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How hard is five A levels?

tucker672

I have to choose my A levels for this september I am looking at good GCSE's (well not to TSR standard) 2C's, 6 A's, 2 A*'s. I want to go to a good university and study either PPE or Modern History and Politics.

The problem is choosing my A levels; I really want to do History and Politics, I want to do Philosophy too, I understand that Maths(C1,C2,C3,C4,S1,S2) is highly sort after for PPE and is a science; but I also want to study economics as it is helpful for my desired degree and becuase I enjoyed it at GCSE.

So my questions are:

1) How hard are 5 A levels?
2) For people who have done the above A levels; how difficult are they, what content, etc?
3) What grades and subejcts did you get if you are/or going to study PPE or History and POlitics at Uni?

Thanks for the help. :wink:

Grant

I have 5+ as do a couple of my friends.....I have A's as do they....to be honest I do believe that you have to be naturally gifted at exams, there is a knack to exam papers, and unless you've got it or unlimited determination and stamina to revise, then you are putting yourself at a disadvantage.

I got 11 A*/A at GCSE with an attendance of 50% I have 7 A levels, two of which I didn't attend classes for...and most of which I only attended max 70% of the time. It is a similar story with my other friends with 5+ A levels, there are about three of us who are good at exams and the other two who aren't but are incredibly dedicated, Im talking no social life, constant revision types. For most people to get good grades with more than 4 you need to WORK hard at it and more importantly you need to take subjects you enjoy. Nothing is harder than toiling over work you don't take an active interest in (see how many students take, hate and fail law A level). It is do-able but you have to ask yourself if it's necessary....

I took so many because I went to college in the middle of nowhere, and if I didn't fill up my timetable (I find it impossible to work in the library or study areas) then I would be bored and hanging around the common room with a bunch of idiots poking can machines all day...

There was no NEED and there is no need now, certainly with the A* grades coming in, which if you get A*A*A* would presumably look more impressive than AAAAA. If you are confident in your ability and your determination, if slightly unsure then I would recommend concentrating on what you really need... 3 decent grades and an excellent grasp of the subject area to which you are applying.

If you want to do PPE for example then take Politics, Philosophy and Economics and if you insist on a fourth, then take one which would compliment them, like Sociology or even possibly Classics, where there is a crossover. You could probably get away with Business Studies, which if you're taking economic will be a doddle, and because you have three highly respected A levels, the 'softer' image of business Studies won't matter.

Reply 21

conroe-killed-the-k8-star

13

tucker672

I have to choose my A levels for this september I am looking at good GCSE's (well not to TSR standard) 2C's, 6 A's, 2 A*'s. I want to go to a good university and study either PPE or Modern History and Politics.

The problem is choosing my A levels; I really want to do History and Politics, I want to do Philosophy too, I understand that Maths(C1,C2,C3,C4,S1,S2) is highly sort after for PPE and is a science; but I also want to study economics as it is helpful for my desired degree and becuase I enjoyed it at GCSE.

So my questions are:

1) How hard are 5 A levels?
2) For people who have done the above A levels; how difficult are they, what content, etc?
3) What grades and subejcts did you get if you are/or going to study PPE or History and POlitics at Uni?

Thanks for the help. :wink:

Grant

Your GCSE results are quite similar to mine : I got 3A* , 3A and 5B grades. I did what would turn out to be 16 units in Maths/FM (5), Physics , (3) Chemistry (3) , Computing (3),Critical Thinking (2) in my first year.Chemistry suffered as a result - it's quite a nasty subject and you need to be good at remembering concepts.I didn't have the time to really give it any justice.I was timetabled about 25 hours a week although I did the maths units in my own time.

I'd drop RS/Philosophy if I were you and concentrate on taking History , Politics , Ecomomics and Maths (including S1 and S2 if at all possible - ecomomics involves quite a bit of stats).

Reply 22

Valkyrja

14

Laith

Yet you do Drama at Bristol University....

Yeah? And?.....

:rolleyes:

I'm not gonna turn this into yet another "are drama degrees worth it debate"...

the OP wants advice about their A levels....

Reply 23

Mozii

=O i feel even dumber now!! woo! :smile:

Reply 24

watermelon sugar

14

what are the actual five you want to do?
ditch philosophy :smile:

do four and see how it goes. i started with four, found it okay so picked up a fifth just kinda doing it in my frees/lunch and it was okay. but cramming it into three monhts=sup C?

