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Picking My GCSE Options Help

I would like to do a Law degree in the future and it has been my dream since I was six years old (:colondollar:) to go to Cambridge University, so I will need the best GCSE's I can get. I have chosen so far - History, Geography, Triple Science and I can't chose between either Spanish or RE. I'm doing Italian after school as an extra GCSE. I find RE very easy so it would be an easy A* because I'm not going to deny I'm good at it (please don't think I am boasting) but I really like Spanish. And if I do RE I will have the teachers I want for Geography and History but I am still unsure. Any advice? Thank you! Xx Beth

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Reply 1
Avatar for Bethany98
Bethany98
Have you thought about art? Employers nowadays usually are looking for something creative, and in gcse art is a subject that you can relax in, and not taking it might close someof your options? I know your set on law but I'm in year 10 now and since primary school I was set on business but a few months ago I decided I hated business and wanted to do something that would make a difference to people's lives
Reply 2
Avatar for sarinaa_
sarinaa_
1
I think if your doing Latin after school as an extra GCSE, then you should take RE, as it will probably help you with law in the future. It's compulsory for me, and I really love it and I find it easy too. I just picked mine though and I picked Spanish, just cause you need a language at GCSE to get into some of the top uni's.
Original post by Bethany98
Have you thought about art? Employers nowadays usually are looking for something creative, and in gcse art is a subject that you can relax in, and not taking it might close someof your options? I know your set on law but I'm in year 10 now and since primary school I was set on business but a few months ago I decided I hated business and wanted to do something that would make a difference to people's lives


I agree with your other advice just a word of warning to OP about art though.

It's not something you should take to 'relax', I'm an A/A* pupil, and I probably put in the same amount of work for art than I do for all the other subjects combined. Not saying it's not satisfying just be prepared don't take it for a laugh.
Original post by Bethany98
Have you thought about art? Employers nowadays usually are looking for something creative, and in gcse art is a subject that you can relax in, and not taking it might close someof your options? I know your set on law but I'm in year 10 now and since primary school I was set on business but a few months ago I decided I hated business and wanted to do something that would make a difference to people's lives

Are you mad?! From seeing what my friend had to do, all the projects for art take a ridiculous amount of work, with a lot of it having to be done after school
Original post by Lavender Brown
I would like to do a Law degree in the future and it has been my dream since I was six years old (:colondollar:) to go to Cambridge University, so I will need the best GCSE's I can get. I have chosen so far - History, Geography, Triple Science and I can't chose between either Spanish or RE. I'm doing Italian after school as an extra GCSE. I find RE very easy so it would be an easy A* because I'm not going to deny I'm good at it (please don't think I am boasting) but I really like Spanish. And if I do RE I will have the teachers I want for Geography and History but I am still unsure. Any advice? Thank you! Xx Beth


re is generally not as well thought of as as highly as modern foreign languages, and you do already have two humanities which will look great! i do both religious studies and spanish, and prefer spanish, but its all personal opinions. italian is quite similar to spanish so if you could show you have italian i wouldn't say spanish is necessary however two humanities and two languages as oppose to three humanities and one language would probably be a better balance. (humanities require a lot of writing!) but please go for which ever one you prefer (and can get a good grade in)!
Reply 6
Avatar for jobra09
jobra09
7
I wouldn't do two languages but that depends on the level you speak it. If you're currently at a beginner or intermediate level I would just concentrate on the one language. RE isn't a bad option, I would think it would be more beneficial due to learning about people's beliefs, discrimination, racism, prejudice etc. I think, possibly you should try and do a subject that isn't linked to a modern foreign language or humanities, so if you fancy doing something else and end up not wanting to do law you then have that option to do go on and do it. And one other thing don't listen to what people say about a subject not being regarded by Uni's or you have to do a subject because they'll regard you more if you take, that's complete nonsense!
If you are good at English then you will most likely find RE easy. Not only that, but RE is also an extremely important subject, it is important to understand other people's cultural and religious beliefs and perspectives. It is also very interesting at GCSE if you are with AQA (I'm not sure for other boards) as you also study philosophical questions such as immortality and animal rights, which I personally think are extremely fascinating. And also, the philosophy allows you to practise debates in order to draw your own opinions and encourages you to reflect and consider different opinions, which could help provide you with essential qualities which you would need if you were to pursue a career in law.

Someone suggested taking art as a subject. Honestly, if you are a perfectionist, do not take art. I learnt this the hard way. The subject will drive you insane. It is extremely time consuming and I must admit that I found it hard to keep up with the work load. Students underestimate the amount of pressure and demand art students are under due to this subject.

If you want to pursue an art subject, I suggest you take graphics. Everyone I know who has taken it as a subject absolutely loves it and many of my friends believe that it was one of the best options they took. If you like photography, magazines or working with computers, graphics is a great subject to consider.

Good luck!

(From a current year eleven student who is studying Religion and Philosophy)
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 8
Avatar for jobra09
jobra09
7
To add on my point, RE isn't "an easy A*", there's a lot more to it than that. Essay writing, memorising key terms, key people and their influences, bringing in key points to your answers, learning about a variation of religions and their traditions. If you think RE is going to be easy, you're going to have a bad time.
RE is really hard. At my school it's compulsory but if I had the choice I wouldn't do it. Spanish is better regarded as a subject because it's a language and many top uni's want a language till at least GCSE.


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Original post by jobra09
To add on my point, RE isn't "an easy A*", there's a lot more to it than that. Essay writing, memorising key terms, key people and their influences, bringing in key points to your answers, learning about a variation of religions and their traditions. If you think RE is going to be easy, you're going to have a bad time.


Thank you for your earlier advice it was great. I understand its not going to be easy and I'm sorry for writing that its just that I've had a practice GCSE paper on one of my topics on it and I got 100% so that's why I said that. Again I am sorry.
Original post by jobra09
I wouldn't do two languages but that depends on the level you speak it. If you're currently at a beginner or intermediate level I would just concentrate on the one language. RE isn't a bad option, I would think it would be more beneficial due to learning about people's beliefs, discrimination, racism, prejudice etc. I think, possibly you should try and do a subject that isn't linked to a modern foreign language or humanities, so if you fancy doing something else and end up not wanting to do law you then have that option to do go on and do it. And one other thing don't listen to what people say about a subject not being regarded by Uni's or you have to do a subject because they'll regard you more if you take, that's complete nonsense!


Thank you! This was great help!
Original post by Bethany98
Have you thought about art? Employers nowadays usually are looking for something creative, and in gcse art is a subject that you can relax in, and not taking it might close someof your options? I know your set on law but I'm in year 10 now and since primary school I was set on business but a few months ago I decided I hated business and wanted to do something that would make a difference to people's lives


Now you have suggested it I am considering it. Many of my friends are taking art and it truly looks interesting, though I am a perfectionist so I think it also would be slightly annoying for me if I get something wrong. I do play 3 musical instruments (Cello, Violin and Piano) So I am quite creative in that aspect so that is why I had not of considered it before as an option.
This is actually quite a difficult choice to make although it has to be made! I study spanish at the moment and I absolutely love it! You may think that RE is an easy GCSE- then don't you think that college's and Uni's will know that also. You need to pick a subject which make you stand out from the crowd. It's a bonus that you study Italian as an extra GCSE- this is great. It may be difficult for you though to study two languages, the three sciences and two humanities if you were to pick Spanish. But, by picking RE you will get the teachers you want for both Geography and History- which is what you want since good and engaging teachers often means good grades. At times you have to let go of things that you enjoy i.e to study Spanish in order to play the cards right and to get all round good grades. Hence, you should probably pick RE. This may have not been a lot of help to you at all but I just wanted to give you my honest advice. Let us know what you end up picking:smile:
Take the subjects that you enjoy and think you will do well in! From what I've found, most universities don't look at your GCSE subjects in too much detail, most just want passing grades in maths, English and double science. If you're going for oxbridge, I believe the average applicant has 5-6 A*s and the rest A's?
Original post by TheStudent@Room
This is actually quite a difficult choice to make although it has to be made! I study spanish at the moment and I absolutely love it! You may think that RE is an easy GCSE- then don't you think that college's and Uni's will know that also. You need to pick a subject which make you stand out from the crowd. It's a bonus that you study Italian as an extra GCSE- this is great. It may be difficult for you though to study two languages, the three sciences and two humanities if you were to pick Spanish. But, by picking RE you will get the teachers you want for both Geography and History- which is what you want since good and engaging teachers often means good grades. At times you have to let go of things that you enjoy i.e to study Spanish in order to play the cards right and to get all round good grades. Hence, you should probably pick RE. This may have not been a lot of help to you at all but I just wanted to give you my honest advice. Let us know what you end up picking:smile:

This is honestly the best advice I have been given. Thank you so much and I will read again what you said (I have done so at least 5 times now) and I will let you know as soon as I can.
Original post by Lewisallows
Take the subjects that you enjoy and think you will do well in! From what I've found, most universities don't look at your GCSE subjects in too much detail, most just want passing grades in maths, English and double science. If you're going for oxbridge, I believe the average applicant has 5-6 A*s and the rest A's?

Thank you for the statistics! I will use them for my decision!
Reply 17
Avatar for sjaan
sjaan
15
My advice would be to take the subjects you feel you can perform well in. Universities aren't too fussy about what subjects you take. If you think you can get get an A* in RE, then take it.
In my experience, RE is about arguing different points of view and reaching a judgement, which is quite relevant to the field of law.

There's nothing wrong with Soanish either, it's a good subject, but if you're doing Italian as well it may be quite easy to get them muddled.

I would personally go with Re, but ultimately it's up to you.


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Reply 19
Avatar for miacat
miacat
10
RE is a great subject, if you are looking at Cambridge then in my opinion it is easier than languages to get an A* in - trust me! I take RE in a grammar school and about half the year do it, it's a really good qualification as it shows that you can respect other cultures and that you have well rounded knowledge when combined with your other options. I'd recommend it :smile:


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