5 AS Levels? (not including general studies)

Hi,
What do you think about doing 5 as levels (not including general studies) for example, art, biology, chemistry, maths, spanish, ? What do you think? Would it be too time consuming?
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanx
xxx

Reply 1

GH

13

I do 5. Its not too time consuming.

Reply 2

CHAD

OP

do you have to be amazingly intelligent?

Reply 3

~Sam~

15

CHAD

do you have to be amazingly intelligent?

I do five and i manage to cope. But then again, one of them is critical thinking

Reply 4

Lucy

I studied 5 AS levels last year (bio, chem, french, maths, physics) and sure the workload is considerably higher compared to other students who are taking 4 but it is perfectly doable and I found I had plenty of time to do other things (loads of extracurricular stuff, going out with friends etc.)

As long as you are reasonably organised and work consistently, you'll be absolutely fine. I personally enjoyed staying busy as I would have just been bored/mucking around if I had done 4. Just go for it, you can always drop one if it gets too much (quite a few students do that) :smile:

.

Reply 5

CHAD

OP

If there is anyone who does spanish as level, is it hard? and is it time consuming? If I did do 5 as levels, I would do biology, chemistry, maths, art and spanish and then general studies of course so I am not really sure if that would take up too much of my time as I go to the gym, karate, gold duke of edinburgh, drama club and hoping to do young enterprise, so does anyone think I could do 5 as levels and general studies? considering i am of average intelligence and go to a private school where they make you feel uncomfortable about this kinda thing if you are not one of the teachers favourites or highly intelligent (well at my school they r like that anyway). I have to give my final decision by next friday so any help would be greatfully appreciated!
Thanx
xxx

Reply 6

Lucy

CHAD

If there is anyone who does spanish as level, is it hard? and is it time consuming? If I did do 5 as levels, I would do biology, chemistry, maths, art and spanish and then general studies of course so I am not really sure if that would take up too much of my time as I go to the gym, karate, gold duke of edinburgh, drama club and hoping to do young enterprise, so does anyone think I could do 5 as levels and general studies? considering i am of average intelligence and go to a private school where they make you feel uncomfortable about this kinda thing if you are not one of the teachers favourites or highly intelligent (well at my school they r like that anyway). I have to give my final decision by next friday so any help would be greatfully appreciated!
Thanx
xxx

Is general studies compulsory? If not, then I really wouldn't bother - unis don't even acknowledge it as a 'proper' subject so it's pretty much a waste of time.

I think 5 ASs would be fine with all those extra curricular activities (I too did gold D of E, young enterprise, sport/music, voluntary work etc.) and I actually found that I managed to balance the greatest number of extra curricular activities in Year 12.

A couple of my friends took Spanish AS and it's pretty much the same(ish) structure as French (which I took) - tbh most of the students who took modern languages at AS were completely fine with the workload. Although modern languages are considered to be proper subjects, french was a bit of a 'doss' compared to the other subjects I was taking. I managed to muck around whilst learning the course and then did some careful revision before the exam and I was fine.

As I said before, I would take the 5ASs and then drop one (perfectly acceptable) if it's too much.

Reply 7

username9816

14

Lucy

Is general studies compulsory? If not, then I really wouldn't bother - unis don't even acknowledge it as a 'proper' subject so it's pretty much a waste of time.

I think 5 ASs would be fine with all those extra curricular activities (I too did gold D of E, young enterprise, sport/music, voluntary work etc.) and I actually found that I managed to balance the greatest number of extra curricular activities in Year 12.

A couple of my friends took Spanish AS and it's pretty much the same(ish) structure as French (which I took) - tbh most of the students who took modern languages at AS were completely fine with the workload. Although modern languages are considered to be proper subjects, french was a bit of a 'doss' compared to the other subjects I was taking. I managed to muck around whilst learning the course and then did some careful revision before the exam and I was fine.

