Changing my A-levels?

Hi,
I'm currently taking Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths, and Economics. I'm about 1 1/ 2 months into a-levels so far. I love my subjects so far but I'm not too sure about my career prospects. I'm interested in going into economics or computer science. I've heard that most people take physics instead of chemistry so I'm considering switching. However, I'm a bit worried because I've done better in Chemistry than Physics in the past. In IGCSE, I got a 9 in chem and an 8 in physics. What do you guys think? I need to make a decision soon but I really don't know what to do...

Reply 1

English_Litty

7

Original post by makhzanah

Hi,
I'm currently taking Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths, and Economics. I'm about 1 1/ 2 months into a-levels so far. I love my subjects so far but I'm not too sure about my career prospects. I'm interested in going into economics or computer science. I've heard that most people take physics instead of chemistry so I'm considering switching. However, I'm a bit worried because I've done better in Chemistry than Physics in the past. In IGCSE, I got a 9 in chem and an 8 in physics. What do you guys think? I need to make a decision soon but I really don't know what to do...

If you really want Economics then your subjects are perfectly fine. If you want computer science then the Further Maths and Maths would also suffice. For both careers your subjects are fine for example Oxford simply require Maths and Further Maths for Computer science applications. Don’t worry about other people, as you said your better at Chemistry then Physics it’s best to get 4As then 3As and a B. On the contrary the content of Physics and Maths can overlap therefore making both easier. So ultimately it’s up to you but for careers there’s no need to stress out at all :smile:

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 2

username5706823

20

Original post by makhzanah

Hi,
I'm currently taking Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths, and Economics. I'm about 1 1/ 2 months into a-levels so far. I love my subjects so far but I'm not too sure about my career prospects. I'm interested in going into economics or computer science. I've heard that most people take physics instead of chemistry so I'm considering switching. However, I'm a bit worried because I've done better in Chemistry than Physics in the past. In IGCSE, I got a 9 in chem and an 8 in physics. What do you guys think? I need to make a decision soon but I really don't know what to do...

I do both chem and physics A-Level and I hate myself for choosing physics and I would drop it if I could but that's not possible anymore. Physics A-Level is way more difficult than GCSE physics obviously but I genuinely enjoyed physics at GCSE and now it's sucking the life out of me.

But this my very biased personal opinion, physics could be easier than chem for you.

Reply 3

makhzanah

OP

3

Original post by summerbirdreads

I do both chem and physics A-Level and I hate myself for choosing physics and I would drop it if I could but that's not possible anymore. Physics A-Level is way more difficult than GCSE physics obviously but I genuinely enjoyed physics at GCSE and now it's sucking the life out of me.

But this my very biased personal opinion, physics could be easier than chem for you.

Hi, thank you so much for the reply! If you don't mind me asking, why do you think that?

Reply 4

makhzanah

OP

3

Original post by English_Litty

If you really want Economics then your subjects are perfectly fine. If you want computer science then the Further Maths and Maths would also suffice. For both careers your subjects are fine for example Oxford simply require Maths and Further Maths for Computer science applications. Don’t worry about other people, as you said your better at Chemistry then Physics it’s best to get 4As then 3As and a B. On the contrary the content of Physics and Maths can overlap therefore making both easier. So ultimately it’s up to you but for careers there’s no need to stress out at all :smile:

I definitely agree with that, I think that I'd be more likely to get a better grade in chem than physics. But yeah, I'm just so indecisive so I don't know which to take. When looking at people who got in for tech or econs at great schools, I rarely see people with a combo like this. They usually that FM, Maths, Physics and Econs...That's kind of why I feel so hesitant to take what I'm currently taking

Reply 5

johnnnh

14

I wouldn't advise going into a computer science degree with no, or little previous knowledge. it's not a requirement to know any computer science, but to be completely honest I don't know why. the first classes are often taught extremely terribly, because they're people who have been coding since they started using they started counting past ten and using their times tables, then they're people who don't have a clue what's going on and the teacher just thinks they're teaching it well and your not putting in enough effort, but nonetheless. those subjects should be good, honestly maths by itself would have probably done the job well enough, physics can be useful for very specific topics in AI but you can probably just learn that stuff as you go tbh. if your enjoying chemistry then I would definitely say keep it as a subject, but if you're not so much, then change it. if you're curious wether you would like computer science don't focus on the math, component since you already seem comfortable with math, focus on the coding, and don't watch YouTube videos for that go to freeecodecamp or smth, it's a waste of time learning how to code in a passive way. just like it's a waste of time, doing the same in maths.

