The Student Room Group

music a level vs others

hi all, i have a bit of a problem in that I have chosen 3/4 of my a levels (maths, FM and physics) but am unsure of the 4th. Am not planning on dropping it but it's just the decision between doing music which I would not struggle in considering my skill (not to brag lol) but I wouldn't massively enjoy OR doing either geography/chem which I enjoy much more and also get good grades in, but I find it more more difficult to learn.

I'm getting 9s in both for GCSE, but I've been told that music would be good to show a variety in subjects? as my other subjects are quite maths based, but at the same time would it be better to work harder and enjoy it or not have to work as hard but also not enjoy it massively

don't get me wrong, i do enjoy music obviously i wouldn't have let it go this far, but it's just, whilst i would be able to do well with it, and it's not like i hate hate it, i could also be enjoying a different subject but just work that bit more harder
I'm taking Music A-Level right now (Yr13) and the stuff we learn is a lot more in depth than GCSE in terms of historical context and there are a few essays (I do OCR) so if you're not a fan of essays then maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea. That being said, the exam is only half of the overall grade so there's still an emphasis on composition/performance. I reckon the combination with Maths and Physics would be really cool!
Original post by kayeem
hi all, i have a bit of a problem in that I have chosen 3/4 of my a levels (maths, FM and physics) but am unsure of the 4th. Am not planning on dropping it but it's just the decision between doing music which I would not struggle in considering my skill (not to brag lol) but I wouldn't massively enjoy OR doing either geography/chem which I enjoy much more and also get good grades in, but I find it more more difficult to learn.

I'm getting 9s in both for GCSE, but I've been told that music would be good to show a variety in subjects? as my other subjects are quite maths based, but at the same time would it be better to work harder and enjoy it or not have to work as hard but also not enjoy it massively

don't get me wrong, i do enjoy music obviously i wouldn't have let it go this far, but it's just, whilst i would be able to do well with it, and it's not like i hate hate it, i could also be enjoying a different subject but just work that bit more harder

I personally think universities don't care if you have a variety of subjects or not, you need to pick something you know you will enjoy not something you think will look good. My dad was advised to do physics because he wanted to do architecture, he hated physics and ended up not doing very well in it. I was advised not to take maths because it wasn't necessary for medicine, but I'm so glad I did take it because I really enjoyed it and I got an A*, which looks much better that whatever I would of got if I took another subject that I knew I didn't enjoy as much. If you have any idea of what you want to take at university, that might help you decide. Do some research on what A-levels are accepted or more specifically not accepted, for example I knew that most medical schools don't accept further maths or art as an A-level so I took that into consideration. Also I feel like I should mention that music is considered one of the most difficult A-levels to take because of how time consuming it is etc.

My main point is that you should choose a subject because YOU want to do it, if you let someone else decide for you, you may end up regretting that decision - but don't worry too much because there's always the option to change a subject in the 1st term, or at least that was the case at my 6th form.
Reply 3
Original post by kayeem
hi all, i have a bit of a problem in that I have chosen 3/4 of my a levels (maths, FM and physics) but am unsure of the 4th. Am not planning on dropping it but it's just the decision between doing music which I would not struggle in considering my skill (not to brag lol) but I wouldn't massively enjoy OR doing either geography/chem which I enjoy much more and also get good grades in, but I find it more more difficult to learn.

I'm getting 9s in both for GCSE, but I've been told that music would be good to show a variety in subjects? as my other subjects are quite maths based, but at the same time would it be better to work harder and enjoy it or not have to work as hard but also not enjoy it massively

don't get me wrong, i do enjoy music obviously i wouldn't have let it go this far, but it's just, whilst i would be able to do well with it, and it's not like i hate hate it, i could also be enjoying a different subject but just work that bit more harder

Hi, I am studying Physics maths and Music (AQA) for my A-levels (currently in Y13).
For me, music has worked really well with maths and physics and it is a great subject to demonstrate your creativity to universities. Music is a nice contrast to Maths and physics as it contains essays as well as 60% of your total grade coming from course work (performance and compositions).
In the AQA course, you also learn how to write Bach chorales, which surprisingly I find quite similar to maths as there is an overall general formula to write them!
Even though I knew I didn't want to study music after A-levels (have applied to study Aerospace Engineering), if you are passionate about music and interested in delving deeper into the history, significance and theory of pieces I totally recommend it!
I hope this helps : )
Reply 4
Original post by Rosalind42
I personally think universities don't care if you have a variety of subjects or not, you need to pick something you know you will enjoy not something you think will look good. My dad was advised to do physics because he wanted to do architecture, he hated physics and ended up not doing very well in it. I was advised not to take maths because it wasn't necessary for medicine, but I'm so glad I did take it because I really enjoyed it and I got an A*, which looks much better that whatever I would of got if I took another subject that I knew I didn't enjoy as much. If you have any idea of what you want to take at university, that might help you decide. Do some research on what A-levels are accepted or more specifically not accepted, for example I knew that most medical schools don't accept further maths or art as an A-level so I took that into consideration. Also I feel like I should mention that music is considered one of the most difficult A-levels to take because of how time consuming it is etc.

My main point is that you should choose a subject because YOU want to do it, if you let someone else decide for you, you may end up regretting that decision - but don't worry too much because there's always the option to change a subject in the 1st term, or at least that was the case at my 6th form.

oh thank you for the reply, i've actually heard that music is one of the easier a levels because it's largely coursework and if you're already experienced, the learning part isn't massively difficult. i feel that I do enjoy music it's just that the fourth a level I'm choosing wont really affect the uni application (as the other 3 do) so for me it was just whether I should do one I more enjoy but is harder, or that I enjoy slightly less but is easier to learn. thank u for the detailed response though, I'll defo keep it in mind

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