Any advice?

[Daxter]

I've just started at College and as I wasn't able to do P.E because I got a D in Science(yeah I know) I had to pick an alternative course on my enrollment. Kind of annoying seeing as I got an A* in GCSE P.E but anyway. I went for Philosophy as everything else was full and after one lesson I am regretting it big time. It just seems a load of bollocks to be honest and is way too deep. Can't get my head around any of it.

Now I know Uni's operate with a points system(UCAS?) that determines if you can get in a course. At the moment I'm taking four A-levels but really want to change philosophy. If there isn't any decent alternatives I may end up just having to do a Football development course. But would taking just three A-levels be too much of a gamble?

Or I could take two A-levels and take a a course such as this where you can get a BTEC National Award in Sport (equal to one A Level) But I'm not sure if that would be good enough or a worthwhile qualification?

Anyway just not really sure what to so I thought I'd see if any TWers could offer any advice.

Cheers.

[fatshaft]

bloody students

[superjohnmcginlay]

Not sure how it works nowadays Dax but dont UCAS just take your best 3 A Levels for points?
They did in my day, when I was a lad etc etc.

[Pete]

If one of the A Levels is General Studies, then yes, it would be a big risk as no university will count it in their points. If not, then I would think you will be fine. Why not discuss it with someone at college? Could you not resit your Science and catch up on the A Level PE? Would it really be that hard to get a C on GCSE science? I'm sure your college could arrange it if you asked them.

[Daxter]

Not sure how it works nowadays Dax but dont UCAS just take your best 3 A Levels for points?
They did in my day, when I was a lad etc etc.

Hmm. Not 100 % sure to be honest. You may well be correct. I know if you take four AS/A-levels after the first year you are reccomended to drop one and then pick up another course(AS-level or something else) I suppose taking four is just to give you a bit of insurance so if you do crap the first year you can drop the one you did crap in. Might just have to take a gamble and be confident I can do well in the three selected, maybe.

[superjohnmcginlay]

Not sure how it works nowadays Dax but dont UCAS just take your best 3 A Levels for points?
They did in my day, when I was a lad etc etc.

Hmm. Not 100 % sure to be honest. You may well be correct. I know if you take four AS/A-levels after the first year you are reccomended to drop one and then pick up another course(AS-level or something else) I suppose taking four is just to give you a bit of insurance so if you do crap the first year you can drop the one you did crap in. Might just have to take a gamble and be confident I can do well in the three selected, maybe.

See Pete's advice above regarding general studies.

[Daxter]

If one of the A Levels is General Studies, then yes, it would be a big risk as no university will count it in their points. If not, then I would think you will be fine. Why not discuss it with someone at college? Could you not resit your Science and catch up on the A Level PE? Would it really be that hard to get a C on GCSE science? I'm sure your college could arrange it if you asked them.

I was offered to re-take the GCSE Science but it takes a year. I'm fairly confident if I knuckled down I could pass but then I would only be able to do AS level P.E in the second year. Not sure how worthwhile that would be. Do you know if you get any points if you got say an A/B in just AS level?

FWIW my other three A-levels are English Lit/Lang combined, History and Communication Studies.

[Idiot Wind]

If one of the A Levels is General Studies, then yes, it would be a big risk as no university will count it in their points. If not, then I would think you will be fine. Why not discuss it with someone at college? Could you not resit your Science and catch up on the A Level PE? Would it really be that hard to get a C on GCSE science? I'm sure your college could arrange it if you asked them.

I was offered to re-take the GCSE Science but it takes a year. I'm fairly confident if I knuckled down I could pass but then I would only be able to do AS level P.E in the second year. Not sure how worthwhile that would be. Do you know if you get any points if you got say an A/B in just AS level?

FWIW my other three A-levels are English Lit/Lang combined, History and Communication Studies.

3 A's would see you in at any uni.

20+ points would get you in most so 3 A-levels should be sufficient: 1 B and 2 C's.

[Daxter]

If one of the A Levels is General Studies, then yes, it would be a big risk as no university will count it in their points. If not, then I would think you will be fine. Why not discuss it with someone at college? Could you not resit your Science and catch up on the A Level PE? Would it really be that hard to get a C on GCSE science? I'm sure your college could arrange it if you asked them.

I was offered to re-take the GCSE Science but it takes a year. I'm fairly confident if I knuckled down I could pass but then I would only be able to do AS level P.E in the second year. Not sure how worthwhile that would be. Do you know if you get any points if you got say an A/B in just AS level?