As I said before, I would take the 5ASs and then drop one (perfectly acceptable) if it's too much.

well, what better advice could you want :smile:

Reply 8

elpaw

15

5 As is not too time consuming. I wish i had done 5 As.

Reply 9

lgs98jonee

2

i am doing chem, phy, maths, fur. maths and german this year, not struggling at all...i suppose i dont have any essay subjects though.

Reply 10

Jesscat

I do spanish at AS level and enjoy it. I feel that there is a lot more to take in but it probably depends on the teaching, if I could I would change my spanish teachers! There are only 3 of us too which is an advantage. Our lessons are broken up between grammar and topic and we have just been issued with a pre-release booklet which we will use for the exam; we've also just finished the pluperfect tense and are moving onto the subjunctive in grammar.
happy choosing :smile:

Reply 11

matouwah

1

i did physics, chem, maths, music n business studies...it was alrite....not much work.....

Reply 12

CHAD

OP

Hi,
sorry to bug everyone again but I need to be sure b4 I even speak 2 my parents cos I know they will try a sway me away from doing it and the teachers too. So, doing biology, chemistry, maths, english, art and general studies with gold d of e, young enterprise, two out of school clubs and community service would be ok? not too time-consuming?
Sorry to keep going on, but I need to be sure.
Thanx
xxx

Reply 13

GH

13

CHAD

Hi,
sorry to bug everyone again but I need to be sure b4 I even speak 2 my parents cos I know they will try a sway me away from doing it and the teachers too. So, doing biology, chemistry, maths, english, art and general studies with gold d of e, young enterprise, two out of school clubs and community service would be ok? not too time-consuming?
Sorry to keep going on, but I need to be sure.
Thanx
xxx

Well, It all depends on how much time you want to put in Community serivce, how far youve gone with your DofE etc. I know a couple of people who are doing stuff similar to yours at the moment and they seem to have free time.

The problem child in your choice is Art, you will be putting in much longer than you think in that subject. Indeed it can be said that it is similar to another extra curricular activity.

Reply 14

CHAD

OP

2776

Well, It all depends on how much time you want to put in Community serivce, how far youve gone with your DofE etc. I know a couple of people who are doing stuff similar to yours at the moment and they seem to have free time.

The problem child in your choice is Art, you will be putting in much longer than you think in that subject. Indeed it can be said that it is similar to another extra curricular activity.

I know art is the problem, I have gone through hell these past 2 years with art gcse, but I still like doing it and find it enjoyable. The problem is that I dont know weather I want to do art or biology at uni so I need to cover both options. Apparently if I do apply 4 biology they may not consider art a proper a level (assuming I take biology, maths and art to a level and drop chemistry). Is this true? I know it would be better to do chemistry so do not say that.
Thanx
xxx

Reply 15

GH

13

Well lets just say that a person with a similar read out with your CV, will be allowed in because he has taken Chemistry, (or whatever sciency) rather than Art.

Reply 16

Camford

12

General study is time consuming ish. 5 a'level is not. No you don't need to be clever.

Reply 17

Acid_Rain

I started out taking out five last year but dropped to four about halfway through (mainly cause computing is so very boring :biggrin:

) It was just too much work - though I did have three essay-based subjects and the dreaded maths to cope with, and very little support from the computing teacher.

I think if I had chosen a different subject combo I would have been ok though :smile:

Reply 18

Jessi

Hi,
i took 4 subjects at AS and if im honest i think i made the right decision. i don't have that much free time as it is, although 2 of them do involve a lot of essay writing.
i think the work load it pretty heavy and i struggle with 4 plus my extra activities. i am involved with a lot of operatic societies in my area and take my dancing quite seriously, with my college work aswell i think it is asking a lot. Especially when most uni's only want 3 A-levels anyway. i look at it this way, you've got your extra curriculum activities (which uni's look for) and by taking 5 when the uni only wants 3, won't make much difference to someone who has concentrated on 3 A-levels and done really well. i know it sounds a bit confusing but i know id rather consentrate on 3 or 4 and get really good grades and carry on with my out of college stuff, than try to do 5 and get poor grades. unless your a real brain and can cope with it all, lol! :wink: