Opinion on A-Level subjects?

I will be taking A-Levels next year, and I hope to get into universities like Oxbridge, but I've heard of preferred subjects; 'hard' and 'soft'. As I am not a Science student, the 'hardest' A-Level subs are not open to me, ie. Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics.

Schools in my country don't offer many A-Level subs. I aim to take English Lit., Sociology, Economics and Law, but I've heard that Econs and Law are considered 'soft' subjects. Are they really?

I've even been considering studying A-Levels in the UK, where the colleges seem to have more subject options, ie. History and Geography. (Though it can be a little pricey)

I would like your opinion on which subject combinations/ facilitating subjects I should take. As for degree of choice, either English or English and Modern Languages (ab initio modern language). Also, please tell me if I happen to have any impractical ideas.

Thanks in advance. :-)

Reply 1

thehistorybore

18

If you're looking for oxbridge, I would certainly try and have rid of Sociology. In the context of studying English Lit., its not considered particularly academic. Then again, you could always drop it at AS.Econ is not considered a soft subject, but I would be most concerned about sociology and law.Also, I am a history/english/biology student, and if you're looking for something that's not considered too 'hard', biology is the closest science to the wordy subjects, and it's well respected!I haven't had much issue with it, in fact, I would recommend it. Hope this helps!

Reply 2

dragonkeeper999

17

Sociology, Economics and Law are all considered pretty soft subjects, although economics not quite so much - but it isn't really relevant to your chosen degree subjects so won't be very helpful.

If you are interested in studying a modern language at uni, you'll almost certainly need a modern language A level! I think MML (Cambridge) may let you take one of your two languages ab initio, but not having two modern languages will still put you at a bit of a disadvantage when applying and will certainly restrict your module/ language choices. I don't know about the course at Oxford though, but I'm pretty sure having a modern language will help your application since you'll need to demonstrate your interest in the subject somehow.

What other A level options does your school offer? Subjects like History would definitely be more helpful - and I'm surprised that your school doesn't offer it!!! Perhaps you could arrange to teach yourself the syllabus and sit the exams within your school - so even if you don't have a suitably qualified teacher available at the school at least you can still do the A level, it will just require a little bit more work though.

Make sure you have checked the entrance requirements for the subjects you are interested in at degree level - as I said, I'd expect a modern language to be a requirement for a modern language degree, and they may want at least one or two humanities subjects for example.

Reply 3

wanderlust98

OP

1

Original post by thehistorybore

If you're looking for oxbridge, I would certainly try and have rid of Sociology. In the context of studying English Lit., its not considered particularly academic. Then again, you could always drop it at AS.Econ is not considered a soft subject, but I would be most concerned about sociology and law.Also, I am a history/english/biology student, and if you're looking for something that's not considered too 'hard', biology is the closest science to the wordy subjects, and it's well respected!I haven't had much issue with it, in fact, I would recommend it. Hope this helps!

Biology is closed to me, because I did not take Biology at GCSE level (well, the GCSE equivalent in my country). Thanks for the feedback!

Reply 4

thehistorybore

18

Original post by wanderlust98

Biology is closed to me, because I did not take Biology at GCSE level (well, the GCSE equivalent in my country). Thanks for the feedback!

Ah I see, good luck anyway!

Reply 5

bittr n swt

3

Only economics is worth doing, the rest are soft as a pillow

Reply 6

wanderlust98

OP

1

Original post by dragonkeeper999

Sociology, Economics and Law are all considered pretty soft subjects, although economics not quite so much - but it isn't really relevant to your chosen degree subjects so won't be very helpful.

If you are interested in studying a modern language at uni, you'll almost certainly need a modern language A level! I think MML (Cambridge) may let you take one of your two languages ab initio, but not having two modern languages will still put you at a bit of a disadvantage when applying and will certainly restrict your module/ language choices. I don't know about the course at Oxford though, but I'm pretty sure having a modern language will help your application since you'll need to demonstrate your interest in the subject somehow.

What other A level options does your school offer? Subjects like History would definitely be more helpful - and I'm surprised that your school doesn't offer it!!! Perhaps you could arrange to teach yourself the syllabus and sit the exams within your school - so even if you don't have a suitably qualified teacher available at the school at least you can still do the A level, it will just require a little bit more work though.

Make sure you have checked the entrance requirements for the subjects you are interested in at degree level - as I said, I'd expect a modern language to be a requirement for a modern language degree, and they may want at least one or two humanities subjects for example.

I think Oxford allows ab initio for a small selection of modern languages, ie. Czech and Celtic. The sad thing is that here, in my country, it is extremely hard to find GCSE-equivalent tutors in the modern languages that are also available at A-Level, ie. German, French, etc. The only languages available at GCSE-equivalent are two languages that have 'expired' (according to the wikipedia page on a-level subjects).

There is another school in my area that offers History, so I'll have to check if I can take it along with the other A-Levels at another institution... Apart from that, I guess I don't have much of a choice but to take those 'irrelevant' subjects... :-/

Thanks for the feedback!