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Choosing your A levels? Your questions answered here!

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I thought Maths A level was fine, however I was in the Further Maths class and we were all quite good at Maths in that class. I have many friends who got As and A*s at GCSE but really struggled with A level Maths. Around 40% of people who take Maths A level get an A grade, so many people take it to boost their chances of meeting their university offer. The exams are predictable (apart from FP2 and multi-variable calculus in FP3 this year, but you won't have to worry about those).

Reply 201

EternalDoom

Noodlzzz

Want to clear up some things with psychology...

You don't need to memorize much more (tbh I think less) than any other subject, people are often misguided with revision and revise every single study with every little detail where in reality you need to know about 25% of the studies and not in vast detail for even full marks - this is where people loose time and patience and with the subject
It is quite easy at A level if you can apply knowledge and able to argue for and against and make logical conclusions
It is not very 'sciency' and if you were hoping to do as it is classified as a science subject, you will be dissapointed
While some don't find it intersting (I however love it :P) then reading around the subject can help you with understanding and excite you more, thinks like applied to nazi's, mentall illness, ethical issues etc. are all good

Biology and Chemistry are my main science subjects. Psychology is like an additional, i know it is not classified as a complete science subject but it is somewhat relevant.

Reply 202

Normandy114

EternalDoom

Hi,
For my A-Levels I have chosen...

I have chosen Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Psychology as well oddly enough :P I've done a year so i know fairly well what it's like. In biology, it's not too difficult, but there's a very high amount of terminology and processes to learn. Chemistry has some very difficult concepts to understand, but once you get to organic chemistry it gets easier. Maths is for me a constant workload of homework, although that may just be my school. It's hard but you learn the techniques for answering the questions fairly quickly. Psychology has proven to be my easiest subject, although you need to learn and relearn a lot of key studies. All in all i'd say it's a hard selection but very managable. Good luck

Reply 203

Doughboy

EternalDoom

Hi,

For my A-Levels I have chosen:

Biology
Chemistry
Maths
Psychology

To the people that studied any of these, could you kindly tell me how you found them at AS / A2 levels? Such as, was one of them a lot of learning things by heart, another lots of coursework? something like that...

I only know about the AS / A2 content of these subjects from what the teachers have told me on the induction days, but I'd like to hear the opinions of students who have studied these subjects for 1 or 2 years.

Thanks
:woo:

Biology: For me, AS Biology was much easier than A2 Biology. The only reason for this is that I spent much more time with the AS specification. No A Level subject is hard if you really put in the effort. I have learned that you MUST put in a lot of time and effort in Biology because of the large volume of information that must be taken in. If you start seriously at the beginning of your AS and A2 years, you should do fine.

Chemistry: Chemistry was my easiest A Level subject. I only had problems with grasping a few new topics. There's a high volume of information in the specification as well but Chemistry involves less memorization than would you would need to in Biology. I found a great way of doing well in the Chemistry exams: you must approach the specification holistically. You will constantly have to build and expand on previous knowledge, so be on top of your game. For me, Chemistry required less learning and revision time than Biology but be sure that you stay on top of your schedule and don't let the work build up!

Maths: My problem in Maths was that I did not do enough practice. Once you grasp a concept, just make sure that you practice lots of problems so that the concept remains concrete in your mind.

Good luck!

Reply 204

EternalDoom

Thanks all for the lovely advice :smile:

Reply 205

Elenes

Hi =) I'm about to begin my 2 years A level and I've decided to do Math, Further Math, Economics and History. I hope to study Economics at a top uni but I'm a bit worried about my subjects.

Can anyone tell me what do i have to study in FM and how do you find the course? And i didn't do History at GCSE so is it going to be difficult for me to do it now?

Please help, thanks a lot :biggrin:

Reply 206

Revolution is my Name

What you study in Further Maths depends on what units your school chooses - the only compulsory one at AS is Further Pure 1 (pure maths like matrices, summing series, proof by induction and some other interesting stuff), then you'll probably do another two out of M1, D1, or S1 (although I have seen people who, say, do D1 and D2 at AS).

Reply 207

Elliotgc

Your choice of subjects is fine for economics, but history is one of the hardest A levels, and if you've not done it at GCSE you may struggle. Some of my brightest friends find the workload troublesome, and they have certainly had to do more work in that than in the likes of English Lit, English Lang, German, French, RS and other arts subjects.

Reply 208

Duckzilla

Elenes

A level maths = 6 maths modules
A-level further maths = another 6 maths modules only AFTER you do the 6 modules for A-level maths.

