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Thinking of doing 5 A levels...should I?

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Original post by Dominicoben
Dont get me started lol :wink:

that was my original idea


Having done the IB I would always recommend A-levels instead unless you really, really want to do more than 4 subjects.
Have you been over on the IB forums hearing of how horrific the IB is and been put off then?
Reply 21
My friend did 5 a levels (maths,physics,chem,bio,geology), and he did really well getting 3A*, 2As. however, he doesn't have much of a social life but it is possible if you work hard. Also, what people have already posted, almost all universities prefer students concentrating on a narrow range of subjects rather than having to stretch a bit in doing a few more, which is why they usually have a 3 a level requirements for most courses. Since your more likely to get better grades with 3 a levels rather than doing an extra 2, just ending up doing 3 will give you a better chance because some universities state that doing extra a levels gives no advantage for applicants against ones that just do 3 a levels but with higher grades.

I's say just drop one of the languages because the other a levels are quite academically intensive subjects, and one language is enough. We all have to make sacrifices...
If you are academically gifted and is willing to work 2-3 hours of independent study a day then yea, why not
Reply 22
Original post by Dominicoben
I'm confident in the languages (did 4 for gcse) and the 2 I'm doing next year I did a year early, so all of year 11 was spent working on the AS syllabus.


That is amazing. I'm just seriously wondering where you study. Or are you just incredibly bright? If you can do that, (even though A Levels is a big jump, you can handle 5 A Levels for sure.
Reply 23
Original post by fairisle13
Having done the IB I would always recommend A-levels instead unless you really, really want to do more than 4 subjects.
Have you been over on the IB forums hearing of how horrific the IB is and been put off then?


I always thought the IB was on Arts. I was clearly misinformed...it sounds terrible. I couldn't do all that!
Original post by Kousar
I always thought the IB was on Arts. I was clearly misinformed...it sounds terrible. I couldn't do all that!


Do you mean you thought it was an arts course?
They like you to do ONE art subject, but it's actually not compulsory, you can swap it for another group subject (like another language, science etc.)
Thanks for the replies so far. I'd like to think that I'm organised, so it's really more a case of if I'm confident enough in those subjects.
Reply 26
Original post by fairisle13
Do you mean you thought it was an arts course?
They like you to do ONE art subject, but it's actually not compulsory, you can swap it for another group subject (like another language, science etc.)
I just didn't know much about it. And had vague ideas! So I looked it up today :smile:
Reply 27
I would recommend against taking 5 you'll find especially towards exams with there only being June exams in 2014 you will have one hell of a lot of work trying to keep up with all 5 subjects. If you feel you can handle it go for it, but be prepared to have very little free time.
I did 6 AS and 4 A2's ( Maths Further Maths Physics Accounts A2) (History and general studies AS). It is difficult and you need to be able to manage your time well but I am predicted AAAA and managed to have a full weekend job so I could only do revision/homework on weekdays.
Original post by fairisle13
Having done the IB I would always recommend A-levels instead unless you really, really want to do more than 4 subjects.
Have you been over on the IB forums hearing of how horrific the IB is and been put off then?


Yeah. I was originally thinking of doing IB (my school REALLY pushed it) but I switched to A levels a few weeks ago. The only thing is that out of the 5 subjects I've chosen for next year, I don't really want to drop any of them!
Original post by Dominicoben
Yeah. I was originally thinking of doing IB (my school REALLY pushed it) but I switched to A levels a few weeks ago. The only thing is that out of the 5 subjects I've chosen for next year, I don't really want to drop any of them!


If you are passionate about all of them, why not? I did take 5 A Levels and got good grades. Though it is a lot of hard work.
It's absolutely possible to do five A-levels, I've done four and half and it really wasn't that difficult. However, one thing I should mention is that although it wasn't that hard for most of the year, the two or three months before exams are a nightmare because there's so many papers you need to practice for.

Best of luck in your endeavors.
Hi!
I am now at the end of year 12 and I studies five subjects for AS:-
-maths
-geography
-welsh
-environmental studies
-french
I didn't find the workload difficult to cope with, you just have to be organised and keep on top of things! The only thing that made it difficult for me was that I had more than one occasion with two exams on the same day. :frown:


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Original post by Dominicoben
Yeah. I was originally thinking of doing IB (my school REALLY pushed it) but I switched to A levels a few weeks ago. The only thing is that out of the 5 subjects I've chosen for next year, I don't really want to drop any of them!


Yeah I get that, I wish I had done A-levels instead but then I would've only taken 3/4. You would only need to add English to do IB, but obviously you would also be doing a 7th (TOK) plus EE and CAS, so understandably if you didn't want this extra work A-levels are the better option.
You might find once you start AS you will actually want to drop one or two because they will differ from GCSE quite a lot.
Reply 34
You can but it will have virtually no benefit when applying for uni. You will be giving yourself more work and that is about it
Original post by Dominicoben
I'm confident in the languages (did 4 for gcse) and the 2 I'm doing next year I did a year early, so all of year 11 was spent working on the AS syllabus.


I wish you good luck then!

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