Engineering at a Russell Group - Am I taking the wrong subjects?
I started my A-Levels in September. I currently am taking Physics, Maths, Further Maths and Sociology however have had a rollercoaster in the subjects I have taken:
Started wanting to do politics, wasn't in the option block, wanted to do computer science, too few applicants to run the course, wanted to do economics, they said the class was full, added chemistry instead, forgot how much I hated it at GCSE, now I am doing sociology.
I started a month later than everybody else and didn't do it at GCSE therefore it has been a bit disheartening when I hear people using terms I am unfamiliar with, such as functionalism, seeing only I and one or two others did not do it at GCSE. I achieved good grades at GCSE (all 8s and 9s) and even though they are not a measure of intelligence, they reassure me that I am not completely clueless, even though I feel that way a lot.
My issue is that sociology has 0 relevance to what I am studying and want to study in the future (engineering at Durham or Cambridge, possibly an Ivy League). And what I have got from reading other forums is that it isn't entirely respected, unless it has a relevance to what you want to pursue at uni, e.g. a social science. I don't hate it but a kind of dread going to lessons. I chose it because I want to do an essay subject alongside the maths and science because I don't want the skills I developed at GCSE to be wasted and because I did better in essay subjects that my sciences at GCSE, I may become disinterested doing sciences everyday for 2 years. I could do English but I don't want to because with 3 other subejcts and the amount of dedication required, I may not do as well as I could.
I could try and present my situation with sociology when applying to unis and say it was important to me to improve my skills in various aspects (e.g. analytical skills and problem solving skills) and just do an AS if it is too difficult, because it is very content heavy, or say it teaches me about the world around me and it is not only important to have a passion for my studies and future pursuits, but be passionate about the environments I encounter? (I guess it is a bit of a spin on the normal process of seeing those who do physics, maths, further and something else like chemistry or biology or economics?
Others say a uni will not care what I do, as long as I have a maths, further maths and physics, and a good grade in the 4th subject.
I want to do economics or computer science. Economics is an essay subject more relevant to my subjects and something I could pursue in the future possibly (I don't think I'll ever fall out of love with physics unless I can't cope with it) and I did computer science at GCSE and I loved it, other than programming
. I genuinely cannot think of any subject I would love to do more than computer science even though the computational thinking was really difficult (I didn't have the best teacher, so I self taught sometimes, so this may change).
I struggled to find my feet at my current school but have made a group of friends that I enjoy myself with. I sometimes am not entirely ecstatic on some days, because my friends aren't the kind who have sleepovers and hang out at each others houses, which is what I wanted (most people at my school are house party people who drink and smoke and take drugs and that really isn't my scene, so to find people like me wasn't easy). The problem is that a lot of friendship groups have been established by this point and a move to a new school, especially as someone who is only extroverted when comfortable with people and shy when meeting new people, may leave me as an outcast in the new environment. I have spoken to a good school who said all they need is my results and passport and I could be admitted.
Do I change schools are start economics or CS, or stick with sociology at my current school?
Started wanting to do politics, wasn't in the option block, wanted to do computer science, too few applicants to run the course, wanted to do economics, they said the class was full, added chemistry instead, forgot how much I hated it at GCSE, now I am doing sociology.
I started a month later than everybody else and didn't do it at GCSE therefore it has been a bit disheartening when I hear people using terms I am unfamiliar with, such as functionalism, seeing only I and one or two others did not do it at GCSE. I achieved good grades at GCSE (all 8s and 9s) and even though they are not a measure of intelligence, they reassure me that I am not completely clueless, even though I feel that way a lot.
My issue is that sociology has 0 relevance to what I am studying and want to study in the future (engineering at Durham or Cambridge, possibly an Ivy League). And what I have got from reading other forums is that it isn't entirely respected, unless it has a relevance to what you want to pursue at uni, e.g. a social science. I don't hate it but a kind of dread going to lessons. I chose it because I want to do an essay subject alongside the maths and science because I don't want the skills I developed at GCSE to be wasted and because I did better in essay subjects that my sciences at GCSE, I may become disinterested doing sciences everyday for 2 years. I could do English but I don't want to because with 3 other subejcts and the amount of dedication required, I may not do as well as I could.
I could try and present my situation with sociology when applying to unis and say it was important to me to improve my skills in various aspects (e.g. analytical skills and problem solving skills) and just do an AS if it is too difficult, because it is very content heavy, or say it teaches me about the world around me and it is not only important to have a passion for my studies and future pursuits, but be passionate about the environments I encounter? (I guess it is a bit of a spin on the normal process of seeing those who do physics, maths, further and something else like chemistry or biology or economics?