FWIW my other three A-levels are English Lit/Lang combined, History and Communication Studies.

3 A's would see you in at any uni.

20+ points would get you in most so 3 A-levels should be sufficient: 1 B and 2 C's.

Cheers IW. Do you have any idea if you get points for just an AS level or is it strictly points for just a fully completed A-level?

[superjohnmcginlay]

If one of the A Levels is General Studies, then yes, it would be a big risk as no university will count it in their points. If not, then I would think you will be fine. Why not discuss it with someone at college? Could you not resit your Science and catch up on the A Level PE? Would it really be that hard to get a C on GCSE science? I'm sure your college could arrange it if you asked them.

I was offered to re-take the GCSE Science but it takes a year. I'm fairly confident if I knuckled down I could pass but then I would only be able to do AS level P.E in the second year. Not sure how worthwhile that would be. Do you know if you get any points if you got say an A/B in just AS level?

FWIW my other three A-levels are English Lit/Lang combined, History and Communication Studies.

3 A's would see you in at any uni.

20+ points would get you in most so 3 A-levels should be sufficient: 1 B and 2 C's.

Cheers IW. Do you have any idea if you get points for just an AS level or is it strictly points for just a fully completed A-level?

Would have thought its 1/2 points.

[Idiot Wind]

If one of the A Levels is General Studies, then yes, it would be a big risk as no university will count it in their points. If not, then I would think you will be fine. Why not discuss it with someone at college? Could you not resit your Science and catch up on the A Level PE? Would it really be that hard to get a C on GCSE science? I'm sure your college could arrange it if you asked them.

I was offered to re-take the GCSE Science but it takes a year. I'm fairly confident if I knuckled down I could pass but then I would only be able to do AS level P.E in the second year. Not sure how worthwhile that would be. Do you know if you get any points if you got say an A/B in just AS level?

FWIW my other three A-levels are English Lit/Lang combined, History and Communication Studies.

3 A's would see you in at any uni.

20+ points would get you in most so 3 A-levels should be sufficient: 1 B and 2 C's.

Cheers IW. Do you have any idea if you get points for just an AS level or is it strictly points for just a fully completed A-level?

It's just half the points, or used to be.....

A = 10
B = 8
C = 6
D = 4
E = 2
U = You're an idiot.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Worrying post, Dax, despite the idiomatic beauty of "Philosophy's a load of bollocks and is way too deep". As has been pointed out, while TWers may be able to give you some advice (and indeed are already doing so), you should see someone 'official' at school/college, too. They'll probably advise you to give philosophy more than one lesson, mind. You could try the old trick of one-line mysterious answers to all questions, see if they think you're a genius...

FWIW, when I sat my A-levels – 15 years ago, when Kylie still had curly hair – some unis accepted General Studies, which was lucky for we who got an A. Some didn't, and have been bereft of Barnet ever since.

I'm lost in reminiscence now, I got an N (for "Nah...") in either Geography or History, because Cardinal Richelieu and glaciers were much less inviting company than a lovely local lass called Julie who could suck a golf-ball through a hosepipe.

[Idiot Wind]

Worrying post, Dax, despite the idiomatic beauty of "Philosophy's a load of bollocks and is way too deep". As has been pointed out, while TWers may be able to give you some advice (and indeed are already doing so), you should see someone 'official' at school/college, too. They'll probably advise you to give philosophy more than one lesson, mind. You could try the old trick of one-line mysterious answers to all questions, see if they think you're a genius...

FWIW, when I sat my A-levels – 15 years ago, when Kylie still had curly hair – some unis accepted General Studies, which was lucky for we who got an A. Some didn't, and have been bereft of Barnet ever since.

I'm lost in reminiscence now, I got an N (for "Nah...") in either Geography or History, because Cardinal Richelieu and glaciers were much less inviting company than a lovely local lass called Julie who could suck a golf-ball through a hosepipe.

Why would she want to do tha.....oh right!

[Montreal Wanderer]

I'm lost in reminiscence now, I got an N (for "Nah...") in either Geography or History, because Cardinal Richelieu and glaciers were much less inviting company than a lovely local lass called Julie who could suck a golf-ball through a hosepipe.

Was it painful? What colour did it change to? Did it still work afterwards?

[Daxter]

Worrying post, Dax, despite the idiomatic beauty of "Philosophy's a load of bollocks and is way too deep". As has been pointed out, while TWers may be able to give you some advice (and indeed are already doing so), you should see someone 'official' at school/college, too. They'll probably advise you to give philosophy more than one lesson, mind. You could try the old trick of one-line mysterious answers to all questions, see if they think you're a genius...

