[GeneralStudent95]

Is it just my school that is doing this?

I mean literally 80% of people in my school are doing Biology, Chemistry, Physics & Maths for A-Level (we have given in our preliminary choices.) What is it with people being so obsessed with these subjects? A few questions to everyone:

1. Is Science & Math Subjects better than English based subjects?
2. Do you need a science A-Level to do well in our modern world?
3. Will all the jobs be in Science & Math when we are leaving uni?

Just a few questions to stimulate discussion; No right or wrong answers unless you can see into the future!

[Octohedral]

Sounds quite unusual - is it a private school? (Not being snobby, it's just that you get more pushy parents at those schools, and sciences are seen as more job-procuring).

Personally, I think humanities are just as important as sciences, and I have no idea why people think English is a 'soft' subject. (I find it harder than Maths, and I think it's a great subject).

I don't know about 2 or 3, but even as a maths student I'd hate to live in a world where English and Art are not appreciated.

[electriic_ink]

Do you go to an all boys school?

[A.J10]

Well, for a start, I think the most common uni subject requirement is maths.

STEM subjects are good for demonstrating a certain set of skills not typically found in things like english.

Also many people I know were put off english forever by the gcse and earlier subject material. I hated picking the pieces apart to prove some point I personally thought was rubbish, but did for the marks.

Is maths/science better than subjects like English and history? They are different, and use different skill sets and so are extremely difficult to compare in this way.

Do you need a science A level to do well? No, but the skills cultivated in sciences are extremely useful.


Will all the jobs be in Science & Math? No, not all the jobs will be. STEM degrees tend to lead into jobs directly affiliated with the subject matter. Civil engineers go on to be civil engineers for example. I can't say the same for things like English and History, they tend to lead tangentially into other fields, so it's harder to say if people got into a job related to their degree.

[cuckoo99]

1. Yes(from a science or maths student) NO( from an English/humanities student)
2. No
3. No

[DeathByBSOD]

Science + Maths >>> History/Geog/R.S >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>English.

imho.

[DJMayes]

I think this varies a lot depending on the sixth form you attend - at my sixth form approximately 30/150 students take Maths and Biology, with a smaller number taking Chemistry and a smaller number still taking Physics. We also only have 5 people taking Further Maths, which is a record size. Biology is the most popular in our school as people see it as a Science subject they can take which will look good but which they assume is easier than the other two. The rest of the subjects appear fairly clustered; with most students who are taking one of them taking at least one of the others as well.

[GeneralStudent95]

(Original post by Octohedral)
Sounds quite unusual - is it a private school? (Not being snobby, it's just that you get more pushy parents at those schools, and sciences are seen as more job-procuring).

Personally, I think humanities are just as important as sciences, and I have no idea why people think English is a 'soft' subject. (I find it harder than Maths, and I think it's a great subject).

I don't know about 2 or 3, but even as a maths student I'd hate to live in a world where English and Art are not appreciated.

It is not private in the sense you pay to get in - In Northern Ireland we have grammar schools which are the more demanding schools to get into. We do a test at the end of primary school and if you get an A you will get into grammar otherwise you probably wont. So you could say it is our equivalent to a private school.

Yeah I totally, agree both are necessary just seems that a lot of people I know are saying, including all the career advisers in my school, that there is NO jobs if you don't do something science oriented which I find hard to swallow personally. I think if you go for raw English Lit in uni the chances of a career path nay be slim but look at law for example. You could move into politics, practice law or any number of other avenues. Can any science degree say the same?

(Original post by electriic_ink)
Do you go to an all boys school?

Yeah curious as to why you think this would effect the outcome? Not being rude by the way, I actually am curious that you asked that.

(Original post by A.J10)
Well, for a start, I think the most common uni subject requirement is maths.

STEM subjects are good for demonstrating a certain set of skills not typically found in things like english.

Also many people I know were put off english forever by the gcse and earlier subject material. I hated picking the pieces apart to prove some point I personally thought was rubbish, but did for the marks.

Is maths/science better than subjects like English and history? They are different, and use different skill sets and so are extremely difficult to compare in this way.

Do you need a science A level to do well? No, but the skills cultivated in sciences are extremely useful.


Will all the jobs be in Science & Math? No, not all the jobs will be. STEM degrees tend to lead into jobs directly affiliated with the subject matter. Civil engineers go on to be civil engineers for example. I can't say the same for things like English and History, they tend to lead tangentially into other fields, so it's harder to say if people got into a job related to their degree.

Good argument. I want to ask you why you think this, and it is where I think people go wrong:

Well, for a start, I think the most common uni subject requirement is maths.

I have looked at quite a few Uni degrees and none have asked for maths? I think that depends on what degrees you look at but I think math is one of ones which is least asked for. Most medicine courses accept Biology, Chemistry, Physics & anything else you want. I have to say that that point is pretty one sided in my opinion.

