The Student Room Group

Need Help with Picking 3rd A Level Subject

I want to pursue a degree in either Dentistry or Biomedical Science at Uni, so I'm definitely gonna pick Biology and Chemistry for A-Level, but I'm very torn on the third choice.
P.S. I'm strongly against taking four A-Levels, it's the most straightforward solution to my problem but I know I would not survive the workload.

The four options I've been considering are Maths, English Literature, Psychology and History.

I know that Maths is a really good and useful A Level, would keep my options at uni open and would complement Biology and Chemistry the best out of these, but it's not a subject I enjoy and I definitely think I'd find Maths at A-Level really hard.
I'm very good at English Literature and I find the subject interesting, and having an essay subject might show variety from everyone else picking Bio, Chem and Maths, but I'm not entirely convinced it's worth taking over the other options.
Similarly, with History I'm also pretty good at it and find it relatively interesting as a subject, however the historical periods we study at my school don't seem very interesting at all and I doubt I'd enjoy it.
Finally, with Psychology, I think it's a very interesting subject and also an essay one. I have a strong feeling I'd enjoy studying it and it also complements Biology and Chemistry well as a third science subject. However, I'm not really sure if it's worth taking, I've heard people call it a useless A-level.

Which of these four subjects do you think I should pick? Any help would be heavily appreciated!

Reply 1

Original post by CompleatBeet
I want to pursue a degree in either Dentistry or Biomedical Science at Uni, so I'm definitely gonna pick Biology and Chemistry for A-Level, but I'm very torn on the third choice.
P.S. I'm strongly against taking four A-Levels, it's the most straightforward solution to my problem but I know I would not survive the workload.
The four options I've been considering are Maths, English Literature, Psychology and History.
I know that Maths is a really good and useful A Level, would keep my options at uni open and would complement Biology and Chemistry the best out of these, but it's not a subject I enjoy and I definitely think I'd find Maths at A-Level really hard.
I'm very good at English Literature and I find the subject interesting, and having an essay subject might show variety from everyone else picking Bio, Chem and Maths, but I'm not entirely convinced it's worth taking over the other options.
Similarly, with History I'm also pretty good at it and find it relatively interesting as a subject, however the historical periods we study at my school don't seem very interesting at all and I doubt I'd enjoy it.
Finally, with Psychology, I think it's a very interesting subject and also an essay one. I have a strong feeling I'd enjoy studying it and it also complements Biology and Chemistry well as a third science subject. However, I'm not really sure if it's worth taking, I've heard people call it a useless A-level.
Which of these four subjects do you think I should pick? Any help would be heavily appreciated!

So i applied to vet med and when i applied i wasnt disadvantaged by doing drama & theatre as my third subject, so i dont think youd have to worry too much about the final one so long as you have bio and chem. Psych works very well with bio and chemistry as theres sections in it that compliment it well. As bio and chem are hard a levels i think maybe go with something that is your strong suit and that you find interesting because getting burnt out can ruin it

Reply 2

Original post by KingNurple
So i applied to vet med and when i applied i wasnt disadvantaged by doing drama & theatre as my third subject, so i dont think youd have to worry too much about the final one so long as you have bio and chem. Psych works very well with bio and chemistry as theres sections in it that compliment it well. As bio and chem are hard a levels i think maybe go with something that is your strong suit and that you find interesting because getting burnt out can ruin it

Thanks for replying! I definitely think I'm leaning towards Psychology, it seems