Choosing National 5s

I'm in the process of choosing my nat 5 exam subjects (roughly equivalent to GCSEs) but I need help.
I can take 7 subjects, with maths and English being compulsory.
I'm really interested in science, so I've decided to take biology, chemistry, and physics, which means I have two spare subjects.
I can choose from German, music and computing science. I have a real passion for music, (being about grade 7 on sax) and I quite like computing, and I can tolerate German. However according to my report I am good at all three. Which two subjects should I take from German, computing and music considering I would love to study a science degree at university? Thank you
(Btw sorry for posting in gcse, I'm new and couldn't see any SQA section)

Reply 1

Labrador99

Volunteer Team

Original post by cameron2101

Hi I hope this reply isn't too late...
I did my national 5 exams last year in maths, English, French(all compulsory), chemistry, physics, biology, geography and music.
I can't really say much about computing other than it seems to be a popular choice with people doing physics/ chemistry.
For music, you need to be able to do 2 instruments to grade 3 standard, so you would need to play another instrument, but considering that you already play saxophone to a high standard, it could be done. Plenty of people in my class last year only started one of their instruments when they started the actual course and got good grades. You need to be able to perform 8 minutes between them, with a minimum of 2 minutes on each instrument, doing at least 2 pieces on each, so you could do 6 minutes on sax and 2 minutes on another instrument. As long as the standard is grade 3 or above, it doesn't matter what standard the pieces are, however, if you do a grade 7 piece you don't get any extra marks because it is more difficult- so I would advise playing a grade 3 piece really well instead of playing a grade 7 piece that you are not 100% sure of. Music is good in that it gives you some time away from books/ intense studying when you do practical and in that respect, it is really enjoyable. The biggest advantage of music is that 60% of your exam will be done in February/ March, leaving only a 45 minute listening paper to be done in May.
For languages, they are all exactly the same format, except the actual language you are doing is different! You have a speaking assessment which is done in school and is marked by your teacher(although the SQA monitor very carefully that they are giving they are marking fairly and consistently) and involves you giving a kind of speech and the teacher asking you questions(in German). This is worth 30% of the final mark. In the final exam in May you get 2 papers: one for listening(20% of the final grade) and one for reading and writing(30% and 20% respectively). The listening and reading you can only prepare for by practice and knowing the language. For the writing, it takes the same format of a letter for a job application, so you basically memorise what you will write.
Overall, I don't really think it will matter which 2 out of the 3 you do- you seem to prefer music and computing, so I would say to pick them- but if you change your mind over the summer holidays/once you have tried them, you can always ask to change.
Hope this helps
PS- You can access the Scottish Qualifications forum if you hover the mouse over the GCSE tab and click on 'Scottish qualifications advice', or you can click this link: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=41