End of my School Era - Year 13 GYG 2020/2021

Reply 40

XViconX

10

Good luck! Year 13 is so stressful but you've got this,I hope you get an interview from Cambridge :smile:

Reply 41

beginningofanera

OP

13

Original post by XViconX

Good luck! Year 13 is so stressful but you've got this,I hope you get an interview from Cambridge :smile:

Thank you!

Reply 42

beginningofanera

OP

13

Weeks 9 and 10 - November 23rd - December 4th

Woah, these last 2 weeks have been crazy! Firstly, there's been a massive corona outbreak within my school, and over half of my year group are self isolating, and its pretty much just a matter of time until I'm sent home at this rate, which is really scary. I've also had some exciting UCAS news, but more on that later...

Maths: Well, that test I mentioned last week, I thought it went pretty badly but somehow I got an A !?!?!? I'm honestly so surprised, but maths continues to be one massive struggle. We've covered binomial expansion and numerical methods with teacher 1, and continued with integration with teacher 2. Honestly, integration is taking so long at this point it feels like we could probably cover vectors with our other teacher before being anywhere near done with integration.

Geography: What a shock, another week where I'm complaining about the NEA :eek:

I've finished my analysis and conclusions and now need to do the evaluation before out next interim deadline in about a week or so. Tbf, I'm getting there but I'm struggling for time to be able to work on it, and I'm probably going to use the majority of the holidays on it as our final deadline is mid January. With teacher 1, we've bee continuing with Earth Life Support Systems which is boring as ever, but the case studies are thankfully a little more interesting which stops me falling asleep in those lessons :biggrin:

we also had a test a couple of weeks ago where I got an A*, I have absolutely no idea how though, especially as my essay was complete trash.

Economics: As usual, the lessons have been really interesting, though I definitely prefer microeconomics to macroeconomics as the content just makes a lot more sense. I've got a test on financial markets and market structures tomorrow which I need to revise for tonight, but otherwise should be okay as a lot of that content is easy, except the graphs lol.

In other news, I got an invite to interview from Cambridge! I'm honestly so shocked, I never thought I'd get to the interview stage as I don't even have any 9s at GCSE and only 2 8s, which is nothing compared to most people who apply to Cambridge. I'm so happy but I also need to prepare a lot for the interview, but thankfully I have time as they gave me 3.5 weeks notice! My interview is right before Christmas, so that gives me plenty of time, as I finish school on the 18th (if I'm even still in by then due to the cases rising, but that's another story)

Hope everyone has had a good couple of weeks and that the next couple are also great! I'm so excited for Christmas, primarily for the time off school LOL, even though I still have to do some work.

Taglist:
@StudentMania
@Becca216
@XViconX

Let me know if you'd like me to check out your blog or be added to my taglist!

Reply 43

Becca216

22

WELL DONE ON YOUR INTERVIEW :woo:

best of luck for your interview :yep:

Integration is awful and it takes forever but hopefully you'll finish it (eventually) :smile:

Best of luck with the geography NEA, I can't wait for it to be over and it takes up so much more time than you expect :eek:

Hope you have had a wonderful weekend and hope you have a good week :hugs:

Reply 44

beginningofanera

OP

13

Original post by Becca216

WELL DONE ON YOUR INTERVIEW :woo:

best of luck for your interview :yep:

Integration is awful and it takes forever but hopefully you'll finish it (eventually) :smile:

Best of luck with the geography NEA, I can't wait for it to be over and it takes up so much more time than you expect :eek:

Hope you have had a wonderful weekend and hope you have a good week :hugs:

Thank you! I’m so nervous for my interview but I just need to relax and hope for the best :smile:

I can’t wait for the NEA to be over either, it’s just so much work and feels like it’s never ending

Hope you have a fab week too!

Reply 45

scottishnerd

8

Original post by beginningofanera

Weeks 9 and 10 - November 23rd - December 4th

Woah, these last 2 weeks have been crazy! Firstly, there's been a massive corona outbreak within my school, and over half of my year group are self isolating, and its pretty much just a matter of time until I'm sent home at this rate, which is really scary. I've also had some exciting UCAS news, but more on that later...

