please alevel choices
I am having to choose my a levels soon and as I am an extremely indecisive person I require help. It would be appreciated if anyone who is taking their a levels or has finished their a levels tell me of their experience, their subjects and its pros and cons as well as its enjoy-ability level? I must point out that maths and physics are not being considered and I have narrowed my possibilities to ... theatre studies, history, English literature, biology and maybe chemistry although I don't find it particularly interesting but I love human biology and was told it is in my best interest to keep it on encase I decide to apply for a science related degree when I go to university. Thank you for reading and any replies are much appreciated 
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anybody please 
English lit is ok and at times very enjoyable. There's a lot of reading needed. you can't take in your texts to the exam hall and hence you have to memorise quotations, critical quotes and theories. History is highly regarded by Universities. It is difficult but if you can adapt to the writing and thinking/analysing skills and quick essay writing style, then you should be ok. Media (I know you didn't mention it) is very enjoyable but definitely not as easy as people think. 
But if you try and enjoy them, then its enjoyable, maybe even fun.
But if you try and enjoy them, then its enjoyable, maybe even fun.thank you, and actually my school does offer media studies which I might consider due to the teacher being one of the best English teachers I have ever had. I was wondering for English literature is outside reading a must ??? and for history I have did first exam and got an A* it is definitely my favourite subject however the exam preparation was tedious and at times extremely frustrating lol
Original post by cookiecrumblexx
thank you, and actually my school does offer media studies which I might consider due to the teacher being one of the best English teachers I have ever had. I was wondering for English literature is outside reading a must ??? and for history I have did first exam and got an A* it is definitely my favourite subject however the exam preparation was tedious and at times extremely frustrating lol
Outside reading isn't a must but depending on the teacher, they might ask you to read more at home than in class. Exam prep is definitely frustrating because you don't know what's in the exams and majority of the time you have never seen the sources before. But again its skills based. One of my mates lacked in class but came out with an A. Media is hard, well im making a short film in A2 and it is HARD and STRESSFUL but enjoyable. I loved AS as we did a magazine cover, and article, even if our whole classes grades got pulled down.
Hi there
I did biology and chemistry and really enjoyed both of them (especially chemistry but that's more personal preference). With biology there's a lot of plant biology and conservation stuff that's a bit dull that you have to put up with. I think if you're not certain about chemistry then it's probably best to avoid it, as a lot of people feel it's a big step up, but the experiments are great and it is really interesting.
My friends did theatre studies (and I was almost an honorary member) and they all loved it, a lot of people do fall down on the supporting notes and written side of things, which is something to bear in mind, but if you're considering eng lit then you'll probably be fine. At a2 you have to write an original piece. It requires a lot of team work.
English literature and history both appeared to be quite difficult (also not from my experience though...) but everyone I know who did literature loved it, so as long as you like reading and poetry and you're comfortable writing essays that sounds like a good choice.
Maybe you should look at the as syllabus for the exam boards you'd be doing and just see which ones sound most interesting?
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I did biology and chemistry and really enjoyed both of them (especially chemistry but that's more personal preference). With biology there's a lot of plant biology and conservation stuff that's a bit dull that you have to put up with. I think if you're not certain about chemistry then it's probably best to avoid it, as a lot of people feel it's a big step up, but the experiments are great and it is really interesting.
My friends did theatre studies (and I was almost an honorary member) and they all loved it, a lot of people do fall down on the supporting notes and written side of things, which is something to bear in mind, but if you're considering eng lit then you'll probably be fine. At a2 you have to write an original piece. It requires a lot of team work.
English literature and history both appeared to be quite difficult (also not from my experience though...) but everyone I know who did literature loved it, so as long as you like reading and poetry and you're comfortable writing essays that sounds like a good choice.
Maybe you should look at the as syllabus for the exam boards you'd be doing and just see which ones sound most interesting?
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Original post by atkbm
Outside reading isn't a must but depending on the teacher, they might ask you to read more at home than in class. Exam prep is definitely frustrating because you don't know what's in the exams and majority of the time you have never seen the sources before. But again its skills based. One of my mates lacked in class but came out with an A. Media is hard, well im making a short film in A2 and it is HARD and STRESSFUL but enjoyable. I loved AS as we did a magazine cover, and article, even if our whole classes grades got pulled down.
