3 Science and Mathematics A-Level Advice Please.

Marcus2016

So today I got 6A*s and 3As in my GCSEs (big shout out to all those who helped me with revision on this website) and I have obtained an interview for my local grammar school tomorrow. However my subject options are not as I would have wished.

I initially wanted to do Chemistry Biology Maths and History at AS, however Chemistry and History appear in the same box.

So I am left with the following subjects to choose from to replace History: Physics, English Literature and ICT.
I intend to do medicine so perhaps physics would be looked upon favorably, however my Maths tutor has warned me physics is a massive jump at a level; that I already have a rather difficult three subjects ahead of me.

To physics or not to physics, that is the question.

Reply 1

Just a Bloke

14

If you put in the hours you'll get high grades regardless of the subject.

So, you need to ask yourself whether - knowing your own work capacity - you should be doing physics.

(EDIT: congratulations on those brilliant grades, by the way)

Reply 2

Marcus2016

OP

12

Thanks alot,

I do enjoy aspects of physics and to be frank ICT= boring English Literature =coursework and I hate coursework, so physics is really going to be the best of the worst kind of situation. I am rather nervous as I have struggled with maths in the past and required a tutor, chemistry and biology I should hopefully excel. And to top it off arguably the hardest a level physics....
I will put the work in i really don't like achieving anything less than an A, but I would feel better going for history as I not only enjoy it but it's rather a soft subject in that you learn facts right them down...

Reply 3

ElizabethAnne98

1

it really depends on how motivated you would be and how good you are at the subjects. i have a friend who took all three sciences and maths last year and got AABB (and A*AA this year) so it is possible to do extremely well, but you have to really work hard. it also helps if you enjoy the subjects - im pretty sure that for medicine the only requirements that unis have are chemistry and biology, and you'll probably drop your fourth subject at the end of year 12 anyway so it's sort of irrelevant which one you choose. if you don't think you can handle physics just pick the one you'll get the best grade in, because that's essentially the most important thing - it would be better to have an A in english lit than a B or a C in physics. however, i would say that english lit is probably more of a facilitating subject than ICT, if you end up deciding between those two.

Reply 4

98matt

13

Original post by Marcus2016

So today I got 6A*s and 3As in my GCSEs (big shout out to all those who helped me with revision on this website) and I have obtained an interview for my local grammar school tomorrow. However my subject options are not as I would have wished.

I initially wanted to do Chemistry Biology Maths and History at AS, however Chemistry and History appear in the same box.

So I am left with the following subjects to choose from to replace History: Physics, English Literature and ICT.
I intend to do medicine so perhaps physics would be looked upon favorably, however my Maths tutor has warned me physics is a massive jump at a level; that I already have a rather difficult three subjects ahead of me.

To physics or not to physics, that is the question.

Congrats on your results! I've just finished AS levels doing maths, physics and chemistry (doing further maths in yr13). Personally I found chemistry the biggest step up from GCSE! If you enjoyed the GCSE physics syllabus then you'll likely do well at A level.

At AS level you will studying motion in more detail (projectiles, uniformly accelerated motion, momentum etc) as well as look at new things that are not covered at GCSE such as photons and particles.

I'd recommend looking at the specification yourself before making a decision. Do you think you'd enjoy English or ICT more than Physics? I would say Physics is the most relevant for wanting to studying medicine, however, if you think you'd hate it all year & not do very well then picking either of the other two wouldn't be disastrous!

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Reply 5

Chief Wiggum

20

Original post by Marcus2016

So today I got 6A*s and 3As in my GCSEs (big shout out to all those who helped me with revision on this website) and I have obtained an interview for my local grammar school tomorrow. However my subject options are not as I would have wished.

I initially wanted to do Chemistry Biology Maths and History at AS, however Chemistry and History appear in the same box.

So I am left with the following subjects to choose from to replace History: Physics, English Literature and ICT.
I intend to do medicine so perhaps physics would be looked upon favorably, however my Maths tutor has warned me physics is a massive jump at a level; that I already have a rather difficult three subjects ahead of me.

To physics or not to physics, that is the question.

It depends on your strengths. Obviously if you're good at Physics, then it wouldn't be "too hard".

It should just be about your personal strengths and preferences really.

Reply 6

TheLifelessRobot

7

At AS Physics is actually relatively straightforward, the jump comes when you step up to the A2 material. If you're planning on doing Medicine at uni you can just drop Physics after AS. AS Physics mathematically is not particularly difficult, as long as you can re-arrange equations, plug in numbers into a calculator and can recognise features of graphs and relate them to equations you should be fine. It doesn't assume any knowledge past GCSE Maths.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 7

Marcus2016

OP

12

I did enjoy physics at GCSE, however we done CCEA a northern Irish exam board so I am not sure if there are many similarities with other exam boards.

I feel that the GCSE stuff which I enjoyed has just evaporated as I can't even remember most of the important equations. With regards to ICT and English, I got a better grade in English but I found both subjects were a bit tedious and to be honest not interesting as they aren't science lol

3 Science and Mathematics A-Level Advice Please.

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