This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

A level subject info for...

Hi! I am studying A level Psychology, ICT, RE and English lang/lit combined next year and i'm just wondering if anyone who has taken these subjects can tell me a bit about them.
At the moment I am extremely scared and nervous that I am not going to get in college, and that I will find the subjects (especially ICT) too hard.

Thanks as always,
Lyd

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Unregistered

i wouldnt do IT, i hated it, bloody annoying and the teachers are really bad at teaching it

Reply 2

byb3

from what I hear, psychology is a subject people think is going to be exciting before they do it, and when they have to study it they find it boring. One of my mothers friends is a psychology teacher and he says that many people lose interest in the subject.

ICT sounds to me like an easy subject, all I hear them doing are leaflets and projects and crap. If you know a fair bit about computers then you'll ace this. Although it is very very boring.

Can't comment on RE because I don't know anybody who does it.

I have a few friends who do English Lang and Lit, and most of them dropped language in the first year because they realised what I had told them all along, English is just talking a heap of gobshite. :smile:

However the English Lit students seem to be enjoying themselves, reading books a fair bit.

Regards,

Reply 3

ickle_katy

hi, i just finnished doing psychology, and i really njoyed it but there is a lot to learn. its not difficult, theres just too much!!!

as for worrying bout not getting into college- i wouldnt worry, im sure they'll want you anyway, even if you had a bad time thru your gsce's.

good luck

love Katy ***

Reply 4

giddylid1

Unregistered

i wouldnt do IT, i hated it, bloody annoying and the teachers are really bad at teaching it

Oh thanks for your support then... you made me feel soooooo much better :rolleyes:

Lyd

Reply 5

Adhsur

English Lang/Lit isn't bad, but I really regret choosing it over just literature which has a better reputation and is easier in my opinion. The combined option makes you have to learn two techniques and integrate them which I find is a pain. Also, I find that its more language OF literature and not lit and lang. We never seem to discuss meanings of poems or books - just the language, which is very very boring. I've just finished an AS in it and one good thing, however, is that the coursework can be quite fun cuz you have to record someone and talk about how they speak. It also takes off the pressure at exam time.

Reply 6

Unregistered

I did English Language last year, and God was it difficult. I've never had to learn so much in all my life. In the exam, you'll be required to identify someone's theory on virtually every line. You'll also need to learn about grammatical styles and functions such as the auxiliary verb, the subjects modification of nouns and adjectives, and various styles of adjectives. You'll have to learn about the insides of the mouth, children's speech - i.e. language acquisition, the delevlopment of English in the UK such as Middle English, Old English, Normen French, etc. The whole subject is very difficult, and if I were you, I'd drop it now for something easy like Media Studies or Geography.

A friend did ICT last year, and providing you're willing to work and learn, you should find it easy and fun. You'll be composing letters, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, databases and a general systems analysis. You'll probably have to investigate companies and build your own computers etc. - this is normally done in class with the teacher. The exams are fairly easy (providing you know your computers) and you'll end up getting a high mark.

Good luck with your other subjects. :smile:

Reply 7

Adhsur

Unregistered

I did English Language last year, and God was it difficult. I've never had to learn so much in all my life. In the exam, you'll be required to identify someone's theory on virtually every line.

Erm not true. If you read properly she's going to do the combined lang/lit course which has practically no theories to learn, speaking from personal experience obviously.

Reply 8

Unregistered

Ok, I only ever did the single English Langauge course, so I wouldn't know about the combined one. I had imagined it being similar though.

In the combined one, my class were advised to learn a list of theories and put a theorist's name on each line.

Reply 9

It'sPhil...

hi are you thinking of doing the RE and Philosophy course or just plain RE, cos at my school lots of ppl did Philosophy thinking it would be a doss and they'd just sit around saying "what is the meaning of life?.."etc, but its actually pretty hard. It requires you to just remember loads of different facts and theories, but you dont actually get the chance to give your own opinion - its just stuff like "examine the existentialist agrument for the existence of god.." Igf you have a good memory and don't mind learning lots of quantity then this may be for you

Reply 10

Unregistered

I took RE, it can be a lot of fun, althought that probably depends on what religions you're studying - I did Buddhism and Judaism, and they're both really interesting, but the other options are probably just as good. You could find out which religions you'd be studying and read a bit of the basics on them first to see if you're interested.

Reply 11

Adhsur

It'sPhil...

I did the philosophy exam and it's anything but talking about other people. Most of the marks for your own opinion actually... It is hard though and I'm going to do it at university.

Reply 12

Unregistered

I don't think A-level RE is that respected. You'd be better off choosing another subject in my opinion. The only reason RE exists in schools is to keep the church happy.

Reply 13

ickle_katy

Unregistered

I don't think A-level RE is that respected. You'd be better off choosing another subject in my opinion. The only reason RE exists in schools is to keep the church happy.

no you twit. it exists because we should learn about religion...understanding religion is as vital to society as maths and english.

love Katy ***

Reply 14

giddylid1

Though I am not yet of an age to take Advanced Levels, I have heard that the Lang part of the English is boring and quite difficult and that they put more emphasis on the Lit part.

Or is it vice versa?

Oh well, something to bare in mind.

Reply 15

Adhsur

Lord Huntroyde

Vice versa sweedie.

Reply 16

ickle_katy

no you twit. it exists because we should learn about religion...understanding religion is as vital to society as maths and english.

love Katy ***

Also, RE covers all the religions, so the individual churches would not be happy about it, they would prefer it if we learnt only Christianity, but we learn about Islam, Judaism, Hindi, Buddhism etc

Reply 17

Fairydust

I took eng lang/lit at AS but dropped it, I found the course quite interesting as it combinds both subjects but takes the 'easier' side of both. The coursework was easy - writing a story plus commentry and the exams werent too bad although lots of quotes are needed for the set text. If your good at english and dont fancy doing the separate eng lit or lang then i would take it :smile:

I also studied AS and just done A2 RS. I found the course really interesing which was good since i hated it at gcse level. I took islam and ethics. Which in a2 combined the two to look at both secular views on practical issues like abortion to how islam sees it, plus learning about scholars such as Aristotle and Kant.

Reply 18

Fairydust

I like to think that I'm good at English so I may do the combined at A-level.

Reply 19

Unregistered

my teacher said that the lit an lang course was a bit hit and miss and wasn't as rewarding or fun as the lit course but my friends got to study alice in Wonderland and the BFG while I had shakespeare so I'm not so sure. Lots of my friends did philosophy and ethics and pysch. I think they loved their RE lessons cos they were a doss (untill it came to exam time and they had to learn so many theories etc) but they all prety much hated pysch and an lot of people dropped after AS.