AS Level Choices

Hey everyone! I'm having to make the decision about what AS Levels to take pretty quickly after I decided not to take the International Baccalaureate.

In my GCSE's i got:
A*'s in English Lit, Spanish, Maths, Media and General Studies
A's in Statistics, Double Science, English (might be re-marked) and 4 equivs in ICT.

And i'm a bit stuck what to take next year.

I'm good mostly at English, Spanish so i'm thinking things like English Lit. Spanish as well as:

Archaeology,
geography,
history,
maths,
philosophy,
politics,
psychology,
r.e,
sociology,
spanish

Have any of you taken these subjects: any advice? I'd like to get into a top uni so any advice is much appreciated
Finally, this is my first ever post so excuse any mistakes or rule breaking!! :s-smilie:

Reply 1

reductio

take maths. It's a very strong subject if you do well.

Reply 2

Plato123

11

What do you want to study at University?

Reply 3

History Rocks

15

In order for us to comment, you need to tell us what degree you are looking to go in to and what career you look to adopt?

Reply 4

Malsy

18

Hmmm you got the A's and A* surely you should know what to take...you're clearly bright.

Reply 5

Zerodos

15

Take Maths,English Lit, A language, History and a science for a very broad choice that will keep your options open if you think you can handel 5. I advise you pick a more mathmatical science incase you chose to go into maths ie Physics or chemistry. Also why not pick 5 then drop 1 if you cant handle the work load

Reply 6

amazingelli

OP

Oh yeh sorry!

Id like to work in Business (Marketing, Sales)
or Fashion (journalism or management)

University: Politics, English, Spanish, History that kind of thing. Not a big fan of science or maths but i could tolerate maths if it was a big help!

Reply 7

amazingelli

OP

malsi101

Hmmm you got the A's and A* surely you should know what to take...you're clearly bright.

Haha people keep saying that but after I decided not to take the IB i was stuck! :yep:

Reply 8

Sorry...Alright...Well...

9

You have to bear in mind that the syllabus is changing for A-levels in 2008, so what people tell you about the courses may have changed. I've done Philosophy which is very interesting but also quite hard, except that they apparently made it easier in this new syllabus...(aren't you budding year 12's lucky?)
I also studied History, but didn't do any revision for it and I think that exam technique more than anything else makes for a good grade.
Also, if you took GNVQ or BTEC ICT, it doesn't really equate to four GCSE'S, some colleges/sixth forms don't accept them or say they are worth one or two GCSE'S.
Hope this helps.

Reply 9

History Rocks

15

*Politics, English, Spanish, History that kind of thing.*

Well considering you are thinking of going on to one of the courses above then there is no need in taking Maths, it will not stop you getting in to any of the courses that you seem interested in getting in to.

However if you want to go in to Sales then you are going to have to have Maths?

Reply 10

amazingelli

OP

History Rocks

However if you want to go in to Sales then you are going to have to have Maths?

yeh I know that, its just I can't bear to keep on with the mechanics side of AS Maths. I got an A* in Maths, so i'm good at it but I don't really enjoy it.

Is there any other benefits of taking A Level maths?

Reply 11

sunspoon

14

If you don't enjoy it then don't go anywhere near it, unless you really have to take it for the degree you want to do. For Business or Management degree courses Maths A-level will be extremely helpful.

Reply 12

Draconis

2

amazingelli

yeh I know that, its just I can't bear to keep on with the mechanics side of AS Maths. I got an A* in Maths, so i'm good at it but I don't really enjoy it.

Is there any other benefits of taking A Level maths?

You don't have to do mechanics. You can do statistics or decision maths instead. :smile:

Reply 13

History Rocks

15

Draconis

You don't have to do mechanics. You can do statistics or decision maths instead. :smile:

Yes, afterall Sales is not very mechanical so you would'nt need that side of Maths. :smile:

Reply 14

amazingelli

OP

History Rocks

Yes, afterall Sales is not very mechanical so you would'nt need that side of Maths. :smile:

Ok thats fine! Is R.E a respected subject and are any of the subjects I have suggested a so called 'soft' subject?

Reply 15

A Stranger in Moscow

12

I did Philosophy, it's fun, probably good as a 5th subject. Most people that take History like History, as well, so maybe that...
Spanish is well good, but hard.
Maths is okay, I did stats. Don't take it if you're not really a fan, though.
Chemistry is good if you like that kind of thing...
Eng. Lit. is really good, even though I hated it at times, it's fun and fairly easy if you like reading and can learn a few buzzwords.

I'd say History/Eng. Lit, Spanish, Psychology (seems popular enough), maybe Biology or Chemistry or Maths (only if you like Maths, though), and Philosophy if you're taking a 5th.

Reply 16

fishpie57

amazingelli

Id like to work in Business (Marketing, Sales)
or Fashion (journalism or management)

University: Politics, English, Spanish, History that kind of thing. Not a big fan of science or maths but i could tolerate maths if it was a big help!

History is definitely not a soft subject! I'm going to be doing 4 sciencey subjects next year, and history - it gives you different skills (analysis, evaluation etc.). Sorry I can't help much more!!

I'd say R.E.'s respected - you learn about cultural differences (important in business, I'd have thought) and evaluating different points of view, so it's analytical (like history)...

And languages are good to show universities/businesses that you have good communication skills - and I think they're particularly useful if you want to work in business. If you're good at Spanish (A* so that's a yes) then I'd recommend taking that if you're thinking about business - especially if you want to work in an international business, it would be a big advantage to know a second language. Especially Spanish - it's spoken all over the world.

Hope this helps... :biggrin:

AS Level Choices

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