Should I pick french, chemistry or geography for AS level?? Dilemma!
I have picked my other three options: biology, psychology and spanish. I want to do zoology so chemistry would be better to pick but might be too hard and geography is accepted by unis as an acceptable subject. I put french as I am better at languages, but I feel it will be a useless subject, as I am already doing a language. Some say geography is pretty boring, also I hear it is quite essay based and I find that more difficult.
Please someone suggest what to do as I need to change my option soon! (Also I have researched zoology and there are some universities that accept psychology as a 2nd science, but obviously limits my choices a bit). This fourth subject I only plan to do for AS, and them drop. Help please!
Please someone suggest what to do as I need to change my option soon! (Also I have researched zoology and there are some universities that accept psychology as a 2nd science, but obviously limits my choices a bit). This fourth subject I only plan to do for AS, and them drop. Help please!
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Original post by studentusername_
I have picked my other three options: biology, psychology and spanish. I want to do zoology so chemistry would be better to pick but might be too hard and geography is accepted by unis as an acceptable subject. I put french as I am better at languages, but I feel it will be a useless subject, as I am already doing a language. Some say geography is pretty boring, also I hear it is quite essay based and I find that more difficult.
Please someone suggest what to do as I need to change my option soon! (Also I have researched zoology and there are some universities that accept psychology as a 2nd science, but obviously limits my choices a bit). This fourth subject I only plan to do for AS, and them drop. Help please!
Please someone suggest what to do as I need to change my option soon! (Also I have researched zoology and there are some universities that accept psychology as a 2nd science, but obviously limits my choices a bit). This fourth subject I only plan to do for AS, and them drop. Help please!
I'd say Chemistry, definitely
You're already doing a language, and Chemistry would work far better with your current choices than Geography.
It'll also help more in the long run with Zoology
don't do biology, it's killer 
Original post by JacobGriffin
don't do biology, it's killer
What makes you say that?
. What other subjects do you do and what do you think of them, sciences I presume?I took chem for As, not too bad. It's for the mathematically minded though, if you don't get maths, at least to GCSE level, then you'll certainly struggle.
Biology is only hard as there is many long words to learn, and when i say many, the AS book index is ~20 pages long. The A2 part even longer!
I also do Double-Award ICT, not too bad, pretty easy but boring if you're not into computers.
I know many people that do Product Design, and that's the one I wish i had taken over biology as that is what i aspire to do in UNI and for a job in the future
hope i helped haha!
Biology is only hard as there is many long words to learn, and when i say many, the AS book index is ~20 pages long. The A2 part even longer!
I also do Double-Award ICT, not too bad, pretty easy but boring if you're not into computers.
I know many people that do Product Design, and that's the one I wish i had taken over biology as that is what i aspire to do in UNI and for a job in the future
hope i helped haha!
Original post by JacobGriffin
I took chem for As, not too bad. It's for the mathematically minded though, if you don't get maths, at least to GCSE level, then you'll certainly struggle.
Biology is only hard as there is many long words to learn, and when i say many, the AS book index is ~20 pages long. The A2 part even longer!
I also do Double-Award ICT, not too bad, pretty easy but boring if you're not into computers.
I know many people that do Product Design, and that's the one I wish i had taken over biology as that is what i aspire to do in UNI and for a job in the future
hope i helped haha!
Biology is only hard as there is many long words to learn, and when i say many, the AS book index is ~20 pages long. The A2 part even longer!
I also do Double-Award ICT, not too bad, pretty easy but boring if you're not into computers.
I know many people that do Product Design, and that's the one I wish i had taken over biology as that is what i aspire to do in UNI and for a job in the future
hope i helped haha!
Yep, I am doing doing maths and 3 sciences for a level next year and wanted to get some thoughts from someone who's doing them
It depends I think geography or chemistry would be good picks.
If you are really into your science and maths then go for chemistry if you are OK like C's/B's in sciences then geography may be a better choice. Geography isn't at all uninteresting but it depends on what topics your teachers pick. I do AQA geography and at A2 you do ecosystems which is all to do with animals and is quite biology based even if it is not as scientific as it would be if you were actually doing biology/chemistry. I would also advise against doing chemistry I know a lot of people who feel it is the hardest science including maths and further maths but it is a matter of opinion.
If you are really into your science and maths then go for chemistry if you are OK like C's/B's in sciences then geography may be a better choice. Geography isn't at all uninteresting but it depends on what topics your teachers pick. I do AQA geography and at A2 you do ecosystems which is all to do with animals and is quite biology based even if it is not as scientific as it would be if you were actually doing biology/chemistry. I would also advise against doing chemistry I know a lot of people who feel it is the hardest science including maths and further maths but it is a matter of opinion.
