Religious Studies as an A Level for Law?

Hey everyone - what do u think of taking Religious Studies as an A Level for Law??? I want to take it but am wary of it stopping me getting to where I want to go.

My A Level choices are (to be taken next year) : - English, History, RS, French

Any comments?

Has anyone got into Oxford/Cambridge with RS as an A Level? :confused:

All comments welcomed.

Matt

Reply 1

Lauren18

I'm sure plenty of people have got into top Unis with RS as one of their A levels! There are plenty of subjects which are less desirable than RS... I really wouldn't worry.

I don't know much about the subject myself, but I'm sure it wouldn't hinder you too much, although bear in mind that the type of Unis you mentioned are oversubscribed ten-fold and will be looking for a reason to reject your application.

Possibly, it would be better to take RS as a fourth A level if you can manage this (don't know if the subjects you listed are for AS or A2 level), as a lot of Law applicants seem to have three very academic subjects, which seem to be favoured by the best Unis.

English, History and French are all definitely good choices for Law, if you can get A/B in them!

Overall, my advice would be that although RS is a respected subject, to be safe I would be inclined to only do it as an 'extra'. This is just my opinion though, and I'm not belittling RS in any way. Good luck with your decision and applications x x

Reply 2

Manatee

I don't see why taking RS for A-level would disadvantage you in any way. Your other A-levels (especially English and History) are very useful subjects to have if you are planning to do law (they show that you are articulate and analytical, amongst other things), and a foreign language will be well regarded by employers. I really don't think you have anything to worry about! Enjoy!

:smile:

Reply 3

Craigy_Boy

Do whatever A-levels you enjoy and are good at. Oftentimes law departments say that they have no preference as to what A-levels you take as long as they are academic in nature (i.e. not dance). There is no reason to disbelieve them.

VERY IMPORTANT EDIT

Lauren18

bear in mind that the type of Unis you mentioned are oversubscribed ten-fold and will be looking for a reason to reject your application ...

Overall, my advice would be that although RS is a respected subject, to be safe I would be inclined to only do it as an 'extra'.

I'm sorry but I believe this to be very, very poor advice indeed. No, they are not looking for reasons to reject you, they are looking for reasons to accept you above other candidates in a very well qualified applicant pool. If you can, in the space afforded by the application, demonstrate your reasons for picking any A-level, describing the skills it has afforded you and how it ties in with your other interests then that is fine. One might, for example, argue that RS affords one the opportunity to study the concept of religious toleration, an immensely important field given the extent to which law-making in modern, multi-faith Britain must begin and end with the consideration that society is value-pluralistic.

Anyway, that's not even the point. Within reason, DO WHATEVER A-LEVELS SUIT YOU BEST. I myself studied quite a bizarre combinations of A-levels and this was no bar to my getting into a top law degree!

Bump for edit.

i do RS a-level along with english lang/lit; german and economics and i can honestly say that it has not hindered my application in any way. i got offers from bristol, nottingham, warwick, kcl, edinburgh and i was pooled at cambridge.

A level RS (well, the course im taking anyway) has a lot of emphasis ethics, different ethical systems (utilitarianism, kant, etc) and philosophy of religion (a v.interesting part of the course). If anything, being able to say something like "A level RS has nurtured an interest in the role of morality in law making" or something to that effect has helped my application as well as stimulated an interest in parts of Law (such as jurisprudence) that i may otherwise have had no interest in.

i know a lot of people say dont take subjects with "studies" in them, but i genuinely believe RS to be an exception to the rule

Reply 6

Cellardore

mattiouk

All comments welcomed.

Matt

Well it's an essay writng subject which is important for Law so i personally don't see a problem with it. History is also very good as it shows analytical skills which i could imagine would be quite handy for Law.

hmm. have yu thought about taking a sciency subject just to show flexability and variation? i.e. maths would be quite good, plus it will open so many doors for you if you decide you no longer want to take up Law at uni.

Reply 7

Eki_86

I got offers for law from ucl and birmingham with a RS A'level. I dont get why people see it as a "dodgy" subject because its actually not as wishy washy as people think and believe it or not...you DO need to be fairly able to get a high grade. I totally disagree that you should only take it as a fourth subject! If you enjoy it then carry it on to A'level, the universities will not reject you on the basis that you did RS!

