The Student Room Group

Has anybody done 6 A-levels?

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Reply 20
Original post by lordharvey
Oh ok, fair enough.

Sorry, just realized how blunt that reads...
Reply 21
Original post by Butdidudie
Sorry, just realized how blunt that reads...


You or me, haha? If you meant you then don't worry, it didn't sound blunt, I just misinterpreted what you said :smile:
I absolutely HATE it when people say it's a waste of time ect. They just wish they were as clever as you! If you can do it then do. I did 6 AS and 4 A2 albeit not in as many hardcore subjects as yourself.

THE AVERAGE STUDENT ADMITTED TO CAMBRIDGE HAS 6 A's AT A LEVEL. So, to the idiot who said 'they'd make it a requirement if it gave you an advantage' I'd say shut up as you obviously have no idea what you're talking about.


Sorry to rant but I am sick of people on TSR saying that doing any more than the bare minimum is a waste of time.

If you think you can do it, then do :smile:
Reply 23
Original post by Monkeysuit.
I absolutely HATE it when people say it's a waste of time ect. They just wish they were as clever as you! If you can do it then do. I did 6 AS and 4 A2 albeit not in as many hardcore subjects as yourself.

THE AVERAGE STUDENT ADMITTED TO CAMBRIDGE HAS 6 A's AT A LEVEL. So, to the idiot who said 'they'd make it a requirement if it gave you an advantage' I'd say shut up as you obviously have no idea what you're talking about.


Sorry to rant but I am sick of people on TSR saying that doing any more than the bare minimum is a waste of time.

If you think you can do it, then do :smile:


http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/apply/requirements/

"Most applicants go on to study three or four A Level subjects."
Unless you are someone who frequently gets A*/A's I would say just stick to 4. As other's rightly said, universities will only look at the 3 A Levels you've done and the AS. A Levels are much more difficult than GCSE's because you are constantly having to remember things and there is an increase in workload as you are expected to be able to work independently. Also for a lot of subjects, the year isn't enough for them to teach you the whole syllabus so teachers will expect you to cover these yourself after lightly touching the topic in class.

It's better to come out with A*s and A's than stress yourself and only get B's and C's.
Original post by TheDustyKid
Well, chemistry is as much as 3 A-levels in itself.


You can say that again
Reply 26
I did 6 ASs-basically the ones that you're doing but with Music Tech instead of Economics (technically a 'soft' subject, but a lot of work). Although I had no free periods, and had to stay behind after school (M Tech being a twilight course at my school), I didn't find the workload unbearable. I'm awfully lazy and didn't do nearly as much work as I should/could have, but luckily enough I still did reasonably well (although probably not as well as I could have).
In terms of doing six A2s: I would advise not. The workload/difficulty increases massively, and even if you are comfortable doing the work in term time, I'm pretty sure most people would struggle with it during exam periods. Unless you're really really interested in every single one of the subjects, it's probably not worth the potential sacrificing of grades
I did 5 AS subjects which was quite difficult. Obviously it depends on if you have a natural flair for some of the subjects that you are taking as that would make it so much easier. I only had two lessons a week on one of my AS subjects which ment I had to do a lot of work by myself outside of a lesson. So if you aren't very good at self motivation and doing a lot of work by yourself then I would have a think about it.
However if you truly feel that you are up to it and are willing to commit yourself to it then I would say go for it. You can always reassess the situation in a year and if you feel it isn't working then drop on of them.
Reply 28
Original post by lordharvey
You or me, haha? If you meant you then don't worry, it didn't sound blunt, I just misinterpreted what you said :smile:


Yeah it was me, saz
Reply 29
idiot
Original post by Butdidudie
No, I'm going to repeat the maths and further maths (By the way In my school they do Maths in one year, further maths the next if that helps)


If you're having to repeat them, then are you sure you can cope with 4 more subjects? I'm not convinced and it won't benefit you with uni offers as they're based on 3 or 3.5 A2 so it seems like putting yourself under unecessary pressure. If a unis entry requirements are AAA then BBBBB won't cut it. And top unis might not count the maths and FM as separate subjects depending on what they are and if you're repeating them, very top unis might disregard them unless you have a damn good reason for doing so, that your reference can vouch for.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Butdidudie
I was thinking of doing six A levels; Further maths, Maths, Physics, Biology, chemistry and Economics. Would this be too much of a workload? I have already studied Further maths and Math, so i was thinking of doing six so when universities look at my record it doesn't look like I've coasted. Any ideas


LOl I did the exact same combination!!! I did fine I guess but I could've done a lot better if it wasn't for my procastrination issues. I made the mistake of picking up economics (both AS and A2) literally 4 months before the A2 exams so I had to cram two years worth of stuff in like 3 months. If you've got any specific questions you could PM me :smile:
Reply 32
Original post by lordharvey
I think the above posters have misunderstood - OP has already done Maths and Further Maths, he isn't proposing to do six at once. Presuming he's just about to start sixth form, if he follows the advice given here he will only study one or two full A Levels in the next two years. He would have six in total but would only be doing the normal four/three in two years. So OP, although in terms of university admissions you don't have to, you might as well press ahead and do four and get six A Levels (or drop one and get 5 A Levels + 1 AS), or else you're going to have more study periods than you know what to do with.


Well he could use those study periods to do what most people do and chill?

If he thinks he can ace something like Further Maths (especially FP2), then he must be clever (literally multiple times harder than any exam I've ever done). But it's unnecessary. Further Maths students usually do 5 at AS and drop one, so he'd probably be better off doing 5 and just carrying them on to A level if he wants to.
If he's able to get A*s in even 3 of them (including the one he wants to take to uni), he'll have no trouble getting into wherever he wanted. If he can't, then doing extra A levels isn't going to help anyway. I'd advise doing 4/5 at most with the last one maybe being different than your other choices like Music (basically something you'd pick if you weren't considering it's applicability to your university choice).
(edited 11 years ago)
You only need 3 A-Levels to get into university. Yes, having 6 will give you a great chance and show how good you; but seriously Alevels are not like gcses they require a lot of work. You should only be doing a minimum of 4! Mostly everyone will have 3 and 1 as subject. Especially, with all those heavy subjects such as Chemistry.:cool:

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