Will these A-Levels be okay for most Universities?

So recently I had to drop English Literature because I started over a month late at my school and then had some illness so it was the subject I was unable to catch up to and dropped it in the end as it would impede my other subjects too much.

So now I'm doing History, Sociology, Applied Business Studies and will be taking a Polish exam for AS and A2 (native speaker but not completely fluent)

So are they ok? I'm mainly worried about Applied Business, which I heard is not respected in a lot of Unis.

Reply 1

MandaTreb

I only have the knowledge which surrounds being a student helper at open days and being at university myself.... but from my experience it is business studies and subjects like critical thinking that universities exclude from being in the "3 A levels achieved in one sitting" that they want... however so long as you did the Polish exam in A2 year, that could count as your 3rd A level (so History, Sociology and Polish).

Also, univeristies are rather lenient if you explain to them about illness or personal circumstances... so just be sure to let them know if you can provide evidence that this actually is the case (evidence is key). And bare in mind, universities want students to go to their university - increases the amount of money they have and the statistics that they can show.

So, although the choices may not aid you application to university, at the same time they are not going to completely impede you from going... you'll just have to choose your topic with regards to what you have studied and the requirements of the specific university. (Not saying that you have to stick to the subjects you have taken at A level though... I took English, History and Physics, then at university I've taken Psychology, and they were completely fine with that since each subject was linked into the personal statement)

Reply 2

popcornjpg

I suppose, but wouldn't most universities also see the Polish as not so good because I'm a native speaker?

I sort of regret dropping English Lit now. My subject choices were pretty good before.

Also I think it's kind of unfair to discriminate against applied subjects so much, I mean the amount of work I have to do is kind of ridiculous. I write essays and revise for history and sociology often, but business still takes up most of my time.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 3

username1514999

Original post by popcornjpg

Unfair as it is, applied business is not respected. Business Studies isn't really respected either, and that's not an 'applied' subject.

If you take A2 Polish, History, Sociology in the same year, these could make up your 'offer' instead.

Would the uni know you were a native speaker?

If so then I'd take all 4 subjects at A2 to make up for it. Good luck!

Reply 4

Ilovefries

I got an A in my A level Polish and the head of year told me that some unis may not accept it because it's my first language but that's not true. (I think he was only trying to make me work harder lol) I got 5 offers from unis and as you probably know you can only apply to 5. Overall I think I will get about 320 UCAS points if not even more and it's mainly due to that A in Polish.

Also, the truth is that Polish A level exams are not so easy so you can explain that to them if they don't like the fact that's it's your first language. First of all, I left Poland when I was 11 so we can simply say that my Polish literally stopped at this level, I didn't go to Polish school when I came to England so especially written Polish could be a bit difficult for some people. I also had to read a really old book for the exam and I didn't understand any of it because Polish language changed since then and I still had to write an essay on it.

I still don't think that they will see the Polish as not so good but good luck :smile:

Reply 5

Nathanielle

It really depends. The most important thing are the grades and the course you intend to apply to. So just focus on your grades and then in case you see that you have the grades, but the unis say specifically, that you have the wrong courses, then do a third year doing the A Level you need. Whether it even makes sense right now to think over switching A Levels is not the best thing.

With the Polish A Level again it depends. Usually an A Level in a native language is not regarded as highly, but the question is: Does it matter for the university and the course you want to apply to? Is it crucial for them that you show a high proficiency in/high ability in learning a foreign laguage or do they only want to see you speak two languages or do they only need four AS and thus it doesn't matter which subject?

As you see, it will depend from uni to uni.