Rant about A-level options

Dont worry too much, i chose triple science at gcse level because i thought that would make me appear smarter when irl i hate science. I am in year 13 taking biology and hate every second of it. ineed to apply to uni very soon but my predicted grades are BCE which is 88 points which is incredibly low for any uni. i am so upset but its so so hard to find motivation. Maybe just try and persue it until the end? i know its so so hard but our education system is terrible i think and it drives so many students into despair, but sadly not a lot can be done. Try and find some things you like about maths maybe?

I'm sorry to hear about your situation! I'm feeling better to know I can relate to you.
I think our education system forces us to specialise too early. There is no stage where we can spend time exploring and questioning ourselves and what we love, without the fear of judgement and exams. Fresh out of GCSEs, 16 is too young to choose the courses that will lead you on to University and your future career. Also, I feel like 3 courses is not enough to develop yourself and gain a better understanding of the world.

Btw, what subjects are you taking?

Why did I take Maths? I see no motivation in doing it. I could have taken Spanish and Philosophy instead! Whyyyyy. I am an idiot. It's so boring. I initially took further maths as well but changed it to single. I am dying on the inside. I have ruined my future and my intellectual development is stunted. No essay subjects. No more pursuing what I love: language, philosophy and science (apart from the last one). It is too late now to change. I don't like self-teaching myself- I tried that with physics and Russian. I need a teacher to help me and students to talk to. Aaaargh.

I'm taking Biology, Chemistry and Maths. I was afraid of somehow appearing less capable/smart if I didn't take maths. The careers advisers all pressured me to take maths -"not enough girls go into stem careers". At the time I thought of going into science. If I was free, I would want to study religion/theology with language, and then go and study medicine. But I have ruined it.

I picked A-levels out of fear. 'Spanish isn't useful', 'philosophy is boring and essay writing isn't for you', 'you shouldn't mix arts and sciences', 'you are good at maths, it's an easy A*', 'you should focus on 3 and get the best possible grades'. What is easy isn't necessarily the best option. I have so many regrets.

Why did I take Maths? I see no motivation in doing it. I could have taken Spanish and Philosophy instead! Whyyyyy. I am an idiot. It's so boring. I initially took further maths as well but changed it to single. I am dying on the inside. I have ruined my future and my intellectual development is stunted. No essay subjects. No more pursuing what I love: language, philosophy and science (apart from the last one). It is too late now to change. I don't like self-teaching myself- I tried that with physics and Russian. I need a teacher to help me and students to talk to. Aaaargh.

I'm taking Biology, Chemistry and Maths. I was afraid of somehow appearing less capable/smart if I didn't take maths. The careers advisers all pressured me to take maths -"not enough girls go into stem careers". At the time I thought of going into science. If I was free, I would want to study religion/theology with language, and then go and study medicine. But I have ruined it.

I picked A-levels out of fear. 'Spanish isn't useful', 'philosophy is boring and essay writing isn't for you', 'you shouldn't mix arts and sciences', 'you are good at maths, it's an easy A*', 'you should focus on 3 and get the best possible grades'. What is easy isn't necessarily the best option. I have so many regrets.

Why did I take Maths? I see no motivation in doing it. I could have taken Spanish and Philosophy instead! Whyyyyy. I am an idiot. It's so boring. I initially took further maths as well but changed it to single. I am dying on the inside. I have ruined my future and my intellectual development is stunted. No essay subjects. No more pursuing what I love: language, philosophy and science (apart from the last one). It is too late now to change. I don't like self-teaching myself- I tried that with physics and Russian. I need a teacher to help me and students to talk to. Aaaargh.

I'm taking Biology, Chemistry and Maths. I was afraid of somehow appearing less capable/smart if I didn't take maths. The careers advisers all pressured me to take maths -"not enough girls go into stem careers". At the time I thought of going into science. If I was free, I would want to study religion/theology with language, and then go and study medicine. But I have ruined it.

I picked A-levels out of fear. 'Spanish isn't useful', 'philosophy is boring and essay writing isn't for you', 'you shouldn't mix arts and sciences', 'you are good at maths, it's an easy A*', 'you should focus on 3 and get the best possible grades'. What is easy isn't necessarily the best option. I have so many regrets.

Why did I take Maths? I see no motivation in doing it. I could have taken Spanish and Philosophy instead! Whyyyyy. I am an idiot. It's so boring. I initially took further maths as well but changed it to single. I am dying on the inside. I have ruined my future and my intellectual development is stunted. No essay subjects. No more pursuing what I love: language, philosophy and science (apart from the last one). It is too late now to change. I don't like self-teaching myself- I tried that with physics and Russian. I need a teacher to help me and students to talk to. Aaaargh.

I'm taking Biology, Chemistry and Maths. I was afraid of somehow appearing less capable/smart if I didn't take maths. The careers advisers all pressured me to take maths -"not enough girls go into stem careers". At the time I thought of going into science. If I was free, I would want to study religion/theology with language, and then go and study medicine. But I have ruined it.

I picked A-levels out of fear. 'Spanish isn't useful', 'philosophy is boring and essay writing isn't for you', 'you shouldn't mix arts and sciences', 'you are good at maths, it's an easy A*', 'you should focus on 3 and get the best possible grades'. What is easy isn't necessarily the best option. I have so many regrets.

I had a similar situation when I was choosing my A levels, but I didn't listen to the people telling me to continue doing sciences. I also had the issue of wanting to do everything, wanting to study literature but also study medicine. The education system in our country in my opinion is far too narrow and it's unfair to make people decide at such a young age.

I did Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Italian and French at AS, and then dropped Biology and Chemistry. I studied Modern Languages at uni and while I don't regret my decision, I feel like I would be in a better position now if I had done a science subject.

The thing about languages especially is that you can absolutely learn them to a high level without learning them in school or university, and doing a language to A level while giving you a head start doesn't prepare you realistically for being able to communicate fluently in that language, it only comes with practice, which doesn't necessarily have to be in a traditional educational environment.

I now live in Russia (Russian was one of my languages at degree level) and I've met people here who started learning Russian after university but have a similar level of fluency and understanding as I do, and are definitely better than the majority of my class at uni who stopped using Russian after graduating.

If you're really interested in Philosophy, some people who I went to university with managed to pick up some Philosophy modules while studying Maths or Physics as their main subject, so it's something to look into and see if you would be able to combine those two things. I think it depends on the university, but worth trying.

All in all, the point that I'm trying to put across is that language learning can definitely be done as an extra-curricular, subjects like Philosophy may be available as optional modules, but Science rarely is. So if you're interested in all of these areas, my advice would be to have Science as your main subject and do the others on the side.