Reply 25

tucker672

OP

1

watermelon sugar

what are the actual five you want to do?
ditch philosophy :smile:

do four and see how it goes. i started with four, found it okay so picked up a fifth just kinda doing it in my frees/lunch and it was okay. but cramming it into three monhts=sup C?

Yes I think the problem is now; choosing between Economics and Philosophy :s-smilie:

I think it will be good to see what I get in GCSE Economics too :p:

So I was wondering what are people's experience with Economics and Philosophy? :yep:

Reply 26

Ribulose Bisphosphate

2

I did 6 A levels and it's not that hard! Go for it!

Reply 27

Slumpy

16

Why not just start with 5 at AS?
It surely can't hurt too much to try, and if it seems to much, just drop one then.

Reply 28

vander Beth

13

What do you mean by good school? I have heard that people look at this differently. It has been said that the tutors at Oxford (don't know about elsewhere) look more favorably upon 3 or 4 subjects as they want to see that you have a genuine interest in the subjects, not just going for as many grades as possible. They want you to have more time to pursue your interests. It is also better when you have AAA than AABBB or whatever, so you should spend more time on your selected subjects.

Reply 29

DaveJ

I don't think you would need to study Philosophy, Politics, AND economics.

I'd say maths and history are good, but you could maybe drop one of the above three. If you enjoy them all, and think you could cope, however, there's no reason why you couldn't do them all.

Reply 30

im so academic

15

I say do four subjects, but the subject choice is up to you depending on your interests and abilites. Also, it's been a known fact that "quality is better than quantity", so I think 4 subjects will be a good amount of work to deal with; but also leaving time to pursue your interests.

Reply 31

DaveJ

im so academic

I say do four subjects, but the subject choice is up to you depending on your interests and abilites. Also, it's been a known fact that "quality is better than quantity", so I think 4 subjects will be a good amount of work to deal with; but also leaving time to pursue your interests.

Yeah, that's a good point, as with PPE especially, it's important to read outside your syllabus to show you keep up with current affairs etc.

Reply 32

abali

I ended up doing 3 A2s and 3 ASes (Long story), but I'd say about 3/4 A2s is really enough to meet any possible Uni offers - you don't need to do any more than that, as it was (for me, at least) quite difficult to do 3 A2s - you start to feel the pressure of the various subjects a lot come exam time, so I don't think there's really much value in taking the 4th or 5th subject.

I'm going to study History and Politics at Southampton this coming year: I got ABB in English Literature, History and ICT respectively, and got 9As and 1 B at GCSE.

Reply 33

thelostchild

10

Alot of people that do 5 do Maths and Further Maths, and tbh if your good at the subject Maths is hardly any work at all (I self taught myself a couple of units in about a week or two each) so thats how you can get away with it.

How is your maths, do you think you would be able to do that?

Reply 34

HCD

16

At AS, I did Maths, English Literature, Physics, Theatre Studies and General Studies.

At A2, I did Maths, English Literature, Physics, Further Maths* and General Studies.

*was taught the AS half, learnt the other half myself. Doing one A level in one year is roughly the same as doing 2 A levels, workload-wise.

So, yes, it's very possible. If you're smart, and not afraid to make your own decisions [i.e. "will this piece of homework actually benefit me?], then go straight ahead. It shouldn't be an issue; I always had loads of time for dossing. Came out with As in each, so it's not like my attitude harmed my grades. :biggrin:

Reply 35

tucker672

OP

1

How did people find Economics or/and Philosophy A level if studied?

If I do choose to Economics; what books should I read to get some good knowledge of Philosophy?

Reply 36

lauramoodie90

i think you might find taking 5 Alevels all the way through to A2 very hard work! If you dont know which subjects to take i think start off the year doing 5 .. then drop out of 1, you might find that you find a particular subject really hard or your just not enjoying it! Plus Universitys only really care about 3 good A levels they want you to do extra curricular stuff instead of doing more A level subjects

Reply 37

bean87

15

its easier than doing 6 A levels, and harder than doing 4

Reply 38

HappyHupo

Do 5 AS levels and then at the end of your first year you can drop one if you like and do 4 A2 levels. 5 AS levels isn't particularly difficult if you manage your time well.

Reply 39

tucker672

OP

1

How did people find Economics or/and Philosophy A level if studied?

If I do choose to Economics; what books should I read to get some good knowledge of Philosophy?

How hard is five A levels?

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