STEM subjects are good for demonstrating a certain set of skills not typically found in things like english.

Also many people I know were put off english forever by the gcse and earlier subject material. I hated picking the pieces apart to prove some point I personally thought was rubbish, but did for the marks.


Look at the inverse. Everyone who does all STEM subjects lose out on the analytic skills that English and History bring for example.

I could see why people are put off in GCSE but I also think the fact people are trolling around schools saying that STEM subjects are the only way to go has an effect on how much people like english.

(Original post by DJMayes)
I think this varies a lot depending on the sixth form you attend - at my sixth form approximately 30/150 students take Maths and Biology, with a smaller number taking Chemistry and a smaller number still taking Physics. We also only have 5 people taking Further Maths, which is a record size. Biology is the most popular in our school as people see it as a Science subject they can take which will look good but which they assume is easier than the other two. The rest of the subjects appear fairly clustered; with most students who are taking one of them taking at least one of the others as well.

Fair enough - STEM subjects have rocketed in our school this last few years.

[Spoogle]

(Original post by ConorF)
Yeah curious as to why you think this would effect the outcome? Not being rude by the way, I actually am curious that you asked that.

Maths & physics are still predominantly male topics. Biology is typically the science which has a higher female interest but females tend to branch out into things like English, psychology, law etc with that rather than going for the traditional 'purest' academic quartet that you've posted.

[The Polymath]

(Original post by ConorF)
It is not private in the sense you pay to get in - In Northern Ireland we have grammar schools which are the more demanding schools to get into. We do a test at the end of primary school and if you get an A you will get into grammar otherwise you probably wont. So you could say it is our equivalent to a private school.

Yeah I totally, agree both are necessary just seems that a lot of people I know are saying, including all the career advisers in my school, that there is NO jobs if you don't do something science oriented which I find hard to swallow personally. I think if you go for raw English Lit in uni the chances of a career path nay be slim but look at law for example. You could move into politics, practice law or any number of other avenues. Can any science degree say the same?



Yeah curious as to why you think this would effect the outcome? Not being rude by the way, I actually am curious that you asked that.



Good argument. I want to ask you why you think this, and it is where I think people go wrong:

Well, for a start, I think the most common uni subject requirement is maths.

I have looked at quite a few Uni degrees and none have asked for maths? I think that depends on what degrees you look at but I think math is one of ones which is least asked for. Most medicine courses accept Biology, Chemistry, Physics & anything else you want. I have to say that that point is pretty one sided in my opinion.

STEM subjects are good for demonstrating a certain set of skills not typically found in things like english.

Also many people I know were put off english forever by the gcse and earlier subject material. I hated picking the pieces apart to prove some point I personally thought was rubbish, but did for the marks.


Look at the inverse. Everyone who does all STEM subjects lose out on the analytic skills that English and History bring for example.

I could see why people are put off in GCSE but I also think the fact people are trolling around schools saying that STEM subjects are the only way to go has an effect on how much people like english.



Fair enough - STEM subjects have rocketed in our school this last few years.

Boys love maths and sciences. That's a very big stereotype, but it's definitely true that more boys do them than girls. At my boys school the number of people doing maths and physics is huuge. At the nearby girls school, however, there really aren't that many.

[GeneralStudent95]

(Original post by Spoogle)
Maths & physics are still predominantly male topics. Biology is typically the science which has a higher female interest but females tend to branch out into things like English, psychology, law etc with that rather than going for the traditional 'purest' academic quartet that you've posted.

Fair enough - I would say that the most popular Science subject by far in our school is Biology. I think its the one science subject you just need to sit down and learn whereas with Chemistry or Physics you need to really understand the core concepts or you will be left behind very quickly. I guess people prefer just learning and not worrying about the understanding concepts.

Silly because most hate physics this year and are doing Maths at A-Level

[extons]

I go to a private school sixth form and there are only ~ 45 students in lower sixth. They virtually (including myself) all do sciences and there's only like 2 people doing English or something. A few more do History but heavily dominated by sciences. Strange!

[iheartdjokovic]

I go to an all girls school and the vast majority of people are doing maths/ science centred A levels

[GeneralStudent95]

(Original post by extons)
I go to a private school sixth form and there are only ~ 45 students in lower sixth. They virtually (including myself) all do sciences and there's only like 2 people doing English or something. A few more do History but heavily dominated by sciences. Strange!

A few people in my school are taking on History or Politics as a 4th Subject because they are not interested in doing maths. But I would safely say about 80% of the year are taking on at least 3 science subjects. Even languages in general are not really being taken any more - well at least in the volume they used to be taken.

