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Should I study maths for A level?

Hey there,

I'm on the last year of GCSEs and I've been thinking about the a levels I should do. I want to study medicine. From year 10 to year 11 I've been liking english literature even more but now I'm beginning to dislike maths.

I know for sure I will choose chemistry and biology.
The reason why I am beginning to dislike maths is that in classes I'm fed of the teacher saying I'm wrong when I attempt answering a question, sometimes it's just silly little mistakes. Sure there are times when I get the question correct. But nowadays I'm beginning to lose my mojo in maths.

In exams I'm perfectly fine, and as soon as the teacher explains how to do the question then I understand straight away and can answer another question which is similar. I'm merging into the As now but in year 10 I was like a B to an A...so let's say a B+/A-

I really want to get an A* for maths GCSE and I feel like I should now know how to do maths well after 5 years of studying it. I have heard as well that maths gcse is way too easy compared to maths a level O.o

I really just want to get at least a grade B for maths AS, and now the systems are changing, the subject will be even harder? Do you think I should do it for A level?

If I don't study maths then I'd be doing Chemistry, Biology, English Literature and Spanish (and I have a french AS already, so it's nice to have 2 languages I guess)

Please reply to me in the best way you can. My big brother hated maths and he failed miserably at maths AS. I have a stronger ability than him so it's a different story but I'm scared I will fall into the same trap as him.

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Oh yes and forgot to say, if I didn't choose Spanish for a level I'm allowed to do AS this year and continue A2 by self teaching myself.
Original post by geniequeen48
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It seems like you aren't too keen on maths.
Maths A-level is slightly harder than GCSE, but the difference is really noticeable when you start doing C3 and C4.
Seeing that you want to do medicine, it would be better that you picked a subject that you were more confident about. As you need a minimum of 3 As at A-level.
Thanks, anyone else?
Would I regret it in the future if I didn't choose it? I'm aspiring to be a surgeon.
Original post by geniequeen48
Thanks, anyone else?
Would I regret it in the future if I didn't choose it? I'm aspiring to be a surgeon.


I actually did find maths A-level very enjoyable. But you will have to put a lot of hard work in to get a good grade.
I had an A at maths GCSE. But got A* at maths A level. So you could do the same!
Btw, I'm off to medical school next year, so if you any questions about medicine feel free to message me :smile:
Original post by Rickstahhh
I actually did find maths A-level very enjoyable. But you will have to put a lot of hard work in to get a good grade.
I had an A at maths GCSE. But got A* at maths A level. So you could do the same!
Btw, I'm off to medical school next year, so if you any questions about medicine feel free to message me :smile:


Wow perfect! And well done! What A levels did you do? What work experience have you done? Is it a problem that I haven't done any extra curricular? I've participated in Cross Country competitions for around 4 years, only have a second place medal lol. I have done Duke of Edinburgh Bronze but that's it. Is it okay if I do extra curricular at A level instead? Does it really matter? What uni are you going to? Sorry for all the questions.
Original post by geniequeen48
Wow perfect! And well done! What A levels did you do? What work experience have you done? Is it a problem that I haven't done any extra curricular? I've participated in Cross Country competitions for around 4 years, only have a second place medal lol. I have done Duke of Edinburgh Bronze but that's it. Is it okay if I do extra curricular at A level instead? Does it really matter? What uni are you going to? Sorry for all the questions.


Thank you! :smile:

I did Maths, Biology, Chemistry and EPQ at A2. Got 4 A*s. Plus an A at Physics AS.
Work experience/voluntary work:
- 1 week in operating theatres
- 3 months volunteering on hospital wards
- 1 week volunteering at care home
- 5 years at a charity shop
- 1 year as a maths tutor

Extra-curricula:
- Bronze, Silver and Gold DofE
- Part of football team
- Played competitive badminton

It is not so much about quantity but quality. Having DofE is good, as you can reflect on teamwork, leadership etc at interviews. You should try and do a bit more if you can during A levels, but it doesn't matter too much. Make sure you have a decent amount of work experience though.

