GCSE results out, need to pick A-levels
I just got my GCSE results yesterday, with 3 A*'s, 6A's, 2B's and a C in physics. I need to pick my a levels by today, and I know that I would like to go into psychology or speech and language therapy at university roughly. So I would like to pick a-levels that would be suitable to them two career choices but I'm not entirely sure what would suit, because I also want to take a little bit of a range just in case my options change. At the moment, I've decided on English language (A* at GCSE), biology (B at triple science) and History (A*). I was going to pick psychology but I've decided to take 3 a levels that I can focus on, some people have said my choice is a crazy mix and a bit random, but i think some universities want a mix of arts and humanity subjects? And these subjects can be relevant to possible courses at uni, and if I change my mind they're still pretty open? Opinions? I'm not sure!!! 
Original post by Shani148
I just got my GCSE results yesterday, with 3 A*'s, 6A's, 2B's and a C in physics. I need to pick my a levels by today, and I know that I would like to go into psychology or speech and language therapy at university roughly. So I would like to pick a-levels that would be suitable to them two career choices but I'm not entirely sure what would suit, because I also want to take a little bit of a range just in case my options change. At the moment, I've decided on English language (A* at GCSE), biology (B at triple science) and History (A*). I was going to pick psychology but I've decided to take 3 a levels that I can focus on, some people have said my choice is a crazy mix and a bit random, but i think some universities want a mix of arts and humanity subjects? And these subjects can be relevant to possible courses at uni, and if I change my mind they're still pretty open? Opinions? I'm not sure!!!
Have you looked at those type of courses in universities, checked their entry requirements? Are the a levels you've chosen subjects you enjoy? And have you spoken to your teachers for advice?
Great results bravo!
Biology and chemistry, and PE because i picked that too, were recommended sciences for me to take when I said i was interested in psychology, so a range of psychology related careers were open to you. In fact i found out i preferred the sciences to psychology after a few weeks. I better say i now study maths physics and chem, switching from maths pe chem and biology (this one was very interesting though).
looking at the brain for example is a science in itself, uses areas of science from the computer (the stuff you need to do with a computer to see results and learn more about the brain is one of the most in depth research areas, for example), to thinking of new, and developing tests for the participants/patients. Chemistry and Biochemistry, and even topics from medical physics are the main topics i'd recommend to look into. The psychol syllabus covers biology topics though, taking biol may help but the important thing is that you're less likely to miss out on all biol stuff.
I will let people who took psychology and biology tell you more about them though
Don't worry about having a mix of science and art/humanities subjects.
If you have an idea about what you wanna do at uni, look at what they require. Sounds obvious but any other subjects you do can be anything then-what you enjoy/what you simply want to improve skills in.
E.g if i applied for a science degree like chemistry I'm not at any disadvantage wehether i took english/histroy/psycol/business/theater studies/PE or not. Psychlogy A level will give you plenty of skills of writing, you don't need another written subject unless you like them. Same with applying for english or history.
Not sure how much you like maths, it's quite different at AS the topics are mostly new but get to grips with algebra. I enjoyed it much more than GCSE. Sciences are definitely better than GCSE. I found physics so boring but it's now probably my favourite. The maths you use in chem and physics are formulas like before, algebra can help though, e.g. in chemistry working out the equations/formulas, i found algebra better than ratios (ew). That's a little vague but it's nothing you don't already know when you approach it it'll seem the obvious thing to do. Don't worry about it. it depends how you like to approach the problems really. There's also trig (SOH CAH TOA in physics, and forces-resultant and equilibrium. nothing new). About a third of people who did Physics and chemistry didn't even do maths, so there were more who did biol and not maths with it., in my year. your lecturer teaches you all you need for the syllabus obviously.
Finally, your choice isn't crazy, I'm not an expert but i commented on this because you mentioned you'd like a range, which is what i learned too late and thought i'd offer some advice from my experience aha. I changed my honest preferences from biology related subjects to more physical sciences because i gave them a chance from wanting a range. Well done for deciding to do this aha.
I don't really know what subjects you like more, any q.s about any of them/AS i'd be more than happy to help.
Sorry if this hasn't helped you AT ALL though, i guess i 've bumped the thread anyways
Good luck and enjoy whatever you do! Whatever they are, work hard at them from the beginning and you'll be surprised the lack of relationship between what you liked/were good at before and after studying AS. Which means you have great chance at improving in something you thought you weren't able to do, and have more options than you thought even if you preferences and ability are in the same sort of subjects as before. That's really good.
Apologies this wasn't meant to be an essay.
Biology and chemistry, and PE because i picked that too, were recommended sciences for me to take when I said i was interested in psychology, so a range of psychology related careers were open to you. In fact i found out i preferred the sciences to psychology after a few weeks. I better say i now study maths physics and chem, switching from maths pe chem and biology (this one was very interesting though).
looking at the brain for example is a science in itself, uses areas of science from the computer (the stuff you need to do with a computer to see results and learn more about the brain is one of the most in depth research areas, for example), to thinking of new, and developing tests for the participants/patients. Chemistry and Biochemistry, and even topics from medical physics are the main topics i'd recommend to look into. The psychol syllabus covers biology topics though, taking biol may help but the important thing is that you're less likely to miss out on all biol stuff.