Reply 8

Onearmedbandit

I'm sure it's more respected than music tech, which I did and I'm still off to UCL :smile:

Reply 9

mattiouk

Am Liking this: -

A level RS (well, the course im taking anyway) has a lot of emphasis ethics, different ethical systems (utilitarianism, kant, etc) and philosophy of religion (a v.interesting part of the course). If anything, being able to say something like "A level RS has nurtured an interest in the role of morality in law making" or something to that effect has helped my application as well as stimulated an interest in parts of Law (such as jurisprudence) that i may otherwise have had no interest in.

I agree with this too: -

i know a lot of people say dont take subjects with "studies" in them, but i genuinely believe RS to be an exception to the rule

And finally : -

hmm. have yu thought about taking a sciency subject just to show flexability and variation? i.e. maths would be quite good, plus it will open so many doors for you if you decide you no longer want to take up Law at uni.

Yeah, I have thought of sciency subjects???? But I don't think I'd find them as interesting and would probably be less motivated to work. Is a science subject essential - what do people think?

Thanks for all the posts, please keep them coming! :O

Reply 10

Lauren18

Craigy_Boy

Well I don't agree with you on this - when Nottingham, for example, has almost 3000 applications for a couple of hundred places for M100, they are looking for reasons to reject canididates (hell, the Head of Law at Nottingham even told me I was only rejected because of my LNAT score, and without that would have definitely been made an offer), especially when the vast majority of Nottingham (or any other top uni) Law applicants will have:

1. AAA / AAB
2. Duke of Edinburgh / music club / sports club / head of year / prefect
3. Award for xxx, commendation for yyy
4. Work experience ...

etc... just from the people on TSR you can see that those applying for Law are extremely similar on paper. Any slight factor that *could* work against you may well do... if there's two shortlisted candidates and one's done RS and one's done Maths or Chemistry, I would bet anything that the latter would get the offer, assuming the applications were entirely identical aside this point.

I agree with your suggestion that if you can demonstrate the benefits of a particular A level then this may aid your application (this is why I got pooled and re-interviewed at Cambridge rather than straight-out rejected, because I defended and 'sold' Law A level), but really I would see this as a marker by which to reject other candidates, rather than a benefit in itself.

Ultimately, these are just our opinions, but I do not agree that my advice was 'very, very poor indeed'. If you are a manager interviewing canidiates for a job, you have twenty to interview and one job to give, you will undoubtedly look at the 'bad' points of each candidate to an equal or greater extent than the 'good' points. It would be nice if everyone was considered on merit, but this just isn't the case when you're applying to the best universities in the country for the second most highly-subscribed course in the country.

Reply 11

Craigy_Boy

Let me put it like this - who do you think has more chance of receiving an offer in the following scenario: candidate A who has a grade D in Mathematics, a subject they knew they would not enjoy or do well at but followed your advice in sticking to "hard" subjects, or candidate B who got top marks in religious studies and brings their talent and experience in the subject to bear on a law application in any one of the ways already enunciated (re: applied ethics, philosophy of religion etc etc)?

And as for your example in the case of equally qualified candidates, one with chemistry or maths and the other with RS, I think your point is hugely denigrating to those who take RS A-Level, and I do not think it reflects the reality of university admissions at all. When I was at King's, the professors were candidly proud of the intellectual breadth displayed on the part of the incoming cohort. Some had science backgrounds, some had arts, but by far the majority had an interesting mix (the camp into which I fell).

Trust me, as someone who has both A-Level maths and an LLB behind them, when I tell you that an ability in the former does not necessarily indicate the capacity of a candidate to do well the latter. True, someone with A-level maths has proved that they possess a certain minimum level of intellect. But the more pertinent point is that that level of intellect is equally well evidenced by a good grade in RS, since it is (as others here have testified) far from the wishy washy subject you think it is. If this is obvious to me, then it is obvious to admissions officers. Yes, they make difficult and harsh decisions on who to admit, and it is a painstaking process in which a large number of well qualified candidates will inevitably be disappointed. But the view that a (good) grade in RS will constitute a black mark against you is misleading.

If I am narrow-minded or naive in holding that admissions procedures do or should operate as fairly and straightforwardly as I have set out, then you are equally narrow-minded in your conclusion that RS can or should be viewed as a so-called "soft" subject. It is not, and if tendered deftly and appropriately in a UCAS personal statement, by showing that it can relate very directly the course of study in a way that maths or chemistry may only tangentially, it could very well secure you a place on a course, depending on how the rest of your application stacks up. If you really thought you adequately defended A-level law to the Cambridge dons, then why don't you think the same might be possible of other subjects?

