Is A LEVEL Psychology hard?!

Hey guys! This is my 3rd week of Psychology as I am new to the AS but for some reason I am finding it very hard to cope with the amount of information you have to remember :frown:

Reply 1

IzzyLouise

What else are you taking? Cause that might help decide as some topics overlap possibly?

Reply 2

gdunne42

Original post by A* levels

Hey guys! This is my 3rd week of Psychology as I am new to the AS but for some reason I am finding it very hard to cope with the amount of information you have to remember :frown:

I can't comment on RS as I know anything about it but biology, chemistry and history would be just as challenging as you are finding psychology.

Talk to your teachers about how you are studying and see if they can make some suggestions on how you could approach the work differently.

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(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 3

kirstybecs

I did biology and psychology at AS and found psychology to be a hell of a lot easier even though there seemed to be much more information to recall. I know people who did psychology/biology/chemistry and out of those, they found the hardest to be chemistry and I know someone who did psychology/history and dropped history.

I don't know anyone who did RE but from my experiences, it seems people think psychology is one of the easier/more enjoyable courses. Of course, it's ultimately down to you and what you enjoy since ease is subjective (+ subjects seem easier if you enjoy them)

Reply 4

A* levels

Original post by IzzyLouise

What else are you taking? Cause that might help decide as some topics overlap possibly?

I am taking Business Studies, Maths, and going to do Russian A level in one year so thats from 2017

Reply 5

A* levels

Original post by gdunne42

The teachers in there don't give useful suggestions because they are too scared that if I listen to them and end up doing the wrong A levels they will get blamed for it

Reply 6

IzzyLouise

Original post by A* levels

I am taking Business Studies, Maths, and going to do Russian A level in one year so thats from 2017

Well I am doing my second year of Maths, Psychology and Biology (and dropped Chemistry after AS) and personally I think Biology has the same amount to remember as Psychology but the concepts are originally trickier but fine once you get them (although it is WAAAYYYY more boring in my opinion) but Chemistry is HELL! I hated it the entire year because it isn't just remembering, you actually need to be really smart.

Reply 7

gdunne42

Original post by A* levels

The teachers in there don't give useful suggestions because they are too scared that if I listen to them and end up doing the wrong A levels they will get blamed for it

They are absolutely right to make it totally your decision on which subjects to take.
My suggestion was to talk to them about how you are approaching psychology study to see if there are things you could do to improve the efficiency or effectiveness of what at you are doing.

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Reply 8

2016KK

It depends on your exam board. I do edexcel psychology and it's pretty easy compared to other exam boards. I think if you enjoy the subject and you're doing edexcel, continue with it. Also since it's a new spec, the grade boundaries may be low. I hear RS is an "easy" A Level too. I take chemistry and I find it really hard because I'm weak at maths. Biology also has a lot of content just like psychology!

Reply 9

Hazel99

[QUOTE=A* levels;67756796]Hey guys! This is my 3rd week of Psychology as I am new to the AS but for some reason I am finding it very hard to cope with the amount of information you have to remember :frown:

I asked the head of sixth form if I can change it, the person said I can change it to biology,chemistry,RE or History. I hated History GCSE and scrapped a C but in Bio and Chem I got a B in. However, I hear that Chemistry is one of the hardest A level subjects to take. What should I do, should i stick with psychology or change it to something else, I just want the easiest as my 3rd A level does not matter to me as long as I get an A in it to get into a Russell Group Uni. Thanks!

Hi, I do both psychology and Chemistry (I got a B at GCSE) , in opinion psychology is much easier to get a A in , as long as you can do good essays and have good structure. However if you find learning knowledge that is given to you and really good at maths maybe chemistry is for you.

Reply 10

Slushy

Well from my experience, the key of doing good in psychology is being committed to it, that is revising as you go along and not cramming in last minute otherwise you'd have so much to remember and it can get a bit overbearing sometimes. Ive done history at As but dropped it as I found it to be harder than my other A levels. Can't comment on the rest but my friends doing chemistry and biology are struggling with it. How about looking into something easier like sociology and yeah consider Rs too.

Reply 11

ForcomeAnarchist

Psychology and Biology require you to take in a lot of context, especially in 2nd year (my ex did psychology and she used to have notes upon notes)...so in this case, time management is crucial when writing essays and allowing yourself time to go through the mountain of topics that are within.
Chemistry, from my point of view is hard, but have a look at some of the material on the internet before making your mind up.

Spoiler

Reply 12

User1473160

I do biology, chemistry and psychology and i find psychology the hardest because it's basically just memorisation... and it's a lot especially since it is now AS and A2 content all together. So if you are good at memorising then keep at it, but if you enjoy more of understanding the topic and answer questions that require deep understanding of things, choose biology or chemistry. Chemistry is difficult but it really depends on what your strengths are.

(I would personally take the opportunity to drop it now)

Reply 13

username2183021

Biology has a mountain of information you have to memorise, not as much as psychology, but the exams are surprisingly tough. Chemistry has less memorisation, but the exams are harder than bio and psych.

They're all hard subjects for their own reasons. Think about what you want to do in the future and which is most relevant to your interests.

Reply 14

AfcFob

I found biology much easier than psychology last year, I got an A in Bio and a B in psychology (at AS). I hated psychology so much that I've had to drop it for A2 as I just could not have coped with it for another year.