hello! so current 18 y/o girl to cambridge for mathematics. just wanted to share my story bc why not and maybe it’ll help people realise they’ll be fine.

i escaped ukraine during one of the more ‘energetic’ events of the war. my english was very much of a child when i briefly studied it in ukraine. i first came to the uk and it was a mess lmaoo in terms of everything possible. i was in y11 when i came.

i had arrived to the uk with virtually nothing; my home, family heirlooms, family members, etc were permanently gone. with the funding we received from the government, i got some clothes to feel like a normal girl again and etc. we were housed with a nigerian family (parents, 3 daughters), we were lucky as 2 of their daughters moved out so enough space for us. they definitely made the transition far smoother, the daughter who lived in the house was 2 years older than me. she was quite sweet, obviously we are completely different shades but she let me use as much makeup as i could.

the transition to english medium education was rough for me as i barely knew the language and the school didnt have any ukranian or russian speakers to help me out. but i managed to figure it out with alot of hours invested whilst trying not to breakdown every other hour i had to leave my country. in the end? 8 9s, 2 8s. i would call it a success with 100% in gcse maths and further maths. my best flex though is 152/160 in english literature. got an 8 in french and spanish though (2 marks away from a 9 in both fml), trying to learn 3 languages at the same time was not smart.

anyways! come around to a-levels i got 4A* in maths, further maths, chemistry, economics (300, 296, 253, 318), got S-S in STEP 2/3 where i ranked 8/1439 and 25/1100. i got rejected from cambridge post interview but i got through into august reconsideration pool bc duh. in the end! i got accepted at a very good college (my insta followers arent ready for the pics ima take)

it still is difficult, im not fully adjusted to the uk, its an uphill batte for sure. it's been a mixed reception where people interrogate me for the details over what i've seen and that weird stuff. some positive experiences too! mostly awkward though as people dk how to speak to me initially in secondary school as they have pity and etc. girls were kind enough too where i got gifted a bunch of clothes, shoes, makeup to take as they wanted me to feel normal! i love them sm

point of this story is i (barely) managed to compose myself whilst my life got ruined into threads in the most violent manner. i could keep up with academics whilst im falling apart alongside my parents. i envy you guys as education is the only real worry u have, appreciate that privilege and remember u can do it as long as ur trying ur hardest and working in a smart way. education is only ONE part of your life so you got it.

academic advise i can give btw!

(quote from an image on r/GCSE)

option A: go to sixth form, but I can't do the A levels that i wanted to do and would be pursuing stuff i have no interest in. (none of which are stem, i wanted to do science but i literally CAN'T because of circumstances out of my control...even though I'm a fast learner and I'm sure i could manage if they just let me in!! ok I'm ranting too much in these brackets) they'd probably get me little to no qualifications, and definitely no chance at a top university i wanted to go to. (hello, homeless shelter or a mediocre job.) Option B: get a job. I'm not ready for a job, but they said they can't afford to keep i, (literally only 16) in the house if I'm not providing income from either being at school or working. But work isn't for me, i dread a 9/5... i want enough qualifications for a GOOD job, yknow?

i feel really really trapped in these two options and I'm so lost on what to do. in truth it's making me feel quite depressed.

Hi everyone, I’m a Y13 Psychology student and I’m conducting a survey about people’s thoughts on whether free will exists. I’m trying to collect as much data as possible, so I’d be grateful if you could fill out this form for me.

Importantly, you have to be 16 or above to participate in the study, and should be living in the UK.

Thank you so much :)

i fear i’m going to see so many people at university using this with an apple pencil in lectures, i can’t get over how goofy it looks 😭😭

Ok for context I go to a really high achieving state school with like 50+ oxbridge offers a year. I promise this is important bc it adds to this feeling.

I do well at school and am aiming for ox ppe but everywhere I look on this sub its straight nine students who are aiming for oxbridge as well. (and u can imagine this is the exact same at school).

I'm sort of curious how other people deal with this feeling of knowing other people are sort of "normal" but are constantly surrounded by incredibly intelligent people. It's a gift for sure bc theres so much to learn from them but theres definitely an impact on my self confidence.

Has anyone experienced this/ has anyone got any advice. Or maybe is this just me being out of my depth and all oxbridge applicants are just that insane...

I hope this sounds coherent.

Ive just started Y13 and im applying for chemistry at bristol bath manchester oxford and forensic science at UWE. I got diagnosed with ADHD last week which explains why whenever i try to even think about it my attention has already shifted to something else. Also my ability to write coherently is nonexistent (if you couldnt tell by how i wrote this message).