Maths: Well, that test I mentioned last week, I thought it went pretty badly but somehow I got an A !?!?!? I'm honestly so surprised, but maths continues to be one massive struggle. We've covered binomial expansion and numerical methods with teacher 1, and continued with integration with teacher 2. Honestly, integration is taking so long at this point it feels like we could probably cover vectors with our other teacher before being anywhere near done with integration.

Geography: What a shock, another week where I'm complaining about the NEA :eek:

I've finished my analysis and conclusions and now need to do the evaluation before out next interim deadline in about a week or so. Tbf, I'm getting there but I'm struggling for time to be able to work on it, and I'm probably going to use the majority of the holidays on it as our final deadline is mid January. With teacher 1, we've bee continuing with Earth Life Support Systems which is boring as ever, but the case studies are thankfully a little more interesting which stops me falling asleep in those lessons :biggrin:

we also had a test a couple of weeks ago where I got an A*, I have absolutely no idea how though, especially as my essay was complete trash.

Economics: As usual, the lessons have been really interesting, though I definitely prefer microeconomics to macroeconomics as the content just makes a lot more sense. I've got a test on financial markets and market structures tomorrow which I need to revise for tonight, but otherwise should be okay as a lot of that content is easy, except the graphs lol.

In other news, I got an invite to interview from Cambridge! I'm honestly so shocked, I never thought I'd get to the interview stage as I don't even have any 9s at GCSE and only 2 8s, which is nothing compared to most people who apply to Cambridge. I'm so happy but I also need to prepare a lot for the interview, but thankfully I have time as they gave me 3.5 weeks notice! My interview is right before Christmas, so that gives me plenty of time, as I finish school on the 18th (if I'm even still in by then due to the cases rising, but that's another story)

Hope everyone has had a good couple of weeks and that the next couple are also great! I'm so excited for Christmas, primarily for the time off school LOL, even though I still have to do some work.

Taglist:
@StudentMania
@Becca216
@XViconX

Let me know if you'd like me to check out your blog or be added to my taglist!

AHHHHHH googd luck for your interview! My interview for Jesus is on the 10th, yours is so much later (lucky!)

Reply 46

beginningofanera

OP

13

Original post by scottishnerd

AHHHHHH googd luck for your interview! My interview for Jesus is on the 10th, yours is so much later (lucky!)

Thank you! Good luck for yours as well, I'm sure you'll do great :smile:

Reply 47

beginningofanera

OP

13

Weeks 11 and 12 - December 7th - 18th (plus Christmas)

I definitely had a pretty manic end to the term and start of the holiday, that's for sure! To start, I was sent home on December 7th as apparently I sat within 2m of a positive case in my enrichment lesson (really pointless lesson every 2 weeks that's a complete waste of everyone's time) which was so annoying as its so typical to be told to isolate due to someone who I don't even know and in a completely pointless lesson. Initially, this was meant to be until Thursday 17th, however with the shortening of isolation to 10 days, I was able to come back in on Monday 14th, which I'm really glad of especially as school is closed for at least the first week back. I also had my Cambridge interview at the start of the holidays, but more on that later

Maths: I covered the chapter on Vectors when I was in isolation, I'm actually ahead of my class as I got so bored so just went on ahead. With teacher 1 we're starting stats when we return, which I don't like as much as pure but (unpopular opinion) prefer to mechanics. With teacher 2 we've continued on integration which I really hate :frown:

but at least that will be done with soon and we can start mechanics, which is better than integration at least.

Geography: For my week in isolation I had all of my physical geography lessons within my 2 week timetable which was good as ngl I don't really get on with that teacher as they get annoying about making adjustments to help me with my slow processing :mad:

The work that week was mostly to do with a case study about the Arctic Tundra, which isn't that interesting imo. Otherwise, MY NEA IS NEARLY FINISHEDDDDD! My deadline is mid January, so I'm a bit ahead, and still aim to peer review work with some of my friends to make any final adjustments, but I'm basically there. I'm a bit over the recommended word limit but within 10% over so hopefully that will be okay as long as its written concisely.

