A level decisions making me anxious!

OP

I just got an email back from oxford admissions:

"Thank you for your email.

There are no specific subject requirements for studying Law at Oxford. All subjects are acceptable for admissions purposes, with the exception of General Studies and Critical Thinking. We recommend that you take those subjects you enjoy the most, and where you are most likely to achieve the best grades. Conditional offers are usually for three A grades at A-level.

All courses at Oxford are highly academic in nature, and require a great deal of reading. You would usually be expected to write one or two essays each week. Therefore, you would indeed be advised to choose academic A-levels which involve essay writing, as this would help to prepare you for the style of studying at Oxford. For Law, suggested helpful subjects would include English Literature, History, and Modern Languages. It may be difficult to make a competitive application without at least one essay-writing subject.

The University of Oxford does not accept Critical Thinking as an A-Level, so if it is possible to avoid taking it, we would recommend that you do so, as this will allow you more time to devote to your main subjects.

I hope this is of some help, but please contact us again if we can be of any further assistance."

I have an interview with my careers advisors about a levels tommorow. I will ask him about it, but with what oxford admissions said, I may have to substitute Eng lit for physics. I guess I would be willing to do this as I enjoy english aswell, getting a set text like Jane Austen would be a killer though. Would history develop my essay writing skills as much as Eng lit?

Reply 21

DaveJ

impossibleisnothing

I just got an email back from oxford admissions:

"Thank you for your email.

There are no specific subject requirements for studying Law at Oxford. All subjects are acceptable for admissions purposes, with the exception of General Studies and Critical Thinking. We recommend that you take those subjects you enjoy the most, and where you are most likely to achieve the best grades. Conditional offers are usually for three A grades at A-level.

All courses at Oxford are highly academic in nature, and require a great deal of reading. You would usually be expected to write one or two essays each week. Therefore, you would indeed be advised to choose academic A-levels which involve essay writing, as this would help to prepare you for the style of studying at Oxford. For Law, suggested helpful subjects would include English Literature, History, and Modern Languages. It may be difficult to make a competitive application without at least one essay-writing subject.

The University of Oxford does not accept Critical Thinking as an A-Level, so if it is possible to avoid taking it, we would recommend that you do so, as this will allow you more time to devote to your main subjects.

I hope this is of some help, but please contact us again if we can be of any further assistance."

I have an interview with my careers advisors about a levels tommorow. I will ask him about it, but with what oxford admissions said, I may have to substitute Eng lit for physics. I guess I would be willing to do this as I enjoy english aswell, getting a set text like Jane Austen would be a killer though. Would history develop my essay writing skills as much as Eng lit?

Yeah, History or English Literature would be fine, I imagine.

Reply 22

impossibleisnothing

OP

Just an update:

After taking advice from my housemaster I've decided to probably do Chem,Bio,Eng lit and Hist.

Reply 23

DaveJ

impossibleisnothing

Just an update:

After taking advice from my housemaster I've decided to probably do Chem,Bio,Eng lit and Hist.

Should be fine, but just to point out, since you expressed an interest in Oxbridge in your first post; that combination would mean you could not apply to medicine at Cambridge.

Reply 24

impossibleisnothing

OP

That's a good point, I hadn't realised that, I would still be able to apply to Oxford for medicine though if I'm correct?

I think it may be possible to do another AS level in my last year of 6th form if I only take 3 A levels. Hopefully by the time I'm making decisions over what I want to do in year 12 I will be more set as to which career path I wish to follow. You never know, I may be set on getting a degree in history by the end of the AS course.