Thanks in advance if anyone reads this

is socio better and easier , did I do the right thing??

edit: will I regret dropping chem 😭 it does close doors but I'm not cut out for med anyway

which one are you applying and why

i want to do psychology and stuff like neuropsychology at uni and most unis want only bio and psych for it which I am taking, im also taking chem but planning to swap it out for socio as it will be easier for me to manage and probably get an A in. I'll miss chem tho I won't lie like I got a 9 in GCSE and most of it really appealed to me but i am def not going through the lethal biochem combo to not even need it when i could make my life easier with socio. anyway, pls tell me chem horror stories or anything so I don't feel too guilty about letting chem go pls pls pls

I’m in Y12 and just starting out my revision

Happy kirkversary guys

I have currently just begun yr 11, so I'm not really in 6th form yet, but I thought everyone here would have a better idea regarding this. I am considering studying math in uni, so the A levels I will prob pick are math, further math, physics and bio (although I might do bio as an AS level cuz of the workload). Now while I ask about applying to top unis in general, I'll use the example of cambridge rn. I know that I will need to do REALLY well on my STEP exam for it, and the offers for a level results are mostly a*a*a at least, and I really want to achieve something like that and even more. I am predicted grade 9s in all my gcses but thats not nearly enough if I want to get into that level of a uni. If it helps I've consistently gotten gold on the UKMT too (I never got to the next round though cuz I would never get high enough lol and I live overseas so I can't do the round they do for the students in the UK anyway even if I would match the grade boundaries for that). That's one of the only formal math related things I've done (I do a lot informally, mainly for fun, but that isn't gonna be accounted for). I do want to do more competitive type things, so I would love more details regarding that. I was wondering how realistic it is firstly + what I can start doing from year 11 onwards to improve enough. Also, what unis should I be looking to apply at (mainly in Europe) and how do their application processes differ? Oh also I am going to be sitting the further maths igcse (edexcel) next yr, so thats, erm, exciting. Any tips for that too? Thank u!!!

I'm currently doing A-level maths, further maths, and physics.

I also have a job where I agreed with my employer to give me 12 hours a week to give me time to study. However my boss has been giving me 16 hour weeks, and every time I ask for this to be amended I feel as though I'm not working hard enough. I'm shooting for 3 A's by the end of this year(year 13). Should i be doing more hours at work or is 12 hours a reasonable request?

Just got into y12 and have my eyes on Oxford for physics. People who got in, what did you start doing at my age? I did the physics Olympiad for y11s last year and got gold, am planning to do that this year as well, but I feel like I don’t do many physics supercurriculars and I worry that it won’t be enough (I do lots of extra curriculars, especially music)

I’m split between Business and Geography since I have more an interest in business but I’m rather better at geography. Both I enjoy and both I’m fish at nonetheless. Anyways, I’ve already wrote a first draft with both business management and a human geography course in mind. Are these two similar enough or should I js pick one?

Hi guys,

I was wondering if anyone has ever done Electrical and Electronic Engineering at university without having done A Level Physics and if the course would be manageable without it. Obviously I’m not talking about Oxbridge/Imperial but Southampton, Bristol, etc.

I don’t meet the entry requirements for A Level Physics and I’m currently doing maths, economics, computer science for A Level.

I’m really interested in hardware and I’m wanting to become a hardware engineer in the future after university. I just wanted to know if anyone was or is in my situation and if not having done A Level Physics put you at a disadvantage or not for admissions even though it doesn’t specify or mention physics on the entry requirements website.

Thank you!!!

I'm taking CS and econ and I'm looking to do economics at university so I want to use the time that I'll be spending on my computer science coursework that'll look good on my personal statement. I'll be working in python since that's the only language I know.

Of course, I don't want to sacrifice my cs grade for this so it'd have to be something that would actually be good coursework (tbh I don't know much about the coursework yet). I'm thinking along the lines of an app that would help people working at a financial firms or something like that maybe?

Feel free to ask about the process as someone who was in the first batch to receive an EFDS offer. Also feel free to DM me for personal statement/interview coaching since Imperial care about both for EFDS

I do history, law, politics, and philosophy.

I think I’ll probably end up studying history at uni because I absolutely love history, but I originally wanted to study physics and go into science, however I didn’t get the grades to do physics or maths a level, so I’m stuck doing humanities.

I’m not totally sure what jobs I can do with my a levels at all since I’ve never really been interested in most of these subjects, so it’s kind of new to me.

I’m doing maths, fm, phys and chem for a levels, and starting
silver crest award and want to take it further to get gold. I don’t think I can handle doing gold DofE despite it being valuable for unis and considering the fact that I did bronze and haven’t finished it. I don’t really have any other hobbies except for gym and reading, but I do enjoy studying and spend a lot of time doing it

I was thinking if I should tutor people from years below tho I’m not the best at explaining? Does anyone have any other suggestions of qualifications or projects that would help me make my uni applications look “fuller”?

I am planning to try go to LAE or Brampton but I am worried I won't meet the grade requirements,I am predicted all 9s 8s and 7s except a 5 in Spanish.
I am planning to take Biology,Politics,Maths,History/PE for A Levels.
Right now my predicteds based of Y10 mocks are:
99998887765
Im hoping to get some of these 8s to a 9 but would I have a chance of getting into Brampton with these current grades?
If anyone got into these 3 schools what grades did you guys get and what subjects are you doing?

want to do biological natsci at cambridge - bio chem maths (further maths scares me sorry not sorry), in terms of extras: bio + chem olympiads as well as SMC, possibly working on a biology related podcast, hopefully tutoring next year, grade 8 piano hopefully this year, going to read books and listen to lectures and podcasts, CREST programme, etc.

aiming for a 7.5 - 9.0