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A Level Psychology or Philosophy?

I really can't decide which one to do out of the two of them! My other subjects are (atm:p:) Biology, English Language and German and I have no idea what I want to do at uni; anything from linguistics to human sciences to speech therapy or perhaps even german combined with something else :rolleyes: So ideally I'd like to keep my options open, and I'm aiming for a top uni hopefully.

I've always found psychology really interesting but I'm worried as I already have one subject which is less respected (eng lang) so maybe having two softer subjects may harm my application. Also the exam board my college is on is OCR which I've heard makes psychology quite boring and dull :s-smilie:
Philosophy on the other hand looks really good, and is a respected subject, but it apparently has a massive workload and I'm not sure how it goes with my other subjects.

If you did either (or both) of these a levels, how did you find it? And any ideas on what I should go for? Cheers :biggrin:

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Reply 1
I'm doing Psychology and Philosophy at A-level and I personally think that Psychology offers you a wider career choice, helping you with basically anything that involves people which would be most things! Apparently, lots of employers look favourably on it. I personally think that Philosophy might be limiting, there's no obvious careers linked to it and it could seem a bit out-dated to an employer. xx
WTF - since when did Eng Lang become a less respected soft subject?

I would chose psychology - according to my friends its very interesting.
Philosophy,on the other hand, is quite dull - my sister used the lesson to catch up her sleep thats how dull it was.

However it really is about personal preference - do you like reading great classics such as Plato, aristotle or do you want to study the human mind and learning the endless amounts of experiements investigations etc etc.
Reply 3
Buddy_Soliciter
WTF - since when did Eng Lang become a less respected soft subject?

I would chose psychology - according to my friends its very interesting.
Philosophy,on the other hand, is quite dull - my sister used the lesson to catch up her sleep thats how dull it was.

However it really is about personal preference - do you like reading great classics such as Plato, aristotle or do you want to study the human mind and learning the endless amounts of experiements investigations etc etc.



Okay Eng lang is not a soft subject but it is definitely not as respected as lit, maths, sciences, history etc and isn't exactly traditional. Same level as psychology perhaps but definitely not film studies, that's all I meant :p:

And thanks for the advice! Hmm everyone I've talked to actually found philosophy interesting!

Keep the advice coming please :biggrin:
Reply 4
welll.
personally I'd pick philosophy.
If it's with AQA anyway, I'm doing both Psychology and Philosophy AQA.
I think psychology is possibly the worst thing I've ever picked and is considered an 'easy' subject.
Philosophy's apparently becoming more favourable now. It helps point out and highlight your ability to analyse things extremely well and being able to argue and identify certain aspects of things that others find difficult; it's a subject you have to actually think with.
Whereas Psychology concentrates a lot on just knowing things and being able to write it down, you don't really explore much mentally and have the opportunity to express things.

However, I think you should just pick whatever you think you'll personally be more interested in.
:smile:
But yeah, I'd deffo go with philosophy, it's my favourite subject at College at the moment and I do psychology, philosophy, english literature and History. Oh, and from what I've heard, the OCR board for philosophy is just as interesting cause I have a mate currently doing it and he's chosen to do it at Uni.
you just have to be prepared to work well in it, as with any subjects really.. :smile:

^^
Reply 5
Sarah_P
I'm doing Psychology and Philosophy at A-level and I personally think that Psychology offers you a wider career choice, helping you with basically anything that involves people which would be most things! Apparently, lots of employers look favourably on it. I personally think that Philosophy might be limiting, there's no obvious careers linked to it and it could seem a bit out-dated to an employer. xx


Oh thanks! Yeah I was thinking philosophy is a little limiting too. Is psychology more enjoyable though?
Reply 6
Most people discard philosophy as 'boring' because they're idiots, but I'd probably agree with taking psychology in this case.
The first half of the psychology course isn't engaging, but you should enjoy the physio-psych unit in the second half, way more fun.
Though either subject will be helped by your two choices (eng+bio), you'd probably enjoy psychology more.
Lollyage
Oh thanks! Yeah I was thinking philosophy is a little limiting too. Is psychology more enjoyable though?


Philosophy may not lead to a direct career but it shows that you have the ability to reason for yourself, create your own point of views. It has a lot of key skills which would be valuable to an employer.
Also Philosophy is great fun I reckon. I'm a bit dissapointed that we don't study more ancient philsophers at A-level, the exam boards treat them like they don't exist... Having said that it's my joint favourite subject along with French because it lets me express my own opinions and allows for alot of debate, which is healthy at this age. It's hard, but fun.
Also have you got a degree subject in mind? I choose philosophy and english lit (our school didn't offer lang) but having eng lang and philosophy would go great towards a linguistics degree, so not soft subjects, but if you wanted to do say... a science then eng lang would be worse regarded.
Reply 8
I'm actually considering just sticking to psychology now, because I've been wanting to do it for a while and would only not take it if it would affect my application due to being soft. If I do Biology, German, Eng lang and psychology, would that be an acceptable combination for a top university?
Reply 9
Anyone? :o:
I'd go Psych.
Reply 11
GodspeedGehenna
I'd go Psych.



Care to elaborate? :biggrin:
Philosophy isn't a massive workload to be honest but it is really hard to get a good mark in it. Only 10% got As in it, which may not sound like much... but i go to a grammar school for girls and none of us got As at AS! there was one b!

You'd be sagfer with psychology to be honest
Do what you want (as in fun), and I didn't know Eng Lang was a weak choice.
Reply 14
Pick Psychology.
Reply 15
lollyage
Philosophy on the other hand looks really good, and is a respected subject


No. Or at least no more than psychology. As psychology is now a 'science' (questionably) it is fairly respected.
Lollyage
Care to elaborate? :biggrin:


Just as "respected" as Philosophy. Both essay based.

Psych, however, develops additional skills such as research methods/experimental design and statistics. Includes Bio which would compliment your bio a-level choice nicely. Develops ability to use empirical research in arguments.

etc etc
psychology is the biggest pile of **** in my opinion I hated it at A level, philosophy is far more interesting and academically rigorous, and every other female graduate who is "dead interested in people11!!!!" has done/is doing pyschology.
Reply 18
The Cambridge A Level subject list places Philosophy above Psychology in reference to how 'suitable' it is, but I'd pay more attention to whether or not you think you'll enjoy it as it's more difficult to do well in something that you dislike.
I take Philosophy at A Level and I really like it - it isn't easy but it's very interesting and requires essay writing skills rather fact memorising, which is a plus for me.
Philosophy is fairly interesting, depending what topic you're studying. The workload isn't that intense, you just learn different theories and their weaknesses/strengths, and have to test them against others. I do English lit too, so studying existentialism was enjoyable as I love Camus and Sartre. The only thing I hate about it is the number of pompous people in my class thinking that somehow taking a Philosophy A Level unlocks the door to a more fulfilling life-it won't.