Others say a uni will not care what I do, as long as I have a maths, further maths and physics, and a good grade in the 4th subject.
I want to do economics or computer science. Economics is an essay subject more relevant to my subjects and something I could pursue in the future possibly (I don't think I'll ever fall out of love with physics unless I can't cope with it) and I did computer science at GCSE and I loved it, other than programming
. I genuinely cannot think of any subject I would love to do more than computer science even though the computational thinking was really difficult (I didn't have the best teacher, so I self taught sometimes, so this may change).I struggled to find my feet at my current school but have made a group of friends that I enjoy myself with. I sometimes am not entirely ecstatic on some days, because my friends aren't the kind who have sleepovers and hang out at each others houses, which is what I wanted (most people at my school are house party people who drink and smoke and take drugs and that really isn't my scene, so to find people like me wasn't easy). The problem is that a lot of friendship groups have been established by this point and a move to a new school, especially as someone who is only extroverted when comfortable with people and shy when meeting new people, may leave me as an outcast in the new environment. I have spoken to a good school who said all they need is my results and passport and I could be admitted.
Do I change schools are start economics or CS, or stick with sociology at my current school?
None of those subjects will affect your application for engineering if it’s general engineering or mechanical expect chemical engineering which requires chemistry.
Tbh this was really long to read but basically choose you like to do. You need 3 but if you want to do 4, do it on something you like and your plan of what to do with that 4th is good in case you like it or not. If you’re more concerned about your social life in school, don’t worry about not having any friends in school because you’re bound to find someone who will first to introduce themselves and you can always have someone to talk about within your subjects.
Even though sociology isn’t relevant to engineering you could always link what skills you learnt in your personal statement to show what you have as a student. The others that say a uni will do not care about the 4th subject as long it’s a good grade I agree because they’ll make an offer with what your current predicted grades was.
Tbh this was really long to read but basically choose you like to do. You need 3 but if you want to do 4, do it on something you like and your plan of what to do with that 4th is good in case you like it or not. If you’re more concerned about your social life in school, don’t worry about not having any friends in school because you’re bound to find someone who will first to introduce themselves and you can always have someone to talk about within your subjects.
Even though sociology isn’t relevant to engineering you could always link what skills you learnt in your personal statement to show what you have as a student. The others that say a uni will do not care about the 4th subject as long it’s a good grade I agree because they’ll make an offer with what your current predicted grades was.
Original post by ajj2000
I got confused about what you want to take at university. Engineering? CS? Economics? Anyway, your choices are fine for any of these. See how you are getting on a the end of the year and decide whether to drop an A level.
It's either engineering or computer science. I took it for GCSE and looking at past papers, even though it may change, it looks like I could do well in it, and it was one of my favourite subjects at GCSE.
Original post by PetitePanda
None of those subjects will affect your application for engineering if it’s general engineering or mechanical expect chemical engineering which requires chemistry.
Tbh this was really long to read but basically choose you like to do. You need 3 but if you want to do 4, do it on something you like and your plan of what to do with that 4th is good in case you like it or not. If you’re more concerned about your social life in school, don’t worry about not having any friends in school because you’re bound to find someone who will first to introduce themselves and you can always have someone to talk about within your subjects.
Even though sociology isn’t relevant to engineering you could always link what skills you learnt in your personal statement to show what you have as a student. The others that say a uni will do not care about the 4th subject as long it’s a good grade I agree because they’ll make an offer with what your current predicted grades was.
Tbh this was really long to read but basically choose you like to do. You need 3 but if you want to do 4, do it on something you like and your plan of what to do with that 4th is good in case you like it or not. If you’re more concerned about your social life in school, don’t worry about not having any friends in school because you’re bound to find someone who will first to introduce themselves and you can always have someone to talk about within your subjects.
Even though sociology isn’t relevant to engineering you could always link what skills you learnt in your personal statement to show what you have as a student. The others that say a uni will do not care about the 4th subject as long it’s a good grade I agree because they’ll make an offer with what your current predicted grades was.
Thanks for your response, it's really helpful in helping my decision making. I also agree with what you said about discussing the skills I've learnt in my personal statement.
Original post by EnjoyYaTime731
It's either engineering or computer science. I took it for GCSE and looking at past papers, even though it may change, it looks like I could do well in it, and it was one of my favourite subjects at GCSE.
Cool - your subjects are really great for either.
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