Hi everyone, as you can see I have a bit of a dilemma
I've decided on the following A-level choices already:
- Maths
- Further Maths
- Chemistry
- Biology
But I can't seem to decide on whether I should take English Literature or Economics as my fifth choice. I'm studying both at GCSE and I'm predicted an A* in both but as I'm studying A-Level Maths at the moment (I did the GCSE in year 10), I know that doing well at something at GCSE doesn't translate to doing well at A-level (i.e. A/A*).
My teachers for both subjects are encouraging me to do it (then again, they encourage a lot of people) but my English teacher is more persistent and says that English Lit is my "thing" and more or less said it would be a waste if I didn't pursue it to A-Level at the very least. I'd like to point out that I enjoy both subjects but I'm sometimes frustrated by English as there isn't one answer (which is what I prefer) and I suppose you could say whilst I'm naturally good at English Lit and I'm constantly told this, I am unsure of my abilities and always walk out of an English Lit exam/assessment feeling I've done badly. With Economics, I think I could do well at A-Level as it's a case of understanding the content, knowing how and where to apply it and articulating my answers well and knowing what the examiner wants. English is more unclear for me and whilst I enjoy it and the texts being studied, I'm not confident that I would do well. In terms of grades, the Economics department at my school has some of the highest grades and most people get at least a B and no one who having studied it at GCSE and got a C, has attained less than a B at A-level. English, as a creative subject I understand is harder to get an A* in which is what I'd like to get in my fifth subject choice. The main thing that worries me is the workload for Lit as I've been told it will involve a lot of reading and weekly essays (not quite sure about this) and I'm worried the workload may be too heavy with my other subjects.
Ideally, I want to study Medicine at University but as it's very competitive, I want to keep my options open (although, if I wasn't successful the first time, I'd most likely take a year out and reapply) and so my choices need to reflect this. If I don't study Medicine (i.e. after more than one unsuccesful attempt), the courses I could see myself realistically applying for and studying are Chemical Engineering and Economics. They're both very different and I'd prefer to study Economics more than ChemEng as I'd really like to go down the Development Economics route.
Basically, if I don't know if I should apply with my back-up's in mind? Will take Economics make my choices appear too narrow (heavily quantitative)? Would Lit be unmanagable with my A-level choices?
Sorry for the waffle :/ and I'd really appreciate any help.