Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

Art, Geography or Biology A Level?

Which 2 of Art, Geography or Biology???

I'm set on taking Maths and Physics but I'm really conflicted on my 3rd and 4th

My current uni ideas are Architecture, Medical Physics or Civil/Biomedical Engineering

Geography:
pros: very interested in subject, 8 predicted at gcse, variety in subjects (essay/humanity)
cons: not considered a science generally

Biology:
pros: interesting, better for medical courses,
cons: not great at answering biology's exam qs, LOTS of content

Art:
pros: very good to have for arch (portfolio), more chill than others, predicted 9 at gcse, contrasting subject
cons: could do foundation year for arch instead

edit: added art to the mix oof

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 1

koolman_69

Original post by alicewantsana

Geography or Biology???

I'm set on taking Maths, Physics and Art but I'm really conflicted on my 4th

My current uni ideas are Architecture, Medical Physics, Civil/Biomedical Engineering or something Politics/Sociology based

Geography:
pros: v interested in subject, 8 predicted at gcse, variety in subjects (essay/humanity) , need for politics/sociology
cons: not considered a science generally

Biology:
pros: could do medicine, better for medical courses,
cons: not great at answering long exam q's, LOTS of content

I think your first 3 choices of course are looking away from the politics/sociology career path and you should focus on the other three. I do both geography and biology and so from first hand experience I know they are very different.

Geography GCSE is completely different from A-Level where the mark schemes and essays are specific and targeted making them very unforgiving. If you are interested in the subject, and make sure this a lot, then I would go for it as there is a wide range of topics covered in a fair amount of depth.

Biology, however, is a more scientific subject and so the thought process you have in both maths and physics would apply to biology and so would not require much transition when revising between subjects. However, there is an essay section so if long exam questions are your hamartia then I would advice against it.

In conclusion, I would chose a subject which I deeply enjoy over one with marginally better prospects and so if I was to chose, it would be geography.

Reply 2

alicewantsana

Original post by koolman_69

Thank you so much, that's really helpful!! How do you find the amount of content in Biology?

Reply 3

koolman_69

Original post by alicewantsana

Thank you so much, that's really helpful!! How do you find the amount of content in Biology?

No problem, happy to help. Look at the spec, it's a clear indication of how big the course is. However, to access the top marks in biology it is preferential to do wider reading to broaden your knowledge as exams encourage you to go beyond the spec.

Reply 4

sabahc121

Hi, I do both geography and biology.
GCSE geography just scratches the surface to what you learn at ALevel. Alevel geography goes into much more depth and covers much more geopolitics and even some economics. It's very interesting and really pushes you to have more global understanding-which I personally like. Both human and physical geography have really interesting aspects that is so unique to many subjects.
You say that a con of biology is long answer questions but geography has MUCH longer answer questions than biology does! Geography has essay elements to it, in the form of 8,12 and 20 markers!

Biology is also a great subject and if you enjoyed it at GCSE you are likely to enjoy it at Alevel as it has similar concepts but in much more depth, detail and as you have probably heard before- much more content heavy! However, that shouldn't worry you because it is a great subject and if you understand the concepts and can apply it you won't struggle as much. Long answer questions are not really present in biology except for 1 25 marker in paper 3. Other than that, it's mainly shorter answer questions- geography is definitely more essay based/wordy than biology!
Also, just so you are aware, if you are wanting to do medicine, biology is not usually required as long as you have Chemistry and another science (could be physics or bio), so chemistry is the only one you are REQUIRED to have if you want to do medicine.

Both subjects are great, and it's a shame you are not doing both- maybe I'm a little biased!! lol :-)

bump

Original post by alicewantsana

i do both biology and geography but i wont be much help for art sorry :/
at gcse, geography was my absolute favourite subject - i found it sooo interesting and i still intend on studying geology/earth sciences at university but since starting a levels it has actually become my least favourite subject. the content is very similar to gcse which is kinda boring but also means that its easier than other subjects imo
personally i think biology is so much more interesting that geography at the moment, but its also a lot more content
there are pros and cons to both subjects, but i guess if you try one and you don't like it after a week or two you can always swap to the other option

edit: i've read some other replies and apparently other people find geography very different to a level? i guess it just depends on the exam board lol