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Stuck between medicine and law and unsure of A-level Options

Hi everyone!! :biggrin:
So, I am going to start Y12 in September and my initial plan for A levels was to study Chem, Physics, Computer Science and French ( I have to take French since I speak it) and I would go on to do dermatology at Uni since where I'm hoping to study, I only need chem and at least one other subject from bio, physics and maths, so taking comp sci and french would be fine.

However, I stumbled across a problem. I was set on the country I wanted to do my degree in, however, now I am reconsidering and thinking of different countries I may want to study in instead, but this would lead to me needing biology A level and I've always struggled with biology and I know I wouldn't be able to cope at all doing it for A-level.

After coming to this problem, I began to think of other career paths I could do where I would not need biology at all. Growing up in an Asian family all focused on jobs in medicine, I never really explored any other career paths besides those in medicine but I decided to think about things I'm interested in that aren't science or medicine based.

My first thought was English. My English teachers and my tutor have all recommended that I do English Lit for A-level since I have a flair for it and enjoy it a lot and at the moment, I am in the process of writing a manuscript for a book idea I had since my tutor recommended me to do so since I have a passion for writing. And so I began to think I could be a writer instead, yet that idea came to a stop quickly as I realised I'd prefer that as a small hobby/side hustle and not my main job.

And so, I started to think of other careers I may be interested in. And I started thinking about law. My mum hates law and anything to do with politics because she thinks it takes too long and being a barrister isn't that great and she isn't really sure I should do something law based however, I think it's really cool and I'm quite interested in it yet I don't know whether it'd be a good career for me. Quite a few people have recommended me to do something in the field of law yet I don't really know. I was looking into A-level options if I was to take law and came to the decision of English Lit, Gov+Politics, French and then either physics or comp sci as I love them both and would want to continue one of them into A-level.

But, now I'm quite torn. I don't know what to do and I know I have quite a long way until September, however, my plan was to re-visit the GCSE content I am unsure of and start bridge work for the subjects I would study for A-level and since I don't know what I'm going to study, I'm stuck in an odd situation. I'm having mixed thoughts, on one hand, I can follow my initial aspiration with a high chance I may not pursue it if I decide not to study in my initial choice of country and on the other hand, I have a "safer" route of law, where I would have to deal with doing something I'm not as passionate about and having to give up comp sci or physics in order to fit in the A-levels I need.

Sorry, I know this sounds like a whole mess 😭 if anyone has any advice it would greatly be appreciated!!
Original post by AestheticStudying
Hi everyone!! :biggrin:
So, I am going to start Y12 in September and my initial plan for A levels was to study Chem, Physics, Computer Science and French ( I have to take French since I speak it) and I would go on to do dermatology at Uni since where I'm hoping to study, I only need chem and at least one other subject from bio, physics and maths, so taking comp sci and french would be fine.

However, I stumbled across a problem. I was set on the country I wanted to do my degree in, however, now I am reconsidering and thinking of different countries I may want to study in instead, but this would lead to me needing biology A level and I've always struggled with biology and I know I wouldn't be able to cope at all doing it for A-level.

After coming to this problem, I began to think of other career paths I could do where I would not need biology at all. Growing up in an Asian family all focused on jobs in medicine, I never really explored any other career paths besides those in medicine but I decided to think about things I'm interested in that aren't science or medicine based.

My first thought was English. My English teachers and my tutor have all recommended that I do English Lit for A-level since I have a flair for it and enjoy it a lot and at the moment, I am in the process of writing a manuscript for a book idea I had since my tutor recommended me to do so since I have a passion for writing. And so I began to think I could be a writer instead, yet that idea came to a stop quickly as I realised I'd prefer that as a small hobby/side hustle and not my main job.

And so, I started to think of other careers I may be interested in. And I started thinking about law. My mum hates law and anything to do with politics because she thinks it takes too long and being a barrister isn't that great and she isn't really sure I should do something law based however, I think it's really cool and I'm quite interested in it yet I don't know whether it'd be a good career for me. Quite a few people have recommended me to do something in the field of law yet I don't really know. I was looking into A-level options if I was to take law and came to the decision of English Lit, Gov+Politics, French and then either physics or comp sci as I love them both and would want to continue one of them into A-level.

But, now I'm quite torn. I don't know what to do and I know I have quite a long way until September, however, my plan was to re-visit the GCSE content I am unsure of and start bridge work for the subjects I would study for A-level and since I don't know what I'm going to study, I'm stuck in an odd situation. I'm having mixed thoughts, on one hand, I can follow my initial aspiration with a high chance I may not pursue it if I decide not to study in my initial choice of country and on the other hand, I have a "safer" route of law, where I would have to deal with doing something I'm not as passionate about and having to give up comp sci or physics in order to fit in the A-levels I need.

Sorry, I know this sounds like a whole mess 😭 if anyone has any advice it would greatly be appreciated!!

Hi there, I am a second year education student at YSJ uni. Wow, it sounds like you have a lot of options to choose between! I understand how difficult it can be picking between subjects if you are unsure of what you want your career to be, especially since there are only 4 subjects you can realistically choose. I'm just wondering why you have to study French if you are fluent in it? When writing your CV, you wouldn't need the qualification to justify including it on there, which may free up a subject for you to pick as a 4th A-level. Just a thought. I am wondering whether it might be useful for you to seek out voluntary opportunities in the careers you are thinking of pursuing in order to make a clearer judgement. Over the summer you could find a court or something to gather experience in that field, and you could look at something related to dermatology for the medical route. This might help you decide which you find more interesting or fitted for you.

I hope that you make the right decision for you and that you enjoy whatever you pick. I mean you could always pick a foundation year for a degree if you picked different A-levels to what you want to go into, or go back to college as I think that is possible, but you might need to pay.

Good luck to you and I hope everything works out :smile:

Rachel- YSJ student rep

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