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Question about History A-level/intensive A-level

hwalusimo1

Is it hard? Is it really boring? And how useful is it if I want to do magazine journalism at uni?

Thanks

Reply 1

ByronicHero

Stop making threads.

Ask your questions in one.

<3

Reply 2

hwalusimo1

wouldnt that just take longer for people to read???

Reply 3

placenta medicae talpae

I believe that history at A Level is pretty much the same as at GCSE (assuming you did/do the Modern World spec), just that you do things in much more detail.
The work load is quite a bit greater too!
But there again, you will be doing fewer subjects over-all, so this should balance nicely :dance:

As far as I can see, history would be a great choice for any kind of journalism: it's always great to read an article that makes references to historical events and contextualises them :biggrin:

But there again, I stopped history after GCSE, so this is secondary evidence :woo:

Reply 4

ByronicHero

If all your questions were present in one thread they could be answered together, thus leading to better answers.

<3

Reply 5

hwalusimo1

placenta medicae talpae

As far as I can see, history would be a great choice for any kind of journalism: it's always great to read an article that makes references to historical events and contextualises them :biggrin:

But there again, I stopped history after GCSE, so this is secondary evidence :woo:

I didnt do history at GCSE lool...thats why I'm asking :biggrin:

Reply 6

Will1692

Your taking my advise............................... :smile:

Reply 7

moomin_love

hwalusimo1

I didnt do history at GCSE lool...thats why I'm asking :biggrin:

I didn't do History at GCSE either, but took it for A level. I'm not amazingly clever, but I'm "bright" and I've always managed to get good grades... I got a B at AS level History and I'm heading for an A this year (hopefully), but I really wouldn't advise doing History in one year, especially if you haven't done GCSE. Even people who did GCSE History got lower grades than I did and I just did night before revision before each exam, but I wouldn't go on what I say because other people who did night before revision mainly got E's.

It would definitely benefit you if you want to become a journalist, but then again you're applying for a journalism course so I think they might be more interested in English or something? But if you look at all the top journalists they do don't journalism degrees... they do like History and stuff, so if you're really set on the journalism route maybe go for that instead and do a masters in journalism?

Reply 8

trollman

It's really hard, not too bad at AS bit A2 is killing me :frown:

Reply 9

unamed

placenta medicae talpae

Oh right!

Erm, hmm, okay, well this is my experience of the GCSE:
One exam which measure technique more than actual knowledge.
Another exam which measures knowledge and pure, solid essays! :woo:

Quite a bit of coursework - about 10 essays (not massive ones, probably a couple of pages each).

History seems to be quite a lot of video-watching and trying to get a feel for the actual events that went on.
It's one of those subjects like RS which lend themselves to mind maps and other such tomfoolery :p:

My guess is that it'll be quite likely that you have a trip somewhere at some point and take part in debates and things (there's quite a big political content in history).

your 'explanation' of history makes me feel quite stupid.

To the OP:
The topics to learn aren't quite as hard, but the questions can be difficult. AS is quite simple, although, depending on what topics you have, the sources can be slightly difficult. But then again, it's all about exam technique. At A2, the topics generally get slightly more difficult, as do the questions. If you write well (hence where it helps for journalism), then you should do fine. It is a lot of work, though (we have 2 long essays for coursework, and they're not easy).

It's not boring if you're interested, I've found that you don't have to have an interest in history to do well. But it does help. :smile:

Reply 10

oliver5084

hwalusimo1

Is it hard? Is it really boring? And how useful is it if I want to do magazine journalism at uni?

Thanks

Hey..

I do A-Level history... Its really good, and very useful for any university course as it is very well respected. :yep:

I wouldnt say it was a lot of work, BUT you will find it hard unless your good at writing essay's..

During the course you will write al least 1 40 mark essay a week (depending on your teacher)...

Overall, Its a great subject but difficult if your not naturally talented at writing.

Reply 11

Jakko247

hwalusimo1

Is it hard? Is it really boring? And how useful is it if I want to do magazine journalism at uni?

Thanks

Is it hard? Well yes, but look at the benefits from this 'hard' perception of history, universities are more likely to look on your application favourably with rigirous academic subjects in your portfolio. History is not hard in the sense you wont be able to do it, it's hard in the sense that you will need to work at it, invest a lot of your time into learning the time periods so that you can then analyse cause & effect and make reasoned conclusions out of your own judgements.

You develop very desirable traits from history (interpretation, judgement, analytical skills) which makes it very appealing, not only for A-level but also for degree level (the most common degree on any board of directors of a company is a history degree as you need these above mentioned skills at the upper echelons of companies)

As for the 'boring' question, well aspects will be if you're not inticed by history and the study of the written record. However, I am studying it at A2 now and we have covered Russia in revolution which I found extremely interesting, but then after that we did Anglo-Irish relations which I found very tedious as I don't (unfortunately) find British political history all that fascinating. We then moved on to Germany 1800-1900 and I found that coursework modual very interesting albeit tedious again, just because of the coursework involved coinciding at the same time as my Exams & UCAS application (quite stressful) :smile:

The point is that parts of history will be boring and parts will be fascinating, it depends on how you approach it, if you enter into history with a negitive mindset, then it will be harder to learn, if you approach it willingly and throw yourself into reading books about the topic outside of the classroom you will find yourself answering questions in class and becoming involved and that makes it fun.

History is a very solid foundation for journalism; it would offer benefits rather than drawbacks so it will help you and not hinder you, so I'd say go for it.