Would only doing 3 AS put me at a disadvantage?
I'm currently in my first year of A Levels (so, technically, AS) and studying English Literature, Fine Art, Psychology and Economics and I really want to drop Economics. I was pushed into choosing it by my GCSE Business Studies teacher and my parents who said Economics would a better alternative to Business at A Level however, I really don't get on with the course.
I'm someone who is really into art and literature and expression and I find that the essay aspect and the business aspect I do well in, but the technical side (diagrams, price elasticity) I struggle with. To put it bluntly, when we were focusing on the business side I got an A in the mock - on the price elasticity mock I got an E (which I didn't actually study for as my teacher still hasn't given me my revision book yet, but either way even with revision I think the highest I would have achieved would have been a D, maybe a C). I feel like doing Eco is hindering me from excelling in my other subjects in which my teachers have individually told me that in Psychology I should be getting an A*/A at the end of A2, Fine Art an A and English Literature an A. At the moment I'm an A/B in Psychology, B in Art and A/B in English (my grades fluctuate between A's and B's). As I'm already doing well in them, I'm hoping by dropping Eco it will allow me to push myself even further. The only thing is, I'm worried it'll really effect me in terms of application to Uni. I know I want to study something Psychology orientated, but I'm not sure what as I was originally focused on Business Psychology and I don't know if that would be possible if I drop my only business related subject. I think, in terms of UCAS points, I may be able to pick up EPQ instead of volunteering - which is what I do now - to help balance it out.
Also, as I'm the first year who is doing the new (or old) A Level specification, I'm unsure if the fourth AS is even technically required as A Level is now a two year course, not two one year courses split into AS and A2 which was where the fourth AS was originally implemented. The only universities, I'm aware of, that seem to be intent on AS grades are Oxbridge and maybe a handful of RG universities (none of which I'm intending to go to, I like the sound of Reading).
Does anyone know, or have any insight, into whether this will greatly affect me in terms of job/uni application? I also don't know whether to just stick out Eco until May as that's when the exam is and just try and hopefully come out with a decent grade or not. It would be nice to have the fourth AS but I'm prone to bad stress through mental health reasons and it stresses me out a lot plus the teaching at my school for Eco is atrocious (the teacher is old and forgets things on a frequent basis and our other teacher, who was also bad, left at Christmas so we currently have a GCSE Business Studies teacher teaching us the other half of Eco) which is also a factor to how much I hate it and how much it stresses me out. With all this in mind, do you think I should drop it? Is it worth it? Do you think I'd still be able to go to Uni for Business Psychology without any business related academic subject?
Thank you! (I am sorry for the long post but this has been on my mind for weeks and I am just searching for a wide range of answers to help with my decision).
I'm someone who is really into art and literature and expression and I find that the essay aspect and the business aspect I do well in, but the technical side (diagrams, price elasticity) I struggle with. To put it bluntly, when we were focusing on the business side I got an A in the mock - on the price elasticity mock I got an E (which I didn't actually study for as my teacher still hasn't given me my revision book yet, but either way even with revision I think the highest I would have achieved would have been a D, maybe a C). I feel like doing Eco is hindering me from excelling in my other subjects in which my teachers have individually told me that in Psychology I should be getting an A*/A at the end of A2, Fine Art an A and English Literature an A. At the moment I'm an A/B in Psychology, B in Art and A/B in English (my grades fluctuate between A's and B's). As I'm already doing well in them, I'm hoping by dropping Eco it will allow me to push myself even further. The only thing is, I'm worried it'll really effect me in terms of application to Uni. I know I want to study something Psychology orientated, but I'm not sure what as I was originally focused on Business Psychology and I don't know if that would be possible if I drop my only business related subject. I think, in terms of UCAS points, I may be able to pick up EPQ instead of volunteering - which is what I do now - to help balance it out.
Also, as I'm the first year who is doing the new (or old) A Level specification, I'm unsure if the fourth AS is even technically required as A Level is now a two year course, not two one year courses split into AS and A2 which was where the fourth AS was originally implemented. The only universities, I'm aware of, that seem to be intent on AS grades are Oxbridge and maybe a handful of RG universities (none of which I'm intending to go to, I like the sound of Reading).
Does anyone know, or have any insight, into whether this will greatly affect me in terms of job/uni application? I also don't know whether to just stick out Eco until May as that's when the exam is and just try and hopefully come out with a decent grade or not. It would be nice to have the fourth AS but I'm prone to bad stress through mental health reasons and it stresses me out a lot plus the teaching at my school for Eco is atrocious (the teacher is old and forgets things on a frequent basis and our other teacher, who was also bad, left at Christmas so we currently have a GCSE Business Studies teacher teaching us the other half of Eco) which is also a factor to how much I hate it and how much it stresses me out. With all this in mind, do you think I should drop it? Is it worth it? Do you think I'd still be able to go to Uni for Business Psychology without any business related academic subject?
Thank you! (I am sorry for the long post but this has been on my mind for weeks and I am just searching for a wide range of answers to help with my decision).
So as far as I'm aware, AS is now a separate qualification and you can stop after AS and still get a qualification, but if you carry through to A2 you have to take all the AS exams again alongside A2.
The only uni I know of which requires a fourth AS is UCL; there may be others which I don't know about though. So other than that, it's not strictly necessary to have four AS subjects. These entry reqs may also change with the reforms as this was for 2016 entry.
