General A-Level Decision

1. Some do. It depends. If you want to do medicine then doing maths, chemistry, biology and something else is usually fairly mandatory. On the other hand if you want to do French, then just doing French and two other subjects will normally suffice. It depends how 'broad' the course is, to put it crudely.

2. Double maths and geography will get you nowhere but into a maths or geography degree. And even then, the admissions tutors will be scratching their heads. Do something that's relevant to the course you want to go on and let the rest be guided by your interests - if you genuinely would love to do maths, chemistry, biology and physics, then do it. If you've decided you don't like biology and would rather do history because you find it more interesting, do it.

Reply 2

Morgan141

1. Not at all, doing three A2s will not harm you. If you do take 4 A2s however and they are all relevant to the course and you get high grades in all of them then it may be looked upon favourably.

2. That depends really, if you know you want to follow a specific career and you know you won't change your mind then it is perhaps best to choose A-levels in that area. However, some variety is good and shows you're not a one trick pony. Also, if you don't really know where you want to go pick a selection of your favourite subjects which cover a wider range of skills, giving you lots of options in the future.

Reply 3

cvat

OP

Morgan141

2. That depends really, if you know you want to follow a specific career and you know you won't change your mind then it is perhaps best to choose A-levels in that area. However, some variety is good and shows you're not a one trick pony. Also, if you don't really know where you want to go pick a selection of your favourite subjects which cover a wider range of skills, giving you lots of options in the future.

that one trick pony statement is exactly what my head of sixth form said, but then my deputy head said 'jack of all trades, but master of none.' I think i'm going to choose double maths physics and chemistry now, as like the person before you said geography just doesn't seem to click with my other subjects. I guess i've finally decided my A-levels lol, no more posts on TSR about them, there've been a few. Thanks a lot for replying and those on other threads

Reply 4

Morgan141

cvat

that one trick pony statement is exactly what my head of sixth form said, but then my deputy head said 'jack of all trades, but master of none.' I think i'm going to choose double maths physics and chemistry now, as like the person before you said geography just doesn't seem to click with my other subjects. I guess i've finally decided my A-levels lol, no more posts on TSR about them, there've been a few. Thanks a lot for replying and those on other threads

To an extent both of them are correct. I think the key is to find some sort of balance between the two. There isn't much point in doing half arts/half sciences because no matter which area you decide to focus on they will perhaps question it when it comes to applying to uni. One subject though that completely contrasts the rest however can sometimes be seen as a good thing, but not entirely necessary.

Really though I guess what I'm saying is do what you are more confortable with. If you enjoy science and hate the arts then fine, stick with it. If you are good 'all-rounder' then it might be better to focus on one specific area (in your case science) and contrast it with one arts subject (such as history). I'm not going to lie to you though, I'm finding history AS-level incredibly difficult, mainly because it is the only arts subject I'm taking and I can't rely on skills from other subjects like arts students can. Of course you might not, but do keep it in mind that contrast makes things harder for you.

Reply 5

cvat

OP

Yeah I do understand about contrasting it with one subject and I did think about history as I got a really good mock grade, but that was more luck on the question that came up. However the fact i'm doing FM, which I know will be a bit of an uphill struggle even though maths is my best subject, so for a contrast subject I considered geography instead, but I feel that geography doesn't open any options for me or any use for me personally. Even though I feel I could get an A in it easier than chemistry as its one of the subjects I feel is decided by your effort rather than intelligence. But still good luck with your history AS and thanks for the advice

Reply 6

kellywood_5

17

1. As generalebriety said, it depends on the course. Most people who take further maths tend to take 3 other A2s alongside it because it's not always counted as a separate A-level and 4 grade offers are much more common in the sciences than the arts because there are more links between them, but generally, 3 A-levels and 1 AS is all you need and 4 A2s won't really be an advantage.

2. I don't think it really matters whether you have all similar subjects or a variety as long as you have the subjects necessary for your chosen course. For example, some medical schools prefer 3 sciences, but others prefer a contrasting subject. Just take what you enjoy and will get good grades in.

Reply 7

*Tears and Butterflies*

Just a question after reading your replies do you think my subjects are perhaps too random?

History,
Chemistry,
Geography,
Politics,
Psychology

Thanks x

Reply 8

Realist101

13

generalebriety

1. Some do. It depends. If you want to do medicine then doing maths, chemistry, biology and something else is usually fairly mandatory. On the other hand if you want to do French, then just doing French and two other subjects will normally suffice. It depends how 'broad' the course is, to put it crudely.

2. Double maths and geography will get you nowhere but into a maths or geography degree. And even then, the admissions tutors will be scratching their heads. Do something that's relevant to the course you want to go on and let the rest be guided by your interests - if you genuinely would love to do maths, chemistry, biology and physics, then do it. If you've decided you don't like biology and would rather do history because you find it more interesting, do it.

Degrees such as law, any arts, physics, maths, combined honours, economics spring to mind.

Reply 9

Realist101

Degrees such as law, any arts, physics, maths, combined honours, economics spring to mind.

I'm sorry, you're telling me you can get into law without an LNAT? A French/history/art/linguistics degree without some experience in those fields? A physics degree without physics, of all things?

Reply 10

cvat

that one trick pony statement is exactly what my head of sixth form said, but then my deputy head said 'jack of all trades, but master of none.'

Yeah, well, that shows exactly how much good proverbs ever did the world. :wink:

lollie

Just a question after reading your replies do you think my subjects are perhaps too random?

History,
Chemistry,
Geography,
Politics,
Psychology

Thanks x

Not at all. Your choices seem well balanced and mostly "arts"-based, and as kellywood_5 said, it's less important to have subjects that all link in together for arts courses. What are you thinking of studying, out of interest? (Clue: if the answer's chemistry, ignore everything I just said. :p:

)

Reply 11

Psychic

5

lollie

History,
Chemistry,
Geography,
Politics,
Psychology

Apart from the similarities in History and Politics, you're going to hell with the work load. But really it depends what you want to study at Uni. Chemistry, out of the window. So are medicine, biological sciences. Engineering/Physics, you can forget about them and maths, hell no.

Reply 12

kellywood_5

17

lollie

Just a question after reading your replies do you think my subjects are perhaps too random?

History,
Chemistry,
Geography,
Politics,
Psychology

Thanks x

The only one that looks a bit out of place is chemistry, but even that has links with psychology, or so I've heard anyway.

Reply 13

Ashtray88

Warning about Chemistry, might be a good idea before picking Chemistry to read very carefully through a chemistry A-level text book. If you think you could make sense of it go for it. But also think do you find Chemistry very interesting, if you don't, taking Chemistry mgiht become a huge regret. It's very different to GCSE.

Reply 14

*Tears and Butterflies*

generalebriety

Yeah, well, that shows exactly how much good proverbs ever did the world. :wink:

Not at all. Your choices seem well balanced and mostly "arts"-based, and as kellywood_5 said, it's less important to have subjects that all link in together for arts courses. What are you thinking of studying, out of interest? (Clue: if the answer's chemistry, ignore everything I just said. :p:

)

Well I think I will apply to do a History and Politics Degree so I should be okay, I realise that anything science based has gone out of the window but hey if I could take everything i would!! :biggrin:

I chose chemistry because I love it, find it really interesting, but I couldn't really see myself in a career science orientated anyway so I think thats okay. I just didn't want to stop learning about it at GCSE level.

Psychic

you're going to hell with the work load

I know, what was I thinking lol :eek:

Reply 15