Original post by Yolo_kevin
Hi there
I did biology and chemistry and really enjoyed both of them (especially chemistry but that's more personal preference). With biology there's a lot of plant biology and conservation stuff that's a bit dull that you have to put up with. I think if you're not certain about chemistry then it's probably best to avoid it, as a lot of people feel it's a big step up, but the experiments are great and it is really interesting.
My friends did theatre studies (and I was almost an honorary member) and they all loved it, a lot of people do fall down on the supporting notes and written side of things, which is something to bear in mind, but if you're considering eng lit then you'll probably be fine. At a2 you have to write an original piece. It requires a lot of team work.
English literature and history both appeared to be quite difficult (also not from my experience though...) but everyone I know who did literature loved it, so as long as you like reading and poetry and you're comfortable writing essays that sounds like a good choice.
Maybe you should look at the as syllabus for the exam boards you'd be doing and just see which ones sound most interesting?
Posted from TSR Mobile
I did biology and chemistry and really enjoyed both of them (especially chemistry but that's more personal preference). With biology there's a lot of plant biology and conservation stuff that's a bit dull that you have to put up with. I think if you're not certain about chemistry then it's probably best to avoid it, as a lot of people feel it's a big step up, but the experiments are great and it is really interesting.
My friends did theatre studies (and I was almost an honorary member) and they all loved it, a lot of people do fall down on the supporting notes and written side of things, which is something to bear in mind, but if you're considering eng lit then you'll probably be fine. At a2 you have to write an original piece. It requires a lot of team work.
English literature and history both appeared to be quite difficult (also not from my experience though...) but everyone I know who did literature loved it, so as long as you like reading and poetry and you're comfortable writing essays that sounds like a good choice.
Maybe you should look at the as syllabus for the exam boards you'd be doing and just see which ones sound most interesting?
Posted from TSR Mobile
i love human biology but plant biology is sickening i don't know if i like chemistry as i have an awful teacher for gcse and i don't particularly like maths and was wondering how difficult and how much maths is involved in chemistry alevel??(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by smd4std
do biology and chemistry and you can do a crap load of science degrees at uni
Original post by cookiecrumblexx
that is what i was thinking but i am wondering would it be worth it ??? as i don't know if i will even go done the sicence route
science will always land you with a job
do history and you'll probably end up being manager at a department store or if you do english lit you're likely to be making coffee at starbucks.
science is safer
Original post by smd4std
science will always land you with a job
do history and you'll probably end up being manager at a department store or if you do english lit you're likely to be making coffee at starbucks.
science is safer
do history and you'll probably end up being manager at a department store or if you do english lit you're likely to be making coffee at starbucks.
science is safer
emm i not sure if i agree .. it is extremely important to me that i find a job which matches my personality and that i will enjoy and im not sure if chemistry does at all ??? have you did chemistry alevel ??
Original post by cookiecrumblexx
thank you for your response i love human biology but plant biology is sickening i don't know if i like chemistry as i have an awful teacher for gcse and i don't particularly like maths and was wondering how difficult and how much maths is involved in chemistry alevel??
i love human biology but plant biology is sickening i don't know if i like chemistry as i have an awful teacher for gcse and i don't particularly like maths and was wondering how difficult and how much maths is involved in chemistry alevel??The maths is mostly ok, there's more at a2 than as. Generally if you can rearrange formulas and remember several steps in a method then you'll be fine. My friend hated maths and coped with the calculations
Ergh I know, my teacher found plant hormones absolutely riveting and I just can't understand it!
It's best to just try and choose what you like and what you're best at, I found it really hard to decide as well, I wanted to do like 10 a levels! But if you chose 2 arts and 2 sciences then you'd be definitely have a lot of options.
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Original post by Yolo_kevin
The maths is mostly ok, there's more at a2 than as. Generally if you can rearrange formulas and remember several steps in a method then you'll be fine. My friend hated maths and coped with the calculations
Ergh I know, my teacher found plant hormones absolutely riveting and I just can't understand it!
It's best to just try and choose what you like and what you're best at, I found it really hard to decide as well, I wanted to do like 10 a levels! But if you chose 2 arts and 2 sciences then you'd be definitely have a lot of options.
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Ergh I know, my teacher found plant hormones absolutely riveting and I just can't understand it!
