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What should I take as my fourth option?

At GCSE i'm an A-A* student in almost every subject (excluding french) but i'm stuck on what my fourth A Level option should be. In general I love History, all 3 sciences. However, I do know that I want to take Maths, Physics and Psycology to go on and do Physics and Astronomy (or something similar) at uni. I've narrowed my fourth option down to Chemistry, Further Maths or History although I am open to suggestions. I have a few issues with each.

History:
Isn't particularly useful for what I want to study at uni but I love it.

Chemistry:
The specification seems incredibaly dry, and not much of a departure from GCSE, so in my mind not much of a challange. I need reasons for chemistry because I can't think of any myself.

Further Maths:
I'm not sure if it's for me or not. I've never enjoyed maths at school because i've always found it painfully easy, and rather patronising, when i spend hours doing pages of things that I could do in my sleep. I often hope that A-Level would be a departure from this trend but I don't know if it is. This is also true is Further Maths. Yet at the same time i've always loved problem solving, and those ah ha moments that come with it. Which is what makes physics so appealing to me.

Any help with reasons would be appreciated.

It's becoming particulary tempting to take 5 AS levels but I don't know wether I could handle the workload :/
(edited 7 years ago)
I would take chemistry.
Original post by Jooms
At GCSE i'm an A-A* student in almost every subject (excluding french) but i'm stuck on what my fourth A Level option should be. In general I love History, all 3 sciences. However, I do know that I want to take Maths, Physics and Psycology to go on and do Physics and Astronomy (or something similar) at uni. I've narrowed it down to Chemistry, Further Maths and History for my first 3 A Levels although I am open to suggestions. I have a few issues with each.

History:
Isn't particularly useful for what I want to study at uni but I love it.

Chemistry:
The specification seems incredibaly dry, and not much of a departure from GCSE, so in my mind not much of a challange. I need reasons for chemistry because I can't think of any myself.

Further Maths:
I'm not sure if it's for me or not. I've never enjoyed maths at school because i've always found it painfully easy, and rather patronising, when i spend hours doing pages of things that I could do in my sleep. I often hope that A-Level would be a departure from this trend but I don't know if it is. Yet at the same time i've always loved problem solving, and those ah ha moments that come with it. Which is what makes physics so appealing to me.

Any help with reasons would be appreciated.


I would advice FM particularly if you want to go to a top uni go so physics
Reply 3
Original post by ODES_PDES
I would advice FM particularly if you want to go to a top uni go so physics


In terms of Further Maths what I need to know is whether it would move at a quick enough pace to keep me interested.
how are you gunna do physics at uni with no a-level phys

maybe:
FM, Phys,Chem,History?
Reply 5
Original post by sfaraj
how are you gunna do physics at uni with no a-level phys

maybe:
FM, Phys,Chem,History?


It must of been how I wrote it but I say near the top that I already know that I want to take Maths, Physics and Psychology and that the fourth option is what I'm debating about.
Original post by Jooms
It must of been how I wrote it but I say near the top that I already know that I want to take Maths, Physics and Psychology and that the fourth option is what I'm debating about.


ahh, you know most unis like it when your a-level subjects aren't all based on the chosen course but a mix. also has the uni specified what a-levels are required?
Reply 7
I know that I need A Level maths and physics but that FM is highly regarded at all uni's.
Original post by Jooms
At GCSE i'm an A-A* student in almost every subject (excluding french) but i'm stuck on what my fourth A Level option should be. In general I love History, all 3 sciences. However, I do know that I want to take Maths, Physics and Psycology to go on and do Physics and Astronomy (or something similar) at uni. I've narrowed my fourth option down to Chemistry, Further Maths or History although I am open to suggestions. I have a few issues with each.

History:
Isn't particularly useful for what I want to study at uni but I love it.

Chemistry:
The specification seems incredibaly dry, and not much of a departure from GCSE, so in my mind not much of a challange. I need reasons for chemistry because I can't think of any myself.

Further Maths:
I'm not sure if it's for me or not. I've never enjoyed maths at school because i've always found it painfully easy, and rather patronising, when i spend hours doing pages of things that I could do in my sleep. I often hope that A-Level would be a departure from this trend but I don't know if it is. This is also true is Further Maths. Yet at the same time i've always loved problem solving, and those ah ha moments that come with it. Which is what makes physics so appealing to me.

Any help with reasons would be appreciated.

It's becoming particulary tempting to take 5 AS levels but I don't know wether I could handle the workload :/


Speaking as someone who did maths, further maths, chemistry, physics and history:

History is dry, and you've already got an essay subject. Not to mention the coursework is a pain in the ass, so I'd give history a miss.

Chemistry doesn't really teach you to understand anything. It's just a huge amount of learning by rote. Reactions, conditions, mechanisms, colour changes....... If you're good at learning by rote it's a very easy A level, but it's a bit of a drag.

Further maths is by some way the hardest A level. A level maths is piss-easy, it's ridiculous sometimes. Especially C1. Further maths will push you, especially if you're doing some of the later mechanics and pure modules. Not to mention that a lot of the stuff in further maths will help you greatly with any physics based degree - especially stuff on frames of reference and imaginary numbers.

I'd advise you do further maths. You sound like you're more than good enough to do it, and it's the subject that'll help you the most with your degree.
Reply 9
Original post by Luke Kostanjsek
Speaking as someone who did maths, further maths, chemistry, physics and history:

History is dry, and you've already got an essay subject. Not to mention the coursework is a pain in the ass, so I'd give history a miss.

Chemistry doesn't really teach you to understand anything. It's just a huge amount of learning by rote. Reactions, conditions, mechanisms, colour changes....... If you're good at learning by rote it's a very easy A level, but it's a bit of a drag.

Further maths is by some way the hardest A level. A level maths is piss-easy, it's ridiculous sometimes. Especially C1. Further maths will push you, especially if you're doing some of the later mechanics and pure modules. Not to mention that a lot of the stuff in further maths will help you greatly with any physics based degree - especially stuff on frames of reference and imaginary numbers.

I'd advise you do further maths. You sound like you're more than good enough to do it, and it's the subject that'll help you the most with your degree.


Thanks for such an in depth answer. I'm glad that I can likely scratch of history and chemistr. To be honest I think that I always knew I kind of wanted to take FM but that GCSE maths put me off. Conflicting arguments still welcome.

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