History or Maths A level??????

Universities Forum Helper

Well History fits your other options, as well as your potential university courses. I don't see why would pick anything but History given those, particularly as it is so advantageous for many languages, law, and politics courses, and required for history.

Reply 2

zlwarner24

2

which one did you prefer at gcse? which do you find easier? either maths or history would look good on a uni application, but look at course requirements and see if a history A-Level is compulsory. From friends who did Politics A-Level, I'm lead to believe theres lots of history dealt with in the course anyway. Maths I personally think is a good subject for anyone to take, but if you got less than an A at GCSE it will require quite a bit of work. I can't talk for History as I havent studied it at all past year 9😂

Reply 3

username3180692

17

History seems like the most sensible choice since that is kinda what you want to study so i say history... @Idku

Reply 4

artful_lounger

21

I would be inclined to recommend History, for the same reasons already mentioned. Maths doesn't really add anything to your overall portfolio of A-levels, and isn't particularly relevant unless you're interested in e.g. Computational Linguistics.

Whether Maths is "harder" or "easier" depends entirely on yourself, but it's a very different style and generally requires more consistent (i.e. daily/weekly) work than essay subjects (where you can occasionally "slack" for a week and pick up the reading the next week, as long as you power through the "crunch times" where you have multiple essays due over a couple weeks or similar).

Reply 5

OP

Original post by xBasedChris

Well History fits your other options, as well as your potential university courses. I don't see why would pick anything but History given those, particularly as it is so advantageous for many languages, law, and politics courses, and required for history.

thanks for your reply.
I wouldn't mind doing history except i'm scared that four essay based subjects might be too much work. what subjects do you do?

Reply 6

OP

Original post by zlwarner24

which one did you prefer at gcse? which do you find easier? either maths or history would look good on a uni application, but look at course requirements and see if a history A-Level is compulsory. From friends who did Politics A-Level, I'm lead to believe theres lots of history dealt with in the course anyway. Maths I personally think is a good subject for anyone to take, but if you got less than an A at GCSE it will require quite a bit of work. I can't talk for History as I havent studied it at all past year 9😂

tysm for your reply!! I think I liked maths and history equally as much at gcse and i get the same grades for both of them😂😂 I'm predicted 8/A* for both but i keep reconsidering which one to do, I feel like if i do maths i will miss history and vice versa. do you do maths at alevel?

Reply 7

OP

Original post by artful_lounger

I would be inclined to recommend History, for the same reasons already mentioned. Maths doesn't really add anything to your overall portfolio of A-levels, and isn't particularly relevant unless you're interested in e.g. Computational Linguistics.

Whether Maths is "harder" or "easier" depends entirely on yourself, but it's a very different style and generally requires more consistent (i.e. daily/weekly) work than essay subjects (where you can occasionally "slack" for a week and pick up the reading the next week, as long as you power through the "crunch times" where you have multiple essays due over a couple weeks or similar).

I'm not completely sure what i wanna study at university that's why im confused which one would be better. because say if i change my mind and want to study something like economics, wouldnt i need maths for that? what a levels do you do? would you recommend doing four mainly essay based subjects?

Reply 8

xBasedChris

Original post by Idku

tysm for your reply!! I think I liked maths and history equally as much at gcse and i get the same grades for both of them😂😂 I'm predicted 8/A* for both but i keep reconsidering which one to do, I feel like if i do maths i will miss history and vice versa. do you do maths at alevel?

I did History but not Maths. I got a D in Maths GCSE (Bumped up to a C in the November resit) but an A* in History. You can probably guess my attitudes towards them as subjects, so the choice wasn't particularly difficult! It does seem like History will be the best choice given your aspirations.

Reply 9

OP

Original post by xBasedChris

I did History but not Maths. I got a D in Maths GCSE (Bumped up to a C in the November resit) but an A* in History. You can probably guess my attitudes towards them as subjects, so the choice wasn't particularly difficult! It does seem like History will be the best choice given your aspirations.

How hard did you find history at a level? also, does the coursework require a lot of work and do you have to do it at school or at home?

Reply 10

xBasedChris

Original post by Idku

How hard did you find history at a level? also, does the coursework require a lot of work and do you have to do it at school or at home?

I only did it to AS, and it was certainly a step up from GCSE. I got an A in my AS. There was simply a lot more information to be aware of with A-Level, more so than any other subject IMO. I recall my A-Level textbook for Henry II and the Crusades being many times thicker than my GCSE textbook. As I recall, my friends who did the coursework did it both at home and at school.

Reply 11

OP

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by xBasedChris

I only did it to AS, and it was certainly a step up from GCSE. I got an A in my AS. There was simply a lot more information to be aware of with A-Level, more so than any other subject IMO. I recall my A-Level textbook for Henry II and the Crusades being many times thicker than my GCSE textbook. As I recall, my friends who did the coursework did it both at home and at school.

I think i might just do history as i will probably enjoy it more, thanks for your help!! :smile:

Reply 12

artful_lounger

21

Original post by Idku

I'm not completely sure what i wanna study at university that's why im confused which one would be better. because say if i change my mind and want to study something like economics, wouldnt i need maths for that? what a levels do you do? would you recommend doing four mainly essay based subjects?

Yes, economics normally requires Maths - and even if not, it's a good idea to take it. However you've made no indication of interest in economics, and your subject choices don't really suggest an interest particularly in that area either at present.

If that is a consideration I would recommend taking both history and maths, as these are usually considered excellent preparation for economics. I would suggest taking out psychology or french from your options to fit them in, as neither is particularly more relevant or useful for those courses.

Reply 13

zlwarner24

2

Original post by Idku

tysm for your reply!! I think I liked maths and history equally as much at gcse and i get the same grades for both of them😂😂 I'm predicted 8/A* for both but i keep reconsidering which one to do, I feel like if i do maths i will miss history and vice versa. do you do maths at alevel?

I did, get the results next week 😬 I got an A* at GCSE and a B last year at AS, though it was the statistics module that brought me down. Though challenging at times I felt that Maths was really rewarding.
Whichever you pick, you wont be at any disadvantage, so I guess don't worry too much about it, you'll probably get a clearer idea of preference post GCSE results :smile:

Reply 14

username1292215

22

Original post by Idku

thanks for your reply.
I wouldn't mind doing history except i'm scared that four essay based subjects might be too much work. what subjects do you do?

I do 4 essay based subjects (in a school that sets lot of hwk) it is very manageable :smile:

Reply 15

DrSocSciences

19

The volume of material for History is insane. But if you're comfortable handling that, as well as a fairly essay-heavy combo, then that's my recommendation given your targeted course.

Reply 16

GoldenLotus