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Reputation of my choices?

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(edited 4 years ago)

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If you're going to change a subject, lose media
Maths - very good
Economics - pretty good
Pyschology - good (particularly if you want it at uni)
Media - will still probably be okay but may disadvantage you if applying to competitive courses at top top universities
They're all good TBH... Maths is gonna be the hardest so put loads of focus into that, Economics and Psychology aren't that hard if you just follow along with the curriculum and go to every lesson. media on the other hand is a piece of cake from what I've heard, my friends didn't even attend half of their lessons and finished with at least a B.

How do these qualify you for good uni courses? I recommend the following:

Economics, Banking or Finance - These can get you jobs that make serious cheddar, thank your Maths and Economics

Events Management - Pretty enjoyable course so they say, employment is hit-or-miss and you need a bit of luck or connections

Psychology - Very common course so competition for a job is fierce, though if it's your passion then go for it

Primary/Secondary Education - A-level choices don't really matter so long as you get good grades

Mathematics - Only for the determined, if you finish with a 1st then your job prospects are endless

Computer Science - Saved the best for last, you won't get into Oxbridge cuz they demand Further Maths as well but you can still get into loads of good universities like Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and the job market is exploding right now. I just graduated a Software Engineering course which is very similar (from a low-rank university) and I start my career on Monday, less than a month after I finished exams.


There are actually loads of options if you look around on UCAS search but these are the most well-known courses that I can think of
tbh i think you should get rid of media, the other 3 are good but media will drag you down, youve got 2 facilitating subjects as it is and a third could be the difference between getting into a top uni or not
Reply 5
Original post by A-LJLB
If you're going to change a subject, lose media


I considered that; but media is something I really enjoy and I wanted to have at least one subject where I can relax a bit and have fun (the teacher is extremely interesting and he questions your views, also quite a lot of debates). That's why I'm quite reluctant to drop it, and I'm torn between keeping psychology or changing it to biology to make up for the weakness of media
Reply 6
Original post by TelAviv
Maths - very good
Economics - pretty good
Pyschology - good (particularly if you want it at uni)
Media - will still probably be okay but may disadvantage you if applying to competitive courses at top top universities


Yeah I discovered that some top uni's say medias okay as a fourth subject, as long as the other 3 are strong, thats why Im considering changing psychology because from my research, I found that psychology is seen as an okay subject, not as respected as biology. I'm quite reluctant to change because I dont think I will enjoy biology as much, but it might be needed to get me into a top uni
Reply 7
Original post by JavaScriptMaster
They're all good TBH... Maths is gonna be the hardest so put loads of focus into that, Economics and Psychology aren't that hard if you just follow along with the curriculum and go to every lesson. media on the other hand is a piece of cake from what I've heard, my friends didn't even attend half of their lessons and finished with at least a B.

How do these qualify you for good uni courses? I recommend the following:

Economics, Banking or Finance - These can get you jobs that make serious cheddar, thank your Maths and Economics

Events Management - Pretty enjoyable course so they say, employment is hit-or-miss and you need a bit of luck or connections

Psychology - Very common course so competition for a job is fierce, though if it's your passion then go for it

Primary/Secondary Education - A-level choices don't really matter so long as you get good grades

Mathematics - Only for the determined, if you finish with a 1st then your job prospects are endless

Computer Science - Saved the best for last, you won't get into Oxbridge cuz they demand Further Maths as well but you can still get into loads of good universities like Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and the job market is exploding right now. I just graduated a Software Engineering course which is very similar (from a low-rank university) and I start my career on Monday, less than a month after I finished exams.


There are actually loads of options if you look around on UCAS search but these are the most well-known courses that I can think of


Your reply was very helpful, thank you so much! :biggrin: however I dont think you really understood my question... but the information you provided in this reply is actually really really useful. I'm planning on studying economics, and hopefully I can get into a top uni, I'm just worried that my other options will make me be seen as a bad candidate. Good luck on your job!
Reply 8
Original post by JNDSAN
tbh i think you should get rid of media, the other 3 are good but media will drag you down, youve got 2 facilitating subjects as it is and a third could be the difference between getting into a top uni or not


Yeah thats the thing that I'm struggling to decide. I'm quite reluctant to drop media, so I'm considering dropping psychology to change it to something respected like biology, which would then make up for media, but I dont think I'll actually enjoy biology as much as I will enjoy psychology, which is why I'm struggling to decide. On one hand I could pick a subject I would like better and risk my chances of getting into a top uni, or I could pick something I would dislike but improve my chances of getting into a top uni
Reply 9
Original post by callumterty
I've picked economics, maths, media and psychology for A- Level, but I want to get into a good uni and I havent got that many facilitating/respected options. I really want to study psychology and media, I dont know if I should change psychology to another subject (like bio) or keep it. I know I will enjoy psychology and I wouldnt really enjoy Biology, but I want to get into a good uni


Drop psychology. Pick up business or accounting it will be complementary with your economics and media. Media is quite important if you go into the job market or so I am told since most of modern advertising from MNCs have taken to social network (and its a doddle to get an easy A).

Strong subjects to choose - International business - shows you understand how global markets work.

Maths is a lot of work and stress, but fi you can deal with that go for it.

Personally I wished I had never taken it, its a leech on my other subjects.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Themini
Drop psychology. Pick up business or accounting it will be complementary with your economics and media. Media is quite important if you go into the job market or so I am told since most of modern advertising from MNCs have taken to social network (and its a doddle to get an easy A).

Strong subjects to choose - International business - shows you understand how global markets work.

Maths is a lot of work and stress, but fi you can deal with that go for it.

