college or sixth form

[Gina]

i had a careers meeting in school last week and i found out we had to apply in like the next month too i had no idea.

i didnt even have a careers meeting lol i found out by a friend going ESHER CLOSES ON 26TH R U APPLYING like err what
thank you for replying btw guys!! you are helping omg im just like ignoring or whatev i am reading them aha

[Inseriousity.]

Strange, I never went to college but my sixth form was alright. Sure there were people who didn't want to learn and just gone onto post-secondary because they felt like they had to but you're going to get those people in college too so seems a bit of a moot point.

sixth forms are generally more academically minded but you can do A levels in a college too so I wouldn't personally choose a sixth form simply for that reason. I'd go to open days, they're useful to see for yourself the teachers and the attitude of the place, which for me was always the most important thing.

[Kardan]

About choosing University courses...

I went to a talk two years ago about what A-Levels to choose if you wanted to take a certain thing at an Oxbridge University. I don't want to go to Cambridge or Oxford but they apply to anywhere.

Basically (from what I can remember) they said:
Anything science-y needs 3 sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) and maths. AND further maths definitely wouldn't hurt.
Anything non science-y but you don't know what to do: History, a language, English of some sort, plus something else omg can't remember.

Basically, if you don't know what to do yet, DON'T close doors for yourself. Don't choose lots of really specialised subjects that might mean you couldn't get on the course you might want to do for Uni. For example you can take Archaeology at some sixth forms but it's not gonna help you much with lots of courses at Uni but History, English, a language, etc. will help you into a lot of courses.

Not saying don't choose any specialised subjects. Just pick one or possibly two if you don't know what to do yet.

I imagine that specific advice would certainly be for Oxbridge only.

The non-science-y advice is decent. English, a foreign language can't hurt. Humanities like History and Geography are also decent.

Anything science-y doesn't need 3 sciences - for sure. Only Oxbridge would probably ask for that. The majority of Unis are happy to accept the specialist Science in which you're interested and that can be enough. If you're doing Physics, they will more than likely ask for Maths, since so, so much of Physics relies on Maths. Further Maths usually doesn't get asked for sciences - I did a Maths degree and it wasn't required to have Further Maths (but having Further Maths did lower my required grade to get into Uni, so it does help).

Basically, taking like subjects isn't usually required (unless it's Oxbridge), but will look very good.

Of course if you're going for say, a Maths degree, having Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry A-Levels will look a lot better than Maths, ICT, Psychology and Travel and Tourism - but the majority of Uni's only really specify that you need to do Maths at A-Level.

[The Don]

Also, unless you plan on doing sociology/media at university you probably should pick other subjects to study as a lot of the top russell group universities consider these to be 'Mickey Mouse' subjects.

[Kardan]

i didnt even have a careers meeting lol i found out by a friend going ESHER CLOSES ON 26TH R U APPLYING like err what
thank you for replying btw guys!! you are helping omg im just like ignoring or whatev i am reading them aha

Strange that the school hasn't made a big deal about it. When I went into Year 11, we had whole lessons devoted to our applications.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and if you want to do Law at University, don't do A-Level Law. The majority of Unis do not require A-Level Law, and some Unis actually prefer to accept students with no law knowledge over A-Level Law students.

[The Don]

Strange that the school hasn't made a big deal about it. When I went into Year 11, we had whole lessons devoted to our applications.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and if you want to do Law at University, don't do A-Level Law. The majority of Unis do not require A-Level Law, and some Unis actually prefer to accept students with no law knowledge over A-Level Law students.

I doubt they prefer it, more a case of it doesn't give you an edge over other people. Studying Law at A Level would definitely not be a poor choice of subject if you wanted to study it at University.

[Aiden]

This thread has made me really panic now. There's hardly any information of a list of the best colleges in Nottingham. I've never really thought about it and now I'm confused. I don't even know if I could get into a good college. Erg.

[A4R0N]

COLLEGE GINA IT WILL BE THE BEST DECISION U EVER MAKE

[The Don]

This thread has made me really panic now. There's hardly any information of a list of the best colleges in Nottingham. I've never really thought about it and now I'm confused. I don't even know if I could get into a good college. Erg.

If you have any vague idea of what you want to study at uni just look at a few university websites and see if there are any specific requirements and then obviously pick those. http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forum.php is amazing for help, even just searching on there will give you loads of details and peoples personal experiences with applying to university etc.

[Empired]

This thread has made me really panic now. There's hardly any information of a list of the best colleges in Nottingham. I've never really thought about it and now I'm confused. I don't even know if I could get into a good college. Erg.

Apply to 3 or 4 colleges. We got told any more and u look desperate. Maybe go for 1/2 good ones and 1/2 back up ones. That way youre safe even if your results don't go as well as u want.
Never hurts to apply anyway. Ur school will tell u if it's a silly decision to apply.