[FranticMind]

(Original post by Spoogle)
Maths & physics are still predominantly male topics. Biology is typically the science which has a higher female interest but females tend to branch out into things like English, psychology, law etc with that rather than going for the traditional 'purest' academic quartet that you've posted.

Not only that but most of the guys I knew who took humanities did so to get a class full of girls.

[GeneralStudent95]

(Original post by FranticMind)
Not only that but most of the guys I knew who took humanities did so to get a class full of girls.

That is classic lol

[A.J10]

(Original post by ConorF)
Good argument. I want to ask you why you think this, and it is where I think people go wrong:

Well, for a start, I think the most common uni subject requirement is maths.

I have looked at quite a few Uni degrees and none have asked for maths? I think that depends on what degrees you look at but I think math is one of ones which is least asked for. Most medicine courses accept Biology, Chemistry, Physics & anything else you want. I have to say that that point is pretty one sided in my opinion.

STEM subjects are good for demonstrating a certain set of skills not typically found in things like english.

Also many people I know were put off english forever by the gcse and earlier subject material. I hated picking the pieces apart to prove some point I personally thought was rubbish, but did for the marks.


Look at the inverse. Everyone who does all STEM subjects lose out on the analytic skills that English and History bring for example.

I could see why people are put off in GCSE but I also think the fact people are trolling around schools saying that STEM subjects are the only way to go has an effect on how much people like english.

Depends on what degree you look at, but almost any STEM degree either requires it or prefers it. I haven't much experience, as I only bothered searching for my subject (computer science) so I"m basing this off what my friends say.

Again, different subjects, different skillsets. I do however oppose your term "analytical skills", where else is analysis more important than in science?

I also think that there is the perception of "this person understands cold facts" and "this person does all that fluffy poetry stuff"

Personally, I love reading novels and picking elements out of them, and the same for films, tv and so on, I just dislike the way a lot of the source material is idolised

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my E15i

[xXAneesa786Xx]

Many of them might want something to do with being marine biologists, doctors etc. Maybe some of them really enjoy the subject. Like right now as a subject choice i chose Biology and Chemistry

[pop101]

It's because, although this is a narrow minded view, those 4 subjects are pretty much the best 4 A-levels to do. You can do any degree, apart from those of the humanities and languages. These are the core subjects, and if you achieve top grades in each of them, you have a strong chance of doing what course you want in what University you want to do it in.
1. Is Science & Math Subjects better than English based subjects?
2. Do you need a science A-Level to do well in our modern world?
3. Will all the jobs be in Science & Math when we are leaving uni?

1. For degree choices, yes.
2. It's highly recommended to do one as an A-level.
3. No. E.g What has some with a psychology/law degree got to do with science?

[GeneralStudent95]

(Original post by A.J10)
Depends on what degree you look at, but almost any STEM degree either requires it or prefers it. I haven't much experience, as I only bothered searching for my subject (computer science) so I"m basing this off what my friends say.

Again, different subjects, different skillsets. I do however oppose your term "analytical skills", where else is analysis more important than in science?

I also think that there is the perception of "this person understands cold facts" and "this person does all that fluffy poetry stuff"

Personally, I love reading novels and picking elements out of them, and the same for films, tv and so on, I just dislike the way a lot of the source material is idolised

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my E15i

(Original post by A.J10)
Depends on what degree you look at, but almost any STEM degree either requires it or prefers it. I haven't much experience, as I only bothered searching for my subject (computer science) so I"m basing this off what my friends say.

Again, different subjects, different skillsets. I do however oppose your term "analytical skills", where else is analysis more important than in science?

I also think that there is the perception of "this person understands cold facts" and "this person does all that fluffy poetry stuff"

Personally, I love reading novels and picking elements out of them, and the same for films, tv and so on, I just dislike the way a lot of the source material is idolised

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my E15i

Again, different subjects, different skillsets. I do however oppose your term "analytical skills", where else is analysis more important than in science?

Analysis in Science? All you do is learn facts and understand core concepts. I have never been asked to analyse anything in Science apart from experiment results and you really think that interpretation of figures you obtained from an experiment is more analytical than English where the whole concept is based on your analysis of something?

I also think that there is the perception of "this person understands cold facts" and "this person does all that fluffy poetry stuff"

Personally, I love reading novels and picking elements out of them, and the same for films, tv and so on, I just dislike the way a lot of the source material is idolised

Science is exactly that "Cold Facts" and English is analysis of a piece. I will agree that Science requires more logic than English but I would say it is x10 times harder to do well in English than it is to do so in Science - at GCSE level anyway. Many people can sit down and learn facts out of a book while few people can actually go into a test blind about what is going to be asked, and write appropriately for an hour and a half. Whereas science you know the paper before you go in and you can learn a method for it. English on the other hand is more natural - you are either good or bad at it