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3 or 4 a levels? PLEASE HELP!!!!!

I've now decided on taking business, psychology and biology but can't find a 4th subject that I enjoy/excel in. Would it be wiser for me to take 3 a levels or 4? Could you recommend any that you know are enjoyable? Also if I decide to go on to university will it look bad on my application if I decide to take 3 instead of 4?

Reply 1

applenpears

I would recommend you stick with 3, I was unsure what to take for mine but decided to stick with 3! My friends all took 4, but failed and had to drop one anyway after the January exams.. And now they are having to resit the year. A-Levels are hard and the ones you're taking are challenging too, so i would stick with 3 and work hard to achieve really good results in them :smile:

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Reply 2

bluebeetle

If you have good GCSE grades (a few A*s or mostly As) then it would be sensible to do a fourth AS, just so you can have a well-rounded knowledge. If there's a chance you'll be aiming high (top half of the Russell Group, I'd say) then a fourth AS is an advantage.
Also, it can't hurt to try taking 4 and then drop one before January if you can't handle it. I know quite a few people who did this, and it didn't have much negative effect on them. Some people handle A-levels better than others, and the last thing you want to do is start them and then realise you probably could have handled one more.
Maybe try something like maths (not much harder than the GCSE and respected), chemistry (respected and a good match for biology), sociology (a good match for psychology) or english lit (respected and not much harder than GCSE at AS).
Having two facilitating subjects, even if one of them is only to AS, can be an advantage.
Right now you might think you don't want to aim too high in terms of uni, but I know lots of people who've suddenly developed a passion for a subject (quite commonly nursing and things like that) and wish they'd done more facilitating A-levels.
Ultimately, though, if doing 4 brings your grades down then don't. I'd strongly recommend giving it a go though. It can't hurt to do 4 just for the first couple of months.

Reply 3

ChocoholicCox

It depends on your GCSE grades really i believe, but yeah im doing 3 a levels and i think thats hard enough as it is :O but yeah luckly you can drop the fourth if it gets too strugling,

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

Largeelephant12

Thanks for the response! I think I'd be able to cope with a 4th it's just that people say only do subjects that you enjoy or you probably won't do all that well in it - the problem is that I can't see a 4th subject that I enjoy

Reply 5

7253567

If you take a fourth, ensure that it is not an essay subject as it will take up a lot of time. Do a second science or take maths if you want a 4th AS.

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Reply 6

Largeelephant12

Yet again though it's not that simple, I'm not very gifted with figures although I'm not bad and obviously maths, chem and physics require maths. I feel that my choices are being quite limited as chem and physics in my college are almost always made to be taken with maths a level which I don't particularly want to do

Reply 7

7253567

Fair enough, if you can't think of a 4th subject, take 3, you won't be at a major disadvantage.

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Reply 8

chocolattelee

Well I dont think it is mainly depends on your GCSE grades as Ive seen some A or A* GCSEs student failed or just did okay in A Levels... It is dependant on how much efforts you will put into your subjects ie revising and studying etc. One of my friend who GCSE score isnt bright but he is achieving As and Bs in all of his subjects.

Since you are not sure then there is no point for choosing random subject which may then stress you out as you dont like it. So you can concentrate on three subjects.

However if you have something you might be interest then I dont see why not as e.g. maybe you end up not liking one of the subject such as psychology then you can drop that and still have three a levels anyway overall.

But then you would drop one a level anyway so you would end up with three a levels in A2.

Goodluck pal with your decision :biggrin: