Choosing A Level Options

Hello,

I'm in Year 11 at the moment and having to decide upon my A Levels. I don't have a fixed idea of what I want to do at university although Law, Economics and Languages all interest me.

I don't want to come across as arrogant but I get on fairly well in almost all my subjects and so I'm finding it hard to narrow them down. I think I've decided on several which would be useful to study whilst being interesting for me too.

English Literature
Maths
French
Spanish
Physics
Chemistry

As I'm sure you're aware, I need to cut these down even further to just four although five is an option. Are five AS Levels too much work?

At the moment I'm leaning more towards English Literature, Spanish, Maths and Chemistry which would provide me with a wide variety of subject styles whilst they work well in pairs that complement each other. However, Physics would go well with Maths but I just find Chemistry more interesting. I don't really see myself using my sciences later on, so is that a waste when I could choose French instead? I would feel bad about dropping either foreign language.

I'm sure you've gathered I'm really confused and have no real idea of what to choose. Is five too much? Which of those do you recommend to me?

Thanks in advance. :smile:

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Reply 1

billet-doux

i'd say;
english lit
french
spanish
maths

:smile:

Reply 2

Pork and Beans

It depends what you want to do really. Unless you want to work overseas or in something which requires a lot of overseas communication, one language is good enough.

Maths is always a good choice, and physics is a good complement to it.

I'd say take Maths, Spanish, Physics and English Lit. If you're having trouble keeping up, drop one after the AS, but if you think you're capable, keep all of them for A2.

Reply 3

sweet_fluffy_nuke

Drop a language and English Lit.

Reply 4

mollymustard

If Economics and Language's intrest you do maths and at least one language at A level.
English lit is good for pretty much everything, especially Law as writing is just a great skill to have.
On top of that pick the one subject that you feel most interested in and passionate about.
Always pick what you enjoy doing most. A levels can get tedious at times and its important that you really like the subjects you pick.

Reply 5

A Stranger in Moscow

I did 5. and I did English Literature, Spanish, Maths and Chemistry as well.

I'd recommend Spanish, French, Chemistry and Maths. And English Literature for 5th if you want it.

Reply 6

Callipygian

Yeah, i'd recomend Maths as it looks good whatever you're applying to really. And then a language, English literature and a science. Doing 5 would be hard for most people (but not all), at my school if you do 5 you get no frees ¬_¬
You could allways take 5 and then if its too much work drop one after a month or so.

Reply 7

Sarahl89

If it were me, out of those options i would choose french, spanish, chemistry and maths.

But only cause i cant stick english and physics is way out of my league!!

I took chemistry, biology, maths and geography for AS.

-- Chemistry i hate so much i cant even describe my hatred for it. But if you like it & are good at it & work at it then i suppose its manageable.

-- Maths was okay at first but the teaching at my college wasn't all that, & they tell you concepts and say 'take my word for it' which i cant learn from cause i need to understand stuff. even tho i was good at it for GCSE.

If you like law & economics & langs, why dont you take law, economics, spanish & french? or is that abit too specific for you?

now the bit where i try to convert you :smile:

: how come biology isn't on your shortlist? its the most interesting course ive taken by far. And geography i really enjoyed & it can relate to things within economics & biology too.

As for 5 subjects, some people can cope with it & some can't. i know people who've done 5 and got As in them all, other who have dropped one after a few weeks, and some who have stuck them all out and due to the pressure got low grades in all of them.

Also, my advice is biased from 2 years of torture within chemistry & maths. Thinking sensibly, if you think you can achieve a good A level from chemistry, i think it has to be one of the most difficult A level subjects, and is a really useful one to have if you can manage it. :smile:

.

Edit: Choose the ones you enjoy the most, youll be more likely to get good grades in them in the end, & you have to put up with them for 2 years aswell!

Reply 8

didgeridoo12uk

maths is awesome, and easy

chem is easier than physics,

i personally hate english of all sorts, but i guess its upto personal preference

two foreign languages is abit over the top, unless you find them really easy, then i would say take both, as well as 3 of the other subjects, and if need be just drop one and take 4 instead of 5 subejcts at AS

Reply 9

manderlay in flames

Biology contains almost no concepts and is purely an exercise in revision, I wouldn't recommend it even if you have loved the subject in the past. Chemistry i found to be an interesting and varied course, with some revision required but interesting concepts too. Physics is the best subject in the world but you have to really be able to think and do maths for it.

Reply 10

Sarahl89

only nihilism

I suppose that's subjective.

This thread is making me feel so dumb lmao.

Reply 11

MGT_90

I'd go for:

Maths
French or Spanish
English Lit
Physics

Two MFLs seems like overkill unless you're fascinated by both. The only thing I would emphasise is having both Maths and English Lit. That'll make covering Economics and Law, respectively, easier.

Reply 12

duck-duck-goose

Okay, I think I've decided on English Literature, Spanish and Maths. However, which science do you think I should do out of Physics and Chemistry? I've always thought that I would choose Physics because it goes well in conjunction with Maths and it's the more theoretical science. However, recently it has started to bore me and I'm finding Chemistry quite interesting. I'm getting an A* in both subjects but I don't feel as confident in either of them as other subjects.

Could you give me some guidance on the difficulties, the course content and which would be most appropriate as part of my selection? Physics which goes with Maths or Chemistry because it shows I can do a completely different science subject?

Thanks everybody for all of your replies. They have been really helpful.

Reply 13

billet-doux

tbh i think both of them go well with maths
so, just do whichever you think you will do best in :smile:

good luck!
i'm meant to be choosing my options as well in the next few weeks and i have no idea ahaa!

Reply 14

smileitcouldbeworse

well i'm just wondering, is there any chance of yu going in2 medicine?because maths +chemistry will get u on2 med courses at many universities (though not all), so that way it leaves your options open as you don't know what you want to do yet.

I'm kinda in the same position as you, i'm definetely taking chem,bio and maths, then i'm torn between eng.lit,psychology and philosophy.I'm alos thinking bout taking 2, i mean u can always drop one if its too much!and also, you can always change courses if you hate what you've chosen.

xxx

Reply 15

Pollypeptide

Go for Physics.

In order of difficulty I would place the sciences as following:

Biology
Physics
Chemistry

...This is comming from a person who takes all three.

However, this is only my personal opinion and many may disagree, after all we're all individuals. I must admit, Physics is my favourite lesson and the maths involved isn't that bad (by taking maths you should excell with the mathmatical aspects of the course). Chemistry is nothing like GCSE, so don't base your decision purely upon the content your learning now.

Reply 16

duck-duck-goose

What's different about Chemistry at A Level then?

Reply 17

aime_24

Do the subjects you like otherwise it will just feel like too much work .From what i've heard from my frends they find science + maths are loads of work but dont let that stop you. I wouldnt worry to much about whether they go well together, just makesure that they might hopefully lead you into something you want to do for a degree.
good luck !! I found it was a really hard decision :s-smilie:

Reply 18

duck-duck-goose

After looking on university websites, I've found that a discursive subject would be useful to have under my belt if I wanted to go on to study Law. Is Philosophy seen as an intellectual and worthwhile subject or is it simply regarded as a doss and a 'softer' option?