Original post by JacobGriffin
I took chem for As, not too bad. It's for the mathematically minded though, if you don't get maths, at least to GCSE level, then you'll certainly struggle.
Biology is only hard as there is many long words to learn, and when i say many, the AS book index is ~20 pages long. The A2 part even longer!
I also do Double-Award ICT, not too bad, pretty easy but boring if you're not into computers.
I know many people that do Product Design, and that's the one I wish i had taken over biology as that is what i aspire to do in UNI and for a job in the future
hope i helped haha!
Biology is only hard as there is many long words to learn, and when i say many, the AS book index is ~20 pages long. The A2 part even longer!
I also do Double-Award ICT, not too bad, pretty easy but boring if you're not into computers.
I know many people that do Product Design, and that's the one I wish i had taken over biology as that is what i aspire to do in UNI and for a job in the future
hope i helped haha!
What kind of maths is there? Does it include the kind of skills you can learn or do you have to kind of understand it/have a mind for it already? And are the practical ISAs very tricky?
Original post by kingdoo
It depends I think geography or chemistry would be good picks.
If you are really into your science and maths then go for chemistry if you are OK like C's/B's in sciences then geography may be a better choice. Geography isn't at all uninteresting but it depends on what topics your teachers pick. I do AQA geography and at A2 you do ecosystems which is all to do with animals and is quite biology based even if it is not as scientific as it would be if you were actually doing biology/chemistry. I would also advise against doing chemistry I know a lot of people who feel it is the hardest science including maths and further maths but it is a matter of opinion.
If you are really into your science and maths then go for chemistry if you are OK like C's/B's in sciences then geography may be a better choice. Geography isn't at all uninteresting but it depends on what topics your teachers pick. I do AQA geography and at A2 you do ecosystems which is all to do with animals and is quite biology based even if it is not as scientific as it would be if you were actually doing biology/chemistry. I would also advise against doing chemistry I know a lot of people who feel it is the hardest science including maths and further maths but it is a matter of opinion.
Is geography very essay-based? And do you think it is a big step up from GCSE compared to other subjects?
If I were you I would take Chemistry. Not only as it is the better subject for your goal in my opinion, but also I'm interest in chemistry. 
Original post by studentusername_
Is geography very essay-based? And do you think it is a big step up from GCSE compared to other subjects?
Certainly with aqa geography isn't too badly essay based. It is a big step up but really enjoyable.
The most important thing is to pick subjects you really enjoy. The three subjects you have mentioned are all worthwhile.
Posted from TSR Mobile
I study French and Chemistry, and they're my favourite subjects. At the start of the year, a lot of people in my French class studied both Spanish and French, but most of them dropped out of Spanish and stayed on with French, because they thought Spanish was too difficult. Also, a lot of people continue to get confused with conjugations etc throughout the year, so bear this in mind, and perhaps consider doing only one of them.
Depends on your exam board, but the exams for languages at AS are more or less the same:
16 marks from my paper was translating phrases from French to good English
30 marks for a 200-250 word essay on a given topic
And the rest was just rephrasing in French and a listening exam
The oral exam is all about improvisation - on the day, we randomly picked 2 topics out of the 15 we studied, and then we had 15 minutes to prepare for questions on them. 7 minutes answering questions on these, and then 7 minutes general conversation with the teacher.
I really enjoy Chemistry, but it's a lot of work and quite a bit of maths, but you do practicals 2-3 times a week when you first start.
(I also study English Lit and Biology, and I hate them. English Lit is too time consuming, and Biology just requires memorising lots of stuff which I'm really not good at, and I find it boring sometimes because one of our units is just all about plants and zoos etc).
Depends on your exam board, but the exams for languages at AS are more or less the same:
16 marks from my paper was translating phrases from French to good English
30 marks for a 200-250 word essay on a given topic
And the rest was just rephrasing in French and a listening exam
The oral exam is all about improvisation - on the day, we randomly picked 2 topics out of the 15 we studied, and then we had 15 minutes to prepare for questions on them. 7 minutes answering questions on these, and then 7 minutes general conversation with the teacher.
I really enjoy Chemistry, but it's a lot of work and quite a bit of maths, but you do practicals 2-3 times a week when you first start.
(I also study English Lit and Biology, and I hate them. English Lit is too time consuming, and Biology just requires memorising lots of stuff which I'm really not good at, and I find it boring sometimes because one of our units is just all about plants and zoos etc).
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by studentusername_
Is geography very essay-based? And do you think it is a big step up from GCSE compared to other subjects?
To both yes. I would say understanding wise it is a step up, but the real step up is the content and how much you have to learn (it is a massive step up). I haven't started A2 yet but I know that it is very challenging, content wise and the questions they ask and the detail they require. At AS you do 4 topics and in each there is a 15 mark question. At A2 for AQA you have to answer a 40 mark question. So yes essay wise it is very essay based but it requires an understanding and has especially if it is a physical based question a definitive answer. It is not like english or history where it is all opinion based although you do need to give a debate it is not as extreme.