I will let people who took psychology and biology tell you more about them though
Don't worry about having a mix of science and art/humanities subjects.
If you have an idea about what you wanna do at uni, look at what they require. Sounds obvious but any other subjects you do can be anything then-what you enjoy/what you simply want to improve skills in.
E.g if i applied for a science degree like chemistry I'm not at any disadvantage wehether i took english/histroy/psycol/business/theater studies/PE or not. Psychlogy A level will give you plenty of skills of writing, you don't need another written subject unless you like them. Same with applying for english or history.
Not sure how much you like maths, it's quite different at AS the topics are mostly new but get to grips with algebra. I enjoyed it much more than GCSE. Sciences are definitely better than GCSE. I found physics so boring but it's now probably my favourite. The maths you use in chem and physics are formulas like before, algebra can help though, e.g. in chemistry working out the equations/formulas, i found algebra better than ratios (ew). That's a little vague but it's nothing you don't already know when you approach it it'll seem the obvious thing to do. Don't worry about it. it depends how you like to approach the problems really. There's also trig (SOH CAH TOA in physics, and forces-resultant and equilibrium. nothing new). About a third of people who did Physics and chemistry didn't even do maths, so there were more who did biol and not maths with it., in my year. your lecturer teaches you all you need for the syllabus obviously.
Finally, your choice isn't crazy, I'm not an expert but i commented on this because you mentioned you'd like a range, which is what i learned too late and thought i'd offer some advice from my experience aha. I changed my honest preferences from biology related subjects to more physical sciences because i gave them a chance from wanting a range. Well done for deciding to do this aha.
I don't really know what subjects you like more, any q.s about any of them/AS i'd be more than happy to help.
Sorry if this hasn't helped you AT ALL though, i guess i 've bumped the thread anyways
Good luck and enjoy whatever you do! Whatever they are, work hard at them from the beginning and you'll be surprised the lack of relationship between what you liked/were good at before and after studying AS. Which means you have great chance at improving in something you thought you weren't able to do, and have more options than you thought even if you preferences and ability are in the same sort of subjects as before. That's really good.
Apologies this wasn't meant to be an essay.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Nat_LPS
Great results bravo!
Biology and chemistry, and PE because i picked that too, were recommended sciences for me to take when I said i was interested in psychology, so a range of psychology related careers were open to you. In fact i found out i preferred the sciences to psychology after a few weeks. I better say i now study maths physics and chem, switching from maths pe chem and biology (this one was very interesting though).
looking at the brain for example is a science in itself, uses areas of science from the computer (the stuff you need to do with a computer to see results and learn more about the brain is one of the most in depth research areas, for example), to thinking of new, and developing tests for the participants/patients. Chemistry and Biochemistry, and even topics from medical physics are the main topics i'd recommend to look into. The psychol syllabus covers biology topics though, taking biol may help but the important thing is that you're less likely to miss out on all biol stuff.
I will let people who took psychology and biology tell you more about them though
Don't worry about having a mix of science and art/humanities subjects.
If you have an idea about what you wanna do at uni, look at what they require. Sounds obvious but any other subjects you do can be anything then-what you enjoy/what you simply want to improve skills in.
E.g if i applied for a science degree like chemistry I'm not at any disadvantage wehether i took english/histroy/psycol/business/theater studies/PE or not. Psychlogy A level will give you plenty of skills of writing, you don't need another written subject unless you like them. Same with applying for english or history.
Not sure how much you like maths, it's quite different at AS the topics are mostly new but get to grips with algebra. I enjoyed it much more than GCSE. Sciences are definitely better than GCSE. I found physics so boring but it's now probably my favourite. The maths you use in chem and physics are formulas like before, algebra can help though, it depends how you like to approach the problems really.
Finally, your choice isn't crazy, I'm not an expert but i commented on this because you mentioned you'd like a range, which is what i learned too late and thought i'd offer some advice from my experience aha. I changed my honest preferences from biology related subjects to more physical sciences because i gave them a chance from wanting a range. Well done for deciding to do this aha.
I don't really know what subjects you like more, any q.s about any of them/AS i'd be more than happy to help.
Sorry if this hasn't helped you AT ALL though, i guess i 've bumped the thread anyways
Good luck and enjoy whatever you do! Whatever they are, work hard at them from the beginning and you'll be surprised the lack of relationship between what you liked/were good at before and after studying AS. Which means you have great chance at improving in something you thought you weren't able to do, and have more options than you thought evern if you preferences and ability are in the same sort of subjects as before. That's really good.
Apologies this wasn't meant to be an essay.