The advantage of doing four is that if you come out with, say, BBCE or something, you can drop the E subject and carry on the three subjects you're best at. My cousin had this (AAAD). If you've done three and got BBE or AAD, you're stuck doing a subject you're not so great at, which will bring your results down.
That said, you do get to retake all of your exams so the results you get at AS might not look anything like your A2 results - you could get an E in your AS exams in year 12 and go up to a B in the same exams in year 13. Of course at this point you are revising for more exams, but you don't really have any choice in that.
Edit: forgot to mention that some unis that give out offers in terms of UCAS tariff points may also count AS qualifications towards the total.
The only uni I know of which requires a fourth AS is UCL; there may be others which I don't know about though. So other than that, it's not strictly necessary to have four AS subjects. These entry reqs may also change with the reforms as this was for 2016 entry.
The advantage of doing four is that if you come out with, say, BBCE or something, you can drop the E subject and carry on the three subjects you're best at. My cousin had this (AAAD). If you've done three and got BBE or AAD, you're stuck doing a subject you're not so great at, which will bring your results down.
That said, you do get to retake all of your exams so the results you get at AS might not look anything like your A2 results - you could get an E in your AS exams in year 12 and go up to a B in the same exams in year 13. Of course at this point you are revising for more exams, but you don't really have any choice in that.
Edit: forgot to mention that some unis that give out offers in terms of UCAS tariff points may also count AS qualifications towards the total.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by rachel x
So as far as I'm aware, AS is now a separate qualification and you can stop after AS and still get a qualification, but if you carry through to A2 you have to take all the AS exams again alongside A2.
The only uni I know of which requires a fourth AS is UCL; there may be others which I don't know about though. So other than that, it's not strictly necessary to have four AS subjects. These entry reqs may also change with the reforms as this was for 2016 entry.
The advantage of doing four is that if you come out with, say, BBCE or something, you can drop the E subject and carry on the three subjects you're best at. My cousin had this (AAAD). If you've done three and got BBE or AAD, you're stuck doing a subject you're not so great at, which will bring your results down.
That said, you do get to retake all of your exams so the results you get at AS might not look anything like your A2 results - you could get an E in your AS exams in year 12 and go up to a B in the same exams in year 13. Of course at this point you are revising for more exams, but you don't really have any choice in that.
Edit: forgot to mention that some unis that give out offers in terms of UCAS tariff points may also count AS qualifications towards the total.
The only uni I know of which requires a fourth AS is UCL; there may be others which I don't know about though. So other than that, it's not strictly necessary to have four AS subjects. These entry reqs may also change with the reforms as this was for 2016 entry.
The advantage of doing four is that if you come out with, say, BBCE or something, you can drop the E subject and carry on the three subjects you're best at. My cousin had this (AAAD). If you've done three and got BBE or AAD, you're stuck doing a subject you're not so great at, which will bring your results down.
That said, you do get to retake all of your exams so the results you get at AS might not look anything like your A2 results - you could get an E in your AS exams in year 12 and go up to a B in the same exams in year 13. Of course at this point you are revising for more exams, but you don't really have any choice in that.
Edit: forgot to mention that some unis that give out offers in terms of UCAS tariff points may also count AS qualifications towards the total.
I understand that but I was going to drop Economics anyway. I'm definitely doing Fine Art, Psychology and English Literature for A2 because they're what I'm doing best in and that was always the original plan, I'm just undecided about whether to drop Economics now (so I wouldn't actually have any AS exams this year as my other subjects are a two year course if I do drop Eco) or to continue it.
The 4th AS was never required. I only took 3 ASs and have all 5 uni offers. They really don't care because they judge you on 3 final A2s
Original post by lauren1346
I understand that but I was going to drop Economics anyway. I'm definitely doing Fine Art, Psychology and English Literature for A2 because they're what I'm doing best in and that was always the original plan, I'm just undecided about whether to drop Economics now (so I wouldn't actually have any AS exams this year as my other subjects are a two year course if I do drop Eco) or to continue it.
In that case I'd say go ahead and drop it - if you're doing a subject that you don't want to & not doing well in, you're going to have to spend valuable time trying to get a decent grade in that subject when you could be spending time getting great grades in your other 3.
Just to mention, though - I spent the entirety of AS hating Geography and doing terribly in it, but it was my highest result (although only 4%ish above my lowest - I got four of the same grade). So before you drop Economics, be absolutely 100% sure that's what you want.
Also keep in mind that if you are applying to unis which tend to give out offers based on UCAS points, an extra AS could give you an advantage if it is counted. It may be worth looking into unis you might apply to now and seeing whether they do (although I'm not sure you'll be able to see for all unis - my friend has an offer from Lincoln and had to email them to ask as they didn't clarify. The only reason that she realised AS might be counted is because her brother's AS was counted).
Also, look into the courses you might want to apply to and see if there are any required subjects. Check for all unis you're interested in as this will change from uni to uni! Some unis may say a business subject is "preferred" which may mean you have less chance of getting a place without Economics, but it won't mean you'll get automatically rejected - with a good PS and good grades in your other 3 subjects you should be fine.
If it helps any, I only took 3 A-Levels AND repeated year 12 and still got offers from Birmingham and Cardiff, among others. Unless you're planning on applying to Oxbridge/LSE you won't be at a disadvantage
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