Hey there - I do both Spanish, economics, English and geography, did the AS exams a few days ago.
If you do Edexcel Geography, it'll be two exams, one 90 mins and one 75mins.
Good thing is, geography is really interesting if you enjoy it and understand it.
Bad thing is that in the second exam you have to write 6 essays in just over an hour - 4x whole page essays, 2x one and a half pages. Also, if you don't understand the structure of the exam or how to answer a question (ie if you haven't been through the mark schemes) then you're screwed.hope this helps!
If you do Edexcel Geography, it'll be two exams, one 90 mins and one 75mins.
Good thing is, geography is really interesting if you enjoy it and understand it.
Bad thing is that in the second exam you have to write 6 essays in just over an hour - 4x whole page essays, 2x one and a half pages. Also, if you don't understand the structure of the exam or how to answer a question (ie if you haven't been through the mark schemes) then you're screwed.hope this helps!
Don't listen to anyone (including me) on which subject is "better" (OBVIOUSLY it's French 
). But seriously, go with what you're good at. Who cares which university wants what subjects? Whatever you choose, you're still going to be able to do pretty much what you want at university, and you might change your mind anyway. At the end of the day, universities are looking for the best grades, and you're going to do better in a subject you like.
). But seriously, go with what you're good at. Who cares which university wants what subjects? Whatever you choose, you're still going to be able to do pretty much what you want at university, and you might change your mind anyway. At the end of the day, universities are looking for the best grades, and you're going to do better in a subject you like.
Original post by studentusername_
I have picked my other three options: biology, psychology and spanish. I want to do zoology so chemistry would be better to pick but might be too hard and geography is accepted by unis as an acceptable subject. I put french as I am better at languages, but I feel it will be a useless subject, as I am already doing a language. Some say geography is pretty boring, also I hear it is quite essay based and I find that more difficult.
Please someone suggest what to do as I need to change my option soon! (Also I have researched zoology and there are some universities that accept psychology as a 2nd science, but obviously limits my choices a bit). This fourth subject I only plan to do for AS, and them drop. Help please!
Please someone suggest what to do as I need to change my option soon! (Also I have researched zoology and there are some universities that accept psychology as a 2nd science, but obviously limits my choices a bit). This fourth subject I only plan to do for AS, and them drop. Help please!
French is great, but DEFINITELY gets harder at AS! (I do both French and Spanish atm and find Spanish easier-thought this isn't the case for everyone) Since you want to do Zoology (or Veterinary sciences I guess ?), you should probably do Chem!
Perhaps switch Psychology for Geography?!
I'm most inclined to pick chemistry I think, I've just hears most people saying it is 'absolute hell' and regretting taking it. I just don't have a passion for chemistry, but maybe I'll like it more as I learn more? It could be the opposite though... I have my induction this month and so I need to decide soon, otherwise I'll be doing french, and then get homework to do over summer for when I return in September. Any more views on chemistry, maybe from people who weren't so sure about taking it?
Thanks for all your great responses too! 
Original post by studentusername_
I'm most inclined to pick chemistry I think, I've just hears most people saying it is 'absolute hell' and regretting taking it. I just don't have a passion for chemistry, but maybe I'll like it more as I learn more? It could be the opposite though... I have my induction this month and so I need to decide soon, otherwise I'll be doing french, and then get homework to do over summer for when I return in September. Any more views on chemistry, maybe from people who weren't so sure about taking it?
I did English Lit, French, German and Spanish (the latter self-taught) way back in 2006 and I'm currently doing the equivalent of AS Chemistry and Physics, and did A-level Maths a year ago (all of these self-taught). I am enjoying Chemistry in particular quite a lot (loved Maths as well by the way) and I think I would have been just as happy doing Chemistry and Maths instead of two of my original A-levels.
All three of your options are fairly strong subjects, but I think French is slightly unnecessary due to you clearly not being language-obsessed, and Chemistry will probably open more doors for you than Geography.
I study AS Biology, Chemistry, Psychology and History (I'm dropping History next year). Last year, I was kind of like you because I wanted to some kind of Biology related degree which I need Chemistry for, but I was reluctant to choose Chemistry. I found it pretty boring when I was at school and was worried I would find it difficult - especially since I only did core science and additional science at GCSE rather than triple science. However, I actually like Chemistry now and it's not as hard as I thought it would be. It seemed hard at first, but I found OCR Unit 1 pretty easy after a while. Unit 2 is difficult but doable if you do enough revision. Personally, I would advise you to pick Chemistry because you could risk limiting your university options if a lot of them require Chemistry as well as Biology. Feel free to message me if you want more advice about subject choices.
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