Hi! Year 13 here. I'm taking a gap year (possibly multiple gap years), as I want to think about what I want to do at uni and in life in general, as well as take a break from being in an academic environment.
At the moment, I'm torn between some very different courses. For the longest time, I was convinced that I was going to do English literature with film studies, as English lit is my best (and favourite) subject. That said, long before that- prior to choosing my A levels- I wanted to do forensic science. Now, my desire to do forensics has come back.
There's pros and cons to doing each subject.
For English lit with film, I get to do something that I really like and that I know that I'm good at and would love to study. A lot of what I watch on YouTube is media analysis. I'm predicted an A or A* in English, and I haven't achieved below an A since year 12. The only downside is that I don't really know what job I'd end up doing with it, other than teaching, something I don't really want to do. Ideally, I'd love to be a writer, but it's not like I need to study English and film for that, though I'm sure it could help. Plus, it's not a realistic ambition.
On the other hand, for forensic science, I'm far less confident in my scientific ability, especially my mathematic ability. The only science subject I've taken at A level is psychology, and most courses (aside from one I've looked at that is at a university not far from where I live, which is ranked #4 for forensic science in some table or another) require an A level in biology and/or chemistry, even for the foundation year route. So, one worry is that I wouldn't be able to get onto a course to start with. Also, I wasn't a huge fan of the sciences at GCSE because my horrific anxiety meant I was terrified of accidentally creating a disease or setting fire to something during the practicals, to the point that I'd have a panic attack or get my partner to do everything for me. So, I'm worried that, even if I did end up having the theory side of it alright, the practical element of it wouldn't go as well. I did well at my science subjects (I got 8s in chemistry and biology and a 9 in physics) despite the fact, now, I wouldn't be able to tell you anything scientific other than what's in a plant cell or animal cell, at the GCSE level mind you. I find the sciences interesting when I'm not made to do a memory test about them; in fact, I'm planning on learning about various sciences for my own enjoyment, since the biopsychology unit of psychology has gotten me interested in learning about at least biology. And, I really am interested in forensics despite my limited knowledge and my science-based self-doubt; I have been ever since I was 9-10 when I used to watch NCIS (which I assume probably isn't that accurate, but still), and now I'm really interested in true crime. I feel like- if I stuck to it and gained some confidence in my scientific ability- I'd be able to get a worthwhile career out of it compared to English and film.
Alternatively, I'm also somewhat considering psychology. I think that it could give me a worthwhile career, and I think it is genuinely interesting (outside of evaluation and research methods, which are the banes of my existence). I'm predicted at least a C in it (though that's based on a set of mocks I didn't have much time to revise for, so I'm hoping that that means I could achieve a B or above if I did have time to revise).
If anyone has any words of wisdom- or feels the urge to criticise anything I've said or my Dickensian sentences- please let me know!
Edit: also, I wasn’t sure which forum to put this in. Apologies if I chose poorly.