FWIW, when I sat my A-levels – 15 years ago, when Kylie still had curly hair – some unis accepted General Studies, which was lucky for we who got an A. Some didn't, and have been bereft of Barnet ever since.

I'm lost in reminiscence now, I got an N (for "Nah...") in either Geography or History, because Cardinal Richelieu and glaciers were much less inviting company than a lovely local lass called Julie who could suck a golf-ball through a hosepipe.

Yeah I know I should probably give Philosophy another go and my statement is not that well informed on the basis of just one lesson but I was just sitting in there literally thinking "what the hell?". It's a subject that seems to want to try and question everything. I'm sure some may enjoy it but just I don't think it is going to be for me. The old "if a tree falls in an empty forest does it make a noise?" was brought up and I immediately thought of a thread that popped up on here about that very subject and how confusing it was.

As you say I'll certainly consult with someone official at College and try and see what the best option for me is. Whether that's seeing if there are any other A-level courses that I may be interested in available, retaking Science GCSE or doing a Football development course shall remain to be seen.

Anyway, thanks for the help guys.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Yeah I know I should probably give Philosophy another go and my statement is not that well informed on the basis of just one lesson

I disagree, philosophically...

[TANGODANCER]

Philosophers are usually clever people (nearly said "men" there, whoops) given to wise words, rather than collections of those only found in dictionaries.....er, forsooth

[Marshall]

Having just finished college, this is how it works.

You get 120 points for an A, 100 for a B and so on. This is for full A-Levels. For AS Levels, you get 60 for an A, 50 for a B etc ie. it's half of the full A-Level.

Most uni's will want 3 A-Levels. IMO you're best off doing what I did, and dropping Philosophy (I did 2 lessons of it, realised it was shite, and got rid). You seriously only need 3 A-Levels, and most uni's don't accept General Studies so just ignore that completely.

The reason you'll be doing 4 AS Levels is like someone said, it's incase you do shite in 1 of them. Most people drop an AS Level when they've done it as 3 A Levels is all you need.

Good uni's like Manchester will say they want 3 A-Levels of AAB for example. Others will say they want 240 UCAS points, which works out as CCC.

As far as I know, unless you want to study the most complex course going at Oxford, 3 A-Levels is definitely enough.

[Idiot Wind]

Having just finished college, this is how it works.

You get 120 points for an A, 100 for a B and so on. This is for full A-Levels. For AS Levels, you get 60 for an A, 50 for a B etc ie. it's half of the full A-Level.

Most uni's will want 3 A-Levels. IMO you're best off doing what I did, and dropping Philosophy (I did 2 lessons of it, realised it was shite, and got rid). You seriously only need 3 A-Levels, and most uni's don't accept General Studies so just ignore that completely.

The reason you'll be doing 4 AS Levels is like someone said, it's incase you do shite in 1 of them. Most people drop an AS Level when they've done it as 3 A Levels is all you need.

Good uni's like Manchester will say they want 3 A-Levels of AAB for example. Others will say they want 240 UCAS points, which works out as CCC.

As far as I know, unless you want to study the most complex course going at Oxford, 3 A-Levels is definitely enough.

3 A-levels is still enough for Oxbridge - dependant on grades naturally.

[Marshall]

Having just finished college, this is how it works.

You get 120 points for an A, 100 for a B and so on. This is for full A-Levels. For AS Levels, you get 60 for an A, 50 for a B etc ie. it's half of the full A-Level.

Most uni's will want 3 A-Levels. IMO you're best off doing what I did, and dropping Philosophy (I did 2 lessons of it, realised it was shite, and got rid). You seriously only need 3 A-Levels, and most uni's don't accept General Studies so just ignore that completely.

The reason you'll be doing 4 AS Levels is like someone said, it's incase you do shite in 1 of them. Most people drop an AS Level when they've done it as 3 A Levels is all you need.

Good uni's like Manchester will say they want 3 A-Levels of AAB for example. Others will say they want 240 UCAS points, which works out as CCC.

As far as I know, unless you want to study the most complex course going at Oxford, 3 A-Levels is definitely enough.

3 A-levels is still enough for Oxbridge - dependant on grades naturally.

Yeah thought it would be, just that a mate of mine did 4 A Levels to study...Astrophysics? So I thought maybe for that it might have been necessary. Or maybe he's just a clever bastard.