Which A Levels should I pick?

Original post by loukiawells

Hi, I'm in year 11 and I have to pick which subjects I want to do for A Level fairly soon. I know that I definitely want to pick chemistry because I did my gcse last year and got an A*. But i want to pick one more science. Which is better/more interesting? Biology or physics? And is the work load of sciences as difficult as everyone says because I'm finding it really hard to choose between the two.

What are your other choices? If you find it difficult to choose between Physics and Biology just do A Level Triple. Plus if you're interested in Chemistry , Maths is another one you should consider. (I'm year 11 as well so am in the whole "uuugh what a levels should I choose??" stage)

Reply 2

Albus Hagrid

Also you should think about what you want to do after A-levels, I know everyone says it but it did help me when making my final decision.

Reply 3

OP

Original post by Calsiwm_Silicad

What are your other choices? If you find it difficult to choose between Physics and Biology just do A Level Triple. Plus if you're interested in Chemistry , Maths is another one you should consider. (I'm year 11 as well so am in the whole "uuugh what a levels should I choose??" stage)

Ugh I know it sucks right? And yeah i was thinking maths but i find it so much more dull, i think with science you can apply ideas to the maths that you do which makes it more interesting, I dont know haha.

Reply 4

OP

Original post by Albus Hagrid

Also you should think about what you want to do after A-levels, I know everyone says it but it did help me when making my final decision.

I'm thinking maybe Medicine because I looked online and it's the only science degree at uni that you don't need to take maths for

Reply 5

Original post by loukiawells

Ugh I know it sucks right? And yeah i was thinking maths but i find it so much more dull, i think with science you can apply ideas to the maths that you do which makes it more interesting, I dont know haha.

If you prefer organic chemistry to physical I'd suggest biology , but if the other way round then physics! I have a mate that does triple science a level and he says it's not the hell that people make it out to be , and most of the stuff at beginning at AS is just slight extension of GCSE so they "ease you in" so if you're good enough to get A* in Chemistry in year 10 you shouldn't struggle too much with a level sciences (obviously if you put the effort in!)

Reply 6

Gogregg

14

Original post by loukiawells

I'm thinking maybe Medicine because I looked online and it's the only science degree at uni that you don't need to take maths for

That doesn't seem like the best reason to go into medicine for...

Reply 7

Original post by loukiawells

I'm thinking maybe Medicine because I looked online and it's the only science degree at uni that you don't need to take maths for

If Medicine I'd suggest Biology (used to want to be a doctor so i know the a level requirements haha!) ahead of physics

Reply 8

OP

Original post by Gogregg

That doesn't seem like the best reason to go into medicine for...

Yeah I know, part of me does like the idea of being a doctor though but I feel like I'm too young to know exactly what I want to be

Reply 9

OP

Original post by Calsiwm_Silicad

If Medicine I'd suggest Biology (used to want to be a doctor so i know the a level requirements haha!) ahead of physics

Yeah that's what I'm thinking (: but I love physics so its like hmf, what d'you want to be now?

Reply 10

Original post by loukiawells

Yeah that's what I'm thinking (: but I love physics so its like hmf, what d'you want to be now?

hmf? and lol i just wanna be "not a doctor" i honestly don't know . My ideas change daily although " Supreme Lord of the Universe " is always one of my personal favourites. I might do maths at uni though because it then means I can still do both theoretical physics and economics at the same time (two things I find interesting). So I'm probably going to do Maths FM and Physics but can't choose between English Lit , French , Geography , Chemistry and Drama for my fourth !!

Reply 11

Walt_14

14

Original post by loukiawells

Hi, I'm in year 11 and I have to pick which subjects I want to do for A Level fairly soon. I know that I definitely want to pick chemistry because I did my gcse last year and got an A*. But i want to pick one more science. Which is better/more interesting? Biology or physics? And is the work load of sciences as difficult as everyone says because I'm finding it really hard to choose between the two.

Biology's got more writing and application/memory to do whereas Physics is more straightforward and quantitative but at the same time insanely difficult to get your head around. If you're strongly inclined towards maths I'd probably go with Physics, but Bio's more interesting and relevant so I'd go with that personally. Plus it's important for medicine if that's what you're into.

Reply 12

Walt_14

14

Original post by loukiawells

I'm thinking maybe Medicine because I looked online and it's the only science degree at uni that you don't need to take maths for

Yeah, not being funny but that's a terrible reason to consider medicine. And I'm sure you don't need maths for dentistry. Certainly not pharmacy or biomed/biochem. Sure you've done your research properly?

Reply 13

geniequeen48

19

More than one school can do Chemistry GCSE early? I didn't know that. I thought only my school followed that system lol. So not having maths can't permit someone to study other science degrees? I thought if you have chemistry with biology then you should be fine?

Reply 14

OP

Original post by Walt_14

Yeah, not being funny but that's a terrible reason to consider medicine. And I'm sure you don't need maths for dentistry. Certainly not pharmacy or biomed/biochem. Sure you've done your research properly?

No I mean you cant do natural sciences without taking maths, with regards to subjects like the once you listed i think medicine would be most interesting hence why I'm contemplating it not just because of that, there are other factors obviously :')

Reply 15

OP

Original post by geniequeen48

More than one school can do Chemistry GCSE early? I didn't know that. I thought only my school followed that system lol. So not having maths can't permit someone to study other science degrees? I thought if you have chemistry with biology then you should be fine?

No i guess both our schools are strange haha :') and it's weird i looked online and if you want to take a degree in natural sciences (chemistry, physics maybe biology) you need maths and idk i just don't really want to do it anymore tbh

Reply 16

OP

Original post by Walt_14

Biology's got more writing and application/memory to do whereas Physics is more straightforward and quantitative but at the same time insanely difficult to get your head around. If you're strongly inclined towards maths I'd probably go with Physics, but Bio's more interesting and relevant so I'd go with that personally. Plus it's important for medicine if that's what you're into.

Yeah i see what you mean, thank you (:

Reply 17

geniequeen48

19

Original post by loukiawells

No i guess both our schools are strange haha :' :wink:

and it's weird i looked online and if you want to take a degree in natural sciences (chemistry, physics maybe biology) you need maths and idk i just don't really want to do it anymore tbh

Hmm, I see. My advice is that make your options open as possible. E.g. I'm thinking of studying Chemistry, Biology, English Literature and Spanish. I could go into a science route or maybe linguistics I think. I was thinking of studying maths but I don't really look forward to it, I understand it but not to the point of doing further maths you get me? I noticed a lot of people who wanna do Medicine for example choose maths and they fail miserably or just end up hating it, I just don't want to be in that same position. Plus I thought 3 sciences and English Literature and extracurricular and work experience would just be too much to handle, so I prefer to choose my strongest subjects and then do the extra stuff.

Reply 18

OP

Original post by Calsiwm_Silicad

hmf? and lol i just wanna be "not a doctor" i honestly don't know . My ideas change daily although " Supreme Lord of the Universe " is always one of my personal favourites. I might do maths at uni though because it then means I can still do both theoretical physics and economics at the same time (two things I find interesting). So I'm probably going to do Maths FM and Physics but can't choose between English Lit , French , Geography , Chemistry and Drama for my fourth !!

Not gonna lie supreme lord of the universe does sound like a great profession :') and hm if i were you I'd go with either English Lit, Drama or Geography because it looks could to have a combination of essay based subjects and science subjects (apparently) Also I did my Greek AS last year because I'm half greek and the whole course is really hard. So obviously it's up to you but I wouldn't choose a language just because the jump from gcse to a level is quite extreme.

Reply 19

OP