I'm off to Barts in 2016 (deferred entry) :biggrin:
Original post by Rickstahhh
Thank you! :smile:

I did Maths, Biology, Chemistry and EPQ at A2. Got 4 A*s. Plus an A at Physics AS.
Work experience/voluntary work:
- 1 week in operating theatres
- 3 months volunteering on hospital wards
- 1 week volunteering at care home
- 5 years at a charity shop
- 1 year as a maths tutor

Extra-curricula:
- Bronze, Silver and Gold DofE
- Part of football team
- Played competitive badminton

It is not so much about quantity but quality. Having DofE is good, as you can reflect on teamwork, leadership etc at interviews. You should try and do a bit more if you can during A levels, but it doesn't matter too much. Make sure you have a decent amount of work experience though.

I'm off to Barts in 2016 (deferred entry) :biggrin:


How incredible haha. I will. Is it okay if I just stop at the bronze award? I have gained skills from it and learnt some stuff.
Also do you know MedLink? I heard it's a course of work experience for those who want to study medicine?
I'm planning to do work experience at a pharmacy now, how long do you think I should do it? (assuming they accepted my CV etc.) Was cross country worthless also?

Barts is really good. No offense if you don't mind me asking, wouldn't you have gone to a more prestige/higher ranked university with your stats?
Original post by geniequeen48
How incredible haha. I will. Is it okay if I just stop at the bronze award? I have gained skills from it and learnt some stuff.
Also do you know MedLink? I heard it's a course of work experience for those who want to study medicine?
I'm planning to do work experience at a pharmacy now, how long do you think I should do it? (assuming they accepted my CV etc.) Was cross country worthless also?

Barts is really good. No offense if you don't mind me asking, wouldn't you have gone to a more prestige/higher ranked university with your stats?


Stopping at Bronze should be fine, but having Silver/Gold might make you look better. I haven't heard of MedLink, all my work experience was organised by either myself or through my college.
Work experience at a pharmacy will probably not aid your application really. You want to preferably get experience on hospital wards or GP surgeries.
Cross Country is good as you can mention it as an extra-curricula.

Barts is a prestigious med school (oldest one in the UK). Plus it was ranked 4th for medicine at the time of my application. So it is quite high ranked.
But for medicine it doesn't really matter where you go. As you will learn the same thing at every medical school, it's just that they all teach in slightly different ways. So for example, at oxbridge you are expected to write several essays, this is something I wasn't too keen on. And on your post medical school application, the employer will not know where you graduated from, so it is a level playing field.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Rickstahhh
Stopping at Bronze should be fine, but having Silver/Gold might make you look better. I haven't heard of MedLink, all my work experience was organised by either myself or through my college.
Work experience at a pharmacy will probably not aid your application really. You want to preferably get experience on hospital wards or GP surgeries.
Cross Country is good as you can mention it as an extra-curricula.

Barts is a prestigious med school (oldest one in the UK). Plus it was ranked 4th for medicine at the time of my application. So it is quite high ranked.
But for medicine it doesn't really matter where you go. As you will learn the same thing at every medical school, it's just that they all teach in slightly different ways. So for example, at oxbridge you are expected to write several essays, this is something I wasn't too keen on. And on your post medical school application, the employer will not know where you graduated from, so it is a level playing field.


Ohh I didn't know that, and okay. Thanks a lot!
Original post by geniequeen48
Ohh I didn't know that, and okay. Thanks a lot!


No worries :smile:
How are you finding year 11 anyway??
Original post by Rickstahhh
No worries :smile:
How are you finding year 11 anyway??


It's going well so far, thanks for asking, although I'm hating geography haha. Oh yes on my other thread I asked about St John's Ambulance, do you know about it? Would it be something people do over the holidays?
Original post by geniequeen48
It's going well so far, thanks for asking, although I'm hating geography haha. Oh yes on my other thread I asked about St John's Ambulance, do you know about it? Would it be something people do over the holidays?


