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4 A-Levels???

was wondering if taking biology chemistry geography and psychology would be a good idea as I want to take all four but not sure if the workload would be too much? if you have any experience with any of these subjects please let me know how you felt with the workload :smile:

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Well it depends on what you want to study in the future, what do you want to do? Then I can help you more
Reply 2
would love to do medicine but also interested in law but my A-level choices constitute a more scientific field of study so I'm leaning more towards medicine/biochemistry
Original post by Myproofistoobig
Well it depends on what you want to study in the future, what do you want to do? Then I can help you more
Don't stress yourself. Take 3. Seems like a good choice already. Geography may be easier than psychology
Firstly make sure you want to do medicine. It is a 6ish year course, very competitive and challenging and you must be sure you want to do it - just wanting good pay will not get you through it. One of my friends applied for medicine and one uni for biology and got rejected from ALL medicine unis because he messed up an entrance exam. But if you do like it, it will be a great time and a rewarding career choice.

For medicine you would definitely need chemistry, and biology would be a good pick so choose those two. Psychology is not very useful from what I have heard for most subjects although it may be interesting. Another good subject is maths as maths is useful for a lot of subjects, but the new maths A-Level is very stressful and the exams are so much harder now.

I do chemistry and there is a lot to remember, but it's quite interesting and if you really pay attention in class and do ALL homework and extra revision, it will all sink in and it won't be that bad in the end.

I don't do biology but many people find it hard because it's a heavily written question exam, so if your answer doesn't match the mark scheme it will be tough to get marks. Im pretty sure an A* was like 65% for AQA biology last year.

The best thing to do would be to take 4 A-levels and start learning this summer to get a head start in class and ahead of everyone.
Reply 5
wouldn't taking 3 science-based subjects plus a humanities subject look good to universities though

the career advisor at school says that for courses like medicine variation in the subjects you take improves how your application looks as it proves you're able to do a variety of skills
Original post by Madethistohelp99
Don't stress yourself. Take 3. Seems like a good choice already. Geography may be easier than psychology
Reply 6
I do biology, chemistry and maths and I took physics when I was doing AS but I dropped it. 4 A levels are too much and u will be very stressed all the time for them. Just take 3 and concentrate on them. So instead of getting As in 4 subject u can get A* in three. Also the new Linear A-levels are so much harder than the old spec so it is harder now to get good grades. U also said that u r interested in medicine, so u will be doing volunteering, work experience, BMAT, UKCAT, personal statement and interviews. I am not trying to make it impossible for u but I am just telling u the reality from experience and from someone that went through the stress of applying medicine.
Reply 7
I'm pretty interested in the study of anatomy and the human body so medicine seemed like a good choice and I suppose the good pay is more of an afterthought for me.

I definitely want to take bio and chem and I would take maths however I've heard way too many horror stories stemming from the horrific maths exams so I'm going to pass on that haha

Our school does OCR A biology which is apparently a nicer exam for biology compared to Edexcel and AQA but that probably means the grade boundaries are higher for OCR

I was already planning on learning some keywords and definitions for biology in the summer and I could probably learn case study facts for psychology as well as geography so I would have a definite headstart for September which may reduce the workload if I *did* do 4 A-levels
Original post by Myproofistoobig
Firstly make sure you want to do medicine. It is a 6ish year course, very competitive and challenging and you must be sure you want to do it - just wanting good pay will not get you through it. One of my friends applied for medicine and one uni for biology and got rejected from ALL medicine unis because he messed up an entrance exam. But if you do like it, it will be a great time and a rewarding career choice.

For medicine you would definitely need chemistry, and biology would be a good pick so choose those two. Psychology is not very useful from what I have heard for most subjects although it may be interesting. Another good subject is maths as maths is useful for a lot of subjects, but the new maths A-Level is very stressful and the exams are so much harder now.

I do chemistry and there is a lot to remember, but it's quite interesting and if you really pay attention in class and do ALL homework and extra revision, it will all sink in and it won't be that bad in the end.

I don't do biology but many people find it hard because it's a heavily written question exam, so if your answer doesn't match the mark scheme it will be tough to get marks. Im pretty sure an A* was like 65% for AQA biology last year.

