Hi, I've just been reading through some forums (over the last few weeks) in my free time. I'm doing my A Levels at the moment and I'm happy with my choices, but about a month ago I put myself into a huge panic when I realised one of my A Levels might not have been the best choice and I should have gone with the alternative. I won't go into much detail, but the reason for my stress was almost completely uncalled for. I contacted my potential universities who all said my options were absolutely fine and they'd consider them, and thanked me for my interest. But still, because I'd read up on this A Level on TSR and seen people's sometimes condescending views on it and mini horror stories about universities 'hating' it, a part of me believed complete strangers over the universities themselves. I've since tried to de-stress myself by not reading up on it anymore and focussing on my work and getting the three A's I need instead.
But it's not just me. I've seen other people getting into a complete panic months into their A Levels or BTECs because people mock their choices and call them 'soft' or 'not respected' even though they're perfect for the person's choice of degree. There are a lot of people on here who seem very insecure with their choices and specifically where they want to be at uni or the future and so they ask other students for advice, only to receive more reasons to 'panic'. I see people asking 'will this get me to Oxbridge?' 'Are my grades good enough?' 'Will this place accept me?' And i urge these people to stop asking other students online these questions and to contact universities themselves. THEY are the ones who will decide to accept/reject you. NOT students on TSR.
I can understand, however, that it is useful to hear people's stories who have gone through the same subjects and where they are now, any regrets, etc. And I get that, yes, there are obviously more highly regarded choices and lesser ones and it is important to know this before a person commits to their A Levels/BTECs so that they don't get any surprise shocks.
And universities do require certain subjects so OF COURSE the person has to be careful on this and choose the wisest option.
But sometimes there are complete lies I hear on some subjects that cause so much stress to the person when unis themselves haven't had a problem with it.
Sorry for the rant, but this keeps coming up and I was wondering what others thought.
I appreciate TSR is great for contacting students for revision help, general advice and revision resources but sometimes I feel like if you're not taking Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Physics- the supposed best ones to get you a job in the future, which I agree is probably true, having seen my brothers go through it - then people on here will bash you for your choices. :/