Is taking 5 subjects in AS really that hard?

Hello!
I just started AS this semester and i hear it is very rare for someone to take 5 subjects. I am a little indecisive about my career so i took 5 subjects to keep my options open. I really have no idea how the workload is going to be in A levels.
The subjects I took are English,Maths,Chemistry,Physics and Geography and I plan to continue into Geography or Maths after A levels. What would be the best way to continue?
Drop a subject so I can direct my concentration on less work or should I continue till I write my AS exams to see how I do in the subjects and drop a subject later in A2?

Reply 1

Samonia

Drop a subject. A-Levels are hard so there's no point stretching yourself unnecessarily. The workload will increase once you get to A-Level and i really wouldn't recommend 5 AS subjects. In regards to the best subject combination, Look at some of the universities that you want to go to and see what they want as entry requirements. Also, pick the subjects that you are best at and will get the best grades because thats what mainly counts in getting in to Uni. Hope this helps :smile:

Reply 2

Minnie16

It really depends on how much support you will get and how much effort you're willing to put in. Most children from very wealthy families who can afford private tutors almost every day of the week and extra support outside of college won't find too much trouble with 5 As levels. But those of us who are from normal working class backgrounds who won't have 5 extra tutors out of college will find it very difficult to cope since you will have to guidance out of college.

I did 4 As levels even when everyone told me not to. I now do 3 A levels and I'm SO much happier with 3. Doing 4 As levels wasn't good for me just because my teacher didn't take one of my subjects seriously and crammed in 2 months of content in just one month right before the exam. This meant I spent more time trying to fix holes in knowledge in this one extra subject but it cost me precious revision time in the other subjects that I actually needed.

My advice is only pick the subjects that you definitely need! It's not impossible to do 5 but it requires ALOT of dedication. Good luck.

Reply 3

doggyher

Whether it's hard or not is irrelevant, problem is that it's completely useless to take 5.

Reply 4

username1397980

Depends which subjects you take and how much you're willing to work. I take 5 (Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Physics) but due to some overlap in the subjects it isn't as much of a workload as 5 humanities subjects. I have significantly more work than my friends but if you are organised and willing to work then it shouldn't be impossible.

See if your sixth form will allow you to take 5 subjects for a few weeks and then drop one - you might have a better idea of what you want to do after trying each subject out at A level.

Reply 5

nexttime

I did 5 myself but would not recommend it, especially with that subject combination. Doing 5 sciences/maths when you have a natural aptitude as i did is a different question entirely to trying to do sciences and geography with all its case studies and English with all the essays. No matter how good at English and Geography you are, they're a lot of work.

English looks the most likely one for you to drop from those 5. Or possibly Chemistry if you don't find that naturally easy.