how to make the summer useful

15

Hello, I have recently finished gcses and want to know how to make the most out of this summer. I am taking physics, chemistry, maths and further maths for a levels, so it would be very helpful if people could give me advice on what to do for those specific a levels and in general how to maximise my grades next year, to get into oxbridge and top unis . Also, I've been feeling very unproductive currently, and I was considering what I could do to prepare for uni (supercurriculars etc.)- I want to do a project but am not really sure exactly what to do. any advice would be appreciated!

Reply 1

Cam3r0n

13

Original post by skitter12

Hello, I have recently finished gcses and want to know how to make the most out of this summer. I am taking physics, chemistry, maths and further maths for a levels, so it would be very helpful if people could give me advice on what to do for those specific a levels and in general how to maximise my grades next year, to get into oxbridge and top unis . Also, I've been feeling very unproductive currently, and I was considering what I could do to prepare for uni (supercurriculars etc.)- I want to do a project but am not really sure exactly what to do. any advice would be appreciated!

This is your last proper free summer. Don’t try too hard to fill it.

However, have a look at different uni courses and free lectures and university outreach. It’s a good time to figure out what you’re interested in.

Reply 2

Cam3r0n

13

If you’re from a state school, have a look at this. https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7497196&p=99671868

Reply 3

Cam3r0n

13

Original post by Cam3r0n

If you’re from a state school, have a look at this. https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7497196&p=99671868

For top uni prep.

Reply 4

username6259536

9

Original post by skitter12

Hello, I have recently finished gcses and want to know how to make the most out of this summer. I am taking physics, chemistry, maths and further maths for a levels, so it would be very helpful if people could give me advice on what to do for those specific a levels and in general how to maximise my grades next year, to get into oxbridge and top unis . Also, I've been feeling very unproductive currently, and I was considering what I could do to prepare for uni (supercurriculars etc.)- I want to do a project but am not really sure exactly what to do. any advice would be appreciated!

hey, i'm also planning to do the same a levels next year and feel the exact same way lol. but, i found some really good online courses to do. springpod has lots of work experience which you can do on demand (e.g. engineering), harvard/edX has an introduction to computer science course called cs50 which you can also do on demand, and cambridge's website has some reading lists for a variety of different subjects. :smile:

Reply 5

skitter12

OP

15

Original post by Cam3r0n

If you’re from a state school, have a look at this. https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7497196&p=99671868

Thanks, I signed up a few months ago for it :smile:

Reply 6

skitter12

OP

15

Original post by Cam3r0n

This is your last proper free summer. Don’t try too hard to fill it.
However, have a look at different uni courses and free lectures and university outreach. It’s a good time to figure out what you’re interested in.

Yeah, I'm trying to do that too- do you know if online sites like coursera and futurelearn are any good?

Reply 7

McGinger

20

BBC podcasts - interesting, easy to listen to, and you can practice taking notes :
BBC Sounds - Science Podcasts
BBC Radio 4 - More or Less
BBC Radio 4 - The Law Show - Available now
etc

Reply 8

Cam3r0n

13

Original post by skitter12

Yeah, I'm trying to do that too- do you know if online sites like coursera and futurelearn are any good?

They’re not bad, but I found anything on them quite difficult to get into it to.
Have a go if something looks interesting, it’s good for your application when saying how you worked on your interest.

Reply 9

McGinger

20

Original post by skitter12

Yeah, I'm trying to do that too- do you know if online sites like coursera and futurelearn are any good?

Excellent - FutureLearn is mostly courses from UK Unis, Coursera is more focussed on US and Australian Unis. Just be wary of any courses that are not from Unis - they tend to be less 'balanced'.
You do not need to pay for any of these - you do not need the certificates.

Reply 10

Cam3r0n

13

Original post by McGinger

Excellent - FutureLearn is mostly courses from UK Unis, Coursera is more focussed on US and Australian Unis. Just be wary of any courses that are not from Unis - they tend to be less 'balanced'.
You do not need to pay for any of these - you do not need the certificates.

This is key. Don’t pay for anything. You don’t even need to finish things. Just do what you find interesting and be able to talk about it.

