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I need help?

Since about Year 5 I have promised myself I'll get into Warwick Uni (I'm in Year 10 now). Well I like to plan everything out before I do stuff and seen as I'm nearly in Year 11 when we choose our colleges I thought I'd start looking into university now. Well I've looked at both courses that I want to do History (Modern) and History (Renaissance and Modern) and they both look really good. They both say which GCSE's you need and it looks like I have them done as I have chosen all the right ones and targeted to get A's and A*'s in everything but now I'm worried about the AS/A Levels that I'll need. My obvious options are History and Geography but I don't know which others to choose. At the college I'm planning on going we do 4 AS Levels and then 3 A Levels (I don't know if it is the same for all colleges or what). Which course would you recommend I do to help me get into Warwick.

I also notice alot of people saying about the personal statement so what would you recommend I out in there. I know it is a long way off but procrastination is never a good thing.

Reply 1

georgia

14

A modern language is always a good bet, or maybe something else essay based like English Lit? If you are science/maths minded then one of those wouldn't hurt either.

Reply 2

howlovely

I second tht ^

I dont think it matters as much what subjects you take, but usually the unis prefer traditional subjects, like science math, english etc, and less of media studies/travel tourism/drama etc.

Reply 3

NiallC

OP

I've done french GCSE so I have been thinking that as a third. Science/maths I'm good at both but not really my interest. I did get 96% in Science in January though...

Reply 4

Zweihander

3

NiallC

Since about Year 5 I have promised myself I'll get into Warwick Uni (I'm in Year 10 now). Well I like to plan everything out before I do stuff and seen as I'm nearly in Year 11 when we choose our colleges I thought I'd start looking into university now. Well I've looked at both courses that I want to do History (Modern) and History (Renaissance and Modern) and they both look really good. They both say which GCSE's you need and it looks like I have them done as I have chosen all the right ones and targeted to get A's and A*'s in everything but now I'm worried about the AS/A Levels that I'll need. My obvious options are History and Geography but I don't know which others to choose. At the college I'm planning on going we do 4 AS Levels and then 3 A Levels (I don't know if it is the same for all colleges or what). Which course would you recommend I do to help me get into Warwick.

I also notice alot of people saying about the personal statement so what would you recommend I out in there. I know it is a long way off but procrastination is never a good thing.

You decided you wanted to go to Warwick when you were 10? :rolleyes:

History & Geography are both essay subjects so you want your other choices to be something a little different to make you seem well rounded. If you're interested in modern world history, economics would be a good choice as it does have strong links with history. For example, I learnt about Marxist economics & historical materialism largely on my own, but if I hadn't studied economics I wouldn't have been exposed to those ideas at all. How good are you at maths?

Reply 5

Red Blade

5

NiallC

Since about Year 5 I have promised myself I'll get into Warwick Uni (I'm in Year 10 now). Well I like to plan everything out before I do stuff and seen as I'm nearly in Year 11 when we choose our colleges I thought I'd start looking into university now. Well I've looked at both courses that I want to do History (Modern) and History (Renaissance and Modern) and they both look really good. They both say which GCSE's you need and it looks like I have them done as I have chosen all the right ones and targeted to get A's and A*'s in everything but now I'm worried about the AS/A Levels that I'll need. My obvious options are History and Geography but I don't know which others to choose. At the college I'm planning on going we do 4 AS Levels and then 3 A Levels (I don't know if it is the same for all colleges or what). Which course would you recommend I do to help me get into Warwick.

I also notice alot of people saying about the personal statement so what would you recommend I out in there. I know it is a long way off but procrastination is never a good thing.

Dont take history at university.
Dont waste your potential.

Reply 6

Dnator

12

I think the last thing on anyone's mind in year 10 was uni, was a good year. Fair play though

Reply 7

Zweihander

3

Red Blade

Dont take history at university.
Dont waste your potential.

History isnt a waste if you go LSE/Oxbridge/UCL/Warwick (ie Top 5 uni). I know Warwick History grads in banking and other highly competitive industries. On that note, I'd advise OP to consider studying Law at Warwick - uses a similar skillset to History and more professionally focused.

Reply 8

Red Blade

5

Zweihander

History isnt a waste if you go LSE/Oxbridge/UCL/Warwick (ie Top 5 uni). I know Warwick History grads in banking and other highly competitive industries. On that note, I'd advise OP to consider studying Law at Warwick - uses a similar skillset to History and more professionally focused.

Echo'ed my thoughts exactly.

