Will 4 essay-writing A levels be too much?

I'm in year 11 in the moment and starting to choose my A levels. My school insists that everyone does 4 full A levels as well as the EPQ, and although I'm happy to do this, I'm worried that my choices would be too much work and wouldn't show enough variation for unis. My strength is definitely english and humanities subjects, so I was thinking of taking English Literature, RS, history and sociology or maybe politics. Is it a bad idea to do 4 essay writing subjects, will this be too much writing? I was thinking of doing psychology or biology instead of sociology or politcs, as I'm OK at science but my maths is really bad so I might fail it. My school doesn't offer any arty a Levels, only traditional subjects. Will my subjects be OK, or should I try and do a science?

Reply 1

xxx-ooo-xxx

12

I actually take English, RS, and Politics, you'll be fine with all the essays. Speaking as someone that does extra essays for 3 subjects, essays for 4 will be fine as long as you're a hard worker. I can't speak for History, but the three subjects work really nicely together and I often find myself making links between all of them.

Taking no sciences is perfectly alright, as long as you don't hope to go down that path at University or anything, which I assume you don't :smile:

Reply 2

Connor27

19

Original post by jsh55

I'm in year 11 in the moment and starting to choose my A levels. My school insists that everyone does 4 full A levels as well as the EPQ, and although I'm happy to do this, I'm worried that my choices would be too much work and wouldn't show enough variation for unis. My strength is definitely english and humanities subjects, so I was thinking of taking English Literature, RS, history and sociology or maybe politics. Is it a bad idea to do 4 essay writing subjects, will this be too much writing? I was thinking of doing psychology or biology instead of sociology or politcs, as I'm OK at science but my maths is really bad so I might fail it. My school doesn't offer any arty a Levels, only traditional subjects. Will my subjects be OK, or should I try and do a science?

I do Lit, History, Politics and French, and the workload is fine as long as you dedicate yourself to it and don't spend ages procrastinating and wasting time.

Reply 3

Connor27

19

Original post by jsh55

I'm in year 11 in the moment and starting to choose my A levels. My school insists that everyone does 4 full A levels as well as the EPQ, and although I'm happy to do this, I'm worried that my choices would be too much work and wouldn't show enough variation for unis. My strength is definitely english and humanities subjects, so I was thinking of taking English Literature, RS, history and sociology or maybe politics. Is it a bad idea to do 4 essay writing subjects, will this be too much writing? I was thinking of doing psychology or biology instead of sociology or politcs, as I'm OK at science but my maths is really bad so I might fail it. My school doesn't offer any arty a Levels, only traditional subjects. Will my subjects be OK, or should I try and do a science?

Also, do politics over sociology, the content is very similar but politics is much more respected by universities, sociology is literally in film studies tier.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 4

JN17

10

As someone who does 4 Maths/Science A-levels, I can say I definitely see those doing essay subjects doing a lot more work than myself or people doing similar subjects (at break/ in frees), if you enjoy it then go for it but don't underestimate the workload as it sucks having to study a subject you don't enjoy.

Reply 5

Dukula

12

Hello,
I don't think doing 4 essay Writing AL is too much but I would prefer if you would do psychology.
In my opinion, I think the following combination is the best for you.
COMBINATION
Politics - goes well with psychology
psychology
Sociology
Religious Studies (is OK) but is not required (maybe as an additional subject)

Reply 6

rosie.mn

14

Original post by jsh55

I'm in year 11 in the moment and starting to choose my A levels. My school insists that everyone does 4 full A levels as well as the EPQ, and although I'm happy to do this, I'm worried that my choices would be too much work and wouldn't show enough variation for unis. My strength is definitely english and humanities subjects, so I was thinking of taking English Literature, RS, history and sociology or maybe politics. Is it a bad idea to do 4 essay writing subjects, will this be too much writing? I was thinking of doing psychology or biology instead of sociology or politcs, as I'm OK at science but my maths is really bad so I might fail it. My school doesn't offer any arty a Levels, only traditional subjects. Will my subjects be OK, or should I try and do a science?

I do 4 a level subjects and EPQ and all my subjects are essay based. I do philosophy, politics, history and English lit. I'd say you'll be fine RS, Sociology and Politics are easier essay based subjects that don't require as much work so you should be fine. Don't do a science if you won't enjoy it - also psychology is a lot harder than sociology anyway, so yeah - I'd say your choices are fine.

Reply 7

Mystery.

21

Nothing is too much unless you let it be. You can do it if you think you can do it, I say go for it.

As for your subject choices, look at courses and see if there's any specific requirements for a science or not.

Reply 8

SuperSauce

6

Your options are all good. I've done all of these subjects and as long as you do the work, it shouldn't be that bad.

Reply 9

Aklaol

12

Original post by Connor27

Also, do politics over sociology, the content is very similar but politics is much more respected by universities, sociology is literally in film studies tier.

It amuses me how you think that doing Politics over Sociology would actually make a significant difference in this person's life.

OP: Don't get put off by these individuals, they think that the only way into a top university is by doing 4 highly respected facilitating subjects, and this simply isn't the case. Do what makes you happy, because studying a subject you dislike will be one of your biggest regrets. I can't really comment too much about essay subjects since I do Maths, Computer Science, Photography, Media Studies and EPQ, but I definitely know that picking subjects that you genuinely like is an extremely import factor for a successful student.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 10

wookie123456

I am doing RS English and Sociology (dropped History in year 12) and there's no need to be concerned you'll be fine. Because you do it within other subjects it almost becomes routine and you begin to get used to it after a while.

Reply 11

ConfusedSnowball

13

Hey there. Just wanted to say, in terms of psychology - it is very much an essay subject. There's some debate over whether it is a science or not, but I don't really feel that the way it is taught at a level is like a science; the types of questions in fact remind me of history questions from GCSE (4 marks, then 8 marks, then 12 marks etc) I'd say, look into it, see if you find it interesting and can cope with another essay subject. Absolutely do not take a science you will not enjoy, because you feel it will be more respected by unis, or because you don't want to take 4 essay based subjects - as I say, psychology is very much an essay based subject! Good luck choosing!

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Reply 12

harry293

2

Original post by jsh55

I'm in year 11 in the moment and starting to choose my A levels. My school insists that everyone does 4 full A levels as well as the EPQ, and although I'm happy to do this, I'm worried that my choices would be too much work and wouldn't show enough variation for unis. My strength is definitely english and humanities subjects, so I was thinking of taking English Literature, RS, history and sociology or maybe politics. Is it a bad idea to do 4 essay writing subjects, will this be too much writing? I was thinking of doing psychology or biology instead of sociology or politcs, as I'm OK at science but my maths is really bad so I might fail it. My school doesn't offer any arty a Levels, only traditional subjects. Will my subjects be OK, or should I try and do a science?

I would do what you are best at so if English and Humanities are your strengths focus on these subjects. However, if you are forced to do four full A-levels I might do three Englishy ones and one slightly less difficult one that you are also fairly good at. If you are good at science then give it a go but most are pretty difficult.

Will 4 essay-writing A levels be too much?

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