Personally I wished I had never taken it, its a leech on my other subjects.


My school doesnt offer accounting and we were told that we're not allowed to pick subjects that are considered "similar" (business and economics) so I dont think they'll allow me to pick business with economics. Yeah maths seems like a lot of hard work and tears, Ive completed the Further Maths course at GCSE (in fact my second paper is tomorrow) and apparently that was the introduction of A Level maths, so hopefully I shouldnt struggle too much because I got a head start by learning about some of the topics such as identities and so forth.
Original post by callumterty
My school doesnt offer accounting and we were told that we're not allowed to pick subjects that are considered "similar" (business and economics) so I dont think they'll allow me to pick business with economics. Yeah maths seems like a lot of hard work and tears, Ive completed the Further Maths course at GCSE (in fact my second paper is tomorrow) and apparently that was the introduction of A Level maths, so hopefully I shouldnt struggle too much because I got a head start by learning about some of the topics such as identities and so forth.


I was conned like you, switch to a different college. I'll give the honest truth- uni don't give a flying monkey about your diverse range of subjects..they care about your grades in the end. Those are complete fairy tales I've failed A levels the first time around listening to that rubbish.

Listen, you don't need a diverse range- I was told to do Maths, French, Computing, Economics and Chemistry. Needless to say I failed.

Just get subjects that are very similar to each other if you can. Since you like maths, it'll be easier for you if you did Further maths, core maths and physics the content builds on one and another so you're not having to learn 4 different things at once and the exam technique is similar.

Similar courses: Business, Economics, Accounting/ politics/ marketing
-Media, marketing and business
sociology, psychology and history or sport science

Biology, environmental studies and psychology/geography/ geology

Honestly you can do all different subjects but uni wont even look at you if you get Ds or Cs especially if you're trying Russell groups which want AAA-AAB ABB at a push.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Themini
I was conned like you, switch to a different college. I'll give the honest truth- uni don't give a flying monkey about your diverse range of subjects..they care about your grades in the end. Those are complete fairy tales I've failed A levels the first time around listening to that rubbish.

Listen, you don't need a diverse range- I was told to do Maths, French, Computing, Economics and Chemistry. Needless to say I failed.

Just get subjects that are very similar to each other if you can. Since you like maths, it'll be easier for you if you did Further maths, core maths and physics the content builds on one and another so you're not having to learn 4 different things at once and the exam technique is similar.

Similar courses: Business, Economics, Accounting/ politics/ marketing
-Media, marketing and business
sociology, psychology and history or sport science

Biology, environmental studies and psychology/geography/ geology

Honestly you can do all different subjects but uni wont even look at you if you get Ds or Cs especially if you're trying Russell groups which want AAA-AAB ABB at a push.


Thank you for the advice! I've already submitted my options so I will only be able to change like one or two subjects, and I've been reading online about how the reputation of my A Levels will affect my application. My A Levels aren't too diverse yet they aren't too similar either, they're things I enjoy, I'm just worried about their reputation/the respect uni's have for that subject
Objective reputation:

Maths - Very good
Economics - Good
Psychology - Average
Media - Poor
Reply 14
It depends what unis and courses you’re trying to apply for. Ibz Mo on YouTube got into Cambridge after having done psychology, sociology, English lit and media studies (AS Level). Though he applied with his actual grades and applied for a psychology course.
Reply 15
Is Economics actually a hard a level? I always thought that it was a slightly harder version of business studies at A Level tbh (degree level is definitely respected). I’d class psychology and economics as the same, reputation and difficulty wise tbh.
(edited 4 years ago)
Reply 16
Neither business nor accounting are respectable A Level choices. But if you only care about getting the best grade possible OP then pick them both seeing as they’re easy as possible. Idk how impressive it will look that you got A*A*A*-AAA or whatever in media studies, business and accounting though...

Original post by Themini
Drop psychology. Pick up business or accounting it will be complementary with your economics and media. Media is quite important if you go into the job market or so I am told since most of modern advertising from MNCs have taken to social network (and its a doddle to get an easy A).

Strong subjects to choose - International business - shows you understand how global markets work.

Maths is a lot of work and stress, but fi you can deal with that go for it.

Personally I wished I had never taken it, its a leech on my other subjects.
Original post by callumterty
I've picked economics, maths, media and psychology for A- Level, but I want to get into a good uni and I havent got that many facilitating/respected options. I really want to study psychology and media, I dont know if I should change psychology to another subject (like bio) or keep it. I know I will enjoy psychology and I wouldnt really enjoy Biology, but I want to get into a good uni

Don't do those four 'A' levels. I'd drop media - do it as a hobby. Your best three grades are what will get you into a good university - almost all will ignore the fourth.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by callumterty
Yeah thats the thing that I'm struggling to decide. I'm quite reluctant to drop media, so I'm considering dropping psychology to change it to something respected like biology, which would then make up for media, but I dont think I'll actually enjoy biology as much as I will enjoy psychology, which is why I'm struggling to decide. On one hand I could pick a subject I would like better and risk my chances of getting into a top uni, or I could pick something I would dislike but improve my chances of getting into a top uni

Oxford accepts Psychology 'A' level (Experimental Psychology, requires A*AA). I'd keep it.

The only issue that I see with your choices is having four. Media is the only one that I'd drop, but you should check target universities' views on it.
Original post by RogerOxon
Don't do those four 'A' levels. I'd drop media - do it as a hobby. Your best three grades are what will get you into a good university - almost all will ignore the fourth.

Thanks for the reply. This is an old thread I'm now in my second year of university aha. I ended up doing alright!

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