Economics: I had an assessment in this subject, which I really didn't do that well in so I'm really disappointed as I know I can do a lot better than what I got (a B-) and I'm worried this will be used as evidence if exams are cancelled this year. In my defence, this was done (unexpected) remotely on the day I was sent home, as I struggle with processing more on a computer than paper, but that doesn't stop me being disappointed with my result. With our other teacher, we've looked at international development and the millennium development goals which is pretty interesting. This teacher has now left though so all our lessons are being taken by the other teacher, which I'm not too mad about, would rather that than have a new teacher at this late stage.

I had my Cambridge interview online a few days before Christmas. I'm not going to say too much about it specifically due to the confidentiality agreement, however it went okay, but not amazing. I had a couple of real mind blanks which I'm so annoyed about, but equally I did also say some other stuff that sounded fairly intelligent? I don't think I've got in, but I'm just so happy that I got an interview that I don't really mind a whole lot. I just want January 25th to come fast so I'm put out of my misery though.

I'm also starting to revise for my Mocks in February/March. They're after half term so I have got plenty of time, but I really want to do well as they could be used if exams are cancelled. Annoyingly, they're normally over 1 week, and my birthday is at the end of that week, but they've been extended for an extra week so we can do more papers so I've got to spend my birthday revising and probably in an exam at this rate :frown:

on the bright side, it just means I can celebrate doubly when they're all done

Hope everyone had a good Christmas (if you celebrate it) and has had a good break from school. I haven't done a lot of intense work as I haven't got mocks for a while yet and had coursework to finish

Taglist:

@StudentMania
@Becca216
@XViconX

Reply 48

scottishnerd

8

Hey! I totally get what you meant about land ec interviews. Mine was on the 10th and honestly I don't know how to feel about it, I feel like my brain is trying to repress the memory haha. Wish you the absolute best of luck for the 25th tho!
Also, was just wondering if I could be added to the taglist please? :smile:

Reply 49

Becca216

22

Sorry to hear you had to isolate :frown:

Yes preferring stats over mechanics is a very unpopular opinion but I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion :lol:

WELL DONE on nearly finishing your NEA, I’m still on data analysis and it is stressing me out.... :eek:

Hope you had a good break and have a wonderful week :hugs:

Edit: also well done on your interview, I’m sure it went well, fingers crossed for some good news :smile:

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 50

beginningofanera

OP

13

Original post by scottishnerd

Hey! I totally get what you meant about land ec interviews. Mine was on the 10th and honestly I don't know how to feel about it, I feel like my brain is trying to repress the memory haha. Wish you the absolute best of luck for the 25th tho!
Also, was just wondering if I could be added to the taglist please? :smile:

Thank you, good luck for the 25th as well! I think we can get our TSA results on the 11th as well which will be good to know
Yep I’ll add you to the taglist :smile:

Original post by Becca216

Sorry to hear you had to isolate :frown:

Yes preferring stats over mechanics is a very unpopular opinion but I guess everyone is entitled to their own opinion :lol:

WELL DONE on nearly finishing your NEA, I’m still on data analysis and it is stressing me out.... :eek:

Hope you had a good break and have a wonderful week :hugs:

Edit: also well done on your interview, I’m sure it went well, fingers crossed for some good news :smile:

Haha my opinion is very unpopular within my class as well dw :biggrin:

I think it might be to do with the fact that I don’t do physics, and I believe that helps with the mechanics sections as least a bit?