Reply 6

johnnnh

14

if you like doing that, then I would recommend computer science, you can also learn how to code in your free time, but with 4 rigorous and completely different a levels, in structure and examining technique apart from maths and FM. your going to have a really difficult time, also on the topic of economics with those a levels you should, be set so don't worry about that, but yeah- if you like coding consider doing computer science. if you want to drop chemistry and don't want to do computer science then change it to something that seems interesting to you, maths, FM and economics will already give you A LOT of options.

Reply 7

Anjarobbie

1

you should stay in your phasion

Reply 8

enmc

12

Original post by makhzanah

Hi,
I'm currently taking Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths, and Economics. I'm about 1 1/ 2 months into a-levels so far. I love my subjects so far but I'm not too sure about my career prospects. I'm interested in going into economics or computer science. I've heard that most people take physics instead of chemistry so I'm considering switching. However, I'm a bit worried because I've done better in Chemistry than Physics in the past. In IGCSE, I got a 9 in chem and an 8 in physics. What do you guys think? I need to make a decision soon but I really don't know what to do...

i think you should stay as you are, because the grade at the end is more important. you can go into computer science or econ with those options so i wouldn't worry about what other people have chosen :smile:

Reply 9

username5706823

20

Original post by makhzanah

Hi, thank you so much for the reply! If you don't mind me asking, why do you think that?

Because physics at A-level is quite different from GCSE physics and for me personally it's very difficult but I think the main problem for me is I was forced to choose physics so I have zero motivation for it and my teachers won't let me drop it which annoys me further since I don't need it for my chosen uni course

Reply 10

aiwiloistyping

15

Original post by makhzanah

Hi,
I'm currently taking Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths, and Economics. I'm about 1 1/ 2 months into a-levels so far. I love my subjects so far but I'm not too sure about my career prospects. I'm interested in going into economics or computer science. I've heard that most people take physics instead of chemistry so I'm considering switching. However, I'm a bit worried because I've done better in Chemistry than Physics in the past. In IGCSE, I got a 9 in chem and an 8 in physics. What do you guys think? I need to make a decision soon but I really don't know what to do...

I used to do better in Chemistry too at GCSE than Physics, because Physics seemed just 'meh' for me while I loooved Chemistry. I chose it for my A Levels, was really excited, and when the course started I realised it's not for me. I switched to Physics, and I can reassure you that if you love Maths, you won't regret choosing Physics. If someone told me a year ago that I'd be studying Physics I would've thought they were crazy, but it's really enjoyable for me. I've only started but it's really interesting once you get your head around it. Yes, it gets quite hard sometimes, and I still need to work on my exam technique with the questions, but that's something you'll learn over time. The most important thing is that you enjoy the subject you're doing at least a bit, because you'll be spending a lot of time learning it. At GCSE level Chemistry was a lot more fun than Physics, but at A Levels I've found Physics is so much more interesting, honestly. Good luck!

Edit: I'm also planning to study Computer Science at university, and I think Physics will be more beneficial if you were to compare it to Chemistry for example, although most courses only require Maths and F. Maths.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 11

Anan1122

3

Original post by makhzanah

Hi,
I'm currently taking Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths, and Economics. I'm about 1 1/ 2 months into a-levels so far. I love my subjects so far but I'm not too sure about my career prospects. I'm interested in going into economics or computer science. I've heard that most people take physics instead of chemistry so I'm considering switching. However, I'm a bit worried because I've done better in Chemistry than Physics in the past. In IGCSE, I got a 9 in chem and an 8 in physics. What do you guys think? I need to make a decision soon but I really don't know what to do...

Your subjects are perfectly fine for econ

Changing my A-levels?

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