[Elzie]

(Original post by pickup)
So what would you say were the chances of getting into Cambridge with Theatre Studies, English Language and Psychology?

Depends what you're studying! I got into Durham with psychology, theatre studies and biology, which was a massive shock, tbh! :L
I was told that I would never get in to the top universities like Oxford and Durham with theatre studies but I got 5 offers, so don't worry about it!

I think universities are beginning to realise that we don't just stand around for two years pretending to be trees, we actually do some pretty serious work.

[Rossagle]

(Original post by Zuki)
^Title^

If you're thinking of basing your A level choices upon what other people (society) think you should do I'd advise you not to. Don't do things because you think it is what other people want or it is what you need to do do be 'successful'. Just do the subjects you want to do no matter how 'respected' they are.

Respect yourself and your own decisions else one day you will probably regret it.

[Firecrackerchild]

Since when did English Language at a-level require you to write a story? We had to analyse and evaluate four pieces of text, which would have been anything from a medieval poem, to the transcripts of BBC's commentary on the funeral of Dianna, (both of which came in my exam), and try and compare them against each other.

Not sure; I was quoting a poster above! Had to do original writing for GCSE English Lang, but not for AQA A-Level!

Because they are the purest subjects and all other subjects have there routes in these 3 subjects most of the time....

What do you mean purest? Regardless of the roots of an A-Level, why should it be less respected? Furthermore, where is the Politics root? or Law?

[Implo]

I don't think it's fair to say least respected is always easier. Not being bias as I took 'Respected' subjects. Stuff like Media/ICT takes countless hours of work, though probably quite easy, Art you have to produce very high quality work which takes alot of skill etc

[HeyyImRyan]

(Original post by Id and Ego seek)
See, the problem with that is I don't think it's fair to weigh up psychology, politics, computing and business studies with the likes of sports studies, travel & tourism and perspectives of science. So this least can only account for 'least respected' in relation to others; it tells us nothing about the nature of the subjects in themselves.

Agreed, Politics is recommended by Cambridge and LSE for degrees concerning political studies. Likewise, Business Studies is 'okay' for Cambridge and LSE, although Economics is preferred.

Taking travel & tourism to get into Geography at Cambridge/LSE would be a completely different story.

[emclme]

Connected to this, many times I've heard idiots go "Oh I wish I would have took art bla bla bla it would have just been an easy one"
Fair enough it isn't as respected as Maths, English or a science but there is soooo much work that goes into it. It's not all simple drawings and paintings, there are essays, personal statements, annotation, and countless pieces of development work needed for final pieces. Not to mention: large sketchbooks , mock ups, final pieces and support work. All this and with our terrible teacher you're lucky if you get a c! It really takes hours to do, and is much more time consuming and stressful then any of my other subjects.

[PinkGothicLady]

(Original post by Aspiringlawstudent)
Courses that include (inter alia) 'media', 'film' or 'studies' in the course name.

I was advised not to take more than one -ology (excluding Biology in this) and that combined with what you said above makes sense to me.

Oh and please no one waste their time with Critical Thinking... I started it as a 6th A level which was a horrendous mistake and found out thankfully after the first term that it effectively carries no UCAS points because no university that I know of will count it so I dropped it like a hot brick.
Yes you can do thw whole thing in just one year, in one lesson a week but you would be far better off (and trust me universities would prefer) if you spent that time really perfecting your coursework or doing extra-curricular (which is not the same as doing other irreleveant A levels quantity is not greater than quality) activities linked to your degree path.

[katles]

(Original post by emclme)
Connected to this, many times I've heard idiots go "Oh I wish I would have took art bla bla bla it would have just been an easy one"
Fair enough it isn't as respected as Maths, English or a science but there is soooo much work that goes into it. It's not all simple drawings and paintings, there are essays, personal statements, annotation, and countless pieces of development work needed for final pieces. Not to mention: large sketchbooks , mock ups, final pieces and support work. All this and with our terrible teacher you're lucky if you get a c! It really takes hours to do, and is much more time consuming and stressful then any of my other subjects.

Amen to that. I just finished Art AS and it was bloody hard work. It annoys me no end when people say stuff like 'Art is such a doss subject, it's so easy, I should have taken it as an easy subject to do'. NO, it is NOT easy. I also take maths and sometimes art can be even harder than that, because it requires so much more than just learning how to hit points on the mark scheme. Researching, thinking, practising, thinking, designing, thinking, coming up with a concept, and creating. It may sound easy but Art is one of my most time-consuming and stressful subjects.

/rant

[pickup]

(Original post by Id and Ego seek)
I have a friend who got in with Psychology, English Language and Philosophy; she studies Linguistics now.

Just wondered after the pontificating whether they'd made a mistake letting me in and I should be returning my BA.

[emclme]

(Original post by katles)
Amen to that. I just finished Art AS and it was bloody hard work. It annoys me no end when people say stuff like 'Art is such a doss subject, it's so easy, I should have taken it as an easy subject to do'. NO, it is NOT easy. I also take maths and sometimes art can be even harder than that, because it requires so much more than just learning how to hit points on the mark scheme. Researching, thinking, practising, thinking, designing, thinking, coming up with a concept, and creating. It may sound easy but Art is one of my most time-consuming and stressful subjects.

