Sixth form

This may be a bit long but I'm going to try my best.
I regret my sixth form choice. I'll refer to them as college A and college B.
Basically, I was looking forward to go to college A, it was initially my first choice, it is in the top 100 sixth form colleges in the UK and it is also in close proximity to me - only a 10 min drive away which is convenient. I had initially chosen to take A level english lit, psychology and law, but later realised that law isn't actually preferred nor facilitating so there isn't much point in taking it if I want to keep my options open. Then I thought economics would be good as its respected and doesn't look too difficult. I requested to switch law to economics but college A refused and said it was too full and that I need one higher grade in gcse maths than what I've got so I can't do it. They were also a bit rude when trying to communicate with them despite the fact I had extenuating circumstances. I then tried out the first day at College A and had an awful experience. I told my law teacher I may be changing to a different subject and he didn't react very well, he said 'well that doesn't excuse you from doing the summer homework for law, you still have to do it (despite the fact it would take 10-12 hours altogether) and if you are changing subjects, I'd suggest you do that today rather than messing things up altogether.'
I also had a bad experience with a new girl I met.
The next day I decided to go to college B which is a 30 min drive away as they were letting me do all 3 subjects of my choice, I got there and a few days in I realised I'm not actually interested in economics. I still have the opportunity to change subjects at college B but not at college A. There are still some concerns here though. Despite the fact that some days I have no lessons for a whole day, we are still required to come in to the college from 8:30-3:00 which is a hassle for me as it is 30 mins away and its hard to get there (transport wise). I tried to pick up this concern with the attendance lady there who instead of being supportive, gave me a deathstare and questioned me 'how are you getting to school then? and thats not convenient. you will have to stay in from 8:30 till 3 all the time despite whether you have lessons or not'
This wasn't great as I only had one lesson yesterday so I only came in for that and when I got to the lesson, the teacher said it was cancelled as the classroom was being 'used by other years' which shows that there isn't a priority for sixth formers when A levels are in fact more important than whatever year 7's are learning.
College A is not part of a school, it is a sixth form college on its own and offers many great opportunities. Now I am unsure on what to do and I've already missed 2 weeks of College A which is scary to even go back as people would question it.

Reply 1

KWad

With regards to your experience at college A, what the teacher said was justified for the most part. From their perspective, either you decided to switch subject at the last minute, in which case you should have done the holiday homework anyway, or you decided a long time back in which case you should have requested a switch much earlier. Irrespective of that, it is irresponsible not to complete any work you are assigned even if you don't think you will be continuing the subject further - you had two and a half months to complete a few hours work, it's not a huge ask considering you didn't seek to switch subjects much earlier.

As for switching subjects, do NOT do it because the other subject looks easy. Your other reason, that econ is more respected and keeps options open, is a better rationale. The most important reason though, which you haven't mentioned, is which A-levels are useful for your desired degree courses. I suggest doing some study and finding out which subjects are actually going to be useful for your long-term goals rather than focussing on what is 'easy', 'interesting', or 'respected'.

On the topic of college B, having sixth-form students come in even when they don't have many lessons that day is standard policy as far as I know. I am in a similar situation - I have to come in until 1:40 every day irrespective of whether I have many lessons, and I also live 30mins away from my sixth form. It's a bit annoying but you have to live with it like everyone else. I can't speak for the attendance lady's tone, but frankly there's not much she can do about it if that is the college policy.

I agree that the class cancellation thing was stupid, but realistically as your A-levels ramp up they will give you more priority. It's likely they cancelled your class because they can trust college students to do private study responsibly, but the same can't be said for 11-year-olds. However, if this is becomes a repeating issue, I strongly suggest taking it up with your head of college (or other leading staff member) and asking them to do something about it due to potential impact on grades.

Ultimately the choice of college is up to you but make the decision over consequential points like which subjects you are being allowed to take and how this aligns with your goals, rather than trivial stuff like whether you are allowed to not come in on certain days.