Your subject choices are perfect to study economics at university. History shouldn't be a problem without the GCSE as most schools let you take the A-level without the GCSE anyway so really there is nothing important to gain from the GCSE that you can't gain by doing the A-level. Just make sure you know you'll be doing a great amount of lengthy written essays and analysing pieces of other people's writing :smile:

Reply 209

toronto353

EternalDoom

Thanks all for the lovely advice :smile:

Hope all this advice helps! Let us know how your studies go

Reply 210

Perseverance

Hey, I originally chose Geography as my fourth choice for A level, yet after the induction I'm starting to have doubts, to be blunt - it sounds quite tedious and uninteresting. I didn't mind it at GCSE and found it quite easy, so I thought I would try it out for A level. Yet, I was never really properly interested in the area, and not sure if I should continue with it.

Now, in the same block, my school offers only "Economics and business" as a combined course, I know it is probably looked down upon by top universities - but I am already taking quite heavy A levels - English Lit, History and Biology - so would it still hinder me? I've never really had an experience with Economics and business, although I've always been quite interested in that sort of area and believe on what little knowledge I have - that I would enjoy it.

Sorry if this is quite vague, I'm pretty confused at the moment on what to choose and so was wondering if others could share any advice - after all this will affect the next two years of my life. Which should I choose Geography or Economics and Business.

Thanks :smile:

Reply 211

orca92

You already have 3 respected subjects in English Lit, History and Biology. Geography is respected whereas economics and business is more unrespected. However, as you already have 3 strong subjects you should really choose the one that you prefer and will be the most useful for uni/you will do best in. With 3 strong and 1 weak subject you will be able to get into any uni (grades permitting obviously) so choosing economics and business shouldn't hinder you much at all; an A in econ and business is better than a B in geography at the end of the day.

Reply 212

Oh_Mighty_One

orca92

That is complete rubbish.

OP, you already have one humanities subject, therefore, i'd go for something like Economics and Business.

Reply 213

cat_cat

Thanks for all the replies i think iam gonna go with math, further maths, economics and gov&pol but if my sixth form allows me i might do chemistry at as level

Reply 214

orangesmurf

You could do Geography to AS level, but if you are having serious doubts, it will be in your interest to acknowledge this sooner rather than later. Usually it is easier to make a change during the first few weeks of term or before a course begins. Whilst some Universities have produced a blacklist of subjects that they deem to provide 'less effective' preparation for some of their courses, I don't think you need to be too concerned. If you can change courses and achieve a higher grade as a result, this will probably make you a more attractive applicant.

Reply 215

Duckzilla

Oh_Mighty_One

That is complete rubbish.

OP, you already have one humanities subject, therefore, i'd go for something like Economics and Business.

No, it's the truth. Geography is seen a strong, 'traditional' subject where as business is seen as a 'soft' subject. If it were the straight economics A-level then it would be viewed as strong and traditional, but since it is combined with business then it's respect is lowered.

Reply 216

mardo

Hi,

I have chosen my A-level subjects and I would like to hear your opinion about them, what do you think about:
1. Physics
2. Computing
3. Mathematics
4. Buisness studies

Could you tell me a bit more about them, is it hard to achieve an A-level? In future I want to study Computer Science.

Reply 217

orca92

Oh_Mighty_One

That is complete rubbish.

OP, you already have one humanities subject, therefore, i'd go for something like Economics and Business.

http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=604

Feel Stupid?

Economics and business is more unrespected as it is more vocational than straight economics.

Reply 218

nuodai

If you want to do Computer Science then it's good that you have Maths and Physics, and Computing is also a plus (obviously). Business Studies isn't very well-respected as an A-level, so if you were really wanting to attract unis you should do something like Further Maths instead (it's very useful for Computer Science)... but to be honest your choices are fine.

Reply 219

Duckzilla

mardo

Keep physics, maths and computing. You should really consider doing further maths as computer science is a very maths based degree and lots of other applicants are gong to have further maths, you you would be disadvantaged against them. Further maths would also help you to personally get a better start on a computer science degree because you will know more mathematical content when you start to help you on your degree.

Business studies isn't the best of subjects to be honest, as it is seen as a 'weaker' subject by some universities. If you are interested in business then I suggest you should do A-level economics as it is seen as 'stronger' than business studies and contains a lot of business content as well as more economical content that you won't see in business studies. If you really want to take business studies then take iit as you will learn business knowledge from it, but in terms of 'lloking better' and getting a grasp of more economical business concepts then you should choose economics instead.