4th Option - Please Help! - Page 2

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MORGAN!

Sorry, I'm getting carried away with that large font size, hehe.

The one thing I hate about GCSE maths, is long, annoying questions like that, can't get my head around it.

Are you saying that every question at A2 and AS is a to the point question? As apposed to a long winding question where you have to go back and fourth?

Reply 21

Morgan141

Well I don't know which exam board your school takes, but on mine (AQA) generally yes. All the questions are in little sections which take you through them bit by bit. Have a look at some past papers to get a picture of what it's like:

http://www.aqa.org.uk/qual/gceasa/mathematics_assess.html

I assume other examboards can't be that much different in style.

Reply 22

JamieLewis17

The questions look to the point, but bloody hell! that looks well hard, does it become easy when you're taught all that?!

Reply 23

Morgan141

I don't know about A2, but at AS yes :p:

. Remember that at AS level you only do core 1, core 2 and an applied module. All of which aren't too difficult once you grasp the concepts.

If you're sure that you want to go on to do a biochem degree or a related course then I do think maths will help you a lot, certainly more than physics anyway. If you aren't sure then doing maths as your 4th will give you the option to go into the physical sciences too.

Reply 24

JamieLewis17

Well the Pure Core papers looked a lot nicer :smile:

Do you have to do Mechanics, Statistics, etc?

Reply 25

Morgan141

barry1200

Well the Pure Core papers looked a lot nicer :smile:

Do you have to do Mechanics, Statistics, etc?

How it works is you have 6 modules in a full maths A-level: Core 1 to 4 and two applied modules (i.e. any of the mechanics, statistics or decision modules). If you only take the AS then you only take 3 (core 1, 2 and an applied module). Some schools don't give you a choice of modules, like mine :mad:

, and force you to take one of them (usually S1). You'll have to ask your maths department on how it works at your school. If you do have a choice then I'd recommend mechanics over statistics, mechanics is basically physics and from what I've heard is a lot more interesting than stats, it's just a bit more difficult. Not many schools let you do decision as a normal maths module, usually it's a further maths thing, so I wouldn't worry about that too much.

Reply 26

foxygreg

you only have to 1 mechanics module, 1 stats module or a decision maths module, all of which aren't difficult. Maths at AS is not tedious like GCSE maths which was utterly pointless, the maths involved is harder but easier to learn

Reply 27

JamieLewis17

K, thank you very much foxygreg and morgan. But will it be respected by a university if it was only at AS?

Reply 28

rotor

barry1200

K, thank you very much foxygreg and morgan. But will it be respected by a university if it was only at AS?

i have *thinks* 3 friends doing the 3 sciences for as levels. one is choosing maths as his fourth but the other two are choosing history and french for their fourth.
kinda like a "fun" subject and then they'll drop it for A2 and just do the three sciences.. so i suggest maybe a humanity or language. what do u wanna be in the future?

Reply 29

JamieLewis17

Anything scientifical really, a dentist, pharmacist, toxicologist, forensic scientist. I know I won't be able to go for an engineering science as I won't have Maths.

Reply 30

rotor

hmm i think a social science/humanity would be good! history,geog,economics?

Reply 31

Morgan141

barry1200

K, thank you very much foxygreg and morgan. But will it be respected by a university if it was only at AS?

Oh yeah certainly, you'd struggle to get into uni doing physics with only an AS mind but it would definitely be respected as a good AS-level.

And you're welcome :smile:

DoubleOSeven

The problem with that though is that you can't go into the physical sciences without maths. A friend of mine shot himself in the foot by only doing physics and chemistry (from the sciences). Now he can't really follow any science degree and has been forced to persue a degree in one of his arts subjects.

You'll see quite a few people with either maths, chemistry, biology plus an arts subject or maths, physics, chemistry + an art. Either of those are good combinations to have and won't hinder you when applying for a science degree. Doing physics without maths though really limits you in what you can do with it.

Reply 32

JamieLewis17

So you cant do any science degrees without maths? are there any that will accept you if you don't have maths?

Reply 33

kellywood_5

Do you enjoy maths? If you do and it's only the fact that it's hard that's putting you off, go for it. A low A is still a really good grade, and if you're getting that now, you'll probably get a decent/high A in the real GCSE if you put the work in, maybe even an A* if your coursework is good (assuming they haven't scrapped coursework yet). It would go really well with physics, it's one of the most respected subjects and you could always drop it after AS if it got too hard. If you don't enjoy maths or you want a bit of a contrast, respected subjects are (arts) English lit, languages, history, geography or (social science) economics. As for whether 4 A2s will improve your uni chances, no. You only need 3 and 1 AS even for Oxbridge. If it turns out you love all your subjects and do really well in them, by all means do 4 A2s, but it's much better to drop one and end up with better grades than keep them all on and risk your grades dropping.

Reply 34

kellywood_5

barry1200

So you cant do any science degrees without maths? are there any that will accept you if you don't have maths?

Biology, chemistry, biochemistry, biomedical sciences, biological natural sciences, medicine, pharmacy.....I think it's only maths (obviously), physics, physical natural sciences, engineering etc that require maths.

Reply 35

JamieLewis17

Luckily I'm more of a Biology/Chemistry man then, one last question, what jobs could I get with a degree in a Biology/Chemistry related subject

Thank you to everyone who has replyed to this, it has helped me to think about this a lot more and has made it clearer to me

Reply 36

Morgan141

barry1200

So you cant do any science degrees without maths? are there any that will accept you if you don't have maths?

Oh yeah the sort of courses you want to do allow you to do a science degree without maths, it's just a lot of people do it anyway to show they have a grounding in the subject. I'm just saying that often maths by itself is a better choice than physics by itself.