MEGATHREAD - The 'What Subjects Should I Do' Megathread

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Someone help!! Who has done CCEA A Level Chemistry with an A in it at GCSE triple award?? TB ASAP thanks!

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Reply 4121

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Original post by inevitablereign

(though I don't want to do medicine I just want advice)
I want to take Biology, Psychology & History for my A-Levels. I'm considering taking Chemistry instead of History but I'm not sure...

Though I want to go down the route of something in the sciences like Biomedicine or Optometry (if I do Chemistry) or Psychology or healthcare sciences - cardiology (if I don't take chemistry)

I would do Chemistry however;

a) I don't enjoy it
b) It has maths involved which I don't particularly enjoy (although I achieved a B in maths which I'm immensely proud of btw)
c) Isn't it really hard?

Then again, I'm telling myself that replacing History with Chemistry would be a highly beneficial combination.

SO I have no idea what to do? I'm very confused & worried that if I don't choose the right one then it will affect my career opportunities after my results. My sixth form enrolment day is this Wednesday so I have until then to decide for final.
plz help & thanks x

Ok, so definitely pick Biology. It's difficult because having one of Maths or Chemistry on top of that would certainly help widen your options, even just practically when you're doing one of these biomedical/healthcare courses in university. The mathematical skills can be of benefit. Also, having a quick look at some of the university entry requirements, they often require 2 science a-levels.

That said, I do think the most important thing is picking what you're likely to do well in, so I advise sticking to your strengths. If you were to apply for Psychology for example, you probably wouldn't need Maths or Chemistry, whereas say for optometry, it would help your application, and for some it is a specific requirement. You will have to research and aim for specific courses, and their specific requirements. Don't be afraid of phoning specific universities up for clarification about how important taking certain subjects are.

You will also have to think about what you're likely to enjoy and do well in at university. Science degrees can be quite mathematical affairs, particularly when you come to do research for your dissertation at the end. You can also learn maths skills as you go along - you don't have to enjoy it if you're driven enough and you love other aspects of your course.

Moral of the story - research what you have to do to get into specific courses, and research the kinds of things you actually have to do once in the course to see if you'd enjoy it.

Hope that helps. Happy to advise further.

Reply 4122

inevitablereign

Thank you so much!
(Sorry for the late reply btw 😅)
I've just started Sixth Form and I love Biology and Psychology.

I'm less enthusiastic about History though. Our teacher is quite strict but I don't think it's the reason why I'm not enjoying it as much as I thought I would be. I still have 2 weeks to decide if I want to change subjects.

But I'm a lot more curious about A Level Chemistry now. I got a high C at GCSE for the Chemistry exam so I'm worried that if I take it, I might fail which of course I don't want.

I think the reason I didn't do as well as I'd hoped is probably because I didn't enjoy it at GCSE and the reason I never enjoyed it is because (since our school was a private school they couldn't afford laboratory equipment) we never did experiments except like once or twice for Coursework. And the main element of chemistry is the practical element (although there are mang other elements) which is what I missed out on.
(Sorry this is long btw)

Today in Biology we did an experiment and I really enjoyed doing it.

So now I'm even more unsure 😩 Anymore advice?

Reply 4123

inevitablereign

Original post by marcobruni98

I have always hated maths and I've never been good at it, I had to get a tutor for GCSE and I only just got an A and I was not expecting to do so well... Although a lot of people find chemistry hard I actually have found it to be the subject I enjoy the most and consequently the easiest subject for me. And it is actually very similar to biology but with more rigid answers. The math part has virtually no sophistication, at least at AS level, just putting numbers into formulas and changing units will do fine... if you have a good memeory for scientific concepts you might really enjoy organic chemistry which is what I like the most. And will give you about 50% of the marks :smile:

but to be honest I know that a lot of people find it hard so I guess you either have it or you don't... it's a gamble

Thank you so much! I've just started Sixth Form this week and I've been doing Biology, Psychology & History. I think I regret taking history now. As soon as the first lesson ended, I had this feeling like I shouldn't be doing this.
Despite this, I'll stick with it until next week until I'm absolutely sure I want to do Chemistry.

I want to talk to my tutor about it but I don't see her until next Thursday so I'll wait until then.

Although, you've helped my decision so I thank you!!

Reply 4124

jadeee18x

I have recently started college and I am signed up for chemistry, biology, maths and physics? I'm not sure if I want to do physics, so I was wondering is it ok to just do 3? What benefit does doing 4 have? Thanks.

Reply 4125

Hit_It__

I've just got my GCSE mock results and I have to choose my A levels but due to the new spec my school and most others have cut out AS levels so you can either do three a levels for the full two years and maybe four in special circumstances. I'm not sure if I maybe want to go down the biochem route or the physics routs career wise therefore I'm struggling to choose whether to do three or four My mock results are: English Lit - 9 English Lang - 7 Maths - 7 (but the edexcel mock was really hard and our school average was really low and we are a grammar school too) Bio - A* Chem - A* Physics - A* Business - A* Geog - A Spanish - A History - A* Any advice on how hard they are and whether I can do four

Reply 4126

6085

This forum has been alive since 2009! Can I find some help
Assuming I picked chem bio and computer science
I have a right in a fourth subject which would help me more history or psychology

Reply 4127

ciaraheron1234

UKCAT 640
1A* 7A 2B
Predicted A*AA
Good work experience and 100 hours volunteering for Gp surgery

Is this good enough?

Reply 4128

LRxS

I've just started A2 for Chemistry, Biology and History. I dropped Maths after AS because frankly I was terrible at it.
Don't think you need 3 sciences/maths - chemistry you DO need, biology or human biology you will need for almost all schools, but there are some - for example Leeds - where the only required Subject is Chemistry. So you could do Chemistry, Archeology and Hebrew and get in there as long as your grades were good!
However you don't need maths or physics - so take a subject you enjoy and are good at!