I loved geography at GCSE, well only the physical geography, the human geography was utter crap. :tongue:
Yeah, I knew quite a lot of people that did St John's Ambulance. From what I remember, they used to go to meetings every week and then go out to events and stuff at weekends. So yeah you could potentially do it over the summer holiday between GCSEs and A levels.
Original post by Rickstahhh
I loved geography at GCSE, well only the physical geography, the human geography was utter crap. :tongue:
Yeah, I knew quite a lot of people that did St John's Ambulance. From what I remember, they used to go to meetings every week and then go out to events and stuff at weekends. So yeah you could potentially do it over the summer holiday between GCSEs and A levels.


Ah okay great :biggrin:
Haha yeah I just find geography so boring, I feel like it's just the economy, social issues, then how different piles of rocks are formed...and more rocks...and some water.

Do you have an idea what type of doctor you want to be?
Original post by geniequeen48
Ah okay great :biggrin:
Haha yeah I just find geography so boring, I feel like it's just the economy, social issues, then how different piles of rocks are formed...and more rocks...and some water.

Do you have an idea what type of doctor you want to be?


Haha yeah it was quite a drag.
I'm sort of leaning towards surgery atm, how about yourself?
Original post by Rickstahhh
Haha yeah it was quite a drag.
I'm sort of leaning towards surgery atm, how about yourself?


From year 8 I've always wanted to be a surgeon as well xD I didn't actually think about being a doctor in the future but I saw this TV programme showing different medical professions and surgery just caught my eye. Then I started to like the other aspects of the degree.

What about you? What made you want to study medicine?
Hi!

I'm currently doing as bio, chem, french and spanish and want to do medicine, so very similar to you!

So many people at my sixth form are struggling with maths atm. I personally would recommend that you take what you like because you'll have little motivation come exam time.
Original post by geniequeen48
From year 8 I've always wanted to be a surgeon as well xD I didn't actually think about being a doctor in the future but I saw this TV programme showing different medical professions and surgery just caught my eye. Then I started to like the other aspects of the degree.

What about you? What made you want to study medicine?


Haha fair enough.
I'd advise that you go and try and get some work observation in operating theatres so then you actually know if it's the right career path :smile:

For me, it wasn't a decision that stemmed from one moment in my life. I actually thought long and hard about what I wanted to do in the future. So at this point I decided that medicine might be an ideal career (in reality, medicine is more of a way of life), as I enjoyed science and wanted to do something that was rewarding etc etc. So I endeavored to get work experience in hospitals etc etc. From this I came to the conclusion that medicine was the path I wanted to take.

But before you firmly decide to do medicine, make sure you know the realities of medicine.
Medicine is not as good as it is made out to be!
Original post by Rickstahhh
Haha fair enough.
I'd advise that you go and try and get some work observation in operating theatres so then you actually know if it's the right career path :smile:

For me, it wasn't a decision that stemmed from one moment in my life. I actually thought long and hard about what I wanted to do in the future. So at this point I decided that medicine might be an ideal career (in reality, medicine is more of a way of life), as I enjoyed science and wanted to do something that was rewarding etc etc. So I endeavored to get work experience in hospitals etc etc. From this I came to the conclusion that medicine was the path I wanted to take.

But before you firmly decide to do medicine, make sure you know the realities of medicine.
Medicine is not as good as it is made out to be!


Of course of course haha. I'll try to find enough work experience.
Original post by geniequeen48

The reason why I am beginning to dislike maths is that in classes I'm fed of the teacher saying I'm wrong when I attempt answering a question, sometimes it's just silly little mistakes. Sure there are times when I get the question correct. But nowadays I'm beginning to lose my mojo in maths.

This will continue, but at A-level it'll more likely be you finding out if you're wrong and you've got to figure out what you did wrong.
If you don't like maths, don't take it.


I really want to get an A* for maths GCSE and I feel like I should now know how to do maths well after 5 years of studying it.

Surely you'll have studied it for 12 years by the end of this academic year? The answer is no. You know virtually nothing at this point. School is a pretty big waste of time.

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