[InBloom]

(Original post by TheDeviant)
Don't get me wrong, an EPQ is a great thing to do, but on top of studying 4 subjects I found it quite demanding. Something to bear in mind about the EPQ is that although universities don't tend to consider it as a useful qualification it can be a fantastic thing to talk about in an interview, especially if you do something medical - it shows interest in medicine, self-motivation, organisation skills... But a massive commitment to make if you feel like you can handle it though then it's a very good thing to do

Decision analysis in the UKCAT is all about choosing the best meaning for a series of words - you're given a code of numbers and letters that each match a word, and you need to decide what it means. It's just like translating a spanish sentence

Ah okay thank you, I know it's a lot of work. I'm going to make a decision on Spanish and then decide on the EPQ based on that decision (:
Ah okay, thanks (:
x

[dean01234]

(Original post by InBloom)
] but I don't want to be at a disadvantage in any way to any one else based on this, so I was wondering how much of a difference it makes?

The only real benefit you will gain is being able to sound pretentious in conversations or on TSR.

If you know you could still easily get 4 a*s maybe do it,

but if it means that attention will be diverted away from other subjects meaning that you don't reach entry requirements for Cambridge obviously you shouldn't.

Personally I wouldn't bother, it won't help uni applications.

FYI you get 5 choices for UCAS

[InBloom]

Really?
I'm pretty sure for medicine you only get four..

[paranoid_android2]

(Original post by InBloom)
Really?
I'm pretty sure for medicine you only get four..

I think you get 4 choices for medicine but you can apply to one other course like Biochemistry or something.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong in that.

On my board (WJEC) the Spanish A2 is reasonably similar to the AS in terms of the grammar etc you need to know, but you just end up talking about books/films/history instead of a healthy diet. So if you do well in the AS you probably have a good chance of doing well in the A2.

[hprmc]

(Original post by InBloom)
Edexcel too (: what made you think that? x

because as you said, the jump from gcse to AS was massive, and i felt like i was treading water for the whole of year 12... but in year 13, given that you have all the basic grammer under your belt, all you have to do is write 2 essays and a translation from english to french. also in my opinion, the essays in A2 are easier because they are not as annoyingly limited as AS, and you get a choice of like 7. and for the second essay, if you have done enough prep, it will be a walk in the park. because you should have already learned the grammar at AS, the only new thing you will be doing in A2 is essay techniques and phrases and reenforcing grammar.
the speaking was stressful though... lol

[InBloom]

Thanks for all the advice, I've made my decision (: xx

[oHellno]

There is no advantage whatsoever, I am speaking from experience.

The only place it made a difference for me I think is Barts but for the unis on your list, it won't make a difference

[mattmattmatt]

When you're up against other people doing 4/5/6, only doing 3 subjects makes you, in my opinion, seem uncommitted and unable to handle a large work-load.

[CassadeeScott]

Argh pretty much the same position: Doing Bio, Chem, Maths, French and hoping to apply for medicine Cambridge. Can't decide whether to do French or not next year

[L'Evil Fish]

Do French!

[InBloom]

(Original post by CassadeeScott)
Argh pretty much the same position: Doing Bio, Chem, Maths, French and hoping to apply for medicine Cambridge. Can't decide whether to do French or not next year

I decided to drop Spanish because I wasn't very sure that I would be able to get an A/A* at A2. I know that four A2s can place you at an advantage but I was worried that getting a B in one of my 4 subjects would actually put me at a disadvantage and stand out against my other grades. I know some unis only give you a three subject conditional offer and when I contacted other unis like UCL (At least I think it was UCL...), they said offer would be something like AAAC - based on that alone I probably would have carried on with Spanish. However, Cambridge said that the offer may be based on getting 4 As/A*s (this differs with the different colleges, I called the med admissions office and two colleges and they gave different responses so you may want to call them up yourself.
I was pretty split tbh, but I don't regret my decision (yet!). The decision that I slightly regret was taking Spanish because, whilst I enjoyed it and learnt more in that one year of AS then I did in 5 years at school, I underestimated the jump from GCSE and I can't help but think that if I did something like psychology I would have kept that at A2 and happily dealt with the workload (as a lot of my friends have been saying about how easy/interesting it is).

