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Advice: What A-Levels should I carry on with into Yr13?

I'm thinking of applying to Cambridge, Bristol, Cardiff, Birmingham or Leicester to read medicine. In Yr12 I studied Chemistry, Biology, Maths and English Lit and enjoyed all of them. I wanted to know whether it is worth carrying on with all four or if I should be dropping down to three. If I'm dropping one which should I drop? Thanks
If you did drop one, English lit. You would almost be throwing your medicine chance away if you dropped the others, if you don't mind me asking, what grades did you get? Medicine is VERY competitive to get into, especially seeing as you are looking at Cambridge. I have seen people applying to Cambridge who have over 95% in every single unit they sat.
Reply 2
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Original post by IfOnlyItWereEasy
If you did drop one, English lit. You would almost be throwing your medicine chance away if you dropped the others, if you don't mind me asking, what grades did you get? Medicine is VERY competitive to get into, especially seeing as you are looking at Cambridge. I have seen people applying to Cambridge who have over 95% in every single unit they sat.


I got 4A's, not the best UMS but an average of 90%. Oddly enough I did best in English Lit. I'm hoping that seeing as Cambridge consider the whole applicant my GCSE's, work experience, Personal Statement and attending Villiers Park will make up for it (and hopefully good BMAT).
I'm also applying to Cambridge and had a similar dilemma to you, but was told by Cambridge when I emailed them that if I carried on with a 4th I would have to get an A in the fourth A-level, personally I think it's added pressure for no real gain, doing extra work experience, especially where medicine is concerned, is a lot more valuable that the extra A-level and they'll see you're intelligent by your 3 grades. Eng Lit is the least relevant to your course so makes sense to drop that, but if you feel you can handle all 4 then go for it :smile:
Original post by DrKitten
I'm thinking of applying to Cambridge, Bristol, Cardiff, Birmingham or Leicester to read medicine. In Yr12 I studied Chemistry, Biology, Maths and English Lit and enjoyed all of them. I wanted to know whether it is worth carrying on with all four or if I should be dropping down to three. If I'm dropping one which should I drop? Thanks


Id drop english lit
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Original post by NinjaNicky
I'm also applying to Cambridge and had a similar dilemma to you, but was told by Cambridge when I emailed them that if I carried on with a 4th I would have to get an A in the fourth A-level, personally I think it's added pressure for no real gain, doing extra work experience, especially where medicine is concerned, is a lot more valuable that the extra A-level and they'll see you're intelligent by your 3 grades. Eng Lit is the least relevant to your course so makes sense to drop that, but if you feel you can handle all 4 then go for it :smile:


I see! So what A-Levels are you carrying on with? The thing is, from my AS UMS I could get an A in English with 65.5% UMS, I just don't want the extra work of a fourth subject to lower my grade in others... :/ and I really love English Lit (besides the coursework :P). Which other unis are you applying to? :smile:
Original post by DrKitten
I see! So what A-Levels are you carrying on with? The thing is, from my AS UMS I could get an A in English with 65.5% UMS, I just don't want the extra work of a fourth subject to lower my grade in others... :/ and I really love English Lit (besides the coursework :P). Which other unis are you applying to? :smile:


Well I started with Eng Lit, French, Geography and Philosophy and Ethics and dropped French just because it was my lowest UMS, I didn't really want to drop it though, I just didn't see the logic in risking sacrificing 3As/A*s for 4Bs, just as an example. If you really enjoy it and you've done that well then go for it, but what I would say is be very careful in time management, if you do January mocks then look very closely at them and it might be worth dropping then if you have to as it's not too late to save the other grades, or if you're doing well then go and smash it :smile: and Bristol, Lancaster, Warwick and UEA.
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Original post by NinjaNicky
Well I started with Eng Lit, French, Geography and Philosophy and Ethics and dropped French just because it was my lowest UMS, I didn't really want to drop it though, I just didn't see the logic in risking sacrificing 3As/A*s for 4Bs, just as an example. If you really enjoy it and you've done that well then go for it, but what I would say is be very careful in time management, if you do January mocks then look very closely at them and it might be worth dropping then if you have to as it's not too late to save the other grades, or if you're doing well then go and smash it :smile: and Bristol, Lancaster, Warwick and UEA.


I suppose realistically everything I enjoy about English Lit can be done at home! :smile: But my school have said they'll be lenient with letting me hand in coursework later as our first deadline is October half term! Plus my teacher says I'll get A* easily and miss a lesson a week to keep up with other subjects. Can you drop a subject at January, considering we enter our A-levels on UCAS? I think Bristol looks like a great uni!
Original post by DrKitten
I suppose realistically everything I enjoy about English Lit can be done at home! :smile: But my school have said they'll be lenient with letting me hand in coursework later as our first deadline is October half term! Plus my teacher says I'll get A* easily and miss a lesson a week to keep up with other subjects. Can you drop a subject at January, considering we enter our A-levels on UCAS? I think Bristol looks like a great uni!


Yeah, you can still read the books and look at the analysis and stuff online if you want too, but if you're school and being that co-operative then it might be worth it. If you've got the motivation to work hard for them all then go for it :smile: I was told you could as long as you then declared to the universities you were no longer doing whichever subject you dropped and yeah, I love the city as well, been there a lot for football.
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Original post by NinjaNicky
Yeah, you can still read the books and look at the analysis and stuff online if you want too, but if you're school and being that co-operative then it might be worth it. If you've got the motivation to work hard for them all then go for it :smile: I was told you could as long as you then declared to the universities you were no longer doing whichever subject you dropped and yeah, I love the city as well, been there a lot for football.


I'm going to ask my school about doing it until January mocks and seeing how I do, so thanks for the advice! :smile: I've been to Bristol once on an open day but am visiting for two days on Monday and Tuesday to get a better feel for it.
Original post by DrKitten
I'm going to ask my school about doing it until January mocks and seeing how I do, so thanks for the advice! :smile: I've been to Bristol once on an open day but am visiting for two days on Monday and Tuesday to get a better feel for it.


No problemo :smile: and I seriously love it haha, hope you enjoy it!
If you drop a subject after you have submitted your UCAS form, the universities have the right to recind their offers, so just be cautious.

I would also be careful of taking on the extra work load that English provides; you have to remember that it is a very large step up from AS and the exams and coursework are a lot more demanding. If you think that there is any possibility that this will impact upon your other grades then I would suggest dropping English. Ultimately, the decision is yours. Goodluck! :smile:

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