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Stressed autistic girl attempts to survive year 13

Hello everyone!

I am just about to enter year 13 and am mentally preparing myself for what I know is going to be a pretty tough year. I'm taking A levels in Biology, Psychology and History. I'm currently predicted A*AA respectively but I'm hoping (praying) to get an A* prediction in psychology when i sit my upcoming mocks in a week (im scared).

I'm looking to apply for like sciency-psychology courses and right now I'm thinking: Experimental Psychology at Oxford, Psychology and Neuroscience at Bristol, Neuroscience and Psychology at KCL and Human Neuroscience at UCL.

I'm basically creating this thread to hold myself accountable, track my journey and to try and prevent burnout on at least some level. As my title states I am autistic and that has a big impact on why I want to study what I want to study, but it can also lead to some struggles in my school life. Even if no one reads this, I think it's still nice and I'm excited to look back on my journey in a year's time, wherever the winds of UCAS and A-levels blow me :smile:

Good luck everyone, and Godspeed!
(edited 1 month ago)

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Good luck with year 13 :smile:

Reply 2

Original post by citay
Hello everyone!
I am just about to enter year 13 and am mentally preparing myself for what I know is going to be a pretty tough year. I'm taking A levels in Biology, Psychology and History of Art. I'm currently predicted A*AA respectively but I'm hoping (praying) to get an A* prediction in psychology when i sit my upcoming mocks in a week (im scared).
I'm looking to apply for like sciency-psychology courses and right now I'm thinking: Experimental Psychology at Oxford, Psychology and Neuroscience at Bristol, Neuroscience and Psychology at KCL and Human Neuroscience at UCL.
I'm basically creating this thread to hold myself accountable, track my journey and to try and prevent burnout on at least some level. As my title states I am autistic and that has a big impact on why I want to study what I want to study, but it can also lead to some struggles in my school life. Even if no one reads this, I think it's still nice and I'm excited to look back on my journey in a year's time, wherever the winds of UCAS and A-levels blow me :smile:
Good luck everyone, and Godspeed!


hey! i'm also an autistic year 13 and i'm doing psych, bio, and chem hoping to do neuroscience!!! good luck with everything this year, i'm sure we'll both be fine :smile:

Reply 3

Original post by njkwde
hey! i'm also an autistic year 13 and i'm doing psych, bio, and chem hoping to do neuroscience!!! good luck with everything this year, i'm sure we'll both be fine :smile:

Yes!! We’ve so got this. I’d love to hear more about your journey as well :smile:

Reply 4

Original post by citay
Hello everyone!
I am just about to enter year 13 and am mentally preparing myself for what I know is going to be a pretty tough year. I'm taking A levels in Biology, Psychology and History of Art. I'm currently predicted A*AA respectively but I'm hoping (praying) to get an A* prediction in psychology when i sit my upcoming mocks in a week (im scared).
I'm looking to apply for like sciency-psychology courses and right now I'm thinking: Experimental Psychology at Oxford, Psychology and Neuroscience at Bristol, Neuroscience and Psychology at KCL and Human Neuroscience at UCL.
I'm basically creating this thread to hold myself accountable, track my journey and to try and prevent burnout on at least some level. As my title states I am autistic and that has a big impact on why I want to study what I want to study, but it can also lead to some struggles in my school life. Even if no one reads this, I think it's still nice and I'm excited to look back on my journey in a year's time, wherever the winds of UCAS and A-levels blow me :smile:
Good luck everyone, and Godspeed!

Hey! I found this thread looking for advice for autistic year 13s so we’re in the same boat :] I hope it goes well for you, and if you find any particular coping strategies then it would be great to hear them; I’ve been in for two days and I’m already so overwhelmed lmao

Reply 5

Original post by Alialiali857
Hey! I found this thread looking for advice for autistic year 13s so we’re in the same boat :] I hope it goes well for you, and if you find any particular coping strategies then it would be great to hear them; I’ve been in for two days and I’m already so overwhelmed lmao

I think alone time is a biiiiig one for me- when I get home I will need at least a half hour not texting or talking to anyone so i can decompress. I like to also use this time to indulge some of my interests like TV shows 🙂 You've got this and you can PM if you want to chat anytime!!

