The Student Room Group

A level dilemma

Hello

I need help with my decision

I cant handle my 3rd a level and really cant cope with it anymore. There is a different a level I want to take instead but my school at this stage wouldnt allow me, despite doing all the AS content and papers

My school says that I can pick up an a level privately instead but still have to do my third subject

Is it ok for me then to do pick up an a level and do 4 a levels. But I wouldnt pay attention to the a level I dont like then. I would be focusing on three then.


Another option they said was to still go foward with 3 a levels, and if the 3rd one is still bad, take a gap year and do a different a level
Original post by Anonymous
Hello

I need help with my decision

I cant handle my 3rd a level and really cant cope with it anymore. There is a different a level I want to take instead but my school at this stage wouldnt allow me, despite doing all the AS content and papers

My school says that I can pick up an a level privately instead but still have to do my third subject

Is it ok for me then to do pick up an a level and do 4 a levels. But I wouldnt pay attention to the a level I dont like then. I would be focusing on three then.


Another option they said was to still go foward with 3 a levels, and if the 3rd one is still bad, take a gap year and do a different a level

If you can barely handle doing 3, you should think carefully to if you can handle 4 because your teacher in that 3rd subject is still going to expect you to do things like complete homework and do exams, even if you don't care about the subject it's still going to be difficult to juggle them all at once.

As much as you don't like your third subject, I don't recommend you completely flunk it. You have already spent a year on it and there will be no point if you walk out with an E or U.

If you are dead set on going uni next year and know the AS content with the capability to self teach yourself the rest efficiently then you should do the bear minimum and try to at least scrape a pass in that third subject as a safety net if the 4th A level goes wrong. Honestly, unless you wanna go to imperial or something most universities don't ask for 4 a levels so it really shouldn't matter if 1 grade is worse than the others as long as your top 3 are good.

If you wanna go the easier route which is just stick to the 3 and do a gap year, I think this will be better. As you can concentrate more on the 2 you like and guarantee you get good grades on those then during your gap year, you have an entire year to self teach yourself the content plus get a job or something to make money on the side. You are more likely to get overall better grades if you take this route.

This also depends on what a levels your studying and what you want to study at uni because if the subject you are doing is needed to study what you want at university, pick a different career path or bite the bullet and try to work harder.
Original post by JustAnotherFloop
If you can barely handle doing 3, you should think carefully to if you can handle 4 because your teacher in that 3rd subject is still going to expect you to do things like complete homework and do exams, even if you don't care about the subject it's still going to be difficult to juggle them all at once.

As much as you don't like your third subject, I don't recommend you completely flunk it. You have already spent a year on it and there will be no point if you walk out with an E or U.

If you are dead set on going uni next year and know the AS content with the capability to self teach yourself the rest efficiently then you should do the bear minimum and try to at least scrape a pass in that third subject as a safety net if the 4th A level goes wrong. Honestly, unless you wanna go to imperial or something most universities don't ask for 4 a levels so it really shouldn't matter if 1 grade is worse than the others as long as your top 3 are good.

If you wanna go the easier route which is just stick to the 3 and do a gap year, I think this will be better. As you can concentrate more on the 2 you like and guarantee you get good grades on those then during your gap year, you have an entire year to self teach yourself the content plus get a job or something to make money on the side. You are more likely to get overall better grades if you take this route.

This also depends on what a levels your studying and what you want to study at uni because if the subject you are doing is needed to study what you want at university, pick a different career path or bite the bullet and try to work harder.

Ok. Thanks for your advice. I want to study medicine, thats why Im concerned at the moment if it would affect my application
I did think that sticking to 3 and do a gap year would be a good idea in the end.
But Im unsure whether it would affect my medical application in the future if I do decide to do this. Mainly retake issues about it. I dont know. Yh I dont really care much what medical school I would like to go to much so Imperial is not really what Im looking for.

Do you know if taking 3, take a gap year to do the 4th a level because the 3rd one still didnt work out can work for medical schools?
Original post by world2change
Ok. Thanks for your advice. I want to study medicine, thats why Im concerned at the moment if it would affect my application
I did think that sticking to 3 and do a gap year would be a good idea in the end.
But Im unsure whether it would affect my medical application in the future if I do decide to do this. Mainly retake issues about it. I dont know. Yh I dont really care much what medical school I would like to go to much so Imperial is not really what Im looking for.

Do you know if taking 3, take a gap year to do the 4th a level because the 3rd one still didnt work out can work for medical schools?

Can i know what your subject combination is and what A level you wanted to drop?
Original post by JustAnotherFloop
Can i know what your subject combination is and what A level you wanted to drop?

Biology, Chemistry and Physics. I want to drop Physics.
If you want to keep all your options open, it is said that you should take Maths, chemistry and maths or physics for A level. You can still get into medical school without physics/maths but it's slim you can get into the likes of oxbridge and other top universities (But you don't really seem to care about where you will be placed so this should not matter too much).Due to the competitive nature of medicine, an E or U is not going to look good on your application when you are being compared to people with straight A's and perfect grades. I'm not saying you will be straight up rejected because most schools only want 3 A levels (They probably won't consider your 4th A level but seeing a significantly lower grade compared the others is going to raise some eyebrows).

From what I have heard there is no real advantage to taking physics for A level as not much can be linked to biochem. (I'm not a medical student so take this advice as you please). You can make up for a really bad score if you ace the interview and other parts of your application is strong - also by applying to less competitive courses. And yes taking the gap year route definitely works there has been many people who want to get into in medicine who take gap years and are still accepted.

To conclude, if you want to flunk you better be prepared to make up for it in your other A levels and other parts of your application to be considered. And it's better to get A's in subjects you are good at than D's in 'prefered' subjects.
Original post by JustAnotherFloop
If you want to keep all your options open, it is said that you should take Maths, chemistry and maths or physics for A level. You can still get into medical school without physics/maths but it's slim you can get into the likes of oxbridge and other top universities (But you don't really seem to care about where you will be placed so this should not matter too much).Due to the competitive nature of medicine, an E or U is not going to look good on your application when you are being compared to people with straight A's and perfect grades. I'm not saying you will be straight up rejected because most schools only want 3 A levels (They probably won't consider your 4th A level but seeing a significantly lower grade compared the others is going to raise some eyebrows).

From what I have heard there is no real advantage to taking physics for A level as not much can be linked to biochem. (I'm not a medical student so take this advice as you please). You can make up for a really bad score if you ace the interview and other parts of your application is strong - also by applying to less competitive courses. And yes taking the gap year route definitely works there has been many people who want to get into in medicine who take gap years and are still accepted.

To conclude, if you want to flunk you better be prepared to make up for it in your other A levels and other parts of your application to be considered. And it's better to get A's in subjects you are good at than D's in 'prefered' subjects.

K I can see..... this is tough. So far I got A* bio A* chem and D in physics as my predictions. My plan is then to go foward with my a levels now. Maybe get physics up to a B idk, after I done everything already, it might be a D still in the end. But I will make sure bio and chem wont be affected. So hopefully I am aiming for A* A* B in the end, then gap year and do the different a level, hopefully get an A since I am very committed to spend a year doing it. If i do get A* A* A in the end (which honestly I need a miracle, ) I wont bother. If I still get a D in physics, I will still take the different a level in my gap year.
So in the end of my gap year, Im hoping for a A* A* B/D A in the end. Hopefully that would be ok for medicine.

The another option is to retake year 12 which I am trying to avoid due to medicine not liking retakes, and its hard finding a college to accept me.

Thanks again

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