Should I take higher maths, biology or art?
Really don't know what to pick. The subjects I know I am definitely taking are -
Drama
English literature
History
Modern Studies
And i can't decide on my last subject. I like biology but people tell me there is almost no point in taking it if i don't have chemistry. Maths is ok but i'm not really all that interested in it. I know people say uni's look for it but do they really? I got a passing grade at GCSE level so i can drop it for higher. And i really like art but i'm not sure which subject would go best with my other current choices. Which ever one of these subjects i choose from i will drop for advanced. I'm not entirely sure what I want to be but I would either like to be a teacher (teaching english, history, modern studies or drama) or pursue a career in drama. Could I drop maths and biology and take art? Or should I drop biology and art and keep maths? Also another quick question; if I dropped art and biology and kept maths could I retake art or biology (probably art though) as a crash course or just simply retake it for advanced higher? Thank you sorry the question was quite long. Also if you would could you explain just exactly what a crash course is and how long it is?
Drama
English literature
History
Modern Studies
And i can't decide on my last subject. I like biology but people tell me there is almost no point in taking it if i don't have chemistry. Maths is ok but i'm not really all that interested in it. I know people say uni's look for it but do they really? I got a passing grade at GCSE level so i can drop it for higher. And i really like art but i'm not sure which subject would go best with my other current choices. Which ever one of these subjects i choose from i will drop for advanced. I'm not entirely sure what I want to be but I would either like to be a teacher (teaching english, history, modern studies or drama) or pursue a career in drama. Could I drop maths and biology and take art? Or should I drop biology and art and keep maths? Also another quick question; if I dropped art and biology and kept maths could I retake art or biology (probably art though) as a crash course or just simply retake it for advanced higher? Thank you sorry the question was quite long. Also if you would could you explain just exactly what a crash course is and how long it is?
(edited 9 years ago)
Is your school doing the new highers? I don't know about h. art at all, but the new biology higher is very difficult. Almost all of the advanced higher course was bumped down into higher, and there's a lot more biochemistry involved (as opposed too ecology/physiology). The old maths higher was really hard for me, pulled a B but I dread to think of what the new one is like. If you don't need maths to get into a uni/college for drama/eng/history then don't take it and save yourself the hassle. Biology is difficult, especially as a crash. I'm doing advanced and my mate who's doing the revised higher is learning from a textbook that shares 80% of the content with my textbook. Art is your safest bet, but then again I never took art so I don't know what the course is like.
If you choose maths now you can do crash higher art/biology. Crashing a course is either taking it without ever doing it before (I'm crashing higher business management this yeah, I never did it at SG/INT2) or doing it with a year's gap. The "crash" course is the same as the "normal" course. All the students are taught the same thing, but crash students might get extra work.
If you choose maths now you can do crash higher art/biology. Crashing a course is either taking it without ever doing it before (I'm crashing higher business management this yeah, I never did it at SG/INT2) or doing it with a year's gap. The "crash" course is the same as the "normal" course. All the students are taught the same thing, but crash students might get extra work.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Jemner01
Is your school doing the new highers? I don't know about h. art at all, but the new biology higher is very difficult. Almost all of the advanced higher course was bumped down into higher, and there's a lot more biochemistry involved (as opposed too ecology/physiology). The old maths higher was really hard for me, pulled a B but I dread to think of what the new one is like. If you don't need maths to get into a uni/college for drama/eng/history then don't take it and save yourself the hassle. Biology is difficult, especially as a crash. I'm doing advanced and my mate who's doing the revised higher is learning from a textbook that shares 80% of the content with my textbook. Art is your safest bet, but then again I never took art so I don't know what the course is like.
If you choose maths now you can do crash higher art/biology. Crashing a course is either taking it without ever doing it before (I'm crashing higher business management this yeah, I never did it at SG/INT2) or doing it with a year's gap. The "crash" course is the same as the "normal" course. All the students are taught the same thing, but crash students might get extra work.
If you choose maths now you can do crash higher art/biology. Crashing a course is either taking it without ever doing it before (I'm crashing higher business management this yeah, I never did it at SG/INT2) or doing it with a year's gap. The "crash" course is the same as the "normal" course. All the students are taught the same thing, but crash students might get extra work.