Data analysis was the worst section for sure, it gets easier once you’re on to the evaluation/conclusion. I didn’t include any statistical analysis though as I don’t think it’s revelant to my project so I hope I don’t get penalised for that

Thank you, I’m keeping my fingers crossed :smile:

Reply 51

beginningofanera

OP

13

Weeks 13-16 - Jan 5th to Feb 2nd

Woah, I've been so bad at keeping this blog updated lately. Honestly, I've just not had the best month and I haven't really had anything positive to report. Firstly, I just hate online learning so much, it's so boring and I feel so demotivated. In the midst of all the beautiful snow last week I didn't have internet for 3 days, so had loads of work to catch up on, I then wrote some really bad essays that I had to resubmit, and had some not so great UCAS news... at least this new month will hopefully go better!

Maths: I've actually not hated maths lately? It's probably as we've finished integration (which I hated) and have moved on to stats (which I really like) and mechanics (which is decent). I've also done really well on the last few homework sheets and got 100% on one, which is basically unknown for me so I'm really happy. I'm probably also liking maths atm as my teachers are so nice on online lessons and are really funny which brightens my day up a lot.

Geography: I've submitted my NEA... lord knows if it's actually decent or not but at least it's finished. With human geography we've finished the human rights chapter (which we started in the first lockdown) in the last couple of weeks, and have started migration, which is our final chapter on the human side of the course. I quite like these chapters as they are pretty logical and the content is pretty interesting, and they're certainly better than physical geography :biggrin:

with physical geography we're coming closer to finishing the chapter on the carbon/water cycles woooo! I've honestly hated this chapter so much, it's basically just biology which I don't care for and is pretty boring. When this chapter is done we're finished with the physical side of the course and can start revising.

Economics: As usual, this subject is always my fave :smile:

we've only got one teacher now instead of two, and I honestly kinda prefer it as there's more of a logical order to the lessons and I feel as though we're getting through the content quicker. So far this term we've covered exchange rates, the balance of payments and trade barriers/protectionism. I like macroeconomics however I do find it slightly harder to enjoy than microeconomics, though I still enjoy this content nonetheless, and it makes me excited to be able to study econ in more depth at uni next year

In other news, I was rejected by Cambridge last week. I'm still really gutted about that, as Land Economy seemed as though it would be the perfect course for me and it's so annoying that it's not offered elsewhere. I don't think I'm going to reapply, as I don't really want to take a gap year and I think moving on would probably be the best thing for me as I don't think I'd mentally be able to take a second rejection, especially as it hurt so much this time, and after getting probably more invested over another year, it would just feel so much worse if I was rejected again. I've not heard anything back from Durham yet, and probably won't for a while, and I'm really not expecting it to be good news as I honestly don't think my application is strong enough, especially with my really low GCSEs. If I do get an offer from Durham it will almost certainly be my firm, and if not I'm going to firm Leeds, as I really like the look of their course (possibly more so than Durham's) as there's some modules on Transport Economics which would really interest me.

My mocks have been postponed until whenever we return to school, so I'm continuing to revise as much as I can right now as I really want to do well to keep my options open with regards to unis. I'm very glad that they've been postponed tbh, as now I don't have to do exams on my birthday at the end of the month, even though it will be in lockdown :frown:

Hopefully everyone has had a good past month and that lockdown is going okay for you all!

Taglist:
@StudentMania
@Becca216
@XViconX
@scottishnerd

Reply 52

beginningofanera

OP

13

Week: lost track by now :smile:

Woah, its been ages since I've updated this blog. I've mostly just been really stressed about UCAS and grade assessments so haven't really had the time to post. I had mocks the week before Easter which I'll say more about with each subjects update, and I've got more assessments coming up for all my subjects to basically be my A Level grade. I do find it a bit ridiculous that our exams were pushed back to give us more time yet mocks that we did in March count towards out grade but hey-ho. I made it to day 4 of school in March before being sent home as a close contact of a positive covid case (again) so was isolating for the week before I was sitting mock exams. Not great, as it really stressed me out as it was so difficult to get help from teachers and it made me super unsettled as it broke my routine which I don't cope very well with.

