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Politics vs History, which is better?
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CinnamonSmol
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#1
Deciding between which pick. If you take either or (hopefully) both please comment on:
-'easiness' of subject
-pros of subject
-cons of subject
-what to consider if I or someone else would pick it and why
This looks like an essay question....oops.
-'easiness' of subject
-pros of subject
-cons of subject
-what to consider if I or someone else would pick it and why
This looks like an essay question....oops.
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CinnamonSmol
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#2
Chloe4091
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#3
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#3
I currently do GCSE history and personally I enjoyed the second year of history than the first. It really depends on the topic and whether you like it or not. Personally I'm not going to take it for A levels as it's a lot of writing and you have to do assessments which you have to relate to sources. I have never done the other subject so I really haven't got any advice on the other one
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CinnamonSmol
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#4
(Original post by Chloe4091)
I currently do GCSE history and personally I enjoyed the second year of history than the first. It really depends on the topic and whether you like it or not. Personally I'm not going to take it for A levels as it's a lot of writing and you have to do assessments which you have to relate to sources. I have never done the other subject so I really haven't got any advice on the other one
Posted from TSR Mobile
I currently do GCSE history and personally I enjoyed the second year of history than the first. It really depends on the topic and whether you like it or not. Personally I'm not going to take it for A levels as it's a lot of writing and you have to do assessments which you have to relate to sources. I have never done the other subject so I really haven't got any advice on the other one
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Airmed
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#5
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#5
Did both for A Level, and I am a politics undergrad. It is said that it is easier to do better in A Level Politics than A Level History, and that happened with me (although not out of hard exams, more like I was severely ill during one of my history papers).
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username2981082
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#6
I did politics and history for A-Level. I am doing a degree in English and History so my opinion might be more biased. I would say history is better because of two reasons. 1) History is a traditional subject, making it a much more respectable subject than politics. 2) history is very broad and intersects a lot with politics.
I wouldn't say one is easier than the other. It depends on each individual. I got an A in history but a C in politics. I suppose history is easier to get a high grade in because there is a set way of answering each question. If you know the structure of an essay you can pretty much get an A. This isn't the case in politics because of the nature of the topics, especially if you did American politics like I did.
Politics involves a lot of essay writing as well. All the humanities are essay based subjects.
I wouldn't say one is easier than the other. It depends on each individual. I got an A in history but a C in politics. I suppose history is easier to get a high grade in because there is a set way of answering each question. If you know the structure of an essay you can pretty much get an A. This isn't the case in politics because of the nature of the topics, especially if you did American politics like I did.
Politics involves a lot of essay writing as well. All the humanities are essay based subjects.
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leithiandis
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#7
I study law at university, some modules have a bit of history and politics but what I can understand from the A-level side is:
-'easiness' of subject:
This depends on the person, politics at A level is generally based around the UK and the USA and comparing the two and would not differ, however history has a lot more content and it does depend on what history A level modules your school allows you to take. I do believe that History is seen as a "hard" subject and is looked upon in a better light by universities, top tier universities that is.
-pros of subject
History: is very interesting and you'll learn about various bits of history in the last few centuries. The essay skills you learn can be helpful for university essays, not the same but a little bit go guidance is better than none
Politics: Very helpful if you're gonna be studying law or politics at university a lot of the skills and knowledge that you'll learn you can use in your first year for essays
-cons of subject
They are both difficult and there are lots of things to memorise and learn, Politics as an A level can sometimes be seen as a weaker subject than history.
-what to consider if I or someone else would pick it and why
Just think about what you'd like to do as a degree and what kind of university you'd most likely be attending.
E.g If you want to study law at a lower tier university take politics, it is easier
If you want to study law at a top tier university take history as it looks stronger on your application
however the most important thing is to take something that you enjoy and are sure you'll do well on. No point taking something you hate as you won't be likely to do well on it.
-'easiness' of subject:
This depends on the person, politics at A level is generally based around the UK and the USA and comparing the two and would not differ, however history has a lot more content and it does depend on what history A level modules your school allows you to take. I do believe that History is seen as a "hard" subject and is looked upon in a better light by universities, top tier universities that is.
-pros of subject
History: is very interesting and you'll learn about various bits of history in the last few centuries. The essay skills you learn can be helpful for university essays, not the same but a little bit go guidance is better than none
Politics: Very helpful if you're gonna be studying law or politics at university a lot of the skills and knowledge that you'll learn you can use in your first year for essays
-cons of subject
They are both difficult and there are lots of things to memorise and learn, Politics as an A level can sometimes be seen as a weaker subject than history.
-what to consider if I or someone else would pick it and why
Just think about what you'd like to do as a degree and what kind of university you'd most likely be attending.
E.g If you want to study law at a lower tier university take politics, it is easier
If you want to study law at a top tier university take history as it looks stronger on your application
however the most important thing is to take something that you enjoy and are sure you'll do well on. No point taking something you hate as you won't be likely to do well on it.