Reply 6

Original post by citay
Hello everyone!
I am just about to enter year 13 and am mentally preparing myself for what I know is going to be a pretty tough year. I'm taking A levels in Biology, Psychology and History of Art. I'm currently predicted A*AA respectively but I'm hoping (praying) to get an A* prediction in psychology when i sit my upcoming mocks in a week (im scared).
I'm looking to apply for like sciency-psychology courses and right now I'm thinking: Experimental Psychology at Oxford, Psychology and Neuroscience at Bristol, Neuroscience and Psychology at KCL and Human Neuroscience at UCL.
I'm basically creating this thread to hold myself accountable, track my journey and to try and prevent burnout on at least some level. As my title states I am autistic and that has a big impact on why I want to study what I want to study, but it can also lead to some struggles in my school life. Even if no one reads this, I think it's still nice and I'm excited to look back on my journey in a year's time, wherever the winds of UCAS and A-levels blow me :smile:
Good luck everyone, and Godspeed!
It's update time! I sat my History exam on Wednesday and my biology and psychology exams today. TBH I don't think any one of them went particularly amazing - I felt like there was always at least one question on each that I struggled to answer :s-smilie: But they're over now and if I dont get my A* in psych its not the end of the world!! I'm proud of how much work I did (10h 30 on flora this week). Now it's time for me to work on my personal statement and the TSA... scary stuff.

My school wants my first draft by next Wednesday and I feel like I'm only realising now how soon that is but I've gotten started already so it should be ok (hopefully). I will update more as scores come in, hope you guys have restful weekends!!:smile:
(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 7

I pray that you’ll find rest in God.

Reply 8

Hey man good luck with year 13!!! Hope you get that prediction in psych, even getting an A is an achievement, I’ve heard so many horror stories about their grade boundaries

Just wanted to give a little heads up, Bristol has the worst student mental health stats in the country, and some of the highest substance abuse rates. Its also very expensive to find accommodation (relative to non-London accom prices) I didn’t know either of this until Bristol was already set as my insurance choice, so definitely look up stats if these are important to you!

Reply 9

Original post by Nb.05
Hey man good luck with year 13!!! Hope you get that prediction in psych, even getting an A is an achievement, I’ve heard so many horror stories about their grade boundaries
Just wanted to give a little heads up, Bristol has the worst student mental health stats in the country, and some of the highest substance abuse rates. Its also very expensive to find accommodation (relative to non-London accom prices) I didn’t know either of this until Bristol was already set as my insurance choice, so definitely look up stats if these are important to you!

Thank you! And thank you for letting me know about Bristol - I haven't heard about any of that before. I think I'll wait and see if it gets to the point where I am considering putting it as my firm/insurance to do some more research, especially comparing it to my other choices 🙂

Reply 10

Original post by citay
Hello everyone!
I am just about to enter year 13 and am mentally preparing myself for what I know is going to be a pretty tough year. I'm taking A levels in Biology, Psychology and History of Art. I'm currently predicted A*AA respectively but I'm hoping (praying) to get an A* prediction in psychology when i sit my upcoming mocks in a week (im scared).
I'm looking to apply for like sciency-psychology courses and right now I'm thinking: Experimental Psychology at Oxford, Psychology and Neuroscience at Bristol, Neuroscience and Psychology at KCL and Human Neuroscience at UCL.
I'm basically creating this thread to hold myself accountable, track my journey and to try and prevent burnout on at least some level. As my title states I am autistic and that has a big impact on why I want to study what I want to study, but it can also lead to some struggles in my school life. Even if no one reads this, I think it's still nice and I'm excited to look back on my journey in a year's time, wherever the winds of UCAS and A-levels blow me :smile:
Good luck everyone, and Godspeed!

It's update time!!

I've now got all of my scores back and let's just say that it's a pretty mixed bag. Biology was kind of embarrassing because I ended up crying in the toilet (humbling moment I know). I didn't even do badly at all, I got 63% which is an A, but I think it was just an emotional day and I was hoping that I would do better, but oh well! Psychology went *miles* better than I expected, and I ended up getting 72% which is usually a few % away from an A* so I'm hoping they'll bump my prediction up. Now... History... oof. It's actually the worst I've ever done on a History exam. I got 51% which barely scrapes a B, but I admit that the topic we did the exam on is definitely not my strongest and I didn't do anywhere near enough revision. I've also already got my predicted A and thankfully my score can't go down so it's all good.