/rant

Yes completely agree, people just remember primary school art and think that it's just easy. I really regret taking it as I feel my other subjects have taken a back seat. Art isn't even creative any more, it's just stress, stress and more stress it completely drains any creative spark you have because by the end of it, your idea has been examined, developed, and analysed in every way possible.

[asaaal]

one word. media.

[minthumbugs]

(Original post by emclme)
Yes completely agree, people just remember primary school art and think that it's just easy. I really regret taking it as I feel my other subjects have taken a back seat. Art isn't even creative any more, it's just stress, stress and more stress it completely drains any creative spark you have because by the end of it, your idea has been examined, developed, and analysed in every way possible.

exactly why I very much wanted to take art for AS but after all the stress and work at GCSE and coming out with a B, I thought 'hell no!' I knew I'd never have time for my other subjects which I find difficult enough anyway (maths, bio, chemistry) so I took history instead. I hate coursework.

[katles]

(Original post by emclme)
Yes completely agree, people just remember primary school art and think that it's just easy. I really regret taking it as I feel my other subjects have taken a back seat. Art isn't even creative any more, it's just stress, stress and more stress it completely drains any creative spark you have because by the end of it, your idea has been examined, developed, and analysed in every way possible.

Urgh I can completely relate to this! It's soo draining and sometimes I wish I didn't take it because the examining board can be so restricting when trying to come up with creative ideas for final pieces.

[PonchoKid]

(Original post by llessur123)
I'd say the least respected are:

Dance, Applied Buisness, Law, Anthropology, Archaeology, Citizenship, Communication and Culture, General Studies, Health and Social Care, Leisure Studies, Travel and Tourism, ICT, Media, PE.

you clearly never took health and social... learning about surgery isnt easy, along with having to know all the different types of prescription drugs and what they do...

its well respected if you want to go into nursing i would imagine. the majority of the people in my school that took health and social wanted to be nurses or midwives...


this is such a subjective question, because it depends on the person, and what they want to do... id say subjects that i wasnt interested in at a level were easy or less respected, but thats because i didnt do them... and i found my subjects quite difficult, and were respected for the course i wanted to do at uni...

[ninuzu]

(Original post by Oh my Ms. Coffey)
Because they end in ology.

So does Biology... Quite a respectable A level don't you think?

[iamthestig]

I suppose it all depends on what you're planning on doing, for instance if you wanted to be a Pharmacist and you took Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Film Studies you're probably going to be at a disadvantage, whereas if you wanted to be a Journalist and you took English Literature, History, French and Media Studies, you'd probably be at a slight advantage.

I made the mistake of doing English Lit, Classics, History and Physics as I thought Physics would make me look better than doing Media Studies or RS, as a result i'm now stuck with an AS i'm failing at because i'm just not interested in it compared to my other subjects.

[Niassuh]

I think I read "Public toilet management" somewhere on this thread
That would be a delightful A level...

[shorttstuff]

This question is just basically a debate about what subjects are "doss easy" and subjects that are "not going to get you anywhere in life"

overall - all a-levels are hard, none are easy. I take media studies but then I also take maths and economics and they both equally take up as much work as each other.

Also, I plan to study maths at uni and the majority of unis i've looked at have said that they don't mind having a range of subjects i.e. they don't mind me studying media studies as its a completely different mindset from maths and econ..

[plimsolls]

Art is easy or hard depending on what you have a natural aptitude for. You can try your hardest, do all the required work, and still not come out with a top mark because you don't have enough natural ability.

Art isn't really about impressing people with the level of difficulty, you are supposed to be pursuing a personal interest, that's my take on it any way. It is easier than most subjects to pass or get a half decent mark in it from dossing and b.s-ing your way through. But then if that's your approach then it's you that's wasted your own time, and you should have done something else. Whatever your take on it, it is very labour intensive. You can bust out an essay at the last minute if needs be, but you can't really do the same for an entire practical project, not anything that's going to be any good at least.

[jumpingjesusholycow]

(Original post by llessur123)
I'd say the least respected are:

Dance, Applied Buisness, Law, Anthropology, Archaeology, Citizenship, Communication and Culture, General Studies, Health and Social Care, Leisure Studies, Travel and Tourism, ICT, Media, PE.

Probably a few more too, but that's the ones my college offer from the top of my head. Its hard to say what subject is easy because personally, I'd fail Dance miserably yet I'm quite good at Chemistry. Easiness is subjective. I'm going to get negged because there's going to be people who study these subjects, but they aren't very respected and that's hard to disagree with. Basically anything on the blacklists, Oxbridge isn't everything but its a decent guide.

How exactly do you expect solicitors and computer engineers to exist if their subjects are lowly and/or looked down upon? :

I'd like to see you try and live in a society without the rule of law and without any consumer technology. I mean, do you actually have any clue about what you're talking about?