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CinnamonSmol
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#8
(Original post by constantine2016)
I did politics and history for A-Level. I am doing a degree in English and History so my opinion might be more biased. I would say history is better because of two reasons. 1) History is a traditional subject, making it a much more respectable subject than politics. 2) history is very broad and intersects a lot with politics.
I wouldn't say one is easier than the other. It depends on each individual. I got an A in history but a C in politics. I suppose history is easier to get a high grade in because there is a set way of answering each question. If you know the structure of an essay you can pretty much get an A. This isn't the case in politics because of the nature of the topics, especially if you did American politics like I did.
Politics involves a lot of essay writing as well. All the humanities are essay based subjects.
I did politics and history for A-Level. I am doing a degree in English and History so my opinion might be more biased. I would say history is better because of two reasons. 1) History is a traditional subject, making it a much more respectable subject than politics. 2) history is very broad and intersects a lot with politics.
I wouldn't say one is easier than the other. It depends on each individual. I got an A in history but a C in politics. I suppose history is easier to get a high grade in because there is a set way of answering each question. If you know the structure of an essay you can pretty much get an A. This isn't the case in politics because of the nature of the topics, especially if you did American politics like I did.
Politics involves a lot of essay writing as well. All the humanities are essay based subjects.
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CinnamonSmol
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#9
(Original post by leithiandis)
I study law at university, some modules have a bit of history and politics but what I can understand from the A-level side is:
-'easiness' of subject:
This depends on the person, politics at A level is generally based around the UK and the USA and comparing the two and would not differ, however history has a lot more content and it does depend on what history A level modules your school allows you to take. I do believe that History is seen as a "hard" subject and is looked upon in a better light by universities, top tier universities that is.
-pros of subject
History: is very interesting and you'll learn about various bits of history in the last few centuries. The essay skills you learn can be helpful for university essays, not the same but a little bit go guidance is better than none
Politics: Very helpful if you're gonna be studying law or politics at university a lot of the skills and knowledge that you'll learn you can use in your first year for essays
-cons of subject
They are both difficult and there are lots of things to memorise and learn, Politics as an A level can sometimes be seen as a weaker subject than history.
-what to consider if I or someone else would pick it and why
Just think about what you'd like to do as a degree and what kind of university you'd most likely be attending.
E.g If you want to study law at a lower tier university take politics, it is easier
If you want to study law at a top tier university take history as it looks stronger on your application
however the most important thing is to take something that you enjoy and are sure you'll do well on. No point taking something you hate as you won't be likely to do well on it.
I study law at university, some modules have a bit of history and politics but what I can understand from the A-level side is:
-'easiness' of subject:
This depends on the person, politics at A level is generally based around the UK and the USA and comparing the two and would not differ, however history has a lot more content and it does depend on what history A level modules your school allows you to take. I do believe that History is seen as a "hard" subject and is looked upon in a better light by universities, top tier universities that is.
-pros of subject
History: is very interesting and you'll learn about various bits of history in the last few centuries. The essay skills you learn can be helpful for university essays, not the same but a little bit go guidance is better than none
Politics: Very helpful if you're gonna be studying law or politics at university a lot of the skills and knowledge that you'll learn you can use in your first year for essays
-cons of subject
They are both difficult and there are lots of things to memorise and learn, Politics as an A level can sometimes be seen as a weaker subject than history.
-what to consider if I or someone else would pick it and why
Just think about what you'd like to do as a degree and what kind of university you'd most likely be attending.
E.g If you want to study law at a lower tier university take politics, it is easier
If you want to study law at a top tier university take history as it looks stronger on your application
however the most important thing is to take something that you enjoy and are sure you'll do well on. No point taking something you hate as you won't be likely to do well on it.
You've made me want to take both tbh
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leithiandis
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#10
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#10
(Original post by CinnamonSmol)
Thank you so much for such a helpful reply
You've made me want to take both tbh
Thank you so much for such a helpful reply
You've made me want to take both tbh
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username2981082
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#11
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#11
(Original post by CinnamonSmol)
I wish I could give you 100 rep points, thank you so much! I feel so tempted to do both seeing as my college is doing British and American Politics in the same time frame as American and British history so it may be easier to understand. This means I'll be taking 4 A-levels though.....(we aren't allowed to drop a subject at AS anymore) Did you find the workload overwhelming?
I wish I could give you 100 rep points, thank you so much! I feel so tempted to do both seeing as my college is doing British and American Politics in the same time frame as American and British history so it may be easier to understand. This means I'll be taking 4 A-levels though.....(we aren't allowed to drop a subject at AS anymore) Did you find the workload overwhelming?
In terms of whether politics will be useful in helping you to understand American and British history, it very much depends on what history topics you are understanding. For example, if you were studying the civil rights movement in America, knowing the rights given to states under the constitution would be very helpful to you. However, knowing the stages of passing legislation in British politics wouldn't be useful if you're studying the British Empire.
If you can I would suggest finding out what topics you would study in politics and history, then see if the two are relevant to each other.
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