can usually tell if an applicant has been over-rehearsed
by well-meaning teachers or parents." --Cambridge Interviews: the facts published by the university
In other words it's good to practise with mock interviews but any "training" or "coaching", especially with regards to what to say, is likely to be counter-productive.
I appreciate what you're saying, but it's purely to help my ingenuity in maths improve. I know that ingenuity can't really be taught but these classes will help me when dealing with the type of questions I will be asked in an interview, so I don't just appear as a mindless drone who can grind out results in exams by just following a set method off by heart. What do you think?
davidmarsh01
I appreciate what you're saying, but it's purely to help my ingenuity in maths improve. I know that ingenuity can't really be taught but these classes will help me when dealing with the type of questions I will be asked in an interview, so I don't just appear as a mindless drone who can grind out results in exams by just following a set method off by heart. What do you think?
Will they? How could they possibly know what type of questions you'll get in your actual interview? If you feel that the classes will help you then by all means take them, but don't be surprised if they had little or no effect when it comes to the day.
jj193
Of course they help, that's just Cambridge propagand trying to put people off it because it makes it hard for them to see which candidates are the best and which are experienced.
The basis for that claim? Also does that mean you can be more "experienced" and get in while not being the best? Would you feel good for getting in when you are more "experienced" while pushing other better, more able people off the place?
A Cambridge education is not just about passing the interview y'know.
If you get in by chance while not having any true ability then you are kidding no-one but yourself and will struggle when the real work comes to town.(edited 13 years ago)
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