The transition from GCSE to AS/A Level Maths

Should be fine then, I think that most people could do well in any A levle it just depends how much you can stand it to put the work in.
Maths is really beneficial to anyone, I would say that the computing syllabus is poorly designed but you can swap around in the first week to another subject if you feel so. I did computing AS, think I got one of the top grades but it was still a poor mark.
 
I can't really remember too much (it was only 3/4 years ago!), but I didn't find the transition hard at all. I went to a college but came from a grammar school so was really pushed for GCSEs which is most likely the reason why I probably found AS Level easier than GCSEs. I found AS to A Level a bigger jump in certain subjects (i.e physics), but not in Maths.
 
I found the jump quite difficult. It didn't make sense. One day, it all clicked and now a few years later here I am doing a maths PhD :P.

It was the same for some undergrad modules, used to think 'er what the hell'. Things eventually click in time and work out.
 
Scotty123 said:
I found the jump quite difficult. It didn't make sense. One day, it all clicked and now a few years later here I am doing a maths PhD :P.

It was the same for some undergrad modules, used to think 'er what the hell'. Things eventually click in time and work out.
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The question is will they click in time for you to do well at AS?
 
Thanks for the words of advice and encouragement. Many people I've asked such as family and friends say I can do it, as long as I put the effort in. I always thought they were 'just saying that', but from reading the posts in this thread it really does seem as though effort and the right mentality can really help things. I'm going to speak to my maths teacher tomorrow and ask him what he thinks as well.

I'd say I'm not a lazy person as such, but I could put a bit more effort in... I will admit to that and it's something I've already began to work on.

Scotty123 said:
I found the jump quite difficult. It didn't make sense. One day, it all clicked and now a few years later here I am doing a maths PhD :P.

It was the same for some undergrad modules, used to think 'er what the hell'. Things eventually click in time and work out.
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Nice one. In my opinion, at the moment I don't have a problem with it clicking at GCSE level. It's more about being taught the stuff in the first place, that I need to get my grade up to an A/A*. I hope it'll all 'click' for me in AS/A Level maths though :p
 
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TBH I'd only do A level maths if you manage to get an A - A* in GCSE.

People with a B at GCSE maths tend to struggle immensely with the A level, and if you didnt get an A at GCSE, you're not gonna get the A you need at A level to get onto Computer Science (I was thinking I could).

Also you're saying 'if I achieve a B in GCSE maths'. With that level of confidence I wouldnt go into A level Maths. Even people who found GCSE level maths immensely easy (as I did) and pull of a B or higher with little effort still struggle immensely with the A level. Its basically due to it being 100% pure insanity inducing difficult calculations, whereas even with Physics, much of the exams ask you simple question and answer type questions, and arent made up entirely of calculations, so passing the sciences is still possible if you have a good scientific understanding but struggle at the calculations.
 
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bhavv said:
TBH I'd only do A level maths if you manage to get an A - A* in GCSE.

People with a B at GCSE maths tend to struggle immensely with the A level, and if you didnt get an A at GCSE, you're not gonna get the A you need at A level to get onto Computer Science (I was thinking I could).
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Utter bull ****.

I got a B in intermediate GCSE maths. I went on to do A level maths and got an A in it. My maths abilities at A level increased dramatically because I kept up with the rest of the class.
 
Well if there's one thing you can take away from this thread it's that nobody can tell you how you will find it. If you're interested in it and think it could come in useful then by all means, take it. You always have the option to switch to another subject after the first few weeks if you don't like it. And even after (like i did) you could just drop it if you have three decent subjects to fall back on.
 
Got a B at GCSE and then a C at a-level and then I got a 3rd in BSc maths. I'm kind of average at best at maths but unfortunately i'm no better at anything else :/

You should cope with it fine tbh, it covers very low level calculus and trig and stuff. ARGHHH 'CALCULUS' you say? It's really not that hard in a-level, it's essentially just a set of rules you need to remember, as with a lot of maths tbh.

I'd say seeing as the unis youve looked at want it, do it.
 
Ricochet J said:
Utter bull ****.

I got a B in intermediate GCSE maths. I went on to do A level maths and got an A in it. My maths abilities at A level increased dramatically because I kept up with the rest of the class.
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Good for you that you had a good teacher?

90% of teachers at A level are useless.
 
Tingle said:
I want a career in finance (hopefully economics, but that will depend heavily on my maths grade which I'm not too sure about at the moment), so the courses I'm looking at are Finance, economics or economics and finance. By top universities, I mean the top 20 in the guardian 2012 university league table... not the top 3 universities in the country.
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Best of luck to you, but whatever you do, don't drop economics a level in favour of business studies. Anything that ends in "studies" is not an A level worth having.

You don't suggest from your posts that you are great at maths. You do realise that an economics degree (a finance degree is a watered-down economics degree, barely worth doing) is difficult applied maths right? And that an economics degree is the best way into finance (maths, physics and chemistry being the other good degrees) a watered-down "finance studies" course won't get you as far as you are hoping.
 
I got a B in GCSE maths and did very well in A-Level maths (B overall as I messed up C4 but A's in 4 of the 5 other modules)

So yeah its pretty easy to get a good mark, all down to your ability to learn.
 
Ricochet J said:
Hi, if you don't mind discussing it, how has a 3rd in maths effected your job prospects, and life in general? :)

Please ignore this question if you prefer not to answer. :)
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I'm the chief analyst for Google :p. I don't have a 3rd yet, final exams over the next few weeks. Mathematically it's still possible for me to get a 1st, statistically though, not so much :/. I'll let you know what my first proper job turns out to be, or if I sign on.
 
Disco Boy said:
Best of luck to you, but whatever you do, don't drop economics a level in favour of business studies. Anything that ends in "studies" is not an A level worth having.

You don't suggest from your posts that you are great at maths. You do realise that an economics degree (a finance degree is a watered-down economics degree, barely worth doing) is difficult applied maths right? And that an economics degree is the best way into finance (maths, physics and chemistry being the other good degrees) a watered-down "finance studies" course won't get you as far as you are hoping.
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No, I'm not great at maths, but when I'm taught something I usually understand it first time, but I feel as though I'm sometimes not being pushed to understand the harder questions (grade A/A*), the final questions on the paper etc. But I've began to take action now, and have the teacher help me with them questions to help improve my grade.

Yeah, I'm thinking of not doing business studies. I'm doing it at GCSE at the moment and I get A*s in that, but as for A Level I don't think I will.

I'm hoping to be able to do an economics degree and avoid a finance degree, because from how I see it, an economics degree is valued more than a finance degree and has better prospects. This is partly why I'm starting to worry, because I don't want to do an economics degree at a 'bad' university as such, but if I had to I'd instead opt for a finance degree at a university a little better.
 
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