Should i change to geography a level? -URGENT

Currently doing Chem Bio Maths and Physics at AS, and now considering to change Physics to Geography.
Currently I find Chemistry maths and biology a breeze, I understand almost everything without further revision, however the same cant be said for physics, basically its just so much harder and im doubting my ability to continue to do it at my second year. I don't even enjoy the subject.

I got an A in physics (was like 4 ums of an A* :mad:

) and
got an A* in geog (gcse by the way), and found geography way may enjoyable. I enjoyed my geography gcse way more than physics and since im going to be applying to a medical school physics isnt even a necessity, so even though id have ALOT of catching up to to do, I'm considering the change to geography.

So should i change or not? Im going to be doing all 4 subjects in 2nd year so im not disadvantaged to other candidates taking 4 a2's (some medical schools dont put you at a disadvantage if you do 3 a2s instead, some do, im well aware).

Oh and anyone doing both physics and geog care to explain how much more diffewrent the subject is in terms of its relative difficulty and structure.

Many thanks.

Reply 1

Paralove

Well with Medicine you want to be doing a subject you're going to score highly in as a fourth. So if you're much more likely to get an A/A* with geography at the end of sixth form, you may prefer to do that. Better than getting lower in physics, particularly as neither is a medicine required subject.

I currently do A2 geography and love it. However I don't do any sciences so can't compare that for you!

Don't worry so much about it though because I expect med schools to make you an offer based on your chem/bio/maths grades and not geography but they may eg ask AAA to include maths/chem and either bio/physics (or vice versa, not familiar with subject requirements - language applicant!).

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Reply 2

Zahid~

Original post by Paralove

I currently do A2 geography and love it. However I don't do any sciences so can't compare that for you!

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Is Geography more of n essay type subject? where the exams require long detailed answers giving two sides of an argument or such? and how many case studies do you need to know? a reasonable estimate would be sufficient, i do remember learning absolutely none in gcse and getting 95+ums in the exams , quite obviously i wont be able to pull it off this time but you know)

Reply 3

ross95

If you found geography GCSE easy, AS is very similar.

Reply 4

Paralove

Original post by Zahid~

It is an essay type subject. I did AQA so some of this may not be relevant if your school does a different exam board.

There are 4 sections - 2 are compulsory (rivers and population). Each section is worth 30 marks, 15 of which come from the last question of the section. These long questions aren't so much of a discussion question, often things like "describe the characteristics and formation of...." or "with reference to a case study you have studied, explain how ..." kind of things. This is AS.

At A2 you have sections A-C. You do one question in each section - A and B are worth 25 marks each (a 7, 8 and 10 mark question) and C is a 40 mark easy question where you're expected to scatter a lot of case studies throughout your answer to support your argument.

You do a lot more case studies at A-Level. I remember having about 15 for population but around 4-6 for the other topics. You don't need to them know them in absolute detail though.

However at A2 we do conflict and case studies on Israel and Darfur in Sudan in loads of detail as we could be asked the 40 mark question on an international conflict.

It is really interesting though and I wouldn't change it for any other subject. Especially the topics we get to study at A2 (we do plate tectonics, weather and climate, world cities and contemporary conflict and challenges).

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Reply 5

Jkizer

Isnt it a bit late to swap?

Reply 6

Zahid~

Original post by Jkizer

Isnt it a bit late to swap?

I could convince them to let me swap, they cant force me to do a subject i dont want to do :3

Reply 7

Катя

Don't quit a subject just because you find it hard. There will always come a time when you realise that, hey, you'll actually have to study at some point. A lot. For me, it came halfway through the first year of the IB; for some people, it comes at GCSE level; for some, it never hits until their PhD thesis; and some always find academic work a bit of a struggle.

What I'm saying is, don't be immediately put off when you stop finding a subject effortless. I know I used to do this, and oh wow do I regret it. I wish I'd stayed with the IB and things like Higher Level Maths, but instead, I'm stuck with English lit, French and Russian A levels, and pretty much all of my maths knowledge is gone.

I got freaked out by the difficulty, swapped because I thought I'd be happier doing easier things, and oh god, I regret it so much.

(To be honest, I think I might take a gap year and do fast-track maths and further maths A levels at college, or something.)

What I'm saying is, don't give up on physics just because you're uncomfortable with the fact that you're not finding it a fuss-free experience. That point will come for everyone one day. Don't let it scare you into quitting.

But if you genuinely want to do geography, fine. Don't be surprised, though, when even geography stops coming to you effortlessly one day. Like I said, it's inevitable, and not something to be scared of.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 8

Jkizer

Original post by Zahid~

I could convince them to let me swap, they cant force me to do a subject i dont want to do :3

They dont have to let students migrate from classes to classes whenever they want to. Im guessing most schools have a swap deadline, which was last term(?).

Reply 9

Zahid~

Original post by Jkizer

They dont have to let students migrate from classes to classes whenever they want to. Im guessing most schools have a swap deadline, which was last term(?).