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This September, I go into year 12 - wanting to study Psychology, Biology and Fine Art. Are there any tips/cautions for the subjects and for everyday college life, that could help? Should I start self-teaching during the summer holidays, part time jobs, how to balance social/school/work life, etc.
IB student here but I do know that Biology is content-heavy... it sounds interesting, though!
Original post by blacada
This September, I go into year 12 - wanting to study Psychology, Biology and Fine Art. Are there any tips/cautions for the subjects and for everyday college life, that could help? Should I start self-teaching during the summer holidays, part time jobs, how to balance social/school/work life, etc.


I do a-level biology and psychology so I can advice for those if you have any specific questions :smile:

I will say they are VERY content heavy and biology can be really hard at times due to the specificity of markschemes. You do learn to work around this though and write your answers in the way that the markschemes want you to.

Psychology is a lot of essay writing but I'm guessing you'd know this already as it's an essay-based subject. The content itself isn't that hard (imo), there's just a lot to remember. Mindmaps and blurting are lifesavers.
Original post by thrivingfrog
I do a-level biology and psychology so I can advice for those if you have any specific questions :smile:

I will say they are VERY content heavy and biology can be really hard at times due to the specificity of markschemes. You do learn to work around this though and write your answers in the way that the markschemes want you to.

Psychology is a lot of essay writing but I'm guessing you'd know this already as it's an essay-based subject. The content itself isn't that hard (imo), there's just a lot to remember. Mindmaps and blurting are lifesavers.

That makes a lot of sense! What would you say about different exam boards for eg.: at GCSE level doing Edexcel combined higher but then in college doing AQA biology - since they have different requirements and all. How would you say is best to prep before this September and how do you balance Psychology and Biology as I do find Psych easier my biggest challenge would be Biology.
Original post by blacada
That makes a lot of sense! What would you say about different exam boards for eg.: at GCSE level doing Edexcel combined higher but then in college doing AQA biology - since they have different requirements and all. How would you say is best to prep before this September and how do you balance Psychology and Biology as I do find Psych easier my biggest challenge would be Biology.


I did AQA biology for GCSE and now AQA for alevel but I know most of my class did different exam boards and it honestly doesn't make a difference, the content covered is mostly the same and anything you don't know will be covered in class :smile:
I won't lie I did not do any prep before September but you can take a look at the first topics for each subject and see what you struggled with at GCSE to cover any gaps in knowledge

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