Retaking year 12 with new subjects?

Hello! So basically I'm contemplating retaking year 12 with new subjects because I've recently become interested by the prospect of doing Neuroscience, mainly because I realised how social sciency Psychology is at uni (which I absolutely hate since the only topic I thoroughly enjoyed in AS Psychology was neurones and the effect of drugs on them).

I had always planned to do Psychology at uni so I chose Biology, Physics (literally because I got an A* in it at GCSE; big mistake because I turned out to be ****E at it and decided to not do Chemistry because I had gotten a B in it at GCSE), History and Psychology.

However, I'm realising now that most universities want Chemistry and would prioritise those who had it (in comparison to me, who'd be applying with History, Biology and Psychology).

So my question is, should I retake year 12 and do the subjects Chemistry, Economics, R.E. and Biology? Would retaking the year slim my chances even though I would achieve decent AS grades (so my excuse for retaking year 12 isn't because I had failed)?


Thanks!

i'm no expert but if you feel like it is the right course of action and your sixth form/college approve and permit it, I would say go ahead. But it's a huge a decision to make retaking a year like that so make sure you are positive and you can't do it with what you have!

Hmmm, I would say don't do R.E, that is considered a soft subject and is not liked by universities. Maybe do maths or a language. But the decision is yours. Talk to teachers at school, you should have some teachers who deal with UCAS and your head of year, these will be very useful, talk to them, explain your situation and then make an informed decision.

However you may still be able to do the course you want with the A levels you have already done. I take it you have just finished year 12, try REALLY hard for year 13 and get top grades. This is another option. But speak to your teachers.

Hope this helps!
Good luck!


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Ok so my advice to you, REALLY do not voluntarily go to a crappy college even if you are willing to work your butt off. I KNOW how frustratingly hard chemistry can be first hand, but a snobby department as bad as it sounds is often a good one. Just like the chemistry department at my school. If you do do AS chemistry and struggle at any point, feel free to PM me, I just finished the course. I sucked at first but now I love it and i'm not too bad.

P.S. Chemistry is quite important for all life sciences however in the case of neuroscience, you may be able to get onto a course with a good grade in biology, I know that a lot of the CNS is covered in A2 biology syllabus' so it should be sufficient knowledge. It seems a very biochemistry topic which is both biology and chemistry heavy. Best of luck with the choice mate

Take a look on the UCAS website, perhaps a foundation course would be suitable for you if you are concerned about needing a foundation upon which to build. I'd say to you, just don't be hasty with a) uprooting to another college and b) Retaking a year, it will be a tough year

Hello! So basically I'm contemplating retaking year 12 with new subjects because I've recently become interested by the prospect of doing Neuroscience, mainly because I realised how social sciency Psychology is at uni (which I absolutely hate since the only topic I thoroughly enjoyed in AS Psychology was neurones and the effect of drugs on them).

I had always planned to do Psychology at uni so I chose Biology, Physics (literally because I got an A* in it at GCSE; big mistake because I turned out to be ****E at it and decided to not do Chemistry because I had gotten a B in it at GCSE), History and Psychology.

However, I'm realising now that most universities want Chemistry and would prioritise those who had it (in comparison to me, who'd be applying with History, Biology and Psychology). But at the same time, I'm doing a crap ton of things Psychology related in the summer (Cambridge psychology summer school and a two week paid placement at UCL in their psychology department, helping with their research etc)???

So my question is, should I retake year 12 and do the subjects Chemistry, Economics, R.E. and Biology? Would retaking the year slim my chances even though I would achieve decent AS grades (so my excuse for retaking year 12 isn't because I had failed)? Or should I perhaps go along with Psychology and then do a masters in Neuroscience (or even just Neuropsychology if that exists because I've never planned on becoming a neurosurgeon or anything medicine related)?


Thanks!

Retaking the year is much more convenient than doing a degree you dislike to get to what you want to do. Another option would be to take the full chemistry A-level in one year. This would be difficult but not impossible.

If you got good grades it would not slim your chances. You would be retaking the year after realising what is your true passion. This is a great excuse.

Let me know what you decide!

Neuroscience is a science degree, I am going to do Optometry this October which is also a science degree, most science degrees just want science A levels, Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Physics. I did Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Spanish. I spoke to a friend of my Dad's who is an Admissions tutor at the uni for the course applied to and he gave me a bit of feed back on my application and said that my application was very good because, I had so much work experience, 4 A levels when most people do 3, 5 AS levels, I read around the subject too. My application was preferred over people who did all 4 sciences because I showed a bit of variety. My grades are not great, I got BBBCD for AS and my predicted grades were ABBB for A2, but I still got 5 offers for an AAA course. So I think maybe stay at your school, you can do extra A levels as well, for example a friend of mine wanted to do medicine but didn't have biology AS so did it as an extra module in year 13. I know lots of people doing 6 A levels, it is possible, but lots of hard work, you could change your A levels in year 13, maybe get rid of Psychology and do an AS in another subject. It will be more difficult than re-sitting the year but you won't be a year behind your peers. But I only just finished my A levels so don't know everything, this is my opinion on a few options, as I said, your teachers are the best people to speak to.


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So you are doing history, psychology, biology and physics?

Why don't you continue with psychology history and biology at A2 and pick up AS chemistry?

Do you need a full chemistry A level for neuroscience?
My friend is going to study cognitive neuroscience and psychology this year and she does biology, german and maths. She did AS chemistry only.

That is also an option; Kings for example say that if you only have either Bio/Chem to A2, the other one (Chemistry in this case) would need to be at a grade A.