Physics , Further Maths or psychology for Vet Med?

Hi Guys,

I want to study veterinary medicine and I plan on doing Biology , Chemistry and Maths for A-levels, I really want to do a 4th A-level but I'm not sure whether to do Physics , Further Maths or psychology.

I looked at the psychology spec and a few A-level resources and it looked really interesting but I hate essay subjects so I'm not sure if it's a wise choice. I wanted to do physics but everyone I know (teachers & peers at school) advised me that doing all the science subjects and maths is not a good choice because apparently its really stressful and hard. I kind of understand where their coming from but a lot of people (on YouTube who are currently studying vet med & Insta have done it and they said they managed to keep up with it at the end). And I haven't really heard much about further maths but Cambridge seems to like it better than non-science subjects.

Can you please advise me on what you think is better?

Just remember that whatever you choose, the most important thing is to end up with AAA (or better) or AAB (for some universities). I believe that having a 4th A-level doesn't give you any advantage except for Cambridge (maybe someone else can correct me if I am wrong). Also, that you need to gain extensive clinical and non-clinical experience (which takes time). As does the whole application process.

So, if your choice of subject (or just taking 4 subjects) would at all jeopardize you getting the top grades and/or having time for extensive work experience placements and/or reading up on current vet issues prior to the interview process - then choose a different option.

My daughter applied for vet med this year and unfortunately wasn't successful and will reapply next year, but one thing that we learnt was just how much time the actual application process and work experience took. She is home educated (so has a flexible schedule) and we estimate that questionnaires (after application) and preparing for interviews took up about a month's worth of study time (no joke!). Then you have to add in hours spent trying to find placements, doing placements and writing up details of them. I don't think she would have ever guessed that and no one warned her in advance!

Hi Guys,

I want to study veterinary medicine and I plan on doing Biology , Chemistry and Maths for A-levels, I really want to do a 4th A-level but I'm not sure whether to do Physics , Further Maths or psychology.

I looked at the psychology spec and a few A-level resources and it looked really interesting but I hate essay subjects so I'm not sure if it's a wise choice. I wanted to do physics but everyone I know (teachers & peers at school) advised me that doing all the science subjects and maths is not a good choice because apparently its really stressful and hard. I kind of understand where their coming from but a lot of people (on YouTube who are currently studying vet med & Insta have done it and they said they managed to keep up with it at the end). And I haven't really heard much about further maths but Cambridge seems to like it better than non-science subjects.

Can you please advise me on what you think is better?

Hi Guys,

I want to study veterinary medicine and I plan on doing Biology , Chemistry and Maths for A-levels, I really want to do a 4th A-level but I'm not sure whether to do Physics , Further Maths or psychology.

I looked at the psychology spec and a few A-level resources and it looked really interesting but I hate essay subjects so I'm not sure if it's a wise choice. I wanted to do physics but everyone I know (teachers & peers at school) advised me that doing all the science subjects and maths is not a good choice because apparently its really stressful and hard. I kind of understand where their coming from but a lot of people (on YouTube who are currently studying vet med & Insta have done it and they said they managed to keep up with it at the end). And I haven't really heard much about further maths but Cambridge seems to like it better than non-science subjects.

Can you please advise me on what you think is better?

Don't do 4 subjects.
No Uni wants more than 3, and AAA will always look better than BBBB.

Honestly doing 4 A levels is a bit of a waste of time - most (all?) vet universities don't even consider the 4th A level grade, they only want either AAA or AAB and anything above that typically isn't even considered.

Maybe pick lighter subjects because none of this subjects well help that much especially not physics or fm

My honest advice would be go for the subject that you enjoy the most and think you’ll get the best grade in if you’re really determined to do a 4th A level. However, I personally wouldn’t recommend doing 4 a levels as it does not give you an advantage when it comes to applying. Vet schools would much rather you got AAA than AABB and their requirements will reflect this.

I am a first year at Cambridge and just to clarify, having 4 a levels isn’t an advantage here either. Almost everyone I know on my course did 3 a levels (typically bio, chem and maths) and used their extra time to do work experience and get the best grades in their subjects. A lot of us did an EPQ instead of a 4th a level which I’d argue is a lot more helpful as you develop some good research and writing skills.

Thank you , Bio , Chem and Maths is what I'm most likely going to do now and the EPQ as well cause I love researching and it will be something good to talk about during the interview as well I guess,... Also for the NSAA , is it just our gcse material or do we have to prepare anything else in advance?

The NSAA covers all GCSE content and some a-level content. When I did it, I found that the best way to revise was by going over my a-level content thoroughly and doing past papers under timed conditions. I didn’t do A-level maths, which is a compulsory section so I did gcse maths and FSMQ past papers just as a recap. You definitely don’t need to do any further reading for it, save that for the interview!

They are aware that there are some topics that you won’t have covered in time for the paper (hence they ask you which ones you have covered in a supplementary questionnaire so they can decide which topics they will interview you on) so in the NSAA you get to choose which questions you want to do in the paper once you’ve had a look at them 👍

Oh really, Thank you! What subjects did you do for alevels ?

I did biology, chemistry, physics and an EPQ for a level (though I do slightly regret taking physics without maths!)