The Student Room Group

I don't have a preferred A-level listed by my dream university course.

I desperately want to study marine biology at Queen's University Belfast.

It says "BBB including Biology and at least one from Chemistry (preferred), Geography, Mathematics or Physics". There's also a mention of "ABB including Biology + GCSE Chemistry grade C/4" so not even another science related subject, which gave me some hope - but is it false?

I haven't chosen my A-level subjects officially yet, but I don't think I'd manage, and definitely wouldn't enjoy, chemistry.

I'd like to take biology, geography and psychology at A-level, which also meets the requirements of the other courses I've looked at - some even count psychology a second science, but I could love no where else as much. Some people have told me I won't have very good odds of getting in, and I'm honestly devastated and terrified. I've considered doing maths or physics instead of psychology to up my chances, but even if I could achieve a good enough grade, I'd slack on the others which are more important, so I've concluded that it's really not worth it.
(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 1

Original post by vee.hmm
I desperately want to study marine biology at Queen's University Belfast.
It says "BBB including Biology and at least one from Chemistry (preferred), Geography, Mathematics or Physics". There's also a mention of "ABB including Biology + GCSE Chemistry grade C/4" which gave me some hope, but is it false?
I haven't chosen my A-level subjects officially yet, but I don't think I'd manage, and definitely wouldn't enjoy, chemistry.
I'd like to take biology, geography and psychology at A-level, which also meets the requirements of the other courses I've looked at - some even consider psychology a second science, but I could love no where else as much. Some people have told me I won't have very good odds of getting in, and I'm honestly devastated and terrified.

Please someone help, or put me out of my misery at least /:

Reply 2

Original post by vee.hmm
Please someone help, or put me out of my misery at least /:

Maths, Biology and Geography would be an ideal combination of subjects. 🙂

Reply 3

I'm in Y13 studying Biology, Chemistry and Maths. I would say Biology is the hardest purely based on how harsh the MS is and the amount of content you are required to know. Maths is close second in terms of difficulty, and despite having the least amount of content, it takes the most amount of time and dedication to get a good grade in as understanding why you're doing what you're doing requires A LOT of revision (understanding is very important as it helps you apply knowledge from questions you've done to questions you haven't seen before ,which happens very often). Chemistry is the easiest and is nothing like GCSE Chemistry (in a good way). Plus chemistry and biology pair very well at A-level. If I were you, I would consider Biology, Chemistry and a third subject of your choice that you will enjoy. Ensure your 3rd choice is an A-level (rather than something like a Btec or Ctec) as to study science as degree level, most universities require 3 A-levels.

Reply 4

I agree with maths, biology and geography.

Reply 5

Original post by vvwestwood
I'm in Y13 studying Biology, Chemistry and Maths. I would say Biology is the hardest purely based on how harsh the MS is and the amount of content you are required to know. Maths is close second in terms of difficulty, and despite having the least amount of content, it takes the most amount of time and dedication to get a good grade in as understanding why you're doing what you're doing requires A LOT of revision (understanding is very important as it helps you apply knowledge from questions you've done to questions you haven't seen before ,which happens very often). Chemistry is the easiest and is nothing like GCSE Chemistry (in a good way). Plus chemistry and biology pair very well at A-level. If I were you, I would consider Biology, Chemistry and a third subject of your choice that you will enjoy. Ensure your 3rd choice is an A-level (rather than something like a Btec or Ctec) as to study science as degree level, most universities require 3 A-levels.

I cannot bare the idea of doing chemistry - I reckon I'd fail, and genuinely for the sake of my mental health, I can't 😅
Do you think I'll be alright with biology, geography and psychology? (As it's what I'd actually like to do.)
The thing is, I'd be happy and interested enough to put a hell of a lot of effort in and, touch wood, do pretty well.
Whereas maths or another of the options might just exhaust me, and imagine if after all I was rejected anyway!
I've been told by a couple of people recently that, long story short, I won't get in to the university without chemistry.

Reply 6

Original post by vee.hmm
I cannot bare the idea of doing chemistry - I reckon I'd fail, and genuinely for the sake of my mental health, I can't 😅
Do you think I'll be alright with biology, geography and psychology? (As it's what I'd actually like to do.)
The thing is, I'd be happy and interested enough to put a hell of a lot of effort in and, touch wood, do pretty well.
Whereas maths or another of the options might just exhaust me, and imagine if after all I was rejected anyway!
I've been told by a couple of people recently that, long story short, I won't get in to the university without chemistry.

If I were you, I'd do the subjects I would actually enjoying studying (Biology, Geography and psychology). Ensure your predicted grades at the end of Y12 are good so that you can exceed the BBB requirement. And most importantly, since you're not applying with chemistry, ensure your personal statement is 11/10. This is the most crucial step as everyone applying for that course at that uni will reach the grade requirements but the personal statement is what makes you stand out. I can't stress that enough. Literally as soon as you step into Y12, start finding things to do that relate to your course and apply for anything you can get your hands on. One thing that really helped with my application is a widening participation program.
This is what QUB offer:
https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/wpu/Post16Programmes/

See if you're eligible and apply. Should really boost your application

Quick Reply