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GYG from the middle of the pack

Hi Everyone! :smile:

I'm taking History, Politics and Psychology for my A-levels, with the hope of going to do Politics and International Relations at university. I'm starting this blog because I know I NEED to get motivated this time for my exams, even if I struggle with it. I only revised the week before for my summer mocks and due to that, I'm predicted all B's, when I want to be getting A's.

I guess you could call me someone in the 'middle'? I'm not the best student but by far I'm not the worst. I want to prove my teachers wrong as they have told me that I'm certainly not going to get A grades.

My history coursework was due in on Monday 17th December. I'm hoping to finally get it finished this week (Just before Christmas) so that I can just focus on revision.

My GCSE grades were okay:

7 (A) - English Literature
6 (B+) - Mathematics
5 (B-) - English Language
A - Religious Studies
B - History iGCSE
B - Sociology
B - Drama
B - Photography
C - Core Science
C - Additional Science

I've just completed my January mocks and I'm waiting for my results.

I'm going to be regularly updating this blog with my revision tips, tricks, and all of the stress foods :wink:

My university application stands like this at the moment:

London School of Economics and Political Science, Politics and International Relations (AAA)
Applied: 10/12/18
Acknowledgement:14/12/18
Extenuating Circumstances form sent:
Rejection: 24/01/19

University of East Anglia, Politics (BBB)
Applied: 10/12/18
Acknowledgement: 11/12/18
Extenuating Circumstances form sent:
Offer: 13/12/18 (BBB or ABC) CONDITIONAL

University of Kent, Politics and International Relations with a year in Continental Europe (BBB)
Applied: 12/12/18
Acknowledgement: 13/12/18
Extenuating Circumstances form sent:
Offer: 03/01/19 (BBB) CONDITIONAL

University of Westminster, Politics and International Relations (BBC)
Applied: 10/12/18
Acknowledgement: 11/12/18
Extenuating Circumstances form sent:
Offer: 12/12/18 (BBC) CONDITIONAL

University of Glasgow, Politics (AAB-BBB)
Applied: 27/12/18
Acknowledgement: 03/01/19
Extenuating Circumstances form sent:
Offer: 08/01/19 (ABB) CONDITIONAL

Stay tuned for what comes next!

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 1

monkeybee123

Hi!

It's been 9 days since I started this blog. It's after Christmas now so I'm going to be starting revision soon for my mocks.

I've just applied to another university (my 5th choice), which is the University of Glasgow. I don't think unis open again until early January (It's 27/12/18 today) so we'll have to just wait and see...

I'm trying to get into the mindset to revise. I think I'll start tomorrow.

Reply 2

nyxnko_

Best of luck! :rave:

Did you end up finishing your history coursework? :redface:

And congrats on your offers :woo:

Reply 3

flaurie

Volunteer Team

Good luck! Hope you get those offers :grin:

Reply 4

monkeybee123

Original post by nyxnko_

Best of luck! :rave:

Did you end up finishing your history coursework? :redface:

And congrats on your offers :woo:

Thank you! I haven't finished my coursework yet :| I've been super busy with work and I've just had no motivation tbh :frown:

Reply 5

monkeybee123

Original post by laurawatt

Good luck! Hope you get those offers :grin:

Thank you! I hope so too!

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 6

nyxnko_

Original post by monkeybee123

Thank you! I haven't finished my coursework yet :| I've been super busy with work and I've just had no motivation tbh :frown:

Oh dear.. Hope you finish it soon :rave:

Reply 7

monkeybee123

Original post by nyxnko_

Oh dear.. Hope you finish it soon :rave:

Thank you, me too.

-

I did start my revision yesterday though. I started on Russian history (first exam). I'll be moving on to psychology either tonight or tomorrow. The way that I used to revise was that I made revision cards with specific dates/events then details on the back, but it wasn't really beneficial to me. I was putting too much detail in and that was taking away from my revision time.

I'm making a timeline of events on Microsoft Excel and then adding small details around the side - more details on things that might come up in the exams. I'll try this and see how well it works.

Reply 8

monkeybee123

Just a quick update!

All of my mocks are over now (YAY!!). They were difficult but I did it and I think my revision method is efficient. I round up a full page of one topic onto one revision card and highlight key words. For example, revising 'socialism' for Politics, I wrote down all of the 'thinkers' that we need to remember and their views on the 4 subjects that are on the specification. This is useful to me as a summary of what we have learnt.

On Tuesday (08/01/19) I got an offer from the University of Glasgow!
On Thursday, I went live on Channel 4 for a special episode on the news about people aged 18-20 who couldn't vote in the Brexit referendum, but now have opinions on the People's Vote campaign.

It's been a great week! I can't wait to get my mocks results 😬

Reply 9

nyxnko_

Congrats on your offer!!

Reply 10

monkeybee123

Original post by nyxnko_

Congrats on your offer!!

Thank you! ✨

Reply 11

monkeybee123

I got U's in all my mocks. I think it was because 1. I didn't revise enough and 2. I was pretty anxious in all of them, so I got a mind-block.

I got my rejection from LSE on the 24th January. To be honest, I believe that if it was meant to be, I would have gotten in. I have looked around Glasgow, which was lovely, and also visited UEA too, which I really enjoyed, so it's gonna be a tough decision now. I think I'm going to go have a look at Kent and Westminster before I make a decision.

I was told 2 weeks ago that I was failing history, I did have 21 overdue homeworks so it's not surprising. It is now down to 5 overdue, I'm still working on them. I did a timed essay in Russian History last week and got a B, so I feel as if I am redeeming myself sorta?

Once I get on top of my homework, I'm gonna start revision. I'm freaking out that it's March now and my exams start on the 20th May. We'll see, I guess...