Is taking a fourth, difficult a-level worth it??

I am about to finish GCSEs and looking at possible uni courses. There's one I'd love to do which is MSc in Natural Sciences specialising in Archaeology.
My current A-Level choices are History, Classics and French, but the MSc requires at least one science. I really enjoy chemistry GCSE so it could be possible for me to take it, and I find French quite easy so I imagine this will take some stress out of it?

Is it worth it or way too stressful?

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 1

Teribblestudent

14

Probably not worth it if you don’t need 4 A levels, because A levels are a lot of work and doing 4 will make them all more difficult because you’ll have less time

Reply 2

Vyshto Andeddu

19

Original post by erinf0263

I am about to finish GCSEs and looking at possible uni courses. There's one I'd love to do which is MSc in Natural Sciences specialising in Archaeology.
My current A-Level choices are History, Classics and French, but the MSc requires at least one science. I really enjoy chemistry GCSE so it could be possible for me to take it, and I find French quite easy so I imagine this will take some stress out of it?

Is it worth it or way too stressful?

One thing that is very common is that people get confused between A level Classical Civilisation and A level Ancient History. The 1st teaches you about mythology, poems, literature and ancient gender and race studies while the 2nd teaches about well.... ancient history, you know, Rome, Sparta and the like. A third A level that is science and would help with archaeology would be geology but, there are practicals that if you do not do then you will get a lower grade. Hope this helps :smile:

Reply 3

erinf0263

OP

2

Original post by Vyshto Andeddu

One thing that is very common is that people get confused between A level Classical Civilisation and A level Ancient History. The 1st teaches you about mythology, poems, literature and ancient gender and race studies while the 2nd teaches about well.... ancient history, you know, Rome, Sparta and the like. A third A level that is science and would help with archaeology would be geology but, there are practicals that if you do not do then you will get a lower grade. Hope this helps :smile:

I've picked Classical Civilisation, do you think it's worth it for archaeology? I think I'd find it interesting but idk if doing it as a fourth would be useless because it's mostly literature (that is, if I do decide to do Chemistry as well).

Reply 4

Vyshto Andeddu

19

Original post by erinf0263

I've picked Classical Civilisation, do you think it's worth it for archaeology? I think I'd find it interesting but idk if doing it as a fourth would be useless because it's mostly literature (that is, if I do decide to do Chemistry as well).

I you want to learn more about the theory and culture of ancient civilisation then go for classics, as it is an important part of archaeology. What era do you want to study mainly for archaeology? Chemistry would be a good A level option for archaeology, the only issue with it is that you'd need to make a tense timetable and stick to it as best as you can. It'd be difficult but, you get out as much as you put in. :smile:

(edited 10 months ago)

Reply 5

Emmmaaaa...

16

Which university are you looking at?

Reply 6

erinf0263

OP

2

Original post by Emmmaaaa...

Which university are you looking at?

York! They have multiple science-based archaeology courses

Reply 7

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by erinf0263

I am about to finish GCSEs and looking at possible uni courses. There's one I'd love to do which is MSc in Natural Sciences specialising in Archaeology.
My current A-Level choices are History, Classics and French, but the MSc requires at least one science. I really enjoy chemistry GCSE so it could be possible for me to take it, and I find French quite easy so I imagine this will take some stress out of it?

Is it worth it or way too stressful?

MSc or MSci? They are very different degrees - the MSc is a 1 year masters normally, the MSci a 4 year integrated undergraduate masters.

Also realistically most natural sciences degrees require at least 2 sciences, and I can't see you would gain a great deal from them with only one science.

I also wouldn't suggest taking 4 such subjects - it's usually only advisable to take 4 subjects if two are maths and further maths, due to the synergy between those. I'd also note language A-levels tend to be considered quite intensive in terms of time commitments so again, not really advisable to do a language as part of a combination of four.

If your interest is archaeology why look at natural sciences courses at all? Why not just look at courses in archaeology and/or archaeological science? There are plenty of such degrees in existence already.

Reply 8

StudyMind

8

Original post by erinf0263

I am about to finish GCSEs and looking at possible uni courses. There's one I'd love to do which is MSc in Natural Sciences specialising in Archaeology.
My current A-Level choices are History, Classics and French, but the MSc requires at least one science. I really enjoy chemistry GCSE so it could be possible for me to take it, and I find French quite easy so I imagine this will take some stress out of it?

Is it worth it or way too stressful?

Heya!

Don't underestimate the amount of work you have to do for alvls! Unis just need 3 alvls and the grades you get are important! If you really want to try out 4, you could start with 4 to try it out but if you find it overwhelming, you can drop one :h:

I hope this helps!
Milena
UCL PFE
Study Mind

Is taking a fourth, difficult a-level worth it??

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