Maths: Welp, this was by far the subject I've worked on the most as I really want to get an A*, but the mock paper we were given was so impossibly hard that I stand no chance now :frown:

granted, everyone felt like that, but I literally couldn't even answer the second question, so I'm well and truly screwed, I was literally on the verge of tears in the exam hall which was so embarrassing. Our next assessment is on trigonometry and integration so if anyone has any advice for those topics it would be really appreciated as I kinda need to do well in them to pull my grade up a lot ugh.

Geography: Finished the physical course (thank the lord) but have still got a load of the human course to cover and assessments for both sides in May which is scary. The mock exam was decent tbf (a blessing compared to maths :smile:

), so I'm hoping to get a good grade from that, even though I didn't actually know what one of the 12 mark essays was asking me to do so I guessed well enough to cover it up haha. I'm aiming for an A* as I feel as though my NEA is pretty good and my mock went well, even though the paper was over 3 hours long for me as I have extra time :biggrin:

Economics: If I'm honest, probably to subject I revised least for mocks as my others are comparatively a lot weaker. The mock paper went okay, except we had to read like 3 sides of A4 as the background material, whereas its normally half a side of A4. This was a struggle as it takes so much longer for me to read and process information than others so that's where all my extra time went, so my essays were a little rushed and not my best. The only good part is that I planned model answers for a couple of 25 markers that I'd have liked to come up before the exam, and one of those came up, both otherwise the paper was a bit weird and not my best, I was a little disappointed

In other news, my UCAS was completely quiet until this time last week since my Cambridge rejection. I was thinking that I'd definitely be rejected from Durham as I was seeing people with straight A*s being rejected on the applicant thread, but last week Durham offered me a place!!!!! I've honestly never been more shocked in my life, I completely wasn't expecting it at all, especially with my GCSEs, but I'm over the moon and am definitely going to firm Durham, and will probably insure with Leeds but I'm not completely decided on that yet. I've still got to get A*AA to confirm my Durham place, and that's definitely going to be a challenge, but I'm so happy that I got an offer from the university I've wanted to go to since I visited the city when I was 12 and fell in love with the place.

Overall, the past couple of moths haven't been easy as I struggle a lot with online learning, self isolating and exams, but receiving an offer from Durham has made it all a lot better, I just hope that I get the grades now.

Taglist:
@StudentMania@Becca216@XViconX
@scottishnerd

Reply 53

Becca216

22

Wooohoooo! Glad you got an offer from Durham :woo:

And well done for getting through your first set of exams, I know it’s hard after a bad exam, but I’m sure you’ve done better than you think in maths :smile:

my best tip for trig sounds simple but can save you loads of marks is make sure your calculator is in radians/degrees when required :yep:

easy to make a mistake :frown:

Hope you had a wonderful easter and have a good and restful holiday :biggrin:

Reply 54

beginningofanera

OP

13

Another Update...

I'm mid exams and thought it was time to update this (and procrastinate revising while doing so :smile:

). I've had my mocks at the end of March and a paper each for maths and economics, and I've got 2 geography papers, 2 maths papers and 3 economics papers to go.

Maths: After a disappointing mock result (a B), I really tried my best for an assessment nearly 2 weeks ago on integration and trigonometry and I'm so happy with how that went as I got 93%!! Which was way higher than the average and honestly completely unexpected as I'd really lost confidence in my maths ability after my awful mock exam. Next week I've got an assessment on vectors and differentiation, which should be okay even though I absolutely hate vectors but at least I've got the long weekend to work on that. Just got to keep working hard and have a positive mindset and maybe I'll get the grade I need/want

Geography: Tbf, the geography department are really getting on my nerves. Without being too outing, they're basically trying to make us sit 2 full exam papers only with optional essays and not telling us any topics, whereas every other department are telling us detailed topics so we can at least focus our revision. Multiple complaints across the people in the year who do geography to our head of year still hasn't changed anything as the department are being so annoying. At least the papers are comparatively quite late, but it's still stressful. Next week I've got a physical geography exam which is a) my most hated exam as the content is so dull and I don't understand any of it and b) right after maths and economics exams which are my priority so that will be fun :smile:

