Were your A Levels hard?

[Miss Madison]

Hello!
I'm currently taking 5 AS Levels and in less then one week, I'll be sitting my first AS exam. A daunting thought if there ever was one.
On the bright side, one of my greatest passions in life since as far back in my memory as I can recall has been reading, reading and reading! There's so much variety where books are concerned... and that's me stating the obvious .
Therefore, I'm very grateful that I chose AS Level English Literature. I was recommended online-literature.com by my English teacher, and then I noticed the forum... so I've signed up.

I hope you have room for one more book fanatic!

[kathycf]

Welcome, Miss Madison. This forum always has room for book fanatics.

A levels, hmm? Never encountered them, but I live in the US. Well, at any rate, welcome to LitNet.

[ashley3554]

I am also new her and I like it so far ..

Welcome dear.

[Miss Madison]

Thank you for the welcomes! A Levels, I suppose, are the British equivalent of your SATs? I'm not so sure however....

[kathycf]

Thank you for the welcomes! A Levels, I suppose, are the British equivalent of your SATs? I'm not so sure however....

Hmm, nor I. This is how Wikipedia defines A levels:

While A-levels are a qualification in their own right, they are often the prerequisite for university-level study as well,[4] making them a de facto university entrance examination, though some universities also require applicants to take separate entrance examinations

At any rate I suppose the SATs are roughly analogous. When I took the sats they were a little different then what students nowadays take. I found the verbal portion pretty easy, but the math section was...yucky.

[Miss Madison]

I would say A Levels are more difficult as isn't the SAT test just testing random intelligence?

[kathycf]

The SAT is supposed to test the knowledge that the student has accumulated over the course of his or her academic career. They are typically taken in grade 11 (around 16 years old) and then again in grade 12. Secondary school ends at grade 12, so the SAT is typically considered by the colleges a student applies to.

[Miss Madison]

^ I see! So it's all your subjects combined in one?

[kathycf]

The test has changed a lot and since 1995 has included more sections with a different way of calculating scores. (I took mine in the dark ages of the 1980s )

You can read more about it here, if you like.

[Niamh]

A levels are even different to our leaving cert over here in Ireland. Dont you select specialised subjects that you want to do in collge for your A levels? And you only have five exams? lucky you! for my leaving cert i had to do;
English (two papers 2h40mins each)
Irish ( Written, Oral and Aural exams)
French (written, Oral and Aural exams)
Maths (two Papers)
Home economics social and scientific
Art, art history and Art Apriciation (written and two practical exams)
History-contemporary Irish and European history (which consisted of Five essays- one of which was special topic[surprise i did Playboy Riots at the Abbey theatre!],two Irish and two european. you had 2hrs to write these essays.)

fun i can tell ya!

I thought the sats were multiple choice?

[Captain Pike]

I don't even know what an A-level is. But then again I don't have a "certified high IQ"