Not sure which A-Levels to take

Original post by belle:)

hiya !! i’m not sure which a levels to take as i’m not decided on what i’d like to study in uni :frown:

i’ve always been interested in crime (specifically criminal profiling), forensics & animals !! these are some courses i would possibly like to take at uni:

criminology
criminology & forensic science
criminology & psychology
veterinary medicine
zoology

out of all of them i’m *definitely* more interested in studying criminology & forensics or psychology at uni!

i’m currently thinking of taking -
biology, psychology & criminology (my sixth form offers this)

any recommendations?? i just want to keep as many doors open for my interests, thank u !! :smile:

Criminology is not a well respected subject until you get to university level.

I would pick a different A level subject although it doesn't matter too much which one as you already will have Psychology and Biology.

Edited to say that Sociology is closely related to Criminology and is a better respected subject that all unis will accept for degree courses in Psychology or Criminology

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 4

ReadingMum

I'd probably remove vet med from your list - it is very challenging to get in for people who are absolutely sure it is what they want to do and have all the requisite work experience
If it is to stay in the running you need to swap criminology for Chemistry

Reply 5

Kerzen

I'm not in veterinary medicine but I do know that it is an extremely competitive course and that Universities are very specific in what they ask for at A Level.

To be honest, I'm not sure you would be able to apply for that course with those three A Level subjects. I see that Cambridge asks for Chemistry, and at least one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics - it doesn't accept Psychology. You would be well advised to follow that template if you wanted to be a vet.

Whichever of the degrees you eventually opted for, I would still advise against Criminology and probably Psychology too.

Which are your best subjects at GCSE?

Ultimately, what you need is a combination of suitable subjects and good grades.

PS When you choose your degree subject, I would think carefully about how many doors it will open re employment after you graduate. Don't choose a subject which has 'limited currency' like Criminology.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 6

Definitely swap criminology for either chemistry or sociology. For forensics, chemistry is liked but not always mandatory, but it could boost your application. Criminology won’t be respected much. It’s like A level law. A friend of mine was told by Cambridge to not do A level law because often it makes the student struggle more at uni as they have been taught wrong, and I believe criminology follows the same advice. Also I did Biology and Chemistry A level and enjoyed them both. Chemistry is easy once you have done practice questions as they all follow the same basic structure. For organic, learn reaction mechanisms and pathways, and for inorganic learn the mathematical formulas and you’ll be all set for a top grade.

Reply 7

Original post by Kerzen

I'm not in veterinary medicine but I do know that it is an extremely competitive course and that Universities are very specific in what they ask for at A Level.

To be honest, I'm not sure you would be able to apply for that course with those three A Level subjects. I see that Cambridge asks for Chemistry, and at least one of Biology, Physics or Mathematics - it doesn't accept Psychology. You would be well advised to follow that template if you wanted to be a vet.

Whichever of the degrees you eventually opted for, I would still advise against Criminology and probably Psychology too.

No reason to advise against Psychology for the degee that OP is most likely to apply for "out of all of them i’m *definitely* more interested in studying criminology & forensics or psychology at uni!"

Reply 8

Kerzen

Original post by harrysbar

No reason to advise against Psychology for the degee that OP is most likely to apply for "out of all of them i’m *definitely* more interested in studying criminology & forensics or psychology at uni!"

That's true; if the degree title has the word 'Psychology' in it, I can see how an A Level in the subject would be suitable.

I see that Cambridge suggests Maths and Biology for Psychology. I would say that Maths and Biology are a good duo on which to build for someone wanting to read Psychology at any University.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 9

Original post by Kerzen

That's true; if the degree title has the word 'Psychology' in it, I can see how an A Level in the subject would be suitable.

I see that Cambridge suggests Maths and Biology for Psychology.

Where do you see that? No way should OP take Maths A level if they are not extremely good at maths

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/pbs_subject_requirements_0.pdf

Reply 10

Kerzen

Original post by harrysbar

Where do you see that? No way should OP take Maths A level if they are not extremely good at maths

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/pbs_subject_requirements_0.pdf

It's not a suggestion that this particular poster should do Maths if she finds it too difficult, as that would damage her grades and limit her choice of University, it's rather an observation that Cambridge says "maths and biology are both useful".

https://www.pbs.tripos.cam.ac.uk/prospective/howtoapply

Reply 11

Original post by Kerzen

It's not a suggestion that this particular poster should do Maths if she finds it too difficult, as that would damage her grades and limit her choice of University, it's rather an observation that Cambridge says "maths and biology are both useful".

https://www.pbs.tripos.cam.ac.uk/prospective/howtoapply

That doesn't mean people would need both Maths and Biology (even for Cambridge) as my link shows. No uni says you should have both and OP has already picked Biology :dontknow:

Reply 12

Peter.G

What people are saying above is correct, but i would also takes maths. Its an extremely important subject and it keep alot of doors open for you. If your doing say chemistry, biology and psychology, then take maths as a 4th a level.

Reply 13

Original post by xXThEsMarTBaNanA

What people are saying above is correct, but i would also takes maths. Its an extremely important subject and it keep alot of doors open for you. If your doing say chemistry, biology and psychology, then take maths as a 4th a level.

I did chemistry, maths, biology, and psychology and I don’t recommend it. It’s a LOT of work.

Reply 14

Peter.G

Original post by DanaH111

I did chemistry, maths, biology, and psychology and I don’t recommend it. It’s a LOT of work.

I’m doing chemistry, biology, maths and further maths, and while it is a lot of work I’d much rather work hard for two years to get into the best possible university rather than trying to chose the path of least effort. That being said you could obviously get into Cambridge with 3 A levels, but doing 4 and doing well shows that you can handle the massive workload that all courses as Cambridge will have, which will help your application.

Reply 15

Original post by xXThEsMarTBaNanA

I’m doing chemistry, biology, maths and further maths, and while it is a lot of work I’d much rather work hard for two years to get into the best possible university rather than trying to chose the path of least effort. That being said you could obviously get into Cambridge with 3 A levels, but doing 4 and doing well shows that you can handle the massive workload that all courses as Cambridge will have, which will help your application.

Maths and further maths is basically one subject. A lot of schools force people who want to do further maths to do four because otherwise it’s only like doing 2/2.5 A levels altogether. And top unis like Cambridge often/almost always give offers based on 3 A levels not four, so four is honestly a waste of time and effort in the OP’s case, as they’re doing four SEPARATE A levels, so it will be a bigger work load than you. Also Psychology has the work load of 2 A levels on its own.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 16

We have wandered so far away from any likely relevance to OP....

Reply 17

Peter.G

Original post by DanaH111

Maths and further maths is basically one subject. A lot of schools force people who want to do further maths to do four because otherwise it’s only like doing 2/2.5 A levels altogether. And top unis like Cambridge often/almost always give offers based on 3 A levels not four, so four is honestly a waste of time and effort in the OP’s case, as they’re doing four SEPARATE A levels, so it will be a bigger work load than you. Also Psychology has the work load of 2 A levels on its own.

Maths and further maths are by no means one subject. If you actually looked at the further maths syllabus you would realise that the pure and mechanics part of further maths is much more advanced than anything covered in maths, and further maths also includes a ‘modelling with algorithms’ section. And you study all this in your first year of FM and then in your second year you choose one of pure, mechanics, or decision (MWA) to focus on. It’s on no wag similar to maths. Also, alot of people hoping to do physics at Uni only take maths, further maths and physics, which is more than sufficient for physics at uni.

Reply 18