Reply 9

NiallC

OP

Yeah because at the time my sister had a football tornument one time and we got a given a tour of the place afterwards. I was so overwhelmed and what they said about it made it out to be amazing. I've been other places since and none of them have matched upto what Warwick was like. For me that is.

Maths, I got 11 marks off top marks in my last test and all were silly mistakes so I know I can improve on that so I'd say pretty good. Missed the most recent test though and that was meant to be a doddle so.. I think they're going to make it harder for when I do it in June.

I have looked at choosing Law at college as another choice.

Yeah well there are only 2 colleges near me unless I take a 40 minutes trip into Manchester so my options aren't widely spread. So thinking about University is the next step up so I may as well start thinking about it now.

Reply 10

AdHock

Red Blade

Dont take history at university.
Dont waste your potential.

Yeah, totally agree, my mum's Oxford History degree has really held her back in life. :rolleyes:

Zweihander

History isnt a waste if you go LSE/Oxbridge/UCL/Warwick (ie Top 5 uni). I know Warwick History grads in banking and other highly competitive industries. On that note, I'd advise OP to consider studying Law at Warwick - uses a similar skillset to History and more professionally focused.

Couldn't the OP just do a History degree and then do a law conversion afterwards if that's really what they want to do? That's my thinking at least - I've thought about law in the past but didn't really want to commit to it at such a young age.

OP - just do a degree you're interested in. Might be History, might be Law, might be something entirely different. But if you do decide on History, I'd recommend English Lit as an AS/A2, it could really help with essay writing etc. Also politics can help too (I personally did History, English Lit, Politics and Geography for AS - dropped Geography because it was too sciencey for my liking).

Reply 11

Zweihander

3

AdHock

Yeah, totally agree, my mum's Oxford History degree has really held her back in life. :rolleyes:

What does your mum do?

AdHock

Couldn't the OP just do a History degree and then do a law conversion afterwards if that's really what they want to do? That's my thinking at least - I've thought about law in the past but didn't really want to commit to it at such a young age.

Yes, but afaik the only career paths that need a History degree are History teacher or Researcher.

Reply 12

AdHock

Zweihander

What does your mum do?

She worked in the Treasury as a civil servant, was in the top 5% (equivalent rank to an Army Captain). Took a while out after having kids, worked for a thinktank and then in an international NGO's central office (again, high up), and wrote a book on poverty. Now she helps run a smaller, more specialised NGO (as in she is pretty much at the top). Wouldn't exactly call that a waste, it's a lifetime of high-level public service. And I don't see how having done a vocational subject would have been any more help in doing all those things.

Zweihander

Yes, but afaik the only career paths that need a History degree are History teacher or Researcher.

That's a very simplistic way of looking at it. Many jobs (media, advertising, civil service, NGOs etc) don't require any particular degree, and History students tend to flock to these areas - the transferrable skills gained make these jobs a good fit. Just because not many jobs require History, doesn't mean the degree is useless. That's like saying it's not worth doing a science degree unless you want to be a scientist.

There's a bizarre assumption on this forum that everyone must want to be an investment banker. There's nothing wrong with wanting to go into IB but it's a bit weird the way people make that assumption.

With regards to the OP, what I mean is that he should just do a degree he enjoys, then if he wants to go into law do a conversion course. Otherwise he might just end up hating law for 3 years if he's not 100% committed. I can't see the downside in that approach, might as well give himself time to decide (this is what I'm doing).

Reply 13

Miss_Scarlet

17

Obviously, any subject relating to what you want to study is a good one to pick.
They will probably like you to have English too, possibly maths (though that may not be as important, as English and History are both more essay-based).

A modern language always looks good too.

Personal statement is important. I think they look for people who are smart but also have outside interests aside from studying. Maybe you play a musical instrument or are learning a language. Or you have done community service or some projects that may be related to what you want to study? Always good to have things that relate to your subject, to show your passion for it. I cannot remember what I wrote in mine anymore.
Sport always looks good too. They seem to like well-rounded candidates, people who can offer the university something maybe.

I don't know. Good Luck though! Maybe some of that was helpful.

Reply 14

Miss_Scarlet

17

Law is probably even more competitive than history to get a place I would imagine?

Reply 15

megaduck

7

Most jobs don't require a specific degree. A strongly academic degree from a top university is a marvellous thing to have both in itself and for a future career.

OP, if I were you I would pick a language A-level as well as your History, and beyond that pick what you're good at and enjoy - as long as it's a traditional kind of subject you'll be fine. Make sure that you read outside the A-level curriculum so that when you come to write your personal statement you'll have plenty to say about the academic subject of history, which is far more important than extra-curriculars and all that jazz.

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