Biology and chemistry, and PE because i picked that too, were recommended sciences for me to take when I said i was interested in psychology, so a range of psychology related careers were open to you. In fact i found out i preferred the sciences to psychology after a few weeks. I better say i now study maths physics and chem, switching from maths pe chem and biology (this one was very interesting though).
looking at the brain for example is a science in itself, uses areas of science from the computer (the stuff you need to do with a computer to see results and learn more about the brain is one of the most in depth research areas, for example), to thinking of new, and developing tests for the participants/patients. Chemistry and Biochemistry, and even topics from medical physics are the main topics i'd recommend to look into. The psychol syllabus covers biology topics though, taking biol may help but the important thing is that you're less likely to miss out on all biol stuff.
I will let people who took psychology and biology tell you more about them though
Don't worry about having a mix of science and art/humanities subjects.
If you have an idea about what you wanna do at uni, look at what they require. Sounds obvious but any other subjects you do can be anything then-what you enjoy/what you simply want to improve skills in.
E.g if i applied for a science degree like chemistry I'm not at any disadvantage wehether i took english/histroy/psycol/business/theater studies/PE or not. Psychlogy A level will give you plenty of skills of writing, you don't need another written subject unless you like them. Same with applying for english or history.
Not sure how much you like maths, it's quite different at AS the topics are mostly new but get to grips with algebra. I enjoyed it much more than GCSE. Sciences are definitely better than GCSE. I found physics so boring but it's now probably my favourite. The maths you use in chem and physics are formulas like before, algebra can help though, it depends how you like to approach the problems really.
Finally, your choice isn't crazy, I'm not an expert but i commented on this because you mentioned you'd like a range, which is what i learned too late and thought i'd offer some advice from my experience aha. I changed my honest preferences from biology related subjects to more physical sciences because i gave them a chance from wanting a range. Well done for deciding to do this aha.
I don't really know what subjects you like more, any q.s about any of them/AS i'd be more than happy to help.
Sorry if this hasn't helped you AT ALL though, i guess i 've bumped the thread anyways
Good luck and enjoy whatever you do! Whatever they are, work hard at them from the beginning and you'll be surprised the lack of relationship between what you liked/were good at before and after studying AS. Which means you have great chance at improving in something you thought you weren't able to do, and have more options than you thought evern if you preferences and ability are in the same sort of subjects as before. That's really good.
Apologies this wasn't meant to be an essay.
Thankyou guys! And thankyou, that really helped, it's encouraging to know that it's not a bad thing to take a range of subjects. I've looked at a lot of uni's for both psychology and speech and language, the majority of them prefer you to have a science which includes biology and psychology, so I chose biology because it's more flexible if I want to change careers! And English language I enjoy and it goes well with biology. History I really enjoy and is quite an arts and humanity subject which would be something different alongside the science subject! Tbh most of them are looking for good grades only!
Original post by Shani148
Thankyou guys! And thankyou, that really helped, it's encouraging to know that it's not a bad thing to take a range of subjects. I've looked at a lot of uni's for both psychology and speech and language, the majority of them prefer you to have a science which includes biology and psychology, so I chose biology because it's more flexible if I want to change careers! And English language I enjoy and it goes well with biology. History I really enjoy and is quite an arts and humanity subject which would be something different alongside the science subject! Tbh most of them are looking for good grades only!
Yeah good, my twin did history there's not too much difference, those q.s about analysing sources more in depth (q.s c and d and the essay ones in the exam) are more popular, every q is a little more in depth. The content though is the same for the two years, (she does nazis and tutdors only). if you get sick of nazis after another year at AS, you still have english which is much more varied
The biol lecturers did tell me, that to get through first year, at least the first half of it, be prepared to revisit some chemistry as you do biochemistry, and generally biology uses the other sciences the further you study it. Bonding in chemistry comes up a and you focus a lot of molecules and reactions. You don't need to take all sciences with it as a level, you obviously learn about what you need in biol, even improve your understanding if u didn't before, but if you absolutely detested bonding in chemistry, for example that's the only time i'd say to rethink
I got GCSE results yesterday
Additional Science: A
Core Science: A
Economics: A
French: A
History: A
English lang: A
English lit: A
Maths: A
ICT : B
Art: A*
Im doing the following subjects for Alevel
Maths
History
Economics
English Lit
For the all the subejects that i want to do at alevel, i have only gotten an A at GCSE. I want to ask i that will affect the way i would perform at AS level or are those subjects too streneous considering how i did at GCSE. Also, Ive been thinking that i want to study a History course at uni or maybe a History related course. If i dont want to do a history related course what other courses could i do with those subjects?
Im not 100% sure yet
Opnions pls?
Thank you
Additional Science: A
Core Science: A
Economics: A
French: A
History: A
English lang: A
English lit: A
Maths: A
ICT : B
Art: A*
Im doing the following subjects for Alevel
Maths
History
Economics
English Lit
For the all the subejects that i want to do at alevel, i have only gotten an A at GCSE. I want to ask i that will affect the way i would perform at AS level or are those subjects too streneous considering how i did at GCSE. Also, Ive been thinking that i want to study a History course at uni or maybe a History related course. If i dont want to do a history related course what other courses could i do with those subjects?
Im not 100% sure yet
Opnions pls?Thank you
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