Question regarding subject combinations for A-levels

Hi everyone! :smile:

I'm taking Biology, Chemistry, and Maths for my A-levels but I'm still unsure whether to take Psychology or Physics as my fourth subject.I intend to do medicine in the future so my counsellor said I should take Physics instead of Psychology.But Psycho sounds more interesting to me.What's your opinion? :smile:

Reply 1

Llewellyn

Original post by giantdinosaur

Hi everyone! :smile:

Physics would probably be better for various reasons (it overlaps with maths and chemistry, it will help you with BMAT if you take that, it has a reasonable amount of medical physics and other medicine-relevant/ related topics, it is one of the hardest and best thought of A Levels).

Psychology would not be a bad option. But you should remember that A Level Psychology will not be *real* psychology, it will be the exam version and the subject is quite essay intensive and a lot of people lose interest in it after a while. The A Level is also not as rigorous as it is for the other sciences, but I suppose it depends where your interests lie. You can still get into Medicine if you do Psychology.

Reply 2

giantdinosaur

Thank you for your reply. :smile:

Some people said that taking Psychology might makes me stand out compared to students who are doing pure sciences.Is it true?But from what I've heard,the top universities still prefer Physics especially for students who intend to do Medicine right? :smile:

Reply 3

Llewellyn

Original post by giantdinosaur

Thank you for your reply. :smile:

You probably would stand out - but that isn't necessarily a good thing. Most top Universities would prefer Physics and although Psychology is something a bit different, it isn't that desirable.

If you don't want to go down the maths/biology/physics/chemistry route (completely understandable and quite common) then I would advise taking English Literature, History or perhaps Geography (or some other conventional, common essay subject that Universities will be familiar with) - I wouldn't really go for Psychology.

It may also be the case you change your mind about medicine - and in that situation it would probably be better you either had Physics or English/ History as those are more flexible when it comes to course choices.

Reply 4

giantdinosaur

Okay.I will go for Physics and work hard on it.Thank you so much for you reply.It did help a lot. :smile:

Reply 5

redcider5

Both would be a good option and both require a lot of work and draw on different skills. So you should go for that one you're most interested in, because you'll spend a lot of time learning about it.
Dont worry about how your subjects look on a form. There are other factors that are so much more important (work exp. Personal statement etc).
I applied for vet med this year and my third subject is sociology, and I got an offer, so go for what you're most interested in.
Feel free to pm me any questions, three of my friends are first year medics :smile:

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Reply 6

Jkizer

Do whichever since i guess your going to drop it after AS? Hence it's less significant as you already have 3 strong subjects already.
I know one person last year who did the same as you with psychology and another with DT materials and both got in to top 10 unis !

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Reply 7

giantdinosaur

jkizer, thank you for your reply.

hmm..never thought of dropping my fourth subject after AS level but one of my friends dropped it.She said that at least she got a ceritificate for it in AS level.Is that certificate useful for applying universities too?