Alevel or uni is harder

9

Is alevel more stressful than uni like imperial, lse, ucl, etc? just wanna hear from different people so that i have a clue how uni will be like. im currently doing alevel

Reply 1

Rhewer1

11

Original post

by yyyjoeyyy

Is alevel more stressful than uni like imperial, lse, ucl, etc? just wanna hear from different people so that i have a clue how uni will be like. im currently doing alevel

Hi currently 2nd year banking and finance student here. I don’t go to the uni’s you have stated however, it all depends on the course you’re studying. If you are thinking A levels would be harder than uni’s on courses such as finance, econ, maths (Pretty much STEM) then you would be incorrect. Uni is meant to be harder than A levels for good reason. That doesn’t mean some courses won’t be like A level or even sometimes easier. What you also have to consider is that, at A level you’re learning “new concepts” it’s going to seem much harder than uni because you’re basically applying the concepts you learnt at A level, with a few other concepts that you haven’t learnt that are generally based upon other modules. So point of the story is, A levels do prepare you for university level, but is in no way shape or form “harder” than uni. Hope that clarifies things. If you can tell me what course you’re considering maybe I can assist you further. All the best :smile:

Reply 2

McGinger

20

Of course its 'harder' - there wouldn't be any point in doing it if it was easy would there. And yes, top/elite Unis are the hardest of them all. Its doable, but you have to approach it with the right 'I want that', 'I want to have my brain stretched' attitude and face up to the intellectual challenge. 'Achieving' at a top Uni is the greatest feeling you can have, but those who just doss about and expect it all to be handed to them on a plate, and to be 'easy' wont ever climb that mountain.

Reply 3

yyyjoeyyy

OP

9

Original post

by Rhewer1

Hi currently 2nd year banking and finance student here. I don’t go to the uni’s you have stated however, it all depends on the course you’re studying. If you are thinking A levels would be harder than uni’s on courses such as finance, econ, maths (Pretty much STEM) then you would be incorrect. Uni is meant to be harder than A levels for good reason. That doesn’t mean some courses won’t be like A level or even sometimes easier. What you also have to consider is that, at A level you’re learning “new concepts” it’s going to seem much harder than uni because you’re basically applying the concepts you learnt at A level, with a few other concepts that you haven’t learnt that are generally based upon other modules. So point of the story is, A levels do prepare you for university level, but is in no way shape or form “harder” than uni. Hope that clarifies things. If you can tell me what course you’re considering maybe I can assist you further. All the best :smile:

thankyou for replying! im applying to chemical engineering and im just worried about how current students (other majors) claim that uni is hard as in not content hard but "undoable"

Reply 4

Rhewer1

11

Original post

by yyyjoeyyy

thankyou for replying! im applying to chemical engineering and im just worried about how current students (other majors) claim that uni is hard as in not content hard but "undoable"

Then you have used the wrong words to describe what you’re actually portraying 🤣 Uni level stress is absolutely more harder with exams, for the very reason that at GCSE/A Levels you can always find past papers and sort of predict what would come up. During university especially at “higher ranking” ones they could genuinely be anything with inside that topic with no framework. This adds to more level of stress, is it “undoable” stress absolutely not they are over reacting (depends on what degree though) but most of the time if you do the work, understand it and actually prepare. Then no uni isn’t “undoable”, don’t get an idea that uni is all stress, cause you will stress and it will reflect in your work also. Just be prepared, be aware you might learn something u might not know and definitely be prepared to debate with ur classmates and even lecturer (they secretly love it)

Reply 5

kellyBU

Official Rep

7

Original post

by yyyjoeyyy

Is alevel more stressful than uni like imperial, lse, ucl, etc? just wanna hear from different people so that i have a clue how uni will be like. im currently doing alevel

Hi there!
Uni is the next step up from A-levels, so of course the stuff you are learning may be a bit more challenging, but for me at least it felt like a very natural step up! I never felt too overwhelmed and if I did I know many unis, like BU offer great student support. The biggest comparison would probably GCSE to A-level, that was the next step up, but again it should feel like a natural step up rather than a crazy jump. Please also remember that everyone will be in the same position as you, you won't be alone! But yeah, I personally didn't notice the step up, it just happened quite smoothly, I think the fact that uni normally has less contact hours than A-levels helped as well.
Don't worry!
You have got this,
:five:

Kelly a Marketing student at Bournemouth University

Reply 6

Rhewer1

11

Original post

by kellyBU

Hi there!
Uni is the next step up from A-levels, so of course the stuff you are learning may be a bit more challenging, but for me at least it felt like a very natural step up! I never felt too overwhelmed and if I did I know many unis, like BU offer great student support. The biggest comparison would probably GCSE to A-level, that was the next step up, but again it should feel like a natural step up rather than a crazy jump. Please also remember that everyone will be in the same position as you, you won't be alone! But yeah, I personally didn't notice the step up, it just happened quite smoothly, I think the fact that uni normally has less contact hours than A-levels helped as well.
Don't worry!
You have got this,
:five:

Kelly a Marketing student at Bournemouth University

With all due respect here but marketing versus chemical engineering is completely different in terms of “step up” or “natural step up” the step up you’re talking about with yourself is not the same as his would be. Thought I would point this out for the person to see. It’s definitely not a “natural step up” for most degrees within STEM, it’s actually a step up and a bit more. Like I said with all due respect just wanted to point it out.

Alevel or uni is harder

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