Need Fast Help on What to Drop

personally i would do biology as you say you have a point to prove with it and therefore that bit more motivation. history does take up a lot of time too so that isn't an issue for me. good luck with whatever you decide and can i do the history course at your college (i wish i'd been able to do germany 1900-1945 but it was not to be)

Thank you. Yeah my head is telling me to go for Biology because it's better with psychology. I'd just be devastated, the only reason I worked so hard in history this year was because I kept telling myself it'll be worth it for studying Germany next year. Ah well.

Hi, I'm going into A2 soon and have a deadline on Monday for which subject to drop.

Background information:
I want to study Psychology at University and pursue a career in Psychology. The Unis I'm interested in are UCL (my 'ambitious' choice), Bristol, Kings, Newcastle and Sussex.

AS Results:
Psychology: A (191 UMS)
English combined: A (185)
Biology: B (234)
History: B (150)

English
It's unlikely I'll consider dropping this after getting a good grade. However, during the year I was adamant I would drop English as I received Cs and Ds. I'll even admit I never finished reading the two books I was studying. However until Psychology came along English was my most loved subject throughout all education.

History
This is where it gets tough- history vs biology. To get it out the way, whilst biology may be better for psychology, most of the Unis I'm applying to are fine with just psychology.

Before starting college history was a last minute option (swapped from sociology) and I originally planned on dropping it. However, as the course progressed I started to enjoy it. I then found out that the main topic in A2 was Germany 1900-1945, my favourite topic in the whole of education (studied at GCSE). So, because I thought I'd drop English, I had spent the year looking forward to being able to study Germany again in A2.

I got a solid comfortable A on the Russia paper but a C on the Ireland sourcework - I couldn't look at the Ireland topic again let alone resit it.

One thing that does worry me about A2 is that whilst I love Germany, the second bit of the course is coursework on The Changing Nature of Warfare and the Battle of Stalingrad- topics I literally have ZERO knowledge of. And I'm not too confident in the history teachers at my college- I relied on revision guides mainly last year.

And whilst I've been looking so forward to doing Germany, ever since getting my results I've subconsciously been telling myself to drop history and spare the coursework stress.

Biology
It's ******* hard. But what I like about biology is that if you have learnt all of the information, there's not as much chance as being screwed over by questions compared to a subject like history. However, I have an awful exam board with very scarce resources and the teaching isn't the best.

The main thing with Biology is that last year it probably took up as much time as the other 3 subjects COMBINED - it was that hard for me.

I've never loved Biology like I love studying Germany, but I certainly don't dislike it, and throughout education science has always guaranteed me results. With science I always have that extra motivation with a point to prove ever since I was not deemed good enough to do triple science at GCSE - I ended up with 2 As in double science and a B here at AS level.

The other thing with Biology is that, whilst most Unis are fine without it, UCL require it. Dropping Biology would mean dropping my most ambitious Uni choice which would sort of feel like thinking I'm not good enough. But I wouldn't half as much enjoy Biology as much as learning Germany all over again. Then there's the issue of the coursework in history and, as you can see, I'm going round in circles.

So there's my dilemma. Thank you in advance if you've made the effort to read it and offer advice. I know it's my decision but I cannot decide at all here.

Thanks.
(Moral of the story: I shouldn't have swapped sociology for history and I wouldn't have a decision to make )

I am also applying for psychology next year and I got:

English language A
Psychology A
Biology B ( 4 marks off an A)
Chemistry D - Dropping

I'm hoping to apply to Birmingham, Leicester, Aston and the other two I'm undecided at the moment.
I think you should keep biology as this is most relevant for psychology and an essay subject like English will make it well rounded. However, I knew people who did history last year for A2 and they said the coursework wasn't as bad as they expected and took some pressure off at the end of the year. How high was your B grades in both history and biology btw as this may effect your predicted grades?

I was 6 points off an A in Biology and 10 points off an A in History so not much difference there.

I think you should choose the subject you feel more interested in as A2 is a bigger step up. However, I think you'll probably be more likely to be predicted an A in biology which may or may not effect the university's decision. It will also prepare you better for biological psychology and complement A2 where you do schizophrenia etc so it may prove more useful in the long term particularly at university when you start doing biological psychology etc.

Thanks, yeah obviously I'd much rather be predicted AAA than AAB for the calibre of Unis I want to go to.

I think I'm trying to convince myself why it's better to stick to Biology so that perhaps tells me I should just do it.

Also congratulations on your results