It's best to just try and choose what you like and what you're best at, I found it really hard to decide as well, I wanted to do like 10 a levels! But if you chose 2 arts and 2 sciences then you'd be definitely have a lot of options.
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thank you
out of interest what do you find so interesting about chemistry ?? i really just think it might be my teacher putting me off this subject??(edited 10 years ago)
Quite possible, what topic are you doing? I can't remember being particularly excited about limestone
Well I guess we learn a lot more about electron structure and how this can affect the shapes of molecules and their properties. And in organic chemistry you learn mechanisms, which is basically the way that certain molecules e.g. Water attack the different bonds in other molecules in reactions and then you can use this to predict other reactions. Also we learn about different analysis methods e.g some identify when a particular bond is present, some identify position of certain atoms in relation to others and then you use the information to try and work out what the molecule looks like (a bit like a puzzle). I really liked transition metals too, because basically the way that they're electrons are arranged means they form coloured compounds (that are really pretty), so you study lots of reaction pathways and they also have really interesting uses such as in cancer drugs. And I really enjoyed practicals like making soap, whereas in biology we didn't do much practical work except like counting the number of clovers in an area of a field (kill me now). Sorry to have just spewed a load of random chemistry at you
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Well I guess we learn a lot more about electron structure and how this can affect the shapes of molecules and their properties. And in organic chemistry you learn mechanisms, which is basically the way that certain molecules e.g. Water attack the different bonds in other molecules in reactions and then you can use this to predict other reactions. Also we learn about different analysis methods e.g some identify when a particular bond is present, some identify position of certain atoms in relation to others and then you use the information to try and work out what the molecule looks like (a bit like a puzzle). I really liked transition metals too, because basically the way that they're electrons are arranged means they form coloured compounds (that are really pretty), so you study lots of reaction pathways and they also have really interesting uses such as in cancer drugs. And I really enjoyed practicals like making soap, whereas in biology we didn't do much practical work except like counting the number of clovers in an area of a field (kill me now). Sorry to have just spewed a load of random chemistry at you
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Choose what you will like the most, unless you're after a degree such as Medicine which requires certain A Levels. And never pick an A Level purely because of the teacher; how do you know that they won't leave?
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English Lit is amazing, by the way. Hard, but amazing.
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Original post by Yolo_kevin
Well I guess we learn a lot more about electron structure and how this can affect the shapes of molecules and their properties. And in organic chemistry you learn mechanisms, which is basically the way that certain molecules e.g. Water attack the different bonds in other molecules in reactions and then you can use this to predict other reactions. Also we learn about different analysis methods e.g some identify when a particular bond is present, some identify position of certain atoms in relation to others and then you use the information to try and work out what the molecule looks like (a bit like a puzzle). I really liked transition metals too, because basically the way that they're electrons are arranged means they form coloured compounds (that are really pretty), so you study lots of reaction pathways and they also have really interesting uses such as in cancer drugs. And I really enjoyed practicals like making soap, whereas in biology we didn't do much practical work except like counting the number of clovers in an area of a field (kill me now). Sorry to have just spewed a load of random chemistry at you
you make it sound so good !!!!!! sounds so interesting now and im at gcse level so atm we are doing rates of reactions and moles which is ridiculously boring!!Original post by ChloeBelle
thanks you ...... I honestly don't know what I want to do lol you are definitely right about not picking the subject because of the teacher but she just makes me hate the subject even though when a friend goes over it and explains its okay
Haha thanks, I do love it ...ahh right I see what you mean but you have to cover the basics like moles which are a bit boring to be able to do the cooler stuff later on. Even rates get a bit more interesting actually, because if you have more than one step in a reaction then the slowest step is the one that determines the rate, so you can work back from an equation to work out which step this is and vice versa
It was also useful with some parts of biology like biological molecules and DNA and the respiration (which you learn at a molecular level).
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...ahh right I see what you mean but you have to cover the basics like moles which are a bit boring to be able to do the cooler stuff later on. Even rates get a bit more interesting actually, because if you have more than one step in a reaction then the slowest step is the one that determines the rate, so you can work back from an equation to work out which step this is and vice versa It was also useful with some parts of biology like biological molecules and DNA and the respiration (which you learn at a molecular level).
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