EDIT

hell, the Head of Law at Nottingham even told me I was only rejected because of my LNAT score, and without that would have definitely been made an offer

Since the LNAT is such a controversial indicator of one's ability at the law then why wouldn't they have taken your application in the round if you were such an amazing candidate? Perhaps they did and still rejected you. Truth is, professors say this to people all the time - do you even know how many people contact faculty after the admissions with questions along the lines of "why didn't I get in?".

Reply 12

Nellz

I highly doubt that RS is any less respected than a subject like A Level Law, Government and Politics or Sociology

Note: I do not think of these subjects to be 'easy' A levels. On the contrary I think they are perfectly acceptable academic qualifications, however what one of the poster's is saying seems to be a little hypocritical as I've always thought RS to be a traditional subject.

Reply 13

Lauren18

Look Craig, re-read my first post. I never belitted RS - I haven't even done the subject and I did stress that what I said was only MY opinion - and people are perfectly entitled to disagree with it. I actually like it when people do.

I was merely trying to offer the advice which I felt appropriate to a poster who is obviously having doubts about whether to take RS or not! I am not in any way saying that I agree with the application procedure, especially as I myself am not doing three traditional subjects (Law, Politics, English, AS Maths + French), but as I see it, having spent the last year in it, it is a process of rejection as much as acceptance.

Obviously, in my example of the Maths and RS candidate, I was assuming the same grade was achieved. I also know that not every admissions tutor would prefer Maths to RS, but as a generalisation - me having experienced the same reaction with Law A level - I stick by what I said before.

And I have never expressed RS to be a 'wishy washy' subject! I have no idea about the content, and stressed this in my first post. I know exactly how 'denigrating' it can be with people analysing your subjects - having done A level Law - and I wouldn't be so hypocritical to do this to someone else. (At least not on here with people dissecting everything I say anyway!)

Also, I have not once suggested that taking RS would put a 'black mark' against you - I merely said that if you could cope with 4 A levels, it may be more safe in terms of admissions to do three very academic subjects, and RS/Law/Media as a fourth.

Oh and as a side note, I never protested to be an 'amazing candidate' - far from it - and I cannot say whether what I was told by Nottingham was true or not. But either way, that is what they said and that is all I have to go on. People can disregard my opinion totally if they wish, but after having applied to six top unis very recently, I feel my experience may be worth sharing, despite your obvious feeling to the contrary.

Reply 14

ForeverDecember

It's not about what you do, it's about how well you sell it...to an extent. I still fail to see why Law admissions tutors look at candidates with Maths, Chem & Physics over ones with Sociology, Law, Politics etc. but I think as long as you get the top grades, and can sell both yourself and your subjects in your UCAS form, you'll be fine.

Looking at this in light of the topic, at the worst the poster will have two 'highly respected' A-Levels and a similar AS, and then a further A-Level which shows a good breadth of subjects, cand be sold to admissions tutors well, and I assume that he is taking this because he velieves he can do well in it due to enjoying the subject.

Reply 15

Craigy_Boy

but as I see it, having spent the last year in it, it is a process of rejection as much as acceptance.

This is the thing you see, you are projecting your experiences of rejection onto the OP. I am simply saying that it is, on my view, highly unlikely that having a non-traditional A-level will significantly affect your admissions chances provided you have, on the whole, an attractive and competitive package to offer. In fact I strongly dispute that it could be "a reason for rejecting you" which is, whatever your later protestations, how you originally painted the subject.

That is our main point of disagreement. For whatever reason (personal prejudice or, more likely in the light of what you have just posted, your honestly held view that the application process is skewed toward those with "hard" or "very academic" [sic] subjects) you believe that non-traditional subjects are a liability, to be studied as "extras" to be safe. I dispute this, as do the other posters above who recounted their similar tales of getting into top degrees with an unusual or non-traditional background.

I feel my experience may be worth sharing, despite your obvious feeling to the contrary

No, not at all. I am merely disagreeing with you.

Reply 16

Lauren18

Craigy_Boy

And you're perfectly entitled to do so. I think my use of the word 'safe' has been slightly misinterpreted though. As you say, an applicant's chances may well be only slightly affected by the choice of A levels where an 'attractive and competitive package' is offered. However, I think in a situation where there is a vast array of attrative and competitevely-packaged applicants, it is perhaps adviseable to stick to safer, traditional choices of subjects; if there is really no other factor which can make the decision for you - i.e. being ten times better at subject x than subject y. Ultimately, I didn't do this when choosing my A levels, who's to say what could have hapenned if I'd chosen differently, but there is generally a bias among top law schools for academic subjects, that's all I'm saying.

Thanks for the argument though - got my brain working a bit more than it usually does on Sundays! x