So I'm considering doing something very stupid but I know it will help me in the future and also for some odd reason, I believe I will not completely obliterate my chances of doing well.
I've finished my TAGs and I have gotten consistent 7s (Not fantastic, but I can improve during my a levels and over this extremely long summer I have started) on my maths exams, I haven't put in any effort since I never really been encouraged to do well to be frank, only this year, year 11, have I been told I'm not a bad maths student, quite frankly I believe it. I've had it in me and I know if I tried to work hard and I put in the effort required, I could do it. Initially, I was going to take maths a level because I'm planning on studying physics, mechanical engineering, music or astrophysics in uni, so I wanted to keep my options open. However, after a lot of consideration, I've decided I don't really want to do an a level in Chemistry and rather, I should do further maths instead.
The examining board for both maths and further maths at my school is OCR A and I've heard it's quite tough, however, I'm fine with pure maths because I have a good understanding in the core topics. Mechanics will be okay because I'm will to work for it due to it being a big part of my future, I'm just WORRIED AS HECK for stats, I lost most of my marks here and I absolutely hate it, I would be able to work through the a level stats fine but further statistics may be a nightmare for me.
I need to guarantee a good grade in further maths so I can get into a good uni, preferably Exeter. Essentially I want to take further maths because it will make me stand out and make me more desirable for a position in STEM degrees such as Physics and I think I will enjoy it. Unfortunately, I'm not a maths genius, I'm okay at maths and I would do well if I tried but naturally, I'm only a grade 7 at GCSE, is that even good enough? I'm afraid of losing motivation and not being encouraged by my teacher because I'm not as good as other people in the class. I don't want to be compared to people and maths seems to be such an overly critical subject.
Essentially I don't want to be overly criticised and discouraged because some teachers believe I'm not good enough, I know it's a part of life but only now have I realised, I can actually do maths, I've gone through my whole life believing I was never good enough and kids shouldn't EVER have to feel that way, it was too late to save my GCSE but now that I know I can do it, I want to do the a level.
What do you guys think? If I take a step back, work over the summer and learn the maths a level over the summer, will I be able to do further? And also, is OCR a level as bad as everyone says?
Just a note: I was planning on taking Maths, Chemistry, Physics and Music, however, I may be taking Maths, Further maths, Physics and Music instead.