Also, we got marks back for our coursework this week and I got 50/60 which I'm happy with as it should be around an A based on previous years grade boundaries and I think I did pretty well given that I frankly hate coursework and I'm almost always better at exams. I also got an A in the mock exam, which again I was pretty happy with, was kinda hoping for an A* but I wasn't about to be that annoying person who is disappointed with an A, and grades seemed to be down across the board in this subject anyway

Economics: This is the subject with the most assessments but I'm not mad about it as our teacher is amazing and is giving us detailed guidance on exactly what to revise/potential questions which is so appreciated and amazing compared to the geography department :frown:

I had an assessment earlier this week which I got 85% on, which I'm fairly happy about but slightly annoyed as I knew what I was trying to say in my essays but I didn't say it in the best way possible. Anyway, just got to move on and think ahead about the next assessment next week. Also, I got an A* but the skin of my teeth in the mock, which I'm really happy about as I came out of the exam slightly disappointed, but it turns out I did well anyway :smile:

now to try to hold at that grade in these assessments

In other news, I've officially firmed Durham for economics and insured Leeds for economics on UCAS track! I'm so worried that I won't get the grades but it is what it is and I've just got to work hard and hope for the best really. Also, I leave school on the 21st May which is super exciting :biggrin:

no idea what I'll do all summer but honestly anything is better than non stop revision

Hope everyone is well and coping okay with exams that we can't call exams but really are exams if you're year 11/13 :smile:

Taglist:

@StudentMania
@Becca216
@XViconX
@scottishnerd

Reply 55

beginningofanera

OP

13

I'm done with school!

As the title says, I've finished my exams and am now done with school! I'm so happy to be done and can now finally relax for the first time in forever. Leaving school on Friday was a tad emotional, I'll not really miss the place itself but I'll miss the friends I've made over the past 2 years. It mostly just feels weird to be able to say that I'm done with compulsory education :smile:

Maths: Well, this subject has been interesting with exams that's for sure. As I mentioned in my last update, my mock exam went pretty badly (for me) and I got a B. I had 3 further assessments, and I got above 90% in all of them (though for one of them we knew the questions in advance so it didn't feel like that much of an achievement). I've now just got to hope that I've done enough to pull my grade up to an A overall. It's slightly disappointing that I stand basically no chance of getting an A* which is what I'd been aiming for, but it is what it is and at least I've done my best in most of the assessments

Geography: Definitely the department that's annoyed me the most throughout these assessments. In my first one a few weeks ago on physical geography I nearly didn't get my extra time as my teacher couldn't do basic maths and refused to help me, which caused me loads of stress and my essays were so rushed and bad. After complaining I'm probably getting special consideration but I'm not hopeful that that will help a lot to be honest. The second one of human geography was better but I ********ted a couple of questions as I was so confused as to what they meant. I also got my coursework back, I got a mark what would usually be an A which I am pretty happy about as coursework isn't usually my strength and to be honest my project idea wasn't the best

Economics: This has gone better than expected to be honest. I've done 4 assessments since my mock exam, and I got full marks in one, another 2 I got a mark that should equate to an A* and the final one was really close to what should be an A* (if the teachers keep using an average of the past few years as the grade boundaries). I'm basically relying on economics to get an A* in now to make my firm uni offer, but I have at least a little but of hope. Also, my economics teacher is pretty much a legend regarding grades so if there's any department I trust to not screw everyone over, it's this one.

In other news, I'm visiting Durham this week for a campus tour which is super exciting. I last visited there 5 years ago and fell in love with the city when it was pouring rain, so hopefully I feel the same again and that the weather isn't like it has been for the past few weeks. Hope everyone who has done assessments/exams has done well and can enjoy a restful summer coming up!

Taglist:
@StudentMania
@Becca216
@XViconX
@scottishnerd

End of my School Era - Year 13 GYG 2020/2021

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you