The Student Room Group

Should I drop A-level computer science?

I’ve just started in year 12 last week doing 4 A-levels, maths, f.maths, physics and computer science, I knew it would be a big commitment but thought I would be ready and willing, now a week in and I already don’t want to do computer science lmao, I want to do some sort of mechanical engineering based course at uni and I don’t think computer science will benefit me in that and will take too much time away from my other subjects, however I’m not 100% sure on what I want to do and want to keep my options open, so I’m not sure whether or not dropping computer science would be smart or should I just stick it out
Reply 1
if you're already not enjoying it at such an early stage and dont think it'll help you i would be inclined to drop- but would recommend you have a discussion with your teacher(s) beforehand though. you could potentially do short coding courses outside of school if you think computer science related skills would be helpful- my brother is applying for engineering and learned to code over the summer. i personally dropped my 4th a-level early on and didn't regret it once as the workload in year 13 was intense anyway and i think it would have negatively affected my overall grades significantly. ultimately i would suggest weighing pros and cons + factoring in teacher advice in your decision.
Original post by dankrm
I’ve just started in year 12 last week doing 4 A-levels, maths, f.maths, physics and computer science, I knew it would be a big commitment but thought I would be ready and willing, now a week in and I already don’t want to do computer science lmao, I want to do some sort of mechanical engineering based course at uni and I don’t think computer science will benefit me in that and will take too much time away from my other subjects, however I’m not 100% sure on what I want to do and want to keep my options open, so I’m not sure whether or not dropping computer science would be smart or should I just stick it out
Original post by dankrm
I’ve just started in year 12 last week doing 4 A-levels, maths, f.maths, physics and computer science, I knew it would be a big commitment but thought I would be ready and willing, now a week in and I already don’t want to do computer science lmao, I want to do some sort of mechanical engineering based course at uni and I don’t think computer science will benefit me in that and will take too much time away from my other subjects, however I’m not 100% sure on what I want to do and want to keep my options open, so I’m not sure whether or not dropping computer science would be smart or should I just stick it out

just drop it not a single course for anything in the country requires it and the nea has completely killed my mental health im not even joking I cry myself to sleep bcz of it and with physics and further just no I only do regular maths and a language which is easy icl and I’m still failing bcz of cs. The cs nea will eat up ALL ur time for just 20% of the alevel. Also further maths maths physics is perfectly fine for engineering and basically anything maths related including cs so yeah
Original post by dankrm
I’ve just started in year 12 last week doing 4 A-levels, maths, f.maths, physics and computer science, I knew it would be a big commitment but thought I would be ready and willing, now a week in and I already don’t want to do computer science lmao, I want to do some sort of mechanical engineering based course at uni and I don’t think computer science will benefit me in that and will take too much time away from my other subjects, however I’m not 100% sure on what I want to do and want to keep my options open, so I’m not sure whether or not dropping computer science would be smart or should I just stick it out

Imperial, Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, Durham, Edinburgh, Bristol and others only want Maths, Further Maths and Physics for Mechanical Engineering, but you would need 2 A star grades and 1 A grade. So it might be a good idea to take A-Level Chemistry as a 4th A-Level as sometimes admissions give a lower offer for 4 A-Levels.

Quick Reply

Latest