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A- level choices

Hey I was just wondering if anyone is doing or knows someone that’s doing the following A-levels?:
- psychology
- geography
- history
I’m trying to work out if doing the following will be ok in regards to uni applications/ getting a job. My parents are saying that the subjects I’ve chosen are stupid and won’t get me anywhere. They’re trying to convince me to do English literature instead of history as it “opens more doors” can someone please give me any advice to whether this is true?
Thankyou!!

Ps: if you didn’t do these subjects, what did you do instead?

Reply 1

sammyj97

What course are you wanting to do in uni or what kind of job do you want in the future?

PS: I did AS psychology and it was super interesting!

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 2

Ch4rlie17

I did A level Geography and really enjoyed it and am now doing geography at uni...so yeah

Reply 3

rxyaltyx

i wish my school did psychology. my choices: biology, chemistry, history, maths (yep 4 alevels)

Reply 4

Sports10 birthx3

i am in yr 12 doing geog good choice but if you are not good at math dont take it i made a big mistake]

Reply 5

rxyaltyx

Original post by Sports10 birthx3

i am in yr 12 doing geog good choice but if you are not good at math dont take it i made a big mistake]

yes maths is so hard but it is compulsory in my sixth form

Reply 6

Sports10 birthx3

what yr you in

Original post by rxyaltyx

yes maths is so hard but it is compulsory in my sixth form

Reply 7

rxyaltyx

Original post by Sports10 birthx3

what yr you in

going into 13

Reply 8

Sports10 birthx3

same how your grades? and what subjects you take?

Reply 9

rxyaltyx

Original post by Sports10 birthx3

same how your grades? and what subjects you take?

my grades are good ig, i take biology, chem, maths and history. wbu

Reply 10

_Eponine_

It depends what doors you're trying to open, they're good subjects that would look good generally. If you want to go to uni and need to get certain grades doing subjects you're good at / passionate about it usually best. Although it's worth checking if alternate subjects would be more beneficial in the long run (some degrees need certain a-levels).

If you don't know what you would like to do yet, just do what you're most interested in. College is hard work so if you can avoid subjects you aren't interested in, I would.

Personally, I took psychology, biology, philosophy and sociology.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 11

Sports10 birthx3

Original post by _Eponine_

It depends what doors you're trying to open, they're a good subjects that would look good generally. If you want to go to uni and need to get certain grades doing subjects you're good at / passionate about it usually best. Although it's worth checking if alternate subjects would be more beneficial in the long run (some degrees need certain a-levels).

If you don't know what you would like to do yet, just do what you're most interested in. College is hard work so if you can avoid subjects you aren't interested in, I would.

Personally, I took psychology, biology, philosophy and sociology.

i second this dont take maths as everybody tells you to big mistake i made

Original post by rxyaltyx

my grades are good ig, i take biology, chem, maths and history. wbu

before covid i was working at AUB A in econ B in geog U in math

Reply 12

Flakeeee

History opens just as many doors as English lit.
I do both history and psychology and I absolutely love them!
Your subject choices aren’t weird and are actually good- you have two facilitating subjects, what more can they ask for?
To be honest, universities will only not recommend you take subjects like general studies ect .
Also if you want to see what degrees people choose with you alevels use this website https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/a-level-explorer/biology/economics/history it was really useful for me when I was deciding :smile:

Reply 13

Ch4rlie17

Yeah at the end of the day it’s important to choose stuff you’re acc interested in otherwise you won’t bother working hard and they won’t work out well, unless you’re seriously bright aha. If you did advanced maths at GCSE then Maths A level isn’t particularly hard as you’ve done it all before, however a level is a massive step up from GCSE

Reply 14

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

The only doors English lit will get you into which history won't are English lit degrees. No university cares whether you take English or history unless you are applying to an English or history degree (or ironically, in the case of PPE for Oxford they actually indicate history is a "useful" subject for that degree, whereas English lit has no such highlighting). Those subjects are fine for any humanities and social science courses with no specific entry criteria (i.e. most of them). English lit would not make a difference for those.

The only degrees you couldn't apply for are STEM degrees, which presumably you wouldn't want to pursue as you aren't taking any of those subjects anyway, economics and PPE courses (which normally require A-level Maths), and some psychology degrees (which often require at least one core STEM A-level, or two of which one may be A-level Psychology), and languages degrees (which normally require a language and likewise since you aren't taking one that isn't something you want to do I would guess).

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 15

Sports10 birthx3

Original post by Ch4rlie17

yeh i thought maths a level would be a doddle especially getting an 8 !!!

Reply 16

dandelions9

Hey, I’m doing A-level geography and just finished my AS. I really like it as a subject, but there are a lot of people who just choose it because they thought it was easy at GCSE... So just make sure you have a genuine interest in it so you will be able to stay awake in class when you are covering fieldwork, that was a struggle for me ngl.

Also, I do English Lit and I love it. I didn’t do history for GCSE so I can’t compare what the subjects are like, but my friend does A-level history and enjoys it. In terms of which is more useful for university, it really depends what kind of courses you’re looking at I suppose. They are both essay based A-levels and require a lot of reading but they demonstrate similar skills, so I think you should just choose whichever you prefer and enjoy more. When you’re investing so much time into an A-level it way easier to work at it when you’re enjoying what you’re learning :smile: