The Student Room Group

Food For Thought

;please;

So sorry to take up any of your time with such a boring and predictable thread as this one, but I really do need some good ol' TSR help and advice regarding my future plans...

Basically I am aiming for a degree in English, and would like to try my hand at applying to Cambridge, as well as UCL and a few others. Whilst I'm not trying to be overly strategic about my A-level options, I do want to make sure that they will not limit me in any way with this in mind, as I'm sure you can understand.

It all concerns five subjects - English Literature, Ancient History, Politics and Theatre Studies (which are offered in the 'standard teaching blocks'), and Philosophy AS, which is offered as a two-year complementary studies option. I am told that completing an A2 in Philosophy concurrently would be possible, with some extra private work, if necessary.

I am aware of Theatre Studies' lesser reputation with certain people, but it is a subject I would like to take to AS if possible. I do know that it is incredibly demanding in terms of time commitments, however, and therefore will probably be looking to drop it at A2 to free up more time for my reading of English Literature. My continuation of Ancient History is near-definite, and that of Politics likely.

If this happens, and I also decide to stick with just the AS in Philosophy, my qualifications would look like this:

A2
English Literature (OCR)
Ancient History (OCR)
Politics (EDEXCEL)

AS
English Literature (OCR)
Ancient History (OCR)
Politics (EDEXCEL)
Philosophy (AQA)
Theatre Studies (AQA)


How does this look in terms of adequate preparation for an English degree? Is there anything I ought to change, or tweak? Should I be looking to do the extra work for an A2 in Philosophy? Any thoughts will be much, much appreciated!
Reply 1
Your choices look absolutely fine to me - I don't know what you're worried about! :smile: Theatre Studies is, as you say, not as respected; but since you have 4 other solid, rigorous and relevant subjects, I don't think it'll be too much problem.

3 A2 levels are sufficient, even for Oxbridge and no uni asks for more than 3. See how you get on with doing 5 AS levels (it can be quite a lot of work from what I hear, especially when they're all essay subjects); if you find that you're not doing too bad, maybe think about doing the Philosophy A2, but otherwise it may not be worth it.
According to the list of acceptable A-level subjects on the Trinity college website, English lit, history (no distinction made between modern and ancient) and philosophy are all generally suitable and politics and theatre studies are both of limited suitability, so none of your 5 subjects are unsuitable. And that's for one of the most competitive colleges, so your choices are, as Excalibur said, absolutely fine. 5 AS levels will be a lot of work, so be prepared to drop one if it gets too much. Cambridge state in their prospectus that applicants with 5 AS levels have no advantage over those with 4 and it'll look much better if you can get high UMS marks in 4 because you'll have to declare them. The same applies to A2; you don't need more than 3.

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