Reply 11

skitter12

OP

15

Original post by McGinger

Excellent - FutureLearn is mostly courses from UK Unis, Coursera is more focussed on US and Australian Unis. Just be wary of any courses that are not from Unis - they tend to be less 'balanced'.
You do not need to pay for any of these - you do not need the certificates.

Ok that is good, I'll see if there's anything interesting there

Reply 12

skitter12

OP

15

Original post by McGinger

BBC podcasts - interesting, easy to listen to, and you can practice taking notes :
BBC Sounds - Science Podcasts
BBC Radio 4 - More or Less
BBC Radio 4 - The Law Show - Available now
etc

Thank you, I'll check these out )

Reply 13

Muttley79

20

Original post by skitter12

Hello, I have recently finished gcses and want to know how to make the most out of this summer. I am taking physics, chemistry, maths and further maths for a levels, so it would be very helpful if people could give me advice on what to do for those specific a levels and in general how to maximise my grades next year, to get into oxbridge and top unis . Also, I've been feeling very unproductive currently, and I was considering what I could do to prepare for uni (supercurriculars etc.)- I want to do a project but am not really sure exactly what to do. any advice would be appreciated!

We set summer prep work - ask your teachers for this.

Reply 14

skitter12

OP

15

Original post by Muttley79

We set summer prep work - ask your teachers for this.

My school has also set us some, but I've looked over it and it doesn't really seem that challenging

Reply 15

Muttley79

20

Original post by skitter12

My school has also set us some, but I've looked over it and it doesn't really seem that challenging

Maybe google and see if you can find stuff from another school?

Reply 16

KWad

11

Question - What course do you want to do at uni? What are your post-education objectives? You said you want to go to a 'top uni' like oxbridge, but to study what, and why? Hopefully you already know what course you want to take but just forgot to say it here, but if not, I'd just like to point out that Oxbridge should (in an ideal world) be considered a means to an end, not an end in and of itself.

Aside from that, I think the course question probably the most important question with regards to how you should be spending your time this summer. Because if it turns out you want to go study computer science or something, then doing chemistry supercurriculars will be of little value.

Reply 17

KWad

11

But on a more general point, just make sure you maintain all of your GCSE knowledge on the subjects which you are taking at A-level over the summer holidays (e.g. do a past paper or two over the holiday for each subject just to make sure you haven't forgotten everything). There's not really any need to do any reading ahead unless you are exceptionally keen, just maintain the knowledge you already have (e.g. formulae).

Reply 18

skitter12

OP

15

Original post by KWad

Question - What course do you want to do at uni? What are your post-education objectives? You said you want to go to a 'top uni' like oxbridge, but to study what, and why? Hopefully you already know what course you want to take but just forgot to say it here, but if not, I'd just like to point out that Oxbridge should (in an ideal world) be considered a means to an end, not an end in and of itself.
Aside from that, I think the course question probably the most important question with regards to how you should be spending your time this summer. Because if it turns out you want to go study computer science or something, then doing chemistry supercurriculars will be of little value.

Sorry, I forgot to mention the course- it's materials science. It's a bit annoying to find online courses on it because it's such a niche subject, but I've started listening to some podcasts and ted talks about it. I'll also try maintaining my gcse knowledge- our school has given us summer work which recaps a lot of the content, so that's useful too. I don't know whether I should do some sort of project- as I'm not doing epq would this be useful to do now?

Reply 19

KWad

11

Original post by skitter12

Sorry, I forgot to mention the course- it's materials science. It's a bit annoying to find online courses on it because it's such a niche subject, but I've started listening to some podcasts and ted talks about it. I'll also try maintaining my gcse knowledge- our school has given us summer work which recaps a lot of the content, so that's useful too. I don't know whether I should do some sort of project- as I'm not doing epq would this be useful to do now?

Not a bad idea. It would be worth your time to have some evidence that you want to study material science specifically, as a lot of the people applying will have good grades but will not be able to demonstrate their interest that particular subject. A project of some sort would certainly fit this bill.

Perhaps also to learn something in-depth about a particular area in material science as this shows that you have a deeper interest in the subject. Reading a book on the subject may help this.

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