Hello
I have just graduated with a masters degree in sociology from a Russel Group University, and also work for a Russel Group University, delivering medical education. I did not take sociology at A-level or undergraduate so I cannot comment on the curriculum at those levels per say, but I feel I am able to put up a good defence for sociology in general.
Firstly, its very interesting. Sociology gives you skills that are of practical use. You will be better informed about human behaviour, you certainly will distrust government statistics, you will learn about inter-continental disputes that are often kept well away from the media. You will learn how to be objective towards people, and logical - but the best thing is it will nurture your curiosity of fellow humans, and your compassion.
Sociology also is not easy, it is also not a pseudo-science. The whole point of sociology is to find the best way to measure human behaviour, and other non-physical phenomena in the most objective way possible.
Because humans are reflexive and unpredictable, sociological frameworks have to be flexible to some degree, and sometimes there is no framework for analysis that can fit the inquiry exactly, because human behaviour by nature is not designed to be measured in such a way. For example, 5 people can witness the same incident, but understand its meaning in 5 different ways. That is why some people say its a fake science, our target is constantly changing, evolving and moving. Hard science does not have this problem as the laws of physics will always be the laws of physics. One paradigm may come along every now and again to shake things up a bit, but more or less scientists will subscribe to the same paradigm or risk invalidity.
Humans to do not stay the same, because of this they are a much harder phenomena to investigate.
So, no sociology is a respectable subject to take to those people who know what it is and what it entails. I am not bashing hard science, it is a field that requires high levels of intellect, dedication and skill - it is just that most people take GSCE sociology and think that its just writing down what you think about people and places. No its the measure of incident, cause, experiment, and scientific data collection and reflection.
And by God, please do not take philosophy as a subject because you don't know what else to do. Admissions can see a mile off if you have taken subject because you didn't know what else to do, its also poorly taught below undergrad level mostly.I love philosophy but didn't take it because Philosophy students are a dime a dozen.
Same with psychology. I wouldn't waste time with it unless you want to be a psychologist - it is a very specialised subject, the workforce would prefer to see sociology under your subjects than psychology because sociology is more versatile - you can apply to pretty much anything with it.