If you're interested in french and are good at it, I think the work load is worth it. But if you're in doubt I would contact the unis directly, explain your situation etc. It depends on why exactly you want to carry on with French

[CassadeeScott]

(Original post by InBloom)
I decided to drop Spanish because I wasn't very sure that I would be able to get an A/A* at A2. I know that four A2s can place you at an advantage but I was worried that getting a B in one of my 4 subjects would actually put me at a disadvantage and stand out against my other grades. I know some unis only give you a three subject conditional offer and when I contacted other unis like UCL (At least I think it was UCL...), they said offer would be something like AAAC - based on that alone I probably would have carried on with Spanish. However, Cambridge said that the offer may be based on getting 4 As/A*s (this differs with the different colleges, I called the med admissions office and two colleges and they gave different responses so you may want to call them up yourself.
I was pretty split tbh, but I don't regret my decision (yet!). The decision that I slightly regret was taking Spanish because, whilst I enjoyed it and learnt more in that one year of AS then I did in 5 years at school, I underestimated the jump from GCSE and I can't help but think that if I did something like psychology I would have kept that at A2 and happily dealt with the workload (as a lot of my friends have been saying about how easy/interesting it is).

If you're interested in french and are good at it, I think the work load is worth it. But if you're in doubt I would contact the unis directly, explain your situation etc. It depends on why exactly you want to carry on with French

Thanks for your reply, was quite helpful.

At the moment I'm leaning towards dropping French, because to be completely honest it isn't related to my course and I would much rather get 3 A*s (not that I will, but you get the idea i'm trying to get at xD) than a few A's and B's. I enjoy French as a language so I will deffo continue to try to learn it myself but I think I wouldnt' really enjoy the stuff about analysing literature and writing essays etc.

I shall contact the uni's i'm applying to and see what they think as well

And thanks again

[Odiem23]

To be honest I think that if you're good enough to go to Cambridge you should be able to handle the 4 A-Levels. But based on the people who applied to Oxbridge in my school I wouldnt say that it was absolutely essential. In fact, only a third of Oxbridge offer holders in my school carried on with the 4 A-Levels.

[InBloom]

(Original post by CassadeeScott)
Thanks for your reply, was quite helpful.

At the moment I'm leaning towards dropping French, because to be completely honest it isn't related to my course and I would much rather get 3 A*s (not that I will, but you get the idea i'm trying to get at xD) than a few A's and B's. I enjoy French as a language so I will deffo continue to try to learn it myself but I think I wouldnt' really enjoy the stuff about analysing literature and writing essays etc.

I shall contact the uni's i'm applying to and see what they think as well

And thanks again

No worries, hope it helped (:

[kaypc]

3 is best but i know some people who are more than capable of handling 4.

[InBloom]

(Original post by Odiem23)
To be honest I think that if you're good enough to go to Cambridge you should be able to handle the 4 A-Levels. But based on the people who applied to Oxbridge in my school I wouldnt say that it was absolutely essential. In fact, only a third of Oxbridge offer holders in my school carried on with the 4 A-Levels.

I'm fully aware of that. If my forth subject was like my other three subjects (chem/bio/maths) I would have taken it. But I stupidly underestimated the jump from GCSE and whilst I liked the subject, struggled more with it then all my other three subjects combined. A lot of the comments have been about 4 subjects VS 3 subjects, which I appreciate as that was my original question. But ultimately, had my forth subject had been something different, I would have carried on with it. My decision wasn't about the workload involved in doing 4 subjects, it was about not being sure about whether I could get an A* in Spanish. I was also concerned that having a B in the worst case scenario would actually work against me and stand out or that I would be given a four subject conditional offer and then get a B in Spanish. I'm not really worried about UCAS points too much because the points for general studies (compulsory at my college) and e.project would get added to it.

Either way, I dropped it about a month ago when I made my this thread. I don't regret it at all, I do sort of wish I had chosen a different subject when starting college. But I've got really good GCSEs, a lot of extra curricular activities (I know cambridge don't give a s**t but my other unis do) quite a lot of w/experience and have been volunteering for a long time. I don't have my AS results and haven't completed the entrance exam but hopefully if they are all at above 95% for my results and good entrance exam results then everything will work out alright.

thanks for your response though.