Now I just need to wait for when they release our updated predicted grades... I'm really nervous :s-smilie:

In terms of Uni applications, I've filled in all of the non-personal statement sections on UCAS and have chosen my courses! They are pretty much the same as what I said originally, except for the addition of my final course which is Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at Nottingham. I've written up my personal statement and am currently waiting for my teacher's feedback so I can get it updated and hopefully completed pretty soon :smile:

That's pretty much all I can think of for now, hope everyone enjoys their weekend :heart:
(edited 1 month ago)
Original post by citay
It's update time!!
I've now got all of my scores back and let's just say that it's a pretty mixed bag. Biology was kind of embarrassing because I ended up crying in the toilet (humbling moment I know). I didn't even do badly at all, I got 63% which is an A, but I think it was just an emotional day and I was hoping that I would do better, but oh well! Psychology went *miles* better than I expected, and I ended up getting 72% which is usually a few % away from an A* so I'm hoping they'll bump my prediction up. Now... History of Art... oof. It's actually the worst I've ever done on a History of Art exam. I got 51% which barely scrapes a B, but I admit that the topic we did the exam on is definitely not my strongest and I didn't do anywhere near enough revision. I've also already got my predicted A and thankfully my score can't go down so it's all good.
Now I just need to wait for when they release our updated predicted grades... I'm really nervous :s-smilie:
In terms of Uni applications, I've filled in all of the non-personal statement sections on UCAS and have chosen my courses! They are pretty much the same as what I said originally, except for the addition of my final course which is Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at Nottingham. I've written up my personal statement and am currently waiting for my teacher's feedback so I can get it updated and hopefully completed pretty soon :smile:
That's pretty much all I can think of for now, hope everyone enjoys their weekend :heart:

Well done on your grades! They are awesome 🙂

Reply 12

Original post by DerDracologe
Well done on your grades! They are awesome 🙂

Thank you!!

Reply 13

Original post by citay
It's update time!!
I've now got all of my scores back and let's just say that it's a pretty mixed bag. Biology was kind of embarrassing because I ended up crying in the toilet (humbling moment I know). I didn't even do badly at all, I got 63% which is an A, but I think it was just an emotional day and I was hoping that I would do better, but oh well! Psychology went *miles* better than I expected, and I ended up getting 72% which is usually a few % away from an A* so I'm hoping they'll bump my prediction up. Now... History of Art... oof. It's actually the worst I've ever done on a History of Art exam. I got 51% which barely scrapes a B, but I admit that the topic we did the exam on is definitely not my strongest and I didn't do anywhere near enough revision. I've also already got my predicted A and thankfully my score can't go down so it's all good.
Now I just need to wait for when they release our updated predicted grades... I'm really nervous :s-smilie:
In terms of Uni applications, I've filled in all of the non-personal statement sections on UCAS and have chosen my courses! They are pretty much the same as what I said originally, except for the addition of my final course which is Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at Nottingham. I've written up my personal statement and am currently waiting for my teacher's feedback so I can get it updated and hopefully completed pretty soon :smile:
That's pretty much all I can think of for now, hope everyone enjoys their weekend :heart:

Heyy I’m looking at uni of Nottingham too! Not a psychology student so idk what it’s like for specifics but the psycholinguistics lab there was very cool on an open day (linguistics nerd lmao)

Reply 14

Original post by Alialiali857
Heyy I’m looking at uni of Nottingham too! Not a psychology student so idk what it’s like for specifics but the psycholinguistics lab there was very cool on an open day (linguistics nerd lmao)

OOooo I'm actually really interested by linguistics too - I'm glad that its offered for modules at a lot of places so I can learn a bit more about it! Psycholinguistics is so cool

Reply 15

Original post by citay
Hello everyone!
I am just about to enter year 13 and am mentally preparing myself for what I know is going to be a pretty tough year. I'm taking A levels in Biology, Psychology and History of Art. I'm currently predicted A*AA respectively but I'm hoping (praying) to get an A* prediction in psychology when i sit my upcoming mocks in a week (im scared).
I'm looking to apply for like sciency-psychology courses and right now I'm thinking: Experimental Psychology at Oxford, Psychology and Neuroscience at Bristol, Neuroscience and Psychology at KCL and Human Neuroscience at UCL.
I'm basically creating this thread to hold myself accountable, track my journey and to try and prevent burnout on at least some level. As my title states I am autistic and that has a big impact on why I want to study what I want to study, but it can also lead to some struggles in my school life. Even if no one reads this, I think it's still nice and I'm excited to look back on my journey in a year's time, wherever the winds of UCAS and A-levels blow me :smile:
Good luck everyone, and Godspeed!

