English (combined) OR Psychology

Hi everybody, I'm new to the site :biggrin:

Anyway, it's college enrolment day tomorrow and I've chosen to study Biology, Chemistry and Physics, but I'm not too sure about my fourth choice. I'm stuck between choosing English or Psychology, so I was hoping to get some advice from some of the veterans. Bearing in mind, which ever of these two subjects I decide to sign up for, I'll only be doing them for the first year of A levels.

Umm, to start off I'll just post a few questions to give you an idea of the sort of advice I need:

What do both courses involve?

What do people who have studied either of the subjects think of them?

Which subjects easier/harder/boring/exciting? :p:

Which of of the two subjects would have more impact on a UCAS application form if I was to apply for Medicine in two years? :p:

Thanks for your help :tsr2:

P.S I got two A's in English for GCSE, I'm quite proud considering my speaking/listening and coursework results were rubbish :biggrin:

Reply 1

Mr_Deeds

13

Psychology compliments Biology, Chemistry and Physics and it is perhaps more closely related to medicine than English. However, Psychology is deemed to be of limited suitability whereas English is looked upon more favourably, it's also good to have a balance of arts and essay subjects. I did English Language at AS level and thoroughly enjoyed it, as did most of my friends who've studied literature as well. If I were you I'd take the English simply because you're applying for a very competitive course and so having four traditional subjects at AS/2 level might put you in better stead. Then again, I haven't studied Psychology; it does have the biggest drop-out rate at my sixth form though, maybe an indication of something...

Reply 2

Pollypeptide

5

...Is English literature a possibility?

Reply 3

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OP

11

JordanSHowarth

...Is English literature a possibility?

I want to do combined because apparently it is easier then doing lit or lang as an individual. Btw, I read your thread about Maths/Physics I had that problem initially but decided to go with Physics :biggrin:

Reply 4

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OP

11

Mr_Deeds

Psychology compliments Biology, Chemistry and Physics and it is perhaps more closely related to medicine than English. However, Psychology is deemed to be of limited suitability whereas English is looked upon more favourably, it's also good to have a balance of arts and essay subjects. I did English Language at AS level and thoroughly enjoyed it, as did most of my friends who've studied literature as well. If I were you I'd take the English simply because you're applying for a very competitive course and so having four traditional subjects at AS/2 level might put you in better stead. Then again, I haven't studied Psychology; it does have the biggest drop-out rate at my sixth form though, maybe an indication of something...

Psychology seems like an interesting subject, but the people I've spoken to recently said: "Don't be fooled" and "In reality it's quite boring" :s-smilie:

My brother is advising me to do English so I can blag on about communication skills on application forms. English would also stand out, because Psychology is generally a popular A level among those who want to pursue a career in Medicine.

After all the advice in favour of English, I don't know why, but I'm a little scared of taking the subject, maybe I should see a Psychologist :laugh:

English all the way!

-F-

Psychology seems like an interesting subject, but the people I've spoken to recently said: "Don't be fooled" and "In reality it's quite boring" :s-smilie:

My brother is advising me to do English so I can blag on about communication skills on application forms. English would also stand out, because Psychology is generally a popular A level among those who want to pursue a career in Medicine.

After all the advice in favour of English, I don't know why, but I'm a little scared of taking the subject, maybe I should see a Psychologist :laugh:

There are many other better ways of proving good communication skills; public speaking/debating, work experience, part-time job, being a member of a team, etc. Your GCSE results would suggest that you're more than capable of studying English at A-Level, I just guess it's a matter of personal preference. If you don't enjoy English and think you'll prefer Psychology then take Psychology, otherwise you'll not be motivated to get the all important A and B grades. It might be worthwhile checking out the syllabi for both English and Psychology on the exam board's website...

Reply 7

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OP

11

^

Thanks for the advice :biggrin:

The majority of people have said English; so English it is :biggrin:

Reply 8

no1mohsin

13

English for definite. I'm doing the combined course too at the moment. Our reasons our different for doing it though. You cite that you think it will be easier? Don't please let that be the basis of your decision to choose Lang & Lit over just Language or just Literature. If you already much prefer one over the other, then go for that one!

It's not an 'easier' option at all. It just offers a different, more balanced option for those who enjoyed both aspects of the GCSE course as opposed to those you really enjoyed one aspect and didn't like the other.

You will be analysing literature the way you did at GCSE (but obviously on a more critical level) but also approaching it from a linguistic aspect. It's hugely rewarding and I absolutely loved it last year. Good luck with it anway and if you've got any questions about it then feel free to PM me.