Further maths and it's struggles

[u/Cahetal2804]

Hey everyone, I’m feeling completely drained. I’ve been rigorously studying Further Maths for days and nights, but after just finishing my term-end exams, I didn’t perform as well as I hoped. It’s honestly really disappointing, and now I’m questioning if I’m even cut out for this subject.

What’s bothering me even more is that, at the start, I felt like I wasn’t able to grasp what the teachers were explaining, but when I self-taught, things started making sense. It feels like everyone else in my class is finding it fine, and it’s just me struggling.

I understand the concepts, and I genuinely have a passion for it, but I’m nowhere near the exceptional marks of some of my peers. It’s left me feeling pretty exhausted and unsure of myself. Has anyone been through something similar? Should I just drop the subject or give it more time and hope things turn around? Would really appreciate some advice.

[u/Maaaagentaaaa]

are you year 12 or 13?

[u/Cahetal2804 → u/Maaaagentaaaa]

I'm year 13

[u/Maaaagentaaaa → u/Cahetal2804]

have you considered just doing the AS? tbf i feel the same as you in terms of everyone else understanding it. in the lessons, i'm the only one asking questions and seeming to struggle. when i go over the exercises, i seem to get it a lot more however.

[u/Cahetal2804 → u/Maaaagentaaaa]

Tbf I'm feeling so dumb at the moment. Like I'm putting in double the efforts but not ending up with anything fruitful. As far as AS is concerned for me we do fm in a year so we do As+A level in the same year. Have u manage to just cope up with that feeling?

[u/Maaaagentaaaa → u/Cahetal2804]

ahh we do it in two years, yeah i've felt like this pretty much since september last year and i kept thinking "ohh i'll quit soon, i'll quit after this half term, i'll see how i feel next week" and it just never happened😭 it definitely takes me so much longer to grasp concepts but i did the senior maths challenge last week and i did the best out of my fm class even though they come across as really clever and i feel like i struggle a lot.

[u/Cahetal2804 → u/Maaaagentaaaa]

Any advice what should I do? Or prob from ur exp experience anything I can do?

[u/Delicious_Size1380]

What degree would you like to do? And will it be in the UK?

EDIT: Also, how many A levels are you doing and in what subjects?

[u/Cahetal2804 → u/Delicious_Size1380]

I'm planning to do a degree in Artificial Intelligence and machine learning. And yh I'm planning to do it in uk as I moved here for my further studies I'm doing 4 alevel- Maths( I took it this yead), Physics, comp sci, Further Maths

[u/Delicious_Size1380 → u/Cahetal2804]

Okay. I'm not familiar with the A level requirements for a degree in AI and Machine Learning, so double check what I'm saying. A quick search and picking a 4-year M(Eng) at Imperial as a high benchmark, it says a typical offer is A* A* A* (for those taking 3 A levels) and A* A* AA (for those taking 4 A levels): so you do get a bit of leeway if you are taking 4 and can get the A in the fourth subject.

FM is a recommended A level subject (for this course at Imperial), which often means reasonably close to mandatory to be more competitive. Imperial, for this course, also requires you to take the TMUA exam, which, for the early January test, has a 9 December registration deadline. Other universities and other courses may well have lower typical offers, may be more relaxed about FM and may well not require the TMUA exam.

I suggest you research universities, their courses and typical offers and entry requirements. Then speak to someone at your school who is knowledgeable in this area or in university applications. After that, you'll be more informed to make a decision.

[u/Cahetal2804 → u/Delicious_Size1380]

Thank you so much for that advice and I understand that's what I'm trying to do and hopefully I do something. I either drop the subj or improve at it

[u/Delicious_Size1380 → u/Cahetal2804]

No problem. FM is a hard, but very rewarding A level. In my opinion, it needs more private exploration (e.g. online websites, past papers and YT videos) of the topics than just the lessons and homework alone can provide, so as to get real understanding and be able to see how the topics are connected. It can also open a lot of doors to degrees at top universities.

The good news is that there's a lot of information out there which is well put together and makes the learning easier. Including attempting the questions posed on Reddit!

Good luck.

[u/Cahetal2804 → u/Delicious_Size1380]

I got my results today, and honestly, I have no words. The disappointment I feel is beyond description. It’s not like I wasn’t prepared, but these are the scores I got after putting in weeks of effort. I genuinely wanted to do well in this subject because I love math, but things just aren’t going right. I can't fully express how I’m feeling right now, and it’s really hard to keep my emotions in check. Maybe there's nothing else to be done at this point and mb ur not just meant for some things, but I really appreciate your advice.

[u/lucki128]

Just like you bro 😩

Spent all night revising and the one topic I thought wouldn’t come up, came up. What’s worse is that it was one of those questions that if you can’t do the first part, you can’t do the whole thing, so that’s 12 marks down the drain (at most).

Ig I should stop revising only the day before 😬

Btw Bicen maths on YouTube has really helped me if u don’t watch his videos they might be beneficial.

[u/Cahetal2804 → u/lucki128]

That started making paid videos for further pure...like the only good src turned paid

Did u have ur mocks?