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Economics or Chemistry? Or Both?

I'm taking Math, Further Math and Physics. I've always been sure I'd take Economics as a 4th because I love the subject and hate chemistry. But it was mostly because I'm in our country's national curriculum and there are no resources and questions are terrible. I'm switching to IALs this year and I've been looking through papers and mark schemes and honestly chem doesn't seem too bad, I'll just have to study and practice past papers.

I want to do study applied math/economics/compsci at uni so I probably don't need chem but wouldn't it strengthen my application if I had it? Also, wouldn't chem A2 be easier if I'm very good at math?

I'm not applying to UK unis because I need a lot of aid, and universities in Singapore and Hong Kong want to see 5 subjects for full ride scholarships. And US universities might like me to have more subjects in high school so will it be too bad if I go all crazy and try econ as a 5th? I'll be self-studying everything but I'll probably have private tutors in A2.

So yeah, is there a better choice between econ and chem? Or is it smarter to take them both?
Reply 1
In my opinion, A Level Chemistry is hard, so unless you're really good at it (even if you hate it) i wouldn't recommend taking it for your A-Levels, People are 10000000% correct when they say take something you enjoy for your A-levels and I personally feel like I should have taken this more seriously, A levels are already difficult and if you do a subject you're not acing and you don't like it's going to be really difficult, but if you take a subject that you REALLY enjoy, even if it's difficult you'll put in the extra effort to understand the content and you'll be able to get out of your (surprisingly frequent dark days) much quicker and stronger.
hope this helped : P
Reply 2
Original post by rayazzle
In my opinion, A Level Chemistry is hard, so unless you're really good at it (even if you hate it) i wouldn't recommend taking it for your A-Levels, People are 10000000% correct when they say take something you enjoy for your A-levels and I personally feel like I should have taken this more seriously, A levels are already difficult and if you do a subject you're not acing and you don't like it's going to be really difficult, but if you take a subject that you REALLY enjoy, even if it's difficult you'll put in the extra effort to understand the content and you'll be able to get out of your (surprisingly frequent dark days) much quicker and stronger.
hope this helped : P

Thanks for the advice; I'll think about it. Also, do you know if being really good at math helps a lot with chemistry as some people say?
Reply 3
Original post by tajriaaan
Thanks for the advice; I'll think about it. Also, do you know if being really good at math helps a lot with chemistry as some people say?

no, not necessarily, but having a mediocre understanding of math will help. In chemistry, the math aspect just consists of you learning equations and applying them to the questions. chances of you being asked to factories and use trig are very rare 😂.
Original post by tajriaaan
I'm taking Math, Further Math and Physics. I've always been sure I'd take Economics as a 4th because I love the subject and hate chemistry. But it was mostly because I'm in our country's national curriculum and there are no resources and questions are terrible. I'm switching to IALs this year and I've been looking through papers and mark schemes and honestly chem doesn't seem too bad, I'll just have to study and practice past papers.

I want to do study applied math/economics/compsci at uni so I probably don't need chem but wouldn't it strengthen my application if I had it? Also, wouldn't chem A2 be easier if I'm very good at math?

I'm not applying to UK unis because I need a lot of aid, and universities in Singapore and Hong Kong want to see 5 subjects for full ride scholarships. And US universities might like me to have more subjects in high school so will it be too bad if I go all crazy and try econ as a 5th? I'll be self-studying everything but I'll probably have private tutors in A2.

So yeah, is there a better choice between econ and chem? Or is it smarter to take them both?

I study four sciences maths biology chemistry and physics. I have an offer from Cambridge and the rest of my four university applications. Hands down Chemistry is my easiest science. Really all you need is to put some time and effort in the subject and that's it. Currently working at an A*. If you need any help dont hesitate to contact me. Hope this helps!

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