A levels, universities, and other things, an update on how things are going =)
Hey everyone!
I fear that the gaps between my visits to Pet Talk are getting longer and longer; the schoolwork is just piling on at the moment and I seem to be working overtime with all my subjects. I just thought I'd take this opportunity whilst I have a quiet night to let you all know how I'm doing (if anyone vaguely remembers me or is remotely interested, wouldn't blame you if you weren't! :p :D).
Even though the workload is horrible, I'm enjoying my A levels. For those that don't remember, I'm studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths with Further Maths and Latin, with the intention to study Veterinary Medicine at university. I can't believe that I'll be making my application in a few months time! :eek: One minute I was taking my GCSEs, this year just seems to have whizzed by.
I've taken a few modules for my A levels already, and was very pleased to receive the news that I scored 100% in biology, and not that far off in chemistry either. :D Of course now, though, I've got to try and keep that up!
It doesn't help that I'm basically cramming in an entire maths A level in a year either, in order to take my further maths A level next year (usually A levels are spread out over a period of two years). And maths has got SO unbelievably complicated. Most other maths A levels are individually divided up into categories also, such as Pure, Statistics and Mechanics. In further maths, you do the lot, PLUS further pure! I look back at my GCSE revision notes and wonder if I could have done it in my sleep! There are frequent times in my maths lessons now when I feel like I can't do maths at all. :p Fortunately due to a few weekends of intense, shut-away-in-my-bedroom revision, I managed to secure an A in my mocks, but had I not worked that hard it certainly would have been nowhere near that!
Still, suppose I am a glutton for punishment, as I plan on taking all five of my AS levels (the first stage of A level) to A2 level (the second stage), where it is normally conventional to drop one subject. So, if starting this September, I don't pop up for an entire year, you'll know why! :p
All this hard graft is to give myself the best chance possible of realising my childhood dream and becoming a veterinary surgeon. It is so difficult to get into university regarding most subjects these days, but veterinary degrees are always oversubscribed six-fold every year, so I am continually conscious, and perturbed, by the fact that academia itself is not going to give me one-way ticket to success.
I'm going down to Cambridge University next week to attend a short, two-day course that gives you a taste of what it's like to be a vet student there. Cambridge is definitely a place I want to aim for, but it is SO incredibly difficult to get in, you really have to be the best of the very best to even warrant them looking at your application twice. :eek:
Also, costs are really scaring me. After a five or six year course, I'm going to be looking at a debt of up to £45,000. I know that there is no fixed time period in which a student loan has to be paid back, but when you've never known what it's like to be deficient of that amount of money before you've even started making it, it's incredibly daunting! Plus the fact that I will be ineligable for a government grant - as my parents earn over a fixed rate, I won't be entitled towards any help towards my education. Which is totally stupid, in my opinion, as I will never see a penny of what my parents earn, and that money is going towards my brother's high school education, just as it is now paying for mine. The education system in this country, at times, can be utterly ridiculous.
Anyway, that's my update! I miss you all a lot, and of course everyone's pets.
How are you all? And have I missed anything interesting in my absence? :p
