URGENT! think ive made a huge mistake with english lit AS

Hey,
Basically, ive chosen maths,bio, chem and englsih lit, and i just feel its gonna be way too hard. Having to read 4 novels before christmas, alongside having exams in january and producing two pieces of c/wrk aswell as extra curricular activites. So i was thinking of changing to RS philosophy and ethica or geog or even french. I would like to become a teacher, or barrister or pharmacist, will i be disadvantaged at all? I want to contibue with maths, chem and probably biology, which essay subject would be best tl take alongside these then?
Thankw :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

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Reply 1

Kim-x

I wouldn't say so. RS is still an essay subject and you will have core subjects to meet teaching requirements.

Reply 2

Khat

I'd say take philosophy and ethics as quite a few people i know do it and find it really interesting or take french because if you have a modern foreign language that is not your mother tongue unis look very favourably upon this

Reply 3

mamma_mia123

Anyone please? I have until tommorow :frown:

Reply 4

mamma_mia123

Original post by Khat

RS isnt regrded as a soft subject is it? I just want four subjects that keep my options open, with the fourth option with not as much pressure.

Reply 5

mamma_mia123

Original post by Kim-x

I wouldn't say so. RS is still an essay subject and you will have core subjects to meet teaching requirements.

Could i still be a barrister or pharmacist? If you have a high grade in gcse enflish lit, does it show you can write well?

Reply 6

username445084

I got a C in AS english without reading one of the books or poems. I also did pretty average on my coursework. If you're good at writing essays, English really isn't a hard subject.

Reply 7

username737808

I agree with the posters above. I know R.S is helpful for quite a few professions. R.S. is not particularly hard and it is very interesting, but when it comes to the exam, there is a lot you need to revise. However, that's probably true with your science subjects as well, so you should be fine with it.
Otherwise, French is always a good one to have. Any language is really.

Reply 8

malvika111

RS isnt regrded as a soft subject is it? I just want four subjects that keep my options open, with the fourth option with not as much pressure.

It's not on the 'preferred list' for top universities, but then neither is philosophy and ethics. But they are extremely interesting, but contrary to popular opinion, it is very difficult to get a good grade in them. Yeah, without being biased as I took it, I'd say French. The essays are a maximum of 250-300 words (which doesn't even really count as an essay); universities love foreign languages as fewer and fewer students are choosing to take them; and (for me, at least) I didn't feel there was a huge jump from GCSE. I wouldn't say Geography could be a great fit with maths, biology and chem. My friends who took it, spent huge amounts of time on coursework and case-studies... With practicals and more frequent modular exams in Maths, I expect, you won't have a great deal of time as it is...

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 9

Khat

No its not regarded as a soft subject at all not even by oxbridge because its pretty challenging at A level it greatly differes to GCSE

Reply 10

muddybike

There is quite a workload with French so I would advise against doing that unless you really like the subject as I know several people who really underperformed in languages. As for English Lit, I never found the workload too difficult but I guess it depends on your exam board...mine was WJEC. I'm sure RS and Philosophy will have their own challenges in terms of workload. I think you should do the one you enjoy the most as the workload won't matter if you enjoy the subject but if you hate it, even one hour doing it will be a struggle.

Reply 11

mamma_mia123

Original post by charlie9872

I got a C in AS english without reading one of the books or poems. I also did pretty average on my coursework. If you're good at writing essays, English really isn't a hard subject.

Which exqm board did you study? :smile:

Reply 12

Khat

Taking RS won't hinder your chances to get into any career theres a discusiion here about it
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=802069

Reply 13

mamma_mia123

Original post by malvika111

But so is philosophy and ethics. But they are extremely interesting, but contrary to popular opinion, it is very difficult to get a good grade in them. Yeah, without being biased as I took it, I'd say French. The essays are a maximum of 250-300 words (which doesn't even really count as an essay); universities love foreign languages as fewer and fewer students are choosing to take them; and (for me, at least) I didn't feel there was a huge jump from GCSE. I wouldn't say Geography could be a great fit with maths, biology and chem. My friends who took it, spent huge amounts of time on coursework and case-studies... With practicals and more frequent modular exams in Maths, I expect, you won't have a great deal of time as it is...

Yeah i loved french, but im a bit worried about the speaking exam, having to prepare it in only 15 minutes :/

Reply 14

freakygirlhere

I got a B at AS in English Lit. without reading any of the course material. They talk so much about the texts in lessons that it's pretty easy to form your analysis off that as the plot is bascially fed to you, as well as key quotes, etc. Take English Lit. it's certainly a hell of a lot easier than something like French.

Reply 15

ssss

I am taking exactly those subjects and another AS (I'm in year 13 now) and with plenty of time organisation you will be fine! English lit seems like a struggle but once you have those basic concepts learnt it's really quite scientific. Don't waste your time in frees and I am sure you will be able to stick to your current subject combination! :biggrin:

Reply 16

mamma_mia123

Original post by Khat

Taking RS won't hinder your chances to get into any career theres a discusiion here about it
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=802069

Thankyou, what do you think would open more doors to careers? French or RS?

Reply 17

malvika111

Original post by mamma_mia123

Yeah i loved french, but im a bit worried about the speaking exam, having to prepare it in only 15 minutes :/

Yeah but the difference being (although you might want to check this with your exam board or school), you can take in any notes that you write in those 15 mins (on my board anyway), unlike the GCSEs where you couldn't write anything. You can practically read off those notes as long as you don't sound like you're reading. You go over a lot of the material with teachers beforehand, and they can give you a vague idea about what kind of questions they may ask you, and you'll be well-prepared for every separate topic. It's not formulaic like the GCSEs, where you have to make sure you throw in a conditional and subjunctive or whatever. You just need to know your vocab well, and be able to speak relatively fluidly.

Thankyou, what do you think would open more doors to careers? French or RS?

French. No disrespect to RS- it's simply because so few people take modern langs nowadays, that there's a gap in the market. Statistically proven that the jobs requiring langs are higher-paid.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 18

mamma_mia123

Original post by freakygirlhere

Which exam board? :smile:

Reply 19

yahyahyahs

I wouldn't take RS if you can't handle the pressure of exams - some exam boards make you do both modules one after the other in the same session on the same day.