Alevel options

13

I am doing Maths Physics FurtherMaths and Computing alevels, i dont particularly want to do further maths, not because i think its going to be hard, but the fact that the workload will be too much. But i would like to do either engineering/computing degree at a top uni e.g. UCL Imperial. Do you think i have a chance at a top uni without further maths? Also what extra-curriculars would look good for cs/ engineering?
Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

AoiJuniper

9

To be honest it will probably be very useful to do further maths for engineering/compsci at a top uni such as oxbridge or London bearing in mind that those degrees will be very high workload and very mathematical.
Universities such as Imperial may require you to take STEP for computer science (which is an exam harder than the further maths syllabus).
That said, further maths is a lot of work. If you’re able to pick things up quickly and retain them long term definitely go for it. But if you’re doing it to avoid workload- the workload is just gonna hit you harder when you get to uni- there’s no way of avoiding it.

Reply 2

AoiJuniper

9

Original post by StudyGirlGrammar

I am doing Maths Physics FurtherMaths and Computing alevels, i dont particularly want to do further maths, not because i think its going to be hard, but the fact that the workload will be too much. But i would like to do either engineering/computing degree at a top uni e.g. UCL Imperial. Do you think i have a chance at a top uni without further maths? Also what extra-curriculars would look good for cs/ engineering?
Thanks :smile:

All olympiads, ukmt etc look good for engineering and compsci. For compsci def try learn some coding languages- python would probably be a good start although I’m not an expert. Also check out ada computer science- it’s a website and learning platform with computer science problems which would be great to talk about on a personal statement.

Reply 3

StudyGirlGrammar

OP

13

Original post by AoiJuniper

All olympiads, ukmt etc look good for engineering and compsci. For compsci def try learn some coding languages- python would probably be a good start although I’m not an expert. Also check out ada computer science- it’s a website and learning platform with computer science problems which would be great to talk about on a personal statement.

Thank you so much for replying! Are you doing A-levels right now? I have done UKMT challenges sometimes got gold sometimes bronze... I also do computing for GCSE so i do know python. I will sure check out ada compsci. Which olympiads do you think i could do? Thanks

Reply 4

AoiJuniper

9

Original post by StudyGirlGrammar

Thank you so much for replying! Are you doing A-levels right now? I have done UKMT challenges sometimes got gold sometimes bronze... I also do computing for GCSE so i do know python. I will sure check out ada compsci. Which olympiads do you think i could do? Thanks

Yes I’m doing maths, fmaths, physics and chem. Y12 senior physics challenge just happened. There’s also British physics Olympiad in September- would recommend preparing. UKMT if you’re capable of getting gold, definitely practice. The national cipher challenge and British informatics Olympiad might also be fun to check out.

Reply 5

StudyGirlGrammar

OP

13

Original post by AoiJuniper

Yes I’m doing maths, fmaths, physics and chem. Y12 senior physics challenge just happened. There’s also British physics Olympiad in September- would recommend preparing. UKMT if you’re capable of getting gold, definitely practice. The national cipher challenge and British informatics Olympiad might also be fun to check out.

Thank you so much. How are you finding your a-levels? What is the hardest subject?

Reply 6

AoiJuniper

9

Original post by StudyGirlGrammar

Thank you so much. How are you finding your a-levels? What is the hardest subject?

Chemistry is the hardest! Maths and physics comes quite intuitively to me and yes, with further maths there is a lot of content which can be a little hard but once you know a concept well, you know it. With chemistry, I do OCR A so the grade boundaries are super high (I think 87% for A* last year), the language is also super specific on the markscheme.

Reply 7

StudyGirlGrammar

OP

13

Original post by AoiJuniper

Chemistry is the hardest! Maths and physics comes quite intuitively to me and yes, with further maths there is a lot of content which can be a little hard but once you know a concept well, you know it. With chemistry, I do OCR A so the grade boundaries are super high (I think 87% for A* last year), the language is also super specific on the markscheme.

Good luck! I am sure you will smash it. I originally took chemistry but changed to computing 😆