Wow thank you so much; and yes we are doing the new highers
Original post by Valeraine
Really don't know what to pick. The subjects I know I am definitely taking are -
Drama
English lit and lang
History
Modern Studies
And i can't decide on my last subject. I like biology but people tell me there is almost no point in taking it if i don't have chemistry. Maths is ok but i'm not really all that interested in it. I know people say uni's look for it but do they really? I got a passing grade at GCSE level so i can drop it for higher. And i really like art but i'm not sure which subject would go best with my other current choices. Which ever one of these subjects i choose from i will drop for advanced. I'm not entirely sure what I want to be but I would either like to be a teacher (teaching english, history, modern studies or drama) or pursue a career in drama. Could I drop maths and biology and take art? Or should I drop biology and art and keep maths? Also another quick question; if I dropped art and biology and kept maths could I retake art or biology (probably art though) as a crash course or just simply retake it for advanced higher? Thank you sorry the question was quite long. Also if you would could you explain just exactly what a crash course is and how long it is?
Drama
English lit and lang
History
Modern Studies
And i can't decide on my last subject. I like biology but people tell me there is almost no point in taking it if i don't have chemistry. Maths is ok but i'm not really all that interested in it. I know people say uni's look for it but do they really? I got a passing grade at GCSE level so i can drop it for higher. And i really like art but i'm not sure which subject would go best with my other current choices. Which ever one of these subjects i choose from i will drop for advanced. I'm not entirely sure what I want to be but I would either like to be a teacher (teaching english, history, modern studies or drama) or pursue a career in drama. Could I drop maths and biology and take art? Or should I drop biology and art and keep maths? Also another quick question; if I dropped art and biology and kept maths could I retake art or biology (probably art though) as a crash course or just simply retake it for advanced higher? Thank you sorry the question was quite long. Also if you would could you explain just exactly what a crash course is and how long it is?
A crash course is when you do a Higher without having done the subject at standard grade/nat 5
Personally, I'd suggest maths since I love maths. I do believe some unis will look for it so you should check that. I know for some teaching degrees they'll want an A at Int2/N5 so if you've not got that perhaps Higher would be an option, and get a B?
Biology was never strong for me. I attempted to crash it this year but I couldn't really manage all the new concepts (and I got an A in chemistry and physics higher last year).
For Art, apparently if you can justify your reasoning behind your work then you can basically do whatever the hell you want. Honestly, I think it's a good choice with your other subject as you seem like quite a creative person so might work well for you.
Good luck, hope this helps
Biology was never strong for me. I attempted to crash it this year but I couldn't really manage all the new concepts (and I got an A in chemistry and physics higher last year).
For Art, apparently if you can justify your reasoning behind your work then you can basically do whatever the hell you want. Honestly, I think it's a good choice with your other subject as you seem like quite a creative person so might work well for you.
Good luck, hope this helps
Original post by gwagon
Tip - Choose the hardest subjects, not the easiest.
Well they are all equally hard. And sorry I made a typo, I took English Literature.
Original post by Valeraine
Well they are all equally hard. And sorry I made a typo, I took English Literature.
"They are all equal"
I admire you're naivety kiddo, but trust me - they're not. Even if you know what you want to do, it's good to widen your scope. So I would definitely take math and bio and would drop modern studies. Just my opinion.
Hello, I'm currently in year 13 so I dunno how the new system works but maybe my advice will be of use. I took Art last year with 4 other subjects and it was a nightmare! Every weekend I'd spend all my time trying to catch up with art (I was a slow worker and a perfectionist), I had literally no time to revise until the week before exams. I ended up with not so great AS results so now have to resit 3 exams if I want decent grades at the end. 
So yeah, I'd say only pick Art if you want a career in it or are extremely good and work quickly, there's just wayy too much stuff to do and if you can't keep up, it really will jeopardise your other subjects.
Posted from TSR Mobile
So yeah, I'd say only pick Art if you want a career in it or are extremely good and work quickly, there's just wayy too much stuff to do and if you can't keep up, it really will jeopardise your other subjects.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by gwagon
"They are all equal"
I admire you're naivety kiddo, but trust me - they're not. Even if you know what you want to do, it's good to widen your scope. So I would definitely take math and bio and would drop modern studies. Just my opinion.
I admire you're naivety kiddo, but trust me - they're not. Even if you know what you want to do, it's good to widen your scope. So I would definitely take math and bio and would drop modern studies. Just my opinion.
Ok, first of all, please don't patronise me. Secondly, why should I drop Modern Studies? I enjoy it, get high grades and it goes well with History. I don't know if you come from Scotland but it is a very well respected higher and what is the point of having Biology? I am far more interested in Literature and Essay based subjects rather than science and maths. Btw just in case you do not come from Scotland, Modern Studies IS NOT Media Studies, which you must be thinking Modern Studies is, otherwise I don't know why you are suggesting I go against it. And lastly, when I said they are all equally hard, what I meant was in terms of workload. Art takes a lot of time in case you didn't know. And I don't think any subjects are particularly hard right now, this may change of course but lightly degrading me isn't going to help me now is it?
Original post by Valeraine
Ok, first of all, please don't patronise me. Secondly, why should I drop Modern Studies? I enjoy it, get high grades and it goes well with History. I don't know if you come from Scotland but it is a very well respected higher and what is the point of having Biology? I am far more interested in Literature and Essay based subjects rather than science and maths. Btw just in case you do not come from Scotland, Modern Studies IS NOT Media Studies, which you must be thinking Modern Studies is, otherwise I don't know why you are suggesting I go against it. And lastly, when I said they are all equally hard, what I meant was in terms of workload. Art takes a lot of time in case you didn't know. And I don't think any subjects are particularly hard right now, this may change of course but lightly degrading me isn't going to help me now is it?
He was just trying to help. I don't know about the new highers but they are definitely not all equal in difficulty, and if you are applying for university a diversity in subjects would make your application look good, rather than all social science based subjects.
But to your original question, Art I'd imagine is quite difficult, and Maths or Biology would look better for UCAS in my opinion. Also, as someone else has said, you should check to see if what you plan to do after leaving school needs an A in Nat 5 maths, and if you don't have that then take the subject.
Original post by Valeraine
Ok, first of all, please don't patronise me. Secondly, why should I drop Modern Studies? I enjoy it, get high grades and it goes well with History. I don't know if you come from Scotland but it is a very well respected higher and what is the point of having Biology? I am far more interested in Literature and Essay based subjects rather than science and maths. Btw just in case you do not come from Scotland, Modern Studies IS NOT Media Studies, which you must be thinking Modern Studies is, otherwise I don't know why you are suggesting I go against it. And lastly, when I said they are all equally hard, what I meant was in terms of workload. Art takes a lot of time in case you didn't know. And I don't think any subjects are particularly hard right now, this may change of course but lightly degrading me isn't going to help me now is it?
Act naive, get treated naive. At this stage, it's not so much about what you like/dislike as it is about what universities like/dislike. When I was talking about 'hard' subjects-I meant as in intellectually taxing, not just in terms of workload. Universities like to see students who take traditional 'hard' subjects over easier 'soft' subjects. Math and any of the three sciences are highly respected by universities(across the world) and as I mentioned earlier, it is good to have a diverse range of subjects. What you wish to take on life could change over the span of two years(I am saying this from personal experience). But that's just my take on what you should be doing. You should also seek advice from your teachers and counselors.
I'm deliberately being blunt to skip the BS as obviously, this is no trivial matter.
If you've come on TSR to ask whether you should take Art over Maths then I feel you may be grossly misinformed about the native TSR population.
Art requires a lot of work, and unless you're going for an art degree isn't really going to help you university wise.
A lot of university courses look for a maths, it is seen as desirable. But if you don't feel as if you'll do well in it, then I wouldn't bother, because you'll just waste hours practicing something that doesn't fit with your other subjects and that you're not naturally good at, which may result in a bad grade.
In my opinion, I'd go for biology. It's not as difficult as maths, and is still a desirable subject to have.
Art requires a lot of work, and unless you're going for an art degree isn't really going to help you university wise.
A lot of university courses look for a maths, it is seen as desirable. But if you don't feel as if you'll do well in it, then I wouldn't bother, because you'll just waste hours practicing something that doesn't fit with your other subjects and that you're not naturally good at, which may result in a bad grade.
In my opinion, I'd go for biology. It's not as difficult as maths, and is still a desirable subject to have.
(edited 9 years ago)
Do maths or biology. Without them youll be ****ed if you want to change your career path mid s5.
I'm 26 now and took art at school. I did advanced higher and a portfolio in the one year and went onto to digital media at uni.
In my case (may have been lucky) im looking to change careers and study nursing and even though my degree is irrelevant to nursing unis are willing to consider me due to previous commitment to a degree. I didn't pass biology at higher either back then but pretty much what ever you decide all is not lost, it may take more work to change career path in the future but definitely not impossible.
Just go with your gut. You know your strengths better.
In my case (may have been lucky) im looking to change careers and study nursing and even though my degree is irrelevant to nursing unis are willing to consider me due to previous commitment to a degree. I didn't pass biology at higher either back then but pretty much what ever you decide all is not lost, it may take more work to change career path in the future but definitely not impossible.
Just go with your gut. You know your strengths better.
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