Is this combination of A levels ok?

Hey

I've been thinking about which A levels to take once I begin year 12. I have decided to take English literature, Religious Studies and Law. My school doesn't offer a forth option only three due to the reforms. Some of my friends from other schools think it's a weak combination but after looking at Cambridge's facilitating subjects list, two of my subjects: English Lit and RS where considered as suitable with law considered "limited suitability".
http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/admissions/ug/apply/a-level-combinations

But what do you think?
I have the option of taking Maths A level too and I've been advised to do so after I was told English Literature, Maths and Law would look more impressive than English Lit, RS and Law though I'm more interested in religious studies.

Reply 1

perspectives

Don't bother taking maths unless it's essential for something you want to do. English lit and RS fit well because they're both kind of humanity/essay subjects. Everyone thinks maths is really impressive but in my opinion you shouldn't take it unless you need it for a career path- don't take it unless you actually have to and want to. Also it's not like you're taking something not academic- RS is a good A level so stick with it haha.

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Reply 2

BubbleLover98

History would be quite good also with those subjects, have you considered it?

Reply 3

returnmigrant

What do you intend to do with these A levels?

Who exactly are you trying to 'impress'?

Reply 4

Sandtrooper

Volunteer Team

RS is probably more prestigious than Law.

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Reply 5

Doones

Original post by AngelvsRebel

Hey

That's not actually Cambridge's view - it's Trinity. Just one specific college at Cambridge.

Here's the Cambridge suggestion:
http://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/subjectmatters.pdf

(Your choices are fine.)

Reply 6

DauntlessOne

Pal, I don't know much about A-levels but I'd say ask yourself this, what do you believe that the university bigwigs are going to be impressed by? The more academic the better such as, maths, English lit and or language, finance, history etc. You want to pick A-levels that compliment and work well with each other. What kind of career do you have in mind anyway if you don't mind me asking? It would help us give much better advice on what to take buddy :smile:

Reply 7

AngelvsRebel

Original post by BubbleLover98

History would be quite good also with those subjects, have you considered it?

Yea, I've thought about taking History and originally I had applied to take it with English Literature and Law. But the sixth form I've applied to requires GCSE History before I can take A level History and because I had taken Geography instead, when I went to the open day and interview I was told I couldn't do the subject at A level. But thanks for the suggestion :smile:

Reply 8

returnmigrant

Original post by DauntlessOne

what do you believe that the university bigwigs are going to be impressed by?

It isnt about being 'impressed' - its about what subjects are *required* for the subject you apply for. You will only find this out by checking a variety of Uni websites for the subjects or courses you are interested in.

Reply 9

AngelvsRebel

Original post by Edminzodo

RS is probably more prestigious than Law.

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Yea, so I've heard. Religious studies actually seems difficult. Why I had chosen Religious studies A level was because I sat the GCSE exam early in year 10 and managed to get an A grade. However A level seems to be on a completely new level to where everything seems foreign. It's entirely different. I've never studied Philosophy before and after looking at the text book I'm seeing so many theories, many Greek terms and philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant and Humes. I was hoping for more English terms and no many theories lol

Reply 10

DauntlessOne

Original post by returnmigrant

Yes take what you need to take as a prerequisite to the career you would like, but why not go the extra mile and do a little bit extra curricular to stand out from the crowd. It is an extremely over-crowded job market, full of people with the exact same goals, the exact same intentions and the exact same qualifications.

Reply 11

AngelvsRebel

Original post by returnmigrant

What do you intend to do with these A levels?

Who exactly are you trying to 'impress'?

I would like to study Politics and international relations at university but I'm also interested in taking business management too because I'd like to own a business one day and heard it could help. The thing is, many prestigious universities such as LSE want Maths A level for Business mange..so thought maybe I should take Maths A level to keep my options opened in case I no longer want to study Politics and international relations but business.
I don't know lol I think it's an ego thing, wanting to push myself and impressing my family and friends. My dad was so happy when I said I may take Maths A level since my late grandpa was a maths teacher. I know it sounds petty but yea. Either way, I think it's about the grades I get. I feel like with Religious studies I have more chance of getting an A* at the end than with Maths.

Reply 12

AngelvsRebel

Original post by jneill

Oh, thank you :h:

Just checked it out.

Reply 13

AngelvsRebel

Original post by DauntlessOne

Hello,
I'm interested in taking politics and international relations at the moment which has no specific subjects needed to study the course. But I'm also interested in Business management though not as much with politics & international relations. I'd love to do some humanitarian work, hopefully work in the United nations or open an non profit organisation to help war victims etc. I'm just very interested in helping the world and its people.

Reply 14

DauntlessOne

Hey again! Ok now we have clarified what you are interested in, now you have to ask yourself who exactly do you want to help, disadvantaged people in your community struggling to make ends-meat? Or people in far away war-torn lands? If you're dead set on humanitarian aid, I'd say avoid the Middle East, as its to damn dangerous at the moment, however you could always do some community building in Africa, building schools and infrastructure.

Anyway back to the first and foremost, you say you are interested in politics and business management, which funnily enough is my area of interest too 😄. You could take government and politics A-level, which if you are interested in politics will give you a real idea of how politics all works and of course is helpful for a career in working your way up the political ladder, you would have to join a party of course and be elected to run for a constituency and win and go from there. As for business management I would say possible either A-level finance, which will help your career prospects and employability in more ways then one. Or you could go for the less specialised more broader A-level business management. Presuming the place you will be studying cater to such qualifications. And relating to your desire to help others, you could possibly take psychology A-level, this will hypothetically help towards "international relations" and your capacity to help a greater number of people.

All these three A-levels compliment each other well both in the doors they can open for you will be worth the workload. Furthermore I would say don't overstretch yourself because you will quite easily crack under the workload, trust me I've seen it happen to a few school friends this year. Hope this helped :smile:

. If you still need advice just ask, I'm glad to help, good luck.

Reply 15

Dabo_26

Original post by AngelvsRebel

Hey

Don't listen to the others, Maths is a good subject to take, just be prepared to spend hours doing constant maths sums, then you will be fine,

Trinity especially is quite picky with subject choices, and would perhaps see RS as an inferior qualification. Maths would look better in their eyes, but if you are not willing to put hours of work into it, then don't do it.