A level - Politics

Hey , i was in a similar position when i chose my A-levels. I thought at the time i wanted to go on and do a biology degree so i chose biology, maths and english lit. I loved bio at GCSE but at A-level it was so much harder than i anticipation and i hated maths so i redid my first year and chose politics , english and bio (idk why i put myself through it again lol).

im going on to politics and IR at uni and there aren't any compulsory subjects you need to take but i know for PPE there are so id definitely have that in mind. English Lit and Politics went quite well together and they were favourite, Biology was no help to me and i wished i chose something else as it was an unnecessary stress when it wasnt compulsory for my course.

I did English language/lit, economics and history. Economics starts out as the easiest subject by FAR. Towards the end it batters you like a B****. I’m gonna be studying PPE, however I do suggest that if you choose English you must really enjoy it as it’s hard to do if you don’t. I love philosophy and politics as well so I truly believe that any combination of politics, econ, philosophy and English would be good. I do not recommend biology at all because unless you have a burning desire to study it, you will fail horrendously. It is by far the heaviest subject content wise and I’ve seen Grade 9 GCSE science students finish their A levels with a C in it. Your choice, however the writing subjects that you have listed are all amazing. Please do not listen to your parents and follow YOUR passion because at the end of the day true happiness comes from fulfilling your own desires not somebody else’s.

I mean my results are coming on the 10th August but I most likely got an A* as I got 50/50 on my coursework and full marks in nearly all of my final year exams. I would say, however that English is basically my inherent talent and even though I got a 9 in English literature GCSE, I was at a D grade for the whole of year 12 because I couldn’t crack the higher level of writing which meant I hated it. This did mean, however that by year 13 it was the most enjoyable subject when I started seeing stratospheric improvements in terms of the grade and it ended up being an amazing subject. I will be studying PPE at the university of Birmingham Btw. Generally, I believe that no matter what subject you take, even if you hate it, you can get a B in any subject in A level EASY if you just try hard. I believe that to get an A or A*, however you need to have a true passion for the subject and that inclination to just strive for more. I do truly believe English is the most beneficial subject in the whole curriculum as when you leave A level English, your ability to convey information and speak precisely becomes unmatched and it is hands down the most rewarding subject I’ve ever taken in terms of utility in real life and progress. Take the risk. At the end of the day, Jordan Peterson said that the most successful people in life are who can communicate well and convey their feelings and thoughts concisely. It’s invaluable!

Thank you for your response it means a lot :]

In terms of PPE, i've decided not to pick it as most uni's require maths. GCSE maths was the biggest struggle for me, still have vivid nightmares of it, so A-Level Maths is just a no . I've definitely decided to pick Gov & Pol and Econ but i'm really unsure about my third subject was thinking to pick biology but it does seem quite irrelevant

Since you've taken Politics and IR degree I have a few questions to ask you, but you do not need to answer them if you don't want to.

do you know what you're going to do after uni e.g career path?
did you do any work experience regarding politics at sixth from, if yes can you lmk what it was because i can't find any?
what is one regret you have from picking IR and Politics degree?

again thanks for responding helped me a lot

heyy , My main thought behind applying for pol & IR was that i would enjoy it and i have always wanted to be part of international politics, i don't have a specific job i'm aiming for at the moment. I totally get how hard it is getting work experience especially because of covid (have a look at springpod if you haven't already , i've never used it but its something i saw on tiktok) , For me i had been volunteering for ages and had been reading books related to the course. Especially with politics you expect to be debating and discussing etc. so any experience highlighting that i think will be a great help. I don't think i regret anything with politics sorry , probably just the whole read earlier and do notes early advice everyone gives. Also, English Lit shows communication so if you did decide to study it would just add to your application.