Keeping options open.

Original post by AbsurdBanana

Hey TSR.
I'm feeling a degree in Economics, History or Law.

What're good A-Level choices to keep all of them open?

(I'm going for 7A*4A at GCSE so I'll be targeting russell group unis, A-levels permitting.)

I was thinking the exact same when i was about to choose my a-levels as i had no idea what degree i wanted to study. I would recommend choosing traditional subjects (especially as your aiming for Russell group uni's) although one or two won't do you any harm. I decided to study Economics, English Literature, Biology and PE - as you can tell a fairly odd mix. In hindsight, i should have chosen Chemistry over PE which would have left the potential door open to medicine. I've now applied for Law after months and months of consideration when i was studying my AS levels!

Reply 2

OP

That's so interesting. My current contention is - Maths, History, French, Philosophy + Ethics, and an AS in Further Maths while in Y13 (my school offered and its supposedly not too hard if you have an A2 in Maths.)

If I were to apply for History, say, at :-
Oxford, UCL, LSE, Warwick + York.. would they be okay with my taking maths and not Eng. Lit?

Reply 3

Original post by AbsurdBanana

That's so interesting. My current contention is - Maths, History, French, Philosophy + Ethics, and an AS in Further Maths while in Y13 (my school offered and its supposedly not too hard if you have an A2 in Maths.)

If I were to apply for History, say, at :-
Oxford, UCL, LSE, Warwick + York.. would they be okay with my taking maths and not Eng. Lit?

Seems like a fairly solid set of subjects (although people will argue that Phil + Ethics is soft; which i don't agree with). Be careful with considering AS further maths as easy - lots of my peers struggled with Further Maths and sailed through Maths; so perhaps give that a consideration.

Yes, of course Maths will be a fine replacement for English; to be honest, as long as the subjects are traditional, the universities will not care (even Oxbridge.

I would really recommend Further Maths at full A-level if you are seriously considering economics; the elite universities like to see candidates offering it!

Reply 4

Robbie242

I'd do maths history economics and another science subject to get the best balance. Do not do law etc.

Reply 5

OP

Gotcha son. I should assume Bus. Studies and the ilk is off the table too? (Not that i was majorly considering it but out of interest?)

Reply 6

Original post by AbsurdBanana

Gotcha son. I should assume Bus. Studies and the ilk is off the table too? (Not that i was majorly considering it but out of interest?)

Not at all, if you offer 3 solid subjects, a 4th 'soft/average' a-level should be fine (even for Oxbridge), although it would be fair to say studying 4 strong subjects would put you in a stronger position. Don't take studying 4 strong subjects, or indeed 5 strong subjects in your case if you decide to study AS F maths in your A2s light heartedly as it can really bring your overall grades down! I am managing 4 A2 subjects purely because PE isn't as demanding as my other subjects, if you studied 3 strong subjects at A-level with the AS F maths I can honestly say you will be in for a tough time (If you're wanting your A*/A's that is)

Reply 7

OP

I speak French fluently and have been told by my GCSE teacher repeatedly that I'm A-Level A* Standard - I also have a keen personal interest in History and feel the A level wouldn't be too difficult given the sheer amount of background reading I've already done for the topics we cover. I would therefore be able to drop P+E at AS and take the 3 A2s and AS FM in Y13?

Reply 8

Original post by AbsurdBanana

I speak French fluently and have been told by my GCSE teacher repeatedly that I'm A-Level A* Standard - I also have a keen personal interest in History and feel the A level wouldn't be too difficult given the sheer amount of background reading I've already done for the topics we cover. I would therefore be able to drop P+E at AS and take the 3 A2s and AS FM in Y13?

In that case i think you can justify it! Don't worry about History, it is relatively easy considering it is viewed as such a strong subject. If you're interested in History (as you seem to be very much so) I wouldn't worry about studying F Maths to full A2, to AS should be fine - I was just making sure you were aware of the advantages of A2 F Maths if you were seriously considering economcs. So yeah, I think everything is sorted here and good luck with whatever you do in the end. PM me if you need anything else.

Reply 9

ageshallnot

21

In general most of the above advice is fine for History and Law, though I would still suggest you be careful about some of the subjects with 'softer' reputations. Although you suggested that you were interested in Oxford, the following pages from Cambridge show their opinion about various A-level subjects:

http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=604
http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/publications/docs/subjectmatters.pdf

If you go down the Economics route, you need to be even more careful. See, for example,the following pages from Warwick and LSE, which show how particular they are with regard to Maths, Further Maths etc:

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/depta2z/economics/l100
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/degreeProgrammes2013/economics/L101_BSc_Econ.aspx

Reply 10

OP