The best thing to do would be to take 4 A-levels and start learning this summer to get a head start in class and ahead of everyone.
unis dont care about 4 a levels, youll literally be wasting your time and potentially jeopardising your grades. for medicine unis are impressed by volunteering, work experience, strong academic profiles and strong aptitude test results, so focus on those. 4 AS subjects is defo manageable for y12 but when you get to year 13 it'll be so much work. first half of y13 is aptitude tests and interviews, you dont have time to be juggling 4 subjects.
hi deliciate
majority of med school applicants have done three. The personal statement makes you stand out a lot, so I would consider doing a variety of medicine related work experience. Try to also Include working at a care home.


Original post by gxbbv
wouldn't taking 3 science-based subjects plus a humanities subject look good to universities though

the career advisor at school says that for courses like medicine variation in the subjects you take improves how your application looks as it proves you're able to do a variety of skills
i do ocr biology a, key definitions and keywords barely help for the subject lol, the content is mammoth compared to gcses. ask your teachers if you can look at the a level biology textbooks to see for yourself. plus the exams are super applied. grade boundaries are relatively low, one of the papers last year was 51% for an A and 60% for an A*, which goes to show how difficult the exams are. biology is a demonic subject, the workload is torturous for AS and then you have to learn A2 content AND AS content for year 13, it's not fun.
Original post by tereziscool
hi deliciate


hi terez u creepy stalker :tongue:
Reply 13
My school is pushing me towards 4 A-levels as I'm predicted mostly 7's,8's and 9's in my GCSEs and I'm fairly sure I've achieved these grades in all my subjects but I know for certain that there would be a lot of work if I did do 4 A-levels so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place haha

I've already started my volunteering/experience (school let all prospective med students go on a trip to a hospital and shadow some nurses) but I guess the studying for BMAT and UKCAT would also be quite overwhelming
Original post by Dr..D
I do biology, chemistry and maths and I took physics when I was doing AS but I dropped it. 4 A levels are too much and u will be very stressed all the time for them. Just take 3 and concentrate on them. So instead of getting As in 4 subject u can get A* in three. Also the new Linear A-levels are so much harder than the old spec so it is harder now to get good grades. U also said that u r interested in medicine, so u will be doing volunteering, work experience, BMAT, UKCAT, personal statement and interviews. I am not trying to make it impossible for u but I am just telling u the reality from experience and from someone that went through the stress of applying medicine.
Reply 14
i do geography and chemistry, and i say the workload for humanities is a lot greater than sciences than humanities. In sciences you go to lesson, understand content, make revision resources, then answer questions on it. But in humanities there is a lot of note taking, essay writing, etc. I wouldn't recommend taking geography if you're considering law or medicine. Just do 3 a levels, and an EPQ instead is a better choice.
I do four A levels, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and History. Personally I have found biology relatively easy, but there is a lot to remember. I find for Chemistry there is even more to remember than Biology and more problem solving is needed. I agree with previous posts that taking fourth A level is a bit pointless, as my History A level isn't even included in my firm offer. However, if you think that you have enough passion for those subjects to put the extra work in and simply want to take the fourth to further your knowledge, go for it. Although applying for medicine itself has probably been as much work an extra A level this year, with all the interviews, work experience and entrance exams.
Original post by Examsareoversoon
I do four A levels, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and History. Personally I have found biology relatively easy, but there is a lot to remember. I find for Chemistry there is even more to remember than Biology and more problem solving is needed. I agree with previous posts that taking fourth A level is a bit pointless, as my History A level isn't even included in my firm offer. However, if you think that you have enough passion for those subjects to put the extra work in and simply want to take the fourth to further your knowledge, go for it. Although applying for medicine itself has probably been as much work an extra A level this year, with all the interviews, work experience and entrance exams.

fr medicine application process is literally an extra a level subject oml. props to you for finding bio easy, if only i felt the same way
Reply 17
Original post by Deliciate
fr medicine application process is literally an extra a level subject oml. props to you for finding bio easy, if only i felt the same way


same I was reading it and I was like it is the hardest for me lol
I guess it's just compared to some of the horrors of physics!
Original post by Dr..D
same I was reading it and I was like it is the hardest for me lol
I’m taking 4; maths, further maths, physics and geography. You can definitely handle 4 if you put the work in and you can always drop one in the second year. It’s definitely worth taking all 4 if you’re not sure.

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