Should I do 4 A levels?

Applying for Vet Med this year
I know you don't have to do 4, they only see 3 grades so is it worth doing four, or is it too much work for no good reason?
I'm doing Biology, Chemistry, Maths and French.
If i was dropping it would obviously be maths or french, but i don't know which.
I find maths harder than french, but is dropping maths a good idea?
what would you do?

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Reply 1

Nirgilis

I did 4 A-levels and found them fine! :dontknow:

It is down to enjoyment and motivation though. So long as you enjoy each subject and are willing to put in the work needed, then why not? You could always drop one if you are finding it tough going and you're unlikely to meet your offer :redface:

However, maths does get harder throughout A2 :yep:

Reply 2

Lucy_x

if you drop maths then you're risking cutting out edinburgh and possibly bristol and glasgow (you need to check their websites to make sure, but i'm pretty sure bristol put on they were going to start wanting maths soon. but then again it still leaves you with rvc, notts, liverpool but again keep an eye on all the admissions pages. i didn't do maths because i'm awful at it but if i were you'd i'd drop french and give yourself more time to concentrate on maths so you're options are open

Reply 3

KateMP

There is very little point in doing 4 unless you really enjoy your fourth and can't bear to drop it. If doing 4 subjects means you'll get ABBB instead of AAA, do 3. The VAST majority of vetmed applicants will only have 3 subjects at A level, and often universities say they won't even look at a fourth. You also risk getting an offer with 4 grades in!

Hmm I seem to recall that some universities require or prefer you to do Biology, Chemistry and either Maths or Physics at A-level but I'm not entirely sure. Check out the prospectuses or contact the universities directly to find out.

Good luck, I'm applying this year too!

Reply 4

tigercallie

I didnt take maths at school and some of the vet schools would accept me because of it (im a grad applicant so i dont know if that makes any difference)

Reply 5

kaosu_souzousha

Original post by emknowsaunicorn

Maths is regarded as a more traditional subject but if you find it hard then obviously drop it. Although it is one of the subjects where hard work pays of.

In general if you don't have anything extra which differentiate you from others then do 4 A levels.

Example: I did 3 A levels because I completed an industrial placement in a really decent engineering company.

Reply 6

soutioirsim

The only problem with dropping maths is your physics might suffer a little bit.

Reply 7

tigercallie

Original post by soutioirsim

The only problem with dropping maths is your physics might suffer a little bit.

They're not doing physics....but i think no maths or physics is a bad idea.

Do 4 if you want, but if you're going to drop something it pretty much has to be french for you not to weaken your application.

Reply 8

MissClumsy

You certainly don't need 4 A levels, and it gives you no advantage. By what I've read above, dropping maths is a risk where some uni's require it, so I think you should drop French. I know from other people who've studied French that it takes up a lot of their time, if you drop French you can put more time towards maths.

Hope this helps (somehow)!

Reply 9

tigercallie

Yeh also, i did german and italian at school, and the above poster is right, languages do take up a hell of a lot of time!

Reply 10

QueenOfHearts93

I did four subjects at A-level (and 5 at AS), purely because I loved all my subjects and didn't want to drop any of them (I did Art, Drama, RS and Lit) However, you have to be willing to put in the work, having less frees but more work can be really stressful (especially considering I did subjects like Art and Drama that depend in doing loads of extra work) so you will need to be willing to do more work outside of school as you will have far less frees. However, even though at times I got really stressed, and my uni only looks at 3 subjects, Im still glad I did all of them because I love them.

So it comes down to you. If you really enjoy them all, are motivated enough to do them all, are good at juggling and know it won't bring down your grades, then go for it. If your not all those things, it probably isn't worth it. It also depends on what subjects you need, French would probably be the one to drop I'm thinking. I think though you either have to really love all the subjects or be really motivated to do them, otherwise you'll just end up resenting them.

P.S - I know you will want to, but complaining about how much work you have to anyone other than your very close friends or teachers will earn your no sympathy. From my experience, you will be told its your own fault for doing four and to suck it up, so be prepared for that.

I did find my teachers very helpful and understanding though, particularly when I was ill with glandular fever and had trouble balancing my subjects. The most important thing if you decide to do four is to be honest if you are struggling, and talk to your teachers about it :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 11

KateMP

Oooh, also. I've considered doing 4 A-levels because I took an AS in Geography and it was very little work and really easy! However, I decided that I'd rather have my extra free periods than carry on Geography to A2. Free periods are not only essential for relaxing, which I've heard is important at A-level as it can get very stressful, but also you can do homework, revision, UCAS stuff (personal statement etc), contact work experience placements, prepare for interviews, etc. Also, if you have a whole afternoon free you could do work experience then.

In conclusion, free periods are very valuable! Something that was important in my decision, definitely.

Why the random neg? Explain please :tongue:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 12

battycatlady

I'm not doing maths after AS because I struggle with it. Edinburgh and Cambridge require you to have maths/physics with bio and chem, but as long as you aren't applying to them all is good if you don't want to carry on with maths. French will look great anyway- unis love languages! . Glasgow say they prefer either maths/physics, but they do consider people with other subjects as their 3rd one. If you find maths harder drop that. But if you want to be able to apply to certain vet unis, then keep maths to keep your options open. I can't cope with another year of maths, so i'm doing english lit instead. I asked this guy from RVC on ucas day and he said they consider applicants with bio, chem and either a science or non-science subject as their 3rd equally so tbh I would just do whichever you enjoy most. If you are willing to work hard though and not have many frees and think it won't affect your grades then keep all 4!

Hope I was helpful. I'm also applying this year :smile:

Good luck!

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 13

RD93

I did four and it's incredibly helpful where offers are concerned i.e. if you miss one of the grades for your offer, provided its a lenient one (e.g. AAB including chem for example - my Notts pharm offer) then you can make it up in another subject. If you take three it's a bit harder and you have to work even more to get the grades.

Up to you in the end but I found four okay and a lot better for the reason I just mentioned.

Reply 14

Ajka

I would keep on all 4, a lot of people have 4 alevels even though you only need 3 so I think it would be better to also have 4 to show you can handle the work.
In regards to maths, try and do a lot of past papers and questions for practise and you should be fine in exams (as you probably know most of the questions are the same format with one tricky question so you should be able to get good grades even if you don't fully understand it).
It also depends on your results.
Where are you thinking of applying?

Reply 15

Toni42

Another advantage to four is you only have an offer on three so you can afford to mess one up for example my offer is AAA if I completely fail either maths or history I can still meet my offer as long as I get As in the ones specified in offer and one other. I did 5 ASs plus 6 national diplomas in year twelve the drop in work load to four was huge and many of my friends who dropped to3 complained they had to much free time which became counter productive (or example one girl in my year only bothered goin to school if she had all three subjects in one day as she didn't feel coming in for two was worth it this meant she was only in school three days a week resulting in huge drop in coursework marks and mock marks)
Its up to you as most do three but I felt so much happier doing my A2 exams knowing I had that leeway!

Reply 16

emknowsaunicorn

Hmm thanks guys, I think I'm gonna do 4
I want to carry on doing French as I want to know more of the language and like some of you said, it's probably not a good idea to drop maths.
Ajka - Applying to Nottingham, Glasgow, Bristol and Liverpool