Completely screwed up my AS Levels, how do I get into a good Uni?

Basically the whole of Year 12 I haven't really taken my exams seriously, wasting away free periods, not doing homework when necessary and just generally procrastinating a lot, watching TV, going out with friends, playing video games etc and only starting proper revision a few weeks before exams. I did this for all my GCSEs except Science and I got 6 A*s and 5 As so I was fairly satisfied with that and followed the same mentality for my AS Levels.

Honestly I knew I hadn't worked to the best of my abilities but I still thought I would get at least AABB or maybe AABC at worst. I ended up with ACCC (Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Computing) and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I had planned to apply for Oxbridge and some of the top Russell Group Unis but now it like an extremely difficult prospect. I will probably drop Computing next year and resit all of Physics and a couple of modules for my Further Maths (especially my U in FP1 which I barely studied for as it was one of my last exams).

Are there any other people out there in a similar situation who still managed to turn a dire situation around and get into their chosen uni? I heard that a lot of the best unis in the country look down at people who have retaken exams, and also I am slightly worried about the amount of work that I will need to put in to get my desired A2 grades, though I do plan to put in a lot more effort this year and not waste it away like last year. Also, how will retakes affect my predicted grades, as I heard that these are what universities mainly look at. With my terrible grades I won't have very positive grade predictions, especially as my Cs were fairly low. Has this basically ruined my chance of getting into a top university?

Reply 1

Sherlock Potter

2

I found myself in a similar situation last year but now I'm preparing to go to the University of Leicester to study Physics and Astrophysics. I resat a few exams and worked hard for year 13 what I also found very helpful was buying revision guides for each subject. Now I've finished with my revision guide feel free to buy it off me I'm selling it on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171894569264 So basically work hard all year and get revision done. Good luck!

Reply 2

Gladiator12345

9

Original post by KQLYstyle

Basically the whole of Year 12 I haven't really taken my exams seriously, wasting away free periods, not doing homework when necessary and just generally procrastinating a lot, watching TV, going out with friends, playing video games etc and only starting proper revision a few weeks before exams. I did this for all my GCSEs except Science and I got 6 A*s and 5 As so I was fairly satisfied with that and followed the same mentality for my AS Levels.

Honestly I knew I hadn't worked to the best of my abilities but I still thought I would get at least AABB or maybe AABC at worst. I ended up with ACCC (Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Computing) and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I had planned to apply for Oxbridge and some of the top Russell Group Unis but now it like an extremely difficult prospect. I will probably drop Computing next year and resit all of Physics and a couple of modules for my Further Maths (especially my U in FP1 which I barely studied for as it was one of my last exams).

Are there any other people out there in a similar situation who still managed to turn a dire situation around and get into their chosen uni? I heard that a lot of the best unis in the country look down at people who have retaken exams, and also I am slightly worried about the amount of work that I will need to put in to get my desired A2 grades, though I do plan to put in a lot more effort this year and not waste it away like last year. Also, how will retakes affect my predicted grades, as I heard that these are what universities mainly look at. With my terrible grades I won't have very positive grade predictions, especially as my Cs were fairly low. Has this basically ruined my chance of getting into a top university?

I was like you as well, but I worked really hard but didn't do too well, so need some advice on good unis that I can go to

Reply 3

kickboxer 98

13

Original post by Gladiator12345

I was like you as well, but I worked really hard but didn't do too well, so need some advice on good unis that I can go to

U didn't do that badly, and u have another year where u can drop an a level and concentrate on the other subjects. Also uni isn't always the way. What about an apprenticeship? Xx

Reply 4

Eiji97

2

I got BBCD in my first year and have now got A*BC and into university of Sheffield. Think it all comes down to a lot of studying and retakes. Don't worry about universities looking down on you, a friend got into Manchester that was AAA and he did 3 retakes. The retakes will be easier, trust me so you have a good chance of improving your grade. Fp1 becomes much easier as you do Fp2 which is a lot harder and you should focus more in the second year, and you will get the grades you want with right mentality!

Reply 5

TammyIce

2

It will be harder for you to go to a top uni- but not impossible! Your predictions probably will be quite low compared to what you want, but if you apply for some lower rankikg unis and then retake some units, you could apply for a better university through adjustment if you do your research right :smile:

Also, retaking units can be time consuming but very beneficial. I re took all of my AS biology units, and some of my chemistry ones and to be honest it saved me. My geades, after dropping my fourth AS were:ABC. After resitting units, that became AAA, abd overall I achieved AAB. I still got into the university of manchester for biomedical science :smile:

Your teachers may also be more inclined to give you slightly higher predictions if they are aware you are trying to inprove youe AS grades. Good luck mate :smile:

Reply 6

Solent University, Southampton Student Ambassador

12

Original post by KQLYstyle

Basically the whole of Year 12 I haven't really taken my exams seriously, wasting away free periods, not doing homework when necessary and just generally procrastinating a lot, watching TV, going out with friends, playing video games etc and only starting proper revision a few weeks before exams. I did this for all my GCSEs except Science and I got 6 A*s and 5 As so I was fairly satisfied with that and followed the same mentality for my AS Levels.

Honestly I knew I hadn't worked to the best of my abilities but I still thought I would get at least AABB or maybe AABC at worst. I ended up with ACCC (Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Computing) and to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I had planned to apply for Oxbridge and some of the top Russell Group Unis but now it like an extremely difficult prospect. I will probably drop Computing next year and resit all of Physics and a couple of modules for my Further Maths (especially my U in FP1 which I barely studied for as it was one of my last exams).

Are there any other people out there in a similar situation who still managed to turn a dire situation around and get into their chosen uni? I heard that a lot of the best unis in the country look down at people who have retaken exams, and also I am slightly worried about the amount of work that I will need to put in to get my desired A2 grades, though I do plan to put in a lot more effort this year and not waste it away like last year. Also, how will retakes affect my predicted grades, as I heard that these are what universities mainly look at. With my terrible grades I won't have very positive grade predictions, especially as my Cs were fairly low. Has this basically ruined my chance of getting into a top university?

Hi there,
Don't worry! You still have another year to be able to bring your grades up and remember that your offers will come from your predicted grades.

You don't need to give up on your dreams of going to Oxbridge! If you're resitting a lot of your units and you really try with lots of effort then it will pay off.

I was predicted D's at A2 and it limited my offers from universities and was so disappointed after AS - I came out with B's and C's (These were exceeding expectations for me). Once you realised that you need to put more effort it, it will pay off and you will try harder.

I'd say talk to your teachers, tell them where you want to go and what you're going to do and see if they can aid you in the process. Teachers give students a chance by increasing their predicted grades if the student is possible of achieving - some universities do not take resits into consideration, but you will need to do your research on Oxbridge and see what their policy is like on resits!

Hope this helps
- Kath :smile:

Reply 7

An0maly

1

Was it from all the csgo you played?

Reply 8

Gladiator12345

9

Original post by kickboxer 98

U didn't do that badly, and u have another year where u can drop an a level and concentrate on the other subjects. Also uni isn't always the way. What about an apprenticeship? Xx

uni is the way for me xx

Reply 9

maiisiie_08

4

Don't worry too much about it, I got ABBC - not too bad but the C in History was a disappointment. I dropped the A in Chemistry and re-sat one of my History modules. Basically had to beg my teachers to predict me AAB and ended up getting A*AA, the A* being in History, so now I'm off to Surrey to study Law. :smile:

It is possible to turn around just be sensible with your re-sits, as doing to many could effect your A2 exams. I actually found the workload easier at A2 because I had one less subject and Chemistry wasn't taking up all my time, so you might find it easier to manage your work.