:woo:Wooo update time!:woo:

I got my A* in psychology!!!! I talked to my teacher and she agreed to move it up so long as I acknowledge the fact that I need to work hard to try and achieve it and even then I may not get that in the real thing. That's the big news of the week - sadly I haven't been able to do too much work because I've been sick and literally just lying in bed watching Netflix for the past few evenings. However, now I'm less stressed about my grades I'm hoping that I can get better and get back to work. I'm aiming to get my personal statement (or even submit my UCAS!!) by the end of next week which is super scary if you actually think about it... From then on it's just TSA prep and focus on my actual A-levels.

This week was a bit rough but I'm hoping next week will be better, and my mood has definitely improved with my grade going up. Hope everyone has a restful (and healthy) weekend. :hide:

Reply 16

Original post by citay
:woo:Wooo update time!:woo:
I got my A* in psychology!!!! I talked to my teacher and she agreed to move it up so long as I acknowledge the fact that I need to work hard to try and achieve it and even then I may not get that in the real thing. That's the big news of the week - sadly I haven't been able to do too much work because I've been sick and literally just lying in bed watching Netflix for the past few evenings. However, now I'm less stressed about my grades I'm hoping that I can get better and get back to work. I'm aiming to get my personal statement (or even submit my UCAS!!) by the end of next week which is super scary if you actually think about it... From then on it's just TSA prep and focus on my actual A-levels.
This week was a bit rough but I'm hoping next week will be better, and my mood has definitely improved with my grade going up. Hope everyone has a restful (and healthy) weekend. :hide:

hii, so sorry about your health, wishing you a speedy recovery and well done on getting ur predicted grade to an A* Go you :thumbsup:

Reply 17

Original post by citay
Hello everyone!
I am just about to enter year 13 and am mentally preparing myself for what I know is going to be a pretty tough year. I'm taking A levels in Biology, Psychology and History of Art. I'm currently predicted A*AA respectively but I'm hoping (praying) to get an A* prediction in psychology when i sit my upcoming mocks in a week (im scared).
I'm looking to apply for like sciency-psychology courses and right now I'm thinking: Experimental Psychology at Oxford, Psychology and Neuroscience at Bristol, Neuroscience and Psychology at KCL and Human Neuroscience at UCL.
I'm basically creating this thread to hold myself accountable, track my journey and to try and prevent burnout on at least some level. As my title states I am autistic and that has a big impact on why I want to study what I want to study, but it can also lead to some struggles in my school life. Even if no one reads this, I think it's still nice and I'm excited to look back on my journey in a year's time, wherever the winds of UCAS and A-levels blow me :smile:
Good luck everyone, and Godspeed!

It has been done.

Aarrgh this feels so crazy!! I'm actually super excited about this, I can't believe my time has come already! I'm glad to get it out of the way, now all I have to do is some more TSA prep (and work for my actual a levels) :biggrin:. I'm super happy with where I am with the TSA right now, I did a practice on Tuesday and managed to break the 70 mark! Everything feels actually possible and within reach right now and I'm so excited to see what happens with UCAS. :smile::smile:
(edited 7 months ago)
Original post by citay
It has been done.Aarrgh this feels so crazy!! I'm actually super excited about this, I can't believe my time has come already! I'm glad to get it out of the way, now all I have to do is some more TSA prep (and work for my actual a levels) :biggrin:. I'm super happy with where I am with the TSA right now, I did a practice on Tuesday and managed to break the 70 mark! Everything feels actually possible and within reach right now and I'm so excited to see what happens with UCAS. :smile::smile:

Best of luck! Did you end up applying to the courses you listed in your original post?
(edited 7 months ago)

Reply 19

Original post by DerDracologe
Best of luck! Did you end up applying to the courses you listed in your original post?

Thank you!! And I did, with the exception of adding Neuroscience at Glasgow :smile:

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