A Level options (+ Economics uni applications) ADVICE URGENTLY NEEDED

Hi, I’m a Year 11 student about to make my A level options. I can pick 4 subjects (+ compulsory Welsh Bacc) and my school makes us drop 1 subject after AS level. I’m predicted 13 A* GCSEs (including additional maths). I love the statistical/problem solving side of maths used in jobs like investment banking, but despise the physics topics in further maths. I aspire to attend top unis like LSE, Oxbridge etc. to study Economics, however I realise that almost all successful applicants took FM for A level. Therefore, what should I do?

Potentially-
A Level: maths, economics, geography
AS Level: English combined (lit & lang), (painstakingly self teach) AS FM

My issue is that I don’t think I could handle a full FM A Level as I hate 2/3 of the content, however I want a competitive application. Also, my school would makes me do the whole Maths A Level in Year 12 and then FM in Y13 so I can’t just drop it after AS.

Would Further Maths AS be worth taking as well as the other 4 subjects or is it A) useless unless I do the whole A level, and B) too many subjects to handle?

Should I just give up on my dream of Cambridge/LSE and apply to less competitive unis without any FM if I don’t do it for A/AS Level?

I’d also just appreciate any general advice as I’m very overwhelmed with everything and my school has given no advice whatsoever. (Sorry for the essay and thanks very much in advance to any respondents!).

Absolutely take FM. Cambridge like to say they "recommend" FM, but really they're requiring it. The only cases where they might cut some slack for students who don't take it are those whose schools don't offer it. Besides, with all due respect, you have no idea in y11 what FM A level is really like - you say you despise physics topics? There aren't any besides the Further Mechanics module that your school might choose to run. There are 4 chapters in there - it's hardly anything to learn, even if you end up having to do it.

You really can't know at this stage whether or not you'll like FM - you may think now that you hate complex numbers or vectors or whatever, but the whole point of FM is to begin to push yourself closer to the limit of your mathematical ability - the top universities absolutely love it, because they know how much time the average student has to invest in it to fully understand it, and those who would suit a course like Economics at Cambridge are the same who would gain massive satisfaction from finally cracking that question that was taking them hours.

Now, FM AS is an option, but in all honesty, once you've got to grips with the FM AS content, you might as well do the A level by then, because it's really not that big a leap to make. I do know a couple of people who've applied to LSE with FM AS but not a single person has applied for a scientific subject at Cambridge without FM A level simply because they're so inflexible on it.

Most schools make you do the whole of Maths A level in y12 and then FM in y13 - it's a good way to do it, and doesn't mean you can't change your mind further down the line - all that would happen is they'd move you into the normal A level maths class, which would feel completely pedestrian after the rate you've been learning the content at.

The only thing I have left to say is this - I wouldn't recommend taking FM on top of 4 other A level subjects if you want to have a life. I lasted a term doing Maths, FM, Physics, Chem and Psychology. It wasn't that I was finding any of it too difficult, but I underestimated how much additional work all the subjects would require, and ended up dropping Psychology because I decided it wasn't worth my time. For some additional context - I got all 9s at GCSE, am predicted 4A* for A level, and am actually preparing for a Cambridge interview myself in a couple of weeks. None of the students who began on 5 A Levels continued with 5 - we've all dropped down to 4, and some of us to 3.

If I were you, I wouldn't bother with English lit and lang at all - they serve no purpose to your goals, and the top unis don't really care about the breadth of your subjects. Besides, the Welsh bacc serves that purpose for you anyway. I would also strongly consider taking FM A level and geography AS if you really want to do geography.

Hope this helps!

Hi, I’m a Year 11 student about to make my A level options. I can pick 4 subjects (+ compulsory Welsh Bacc) and my school makes us drop 1 subject after AS level. I’m predicted 13 A* GCSEs (including additional maths). I love the statistical/problem solving side of maths used in jobs like investment banking, but despise the physics topics in further maths. I aspire to attend top unis like LSE, Oxbridge etc. to study Economics, however I realise that almost all successful applicants took FM for A level. Therefore, what should I do?

Potentially-
A Level: maths, economics, geography
AS Level: English combined (lit & lang), (painstakingly self teach) AS FM

My issue is that I don’t think I could handle a full FM A Level as I hate 2/3 of the content, however I want a competitive application. Also, my school would makes me do the whole Maths A Level in Year 12 and then FM in Y13 so I can’t just drop it after AS.

Would Further Maths AS be worth taking as well as the other 4 subjects or is it A) useless unless I do the whole A level, and B) too many subjects to handle?

Should I just give up on my dream of Cambridge/LSE and apply to less competitive unis without any FM if I don’t do it for A/AS Level?

I’d also just appreciate any general advice as I’m very overwhelmed with everything and my school has given no advice whatsoever. (Sorry for the essay and thanks very much in advance to any respondents!).