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Higher Mandarin or chemistry?

I want to apply economics in uni, my first 4 subjects are physics, Econ,english and maths. But I am struggling between mandarin and chemistry, as I am Chinese so it's easy for me to get an A, but will chemistry be more competitive for applying.
Please give me some advice, thanks!
Original post by wandizhang
I want to apply economics in uni, my first 4 subjects are physics, Econ,english and maths. But I am struggling between mandarin and chemistry, as I am Chinese so it's easy for me to get an A, but will chemistry be more competitive for applying.
Please give me some advice, thanks!


5 is already a lot and u probably don't need it, i don't think chemistry is going to be much use to u, and its hard to score an A* due to very high boundries, I'd chose Mandarin, plus if English or Physics becomes too hard u can drop them, and keep Mandarin.
Original post by wandizhang
I want to apply economics in uni, my first 4 subjects are physics, Econ,english and maths. But I am struggling between mandarin and chemistry, as I am Chinese so it's easy for me to get an A, but will chemistry be more competitive for applying.
Please give me some advice, thanks!

Could you not learn mandarin on the side and take chem instead - this is if you defo want to take 5 subjects. You said that its easy for you to get an A so not much work as to be done and your partially doing it for the qualification anyway. But you already have 4 alevels so i dont see why a fifth like chem is needed. Mandarin seems like it will make your time more easier
Reply 3
Original post by cherrycosmos
Could you not learn mandarin on the side and take chem instead - this is if you defo want to take 5 subjects. You said that its easy for you to get an A so not much work as to be done and your partially doing it for the qualification anyway. But you already have 4 alevels so i dont see why a fifth like chem is needed. Mandarin seems like it will make your time more easier


these are sqa highers not a-levels, it’s pretty standard here to do 5 highers most scottish universities will ask for 4-5. also to poster, higher chemistry is pretty hard, personally i enjoy it and don’t find it bad but most ppl in my class are getting 40-50% in our tests, if ur interested in the subject and think you’ll be able to do well then take it, ultimately when u apply to uni it’s not the subject but the grade u get that matters
Reply 4
Original post by wandizhang
I want to apply economics in uni, my first 4 subjects are physics, Econ,english and maths. But I am struggling between mandarin and chemistry, as I am Chinese so it's easy for me to get an A, but will chemistry be more competitive for applying.
Please give me some advice, thanks!

Talk to your school to see if you can take the mandarin course in your own time. If you already speak the language, that may mean just preparing any project/portfolio work yourself and then sitting exams. That way, you could actually take 6 subjects, the other 5, including chemistry in school, and mandarin in your own time. It's worth asking, have plenty of friends who did it (mind you with Italian and French) and walked out with 6 A's at Higher
Original post by pli6
Talk to your school to see if you can take the mandarin course in your own time. If you already speak the language, that may mean just preparing any project/portfolio work yourself and then sitting exams. That way, you could actually take 6 subjects, the other 5, including chemistry in school, and mandarin in your own time. It's worth asking, have plenty of friends who did it (mind you with Italian and French) and walked out with 6 A's at Higher


Thanks a lot, I’ll send an email to my school and ask their opinion 🥰🥰
Original post by jacgr
these are sqa highers not a-levels, it’s pretty standard here to do 5 highers most scottish universities will ask for 4-5. also to poster, higher chemistry is pretty hard, personally i enjoy it and don’t find it bad but most ppl in my class are getting 40-50% in our tests, if ur interested in the subject and think you’ll be able to do well then take it, ultimately when u apply to uni it’s not the subject but the grade u get that matters


Honestly I’m not quite interested in chemistry and I am still struggling in nat5 chem, but my parents suggest me to choose chem first, if I find it difficult then I’ll drop chem and choose mandarin. Btw, do u have any tips when studying nat5 chem?
Hey! I’m studying Nat 5 Chem. Honestly I would just recommend hitting the past papers, they are super helpful and you can basically revise most of the course from the mark scheme. I would also mention that most people get caught out with problem solving questions because they mention things that aren’t generally in the course. For the Mandarin and Chemistry thing, I’m taking both (along with Human Bio, English, Maths and Bus Man)- I am taking Mandarin out of columns. I’m also thinking of Economics! I personally think you should take Mandarin because that gives you a lot of opportunities if you want to be in the financial sector, having a language basically really stands out for whatever course or job you are looking for. Hope this helps and good luck for your exams (hope physics went well yesterday) x
(edited 09:29)

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