A Level subject combination for Engineering

I am intending to go into engineering and I have chosen my subjects which are:
Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Economics.
However, I am starting to think that I should have taken Further Maths instead of Chemistry. I MAY (and by that I mean there's a 50% chance I will and 50% chance I will not) do Chemical Engineering in the future but apparently to even get into good engineering schools, further maths is highly recommended?

I have just started my course about a week ago so I can still add and drop subjects.

The reason I took up Economics is because I heard that you're supposed to take one essay based subject to make it seem like you're more of a well-rounded person (?) and also I highly doubt I'd be able to cope with the high level of stress that comes with taking Physics, Maths, Chemistry and Further Maths.

I did not take Further Maths in the first place because I was scared it might a be a little too hard for me but now I'm starting to realise that Chemistry is quite hard as well, and if i were to do a hard subject then it might as well be something that would advantage me more in the future. I would say I'm pretty decent at Chemistry (I am usually one of the top scorers in my Chemistry class) and I enjoy doing Chemistry. I am also usually one of the top scorers in Add Maths class and I enjoy doing Add Maths as well, so you can see my dilemma here.

With that being said, should I expect the same for FM? Or is FM completely different from Add Maths? Is it possible to be able to do Add Maths fairly well but not be able to do FM at all?

I am also looking for the least stressful combination as I do not want to stress myself out too much, and so now I am left with these choices:

1. Replace Chemistry with Further Maths so my subjects would be FM, Maths, Physics and Econs
2. Replace Economics with FM but only take either Chemistry or FM up to the AS level (as i heard that Chem and FM are two of the hardest a levels so i don't think I'd be able to take both to A2)
3. Stick with my current subjects because Further Maths is only recommended but not a need to get into top schools
4. ??? Any other suggestions?

Thank you so much!

Reply 1

loperdoper

If you're not sure about taking Chem Eng or not, keeping Chemistry is your best bet. FM is recommended, but would be more relevant than Economics.

I personally feel that the difficulty of FM is overrated. FP1 (the only core section of FM) is only really as hard as C2, and depending on what your applied modules are you can keep the difficulty level low (For instance, for my Maths A2 and FM AS I'm doing M1, S1, D1 and D2, so I've only got one A2 module and it's Decision)

Reply 2

Asurat

In my classes I have 2 year 13s taking AS further maths and A2 further maths in one year, maybe you could self teach after you drop an AS if you think you can manage it.

Reply 3

username1560589

Original post by ads13

...

Further maths is recommended for most engineering courses, but is only required for a select few.
As Loderdoper said, AS further maths is easy. However A2 further maths is a lot more difficult. FP2 is a fair amount harder than C3/C4. FP3/FP4 are off the charts if you decide to do them.
If you're considering chemical engineering I would say stick with chemistry, but maybe take further maths to AS.
Economics won't be very useful. Engineering courses want good engineers, they aren't too worried about well rounded people.
What is Add maths?

Reply 4

Bishoy

I would say ditch Economics, and do FM AS. I am currently in year 13 and applied for Aerospace engineering. I do Maths, Chemistry and Physics A-levels plus FM AS. In FM AS we do do FP1, FP2 and D1. I have to say that FP2 is quite hard to be honest. You don't need economics to show that you are well-rounder person, trust me. I applied to top universities for Aerospace Eng. and got offers from most of them. They DON'T care about your third A-level as long as you have Maths&Physics. When I applied i didn't even have a grade for FM, I only picked it at the start of this year.
I would strongly recommend to take FM AS, drop Economics and keep Chemistry, physics and Maths A-levels. It keeps your options open even if you want to do ChemEng later. Don't worry about the work load, as long as you enjoy your subjects, you will be okay. Something I have to say is that Chemistry is probably my favourite subject. You will appreciate Chemistry when you have been doing Maths and Physics all day and need a break, it's really enjoyable and not that hard if you learn the facts!
Good luck with your decision but I think this combination is really good. In my college nearly everyone who is applying for engineering or Natural Sciences take up this combination and about half of them have got offers from places like Oxbridge and Imperial! Hope this helps :smile:

A Level subject combination for Engineering

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