Will 4 A levels give me any advantage?

I'm currently studying Maths, FM, Physics, History and French at AS. In terms of which to drop I'm ensure whether dropping both History and French would make me a less competitive applicant to Oxford (to study physics). Dropping both of these would leave with me the only subjects I really need for the course, though after attending a Oxbridge conferences etc. it seems they want to see your ability to handle the workload. Though arguably if I kept one of the subjects as a fourth A level, it wouldn't be in a related subject.

Will having just Maths, FM and Physics be enough? Would it be in anyway advantageous continuing History/French?

Also, I know some Universities don't regard Maths/FM as two distinctly separate A levels, so that could be another issue?

Reply 1

imsomeone

5

In my opinion, dropping both history and french would put you at a disadvantage, as most applicants will have 4 or 5 a-levels with excellent grades, and yes, they want to make sure that you can keep up with the work, that is probably their only interest in extra-curriculars.
Rather than doing fo4r will give you an advatage is that Not doing four will put you at a disadvantage.
But if you dont think you can do all the a levels and achieve straight As and A*s I would recommend you drop one, Im an international and i m going to do Math, FM, physics, chemistry, french, Spanish and as in spanish lit and critical thinking ...(SPANISH BEING MY FIRST LANGUAGE)(I dont know if im going to be able to do all :s)
and im going for physics too! :biggrin:

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 2

subjunctivehistorian

16

Original post by imsomeone

In my opinion, dropping both history and french would put you at a disadvantage, as most applicants will have 4 or 5 a-levels with excellent grades, and yes, they want to make sure that you can keep up with the work, that is probably their only interest in extra-curriculars.
Rather than doing fo4r will give you an advatage is that Not doing four will put you at a disadvantage.
But if you dont think you can do all the a levels and achieve straight As and A*s I would recommend you drop one, Im an international and i m going to do Math, FM, physics, chemistry, french, Spanish and as in spanish lit and critical thinking ...(SPANISH BEING MY FIRST LANGUAGE)(I dont know if im going to be able to do all :s)
and im going for physics too! :biggrin:

so you're fluent in spanish already?

Reply 3

imsomeone

5

Original post by subjunctivehistorian

so you're fluent in spanish already?

yes its my first language english being my second (though strangely enough we did first lang english igcse and foreign spanish igcse) :biggrin:

Reply 4

dragonkeeper999

17

Original post by Frannoooooooo

I'm currently studying Maths, FM, Physics, History and French at AS. In terms of which to drop I'm ensure whether dropping both History and French would make me a less competitive applicant to Oxford (to study physics). Dropping both of these would leave with me the only subjects I really need for the course, though after attending a Oxbridge conferences etc. it seems they want to see your ability to handle the workload. Though arguably if I kept one of the subjects as a fourth A level, it wouldn't be in a related subject.

Will having just Maths, FM and Physics be enough? Would it be in anyway advantageous continuing History/French?

Also, I know some Universities don't regard Maths/FM as two distinctly separate A levels, so that could be another issue?

I'd say that four would demonstrate your ability to cope with a large workload, so would be slightly beneficial - and as someone else commented, many applicants will be taking four so only doing three may put you at a slight disadvantage.

That being said, the entrance requirements are technically only three, and some schools will only allow their students to do three so you wouldn't be at a ridiculous disadvantage - and if you don't think you can guarantee excellent grades if you kept up four (although you did five ASs and presumably are doing well?) then it would be safer to stick with just three.

Personally, I regret dropping French after AS - although it wouldn't have physically fit in my timetable so I didn't have much of a choice (I was doing I think four A2s (+ general studies but that doesn't exactly count as a fifth since it was only one lecture a week), EPQ and an extra AS in my upper sixth year). Basically, I'd done all that work to get my language skills up to a standard where I could actually hold a conversation with someone in French that didn't just consist of me describing myself/ school/ family, but then after I dropped it I forgot so much of the language :frown:

I've since picked it up again at an evening language course while at uni, but would be so much better had I stuck with it to A2. So yeah, if you want language skills (which definitely help with employability) I'd recommend you stick with French too...

Reply 5

nexttime

22

Original post by Frannoooooooo

Also, I know some Universities don't regard Maths/FM as two distinctly separate A levels, so that could be another issue?

Not usually for physics though! Its directly relevant!

Nowhere on Oxford's website do they say 4 is an advantage. I personally think 3 is fine. A substantial number of people do get in with 3. If you are able to gain an advantage in other areas, e.g. get a better mark in the PAT, by dropping an irrelevant 4th subject, that would definitely be worth it.

Will 4 A levels give me any advantage?

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you