How hard will my A levels be?

I've seen a post so I'm going to do the same thing.

I've opted for:

Biology, chemistry, history and law.

How hard will they be?

Reply 1

HalleStar

Let me tell you now it's gonna be freaking hard unless your naturally smart. I do chemistry now and that involves a lot of work, and biology isn't that hard. All in all you should keep on top of your game, read ahead, do all homework (actually do it!) because, it helps in the long run and revise from the start.

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Reply 2

scottkincaid

Original post by HalleStar

Thank you!

I know mate, Chemistry right now is a big work load and it's only GCSE.

I do all of my work and stuff anyway so I should be fine as long as I keep going over everything.

Reply 3

Freiheit

People need to stop overreacting. All you need is a good work ethic.

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Reply 4

HalleStar

It's a new environment/ experience you may get distracted but I advise that you keep your head in the books

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Reply 5

Selym95

Bio, chem and history require a huge amount of effort to excel in. I do not do Law, but i know it's viewed as a soft subject, so this should mean it requires less effort and is easier to score higher in

Reply 6

scottkincaid

Original post by Selym95

I totally agree with you.

The sciences require effort to excel in.

It really depends with history though, I find that I have a very good brain for history, I tend to remember everything because I find it incredibly interesting (just like with the sciences)

I have never taken law, my dad studied it at University, so I read over his work and his books but it looks like something that would be so much easier when somebody is teaching you rather than looking through masses of text.

Reply 7

Selym95

Original post by scottkincaid

Unfortunately you don't have the luxury to remember everything because you enjoy it like you currently do with GCSE History. I find all of my subjects incredibly interesting at AS level, but still have to put huge emphasis on them compared to GCSE level. Also, the History syllabus at AS level is more monotonous than at GCSE a lot of my peers feel.

Reply 8

AtomicMan

Biol - You will be memorising lots of information
Chem- Memorising less, but will spend some time getting your head around the concepts

Reply 9

roflcakes1

Biology has a lot of content. It's not terribly hard if you have a good memory/actually work hard, but the amount can scare people sometimes, so just don't panic if you find it to be a big jump. I found it really useful to review my notes after every lesson, so that I'm revising and memorizing the content as I go along, as there's too much to memorize if you leave it all for the month or so before the exam. I usually took notes from the textbook after the lesson to go with the notes taken in the lesson, and every week or 2 I'd condense all my notes in a poster.
Chemistry is a big jump - you can't rely on just memorizing information like GCSE, you have to actually understand it. Just make sure that you understand the GCSE content and was not just memorizing it mindlessly for the exam.

Reply 10

aWildPidgey

Original post by Selym95

I haven't even had folders for all of these subjects this year (AS) and I haven't put that much effort in, except from 2 weeks before the exams, and I'm expecting AAA-ABB in them. The most important thing is doin' past papers and making sure that you know every area of a subject. :smile:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 11

Tommo96

How hard will my subjects be?

Geology
English Literature
Psychology
Geography

(might change Lit for Maths)

Reply 12

Selym95

Original post by aWildPidgey

I commend your talent, but unfortunately not many people can leave the work to the last 2 weeks and achieve ABB-AAA (assuming you only take 3 subjects). However, i think you missed the key word excel. ABB may be seen as very good by some, but when you are trying to compete for places at university who ask for A*AA minimum there is no comparison. I do agree with your advice on past papers and knowing every area on the syllabus, but I think leaving this to the last few weeks will almost ensure missing out on 90+ UMS which is required.

The best advice possible is to work consistently all year. This will ensure a solid memory of the syllabus and reduces stress massively compared to only having "2 weeks" of revision time available.