Taking 4 A2s as apposed to 3

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deianra

I agree with Rob. I think that if you have less than AAAB or maybe AABB at AS-level and you want to carry on to 4 A2s to a reasonable standard (by which I define as AAB/AAA), you're more or less asking for trouble.

Plus, three A-levels is definitely nothing to be ashamed of, I don't know why you would be. I was all set on doing 3 A2s until I came up with some silly idea of teaching myself A-level Maths. :redface:

Do you think I should do 3 or 4 (I have AAAB but the B is only 223/300)?

Reply 21

theaman

Aimée123

Do you think I should do 3 or 4 (I have AAAB but the B is only 223/300)?

What course/uni are you hoping to study at?

Reply 22

cherrydrops1985

i tok 4, i got ABBC... its very hard work, its like hard work from septembe, not hardwork just a few months before your exam. i had myself proeprly organised and revising from early on, and i aint a swot so my achievement for me was great considering i flopped my AS's completely by getting CDEU

All the best

Reply 23

Aimée123

theaman

What course/uni are you hoping to study at?

Geog at Durham is the dream, also other Russell Group unis, but def not Oxbridge!

Reply 24

theaman

Aimée123

Geog at Durham is the dream, also other Russell Group unis, but def not Oxbridge!

Oxbridge are probably the only places which will most likely ask for 4 AS's or A2s - most other unis DO NOT ask for this.

Check the Durham website for information or contact the admission tutor for your subject though.

Reply 25

sixthirtythree

Aimée123

Do you think I should do 3 or 4 (I have AAAB but the B is only 223/300)?

Take 4, drop the other one after you've got that Durham offer. Durham are especially pinickity about things like qualifications these days - I remember them rejecting every History candidate without an A* at GCSE and the like.

Does this mean the Abbey spoon-feeds, out of interest?

Pernickety. :wink:

deianra

Spoon feeds? What do you mean? I got an A* at GCSE Geog! Woo! Oh, I'm nervous now, will I not get an offer?!

Reply 28

Elles

theaman

Oxbridge are probably the only places which will most likely ask for 4 AS's or A2s - most other unis DO NOT ask for this.

I'm sorry.. but at worst that's a flagrant lie, & at best wildly misinformed! :tongue:

many unis ask for 4AS levels - it's the "standard" that people do, followed by 3 A2s.

Oxbridge do not ask for 4 A2s & many tutors have gone on record saying they would prefer people did 3 & AEAs/reading around etc.

Many Oxbridge candidates may do 4 or more A2s..but even then, offers frequently only consist of 3 grades, as mine did.

Reply 29

Leeroy

go for 4 and see if you can stretch yourself.

aslong as you can revise well its just a matter of learning from specifications, doing past papers and sorting your exam technique.

and if its not goin well then you can decide to drop one of em.

Reply 30

theaman

Elles

I'm sorry.. but at worst that's a flagrant lie, & at best wildly misinformed! :tongue:

I said they were the most likely out of all the unis to do it, compared with all the other unis, anyway.

Reply 31

waiting2smile

What are your experiences in taking 4 A2's?

At the beginning it was somewhat difficult as the work load for each subject never lessened. However, as the exam period approached it decreased, it was only a matter of getting sufficient revision done for each A2. At some point I thought of dropping Biology but didn't because gradually,it became less of a struggle.

Did you have any time for yourself?

Plenty of time. I was still deputy head student, vice president of the charity committee, and along with four A Levels had a pretty good social life :tongue:

Was it difficult to maintain your grades from AS to A2?

Very. I only managed AABB, the As not in the subjects I wanted! I don’t think I was particularly great at balancing things out. However, as long as you don't let your focus shift from the vital subjects (i.e. any that you need a particular grade in) you should be fine.

Reply 32

khil

If you're talented at English and you enjoy it you shouldn't have much problem with the subject, hence it shouldn't affect your grades much. I got an A for AS Eng Lit and I hated the course, loved the subject, and never even read my novels! So EngLit shouldn't affect you much if you're good at it!

I'll be taking four A2s this year just hope I get the grades for Cambridge, if I even get an offer that is. Was gonna drop EngLit but screw it, I got an A so what's the point? Plus Cambridge doesn't like art A-Levels, so I'm screwed if I dropped EngLit and find out they won't accept art!

However my reason is safety net that is actually needed cus some unis don't accept art - not just Cambridge. If you don't need to, don't bother with four. It's just asking for more unneeded work.

Reply 33

Wise One

I got AAAAC (Politics, Philosophy, History, Psych and Economics respectively) at AS.

I am planning to take Politics, Philosophy, History and Economics to A2. Possibly with another AS in English Lit and Lang/Critical Thinking.

Nervous Breakdown time... :smile:

Reply 34

SsEe

My school sucks.

I wanted to do my maths GCSE earlier (in year 8) to get it out of the way. They wouldn't let me.

At GCSE option time I wanted to do art and music. They told me I couldn't because it didn't fit with the timetable so I had to change art to history.

In year 9 I asked if I could make a start on AS level maths, hoping to take the exams at the same time as my GCSEs. I could already do calculus to A2 standard with the chain rule and all that (which I ended up using in a question at GCSE to make life a bit easier in one question). Again I was told I couldn't as the school wouldn't get the credit for my grades.

At AS level option time I asked to take a few more AS levels than usual, maths, further maths, physics, chemistry, biology and music. They wouldn't let me because again, it didn't fit in with the timetable.

At the start of my AS year in music I got told out of the blue that there would also be an essay based exam at the end of the year which I hadn't been told anything about before. I suck at essays so naturally I wanted to change my course to chemistry. They wouldn't let me. So now I've wasted the last year doing a course that I was certain I wouldn't be carrying on to A2 when I could've been taking something that I would continue. So now I'm only doing 3 A2 levels when everybody else who is similar to me academically is doing 4.

What's more. I found out on results day that somebody in the year above me had just passed 5 A2 levels. Which proves that the school CAN cater for people who want to go further but they basically told me to piss off.

That's why I'm only doing 3 A2s despite really wanting to take 4 and also why my school sucks.

Reply 35

gringalet

I'm doing 4 A2s in Eng Lang, Eng Lit, French and German, but it's mainly because I love the subjects and don't find them too bad. So, only do the fourth one if you love it, I say!

Reply 36

Ben.S.

SsEe

What's more. I found out on results day that somebody in the year above me had just passed 5 A2 levels. Which proves that the school CAN cater for people who want to go further but they basically told me to piss off.

That's why I'm only doing 3 A2s despite really wanting to take 4 and also why my school sucks.

The timetable may simply not have allowed for YOUR desired combination. It doesn't mean your school 'sucks' at all. You could have researched the music exam yourself; why should the style of an exam put you off a subject anyway?

Ben

Reply 37

kitsune

The same happened with my timetable... i had to take As Art instead of As History. I'm taking 3 subjects to A2 this year (Physics, Maths and Business) plus de A2 in Spanish which i did in Year 11 where i got an A. I would like to do 4 subjects for A2 but definately NOT ART!!! Don't take ART It's REALLY HARD WORK and the universities dont like it! Plus.... I'm also being prepared for the Pre university Spanish Exams... where I'll be examined of Spanish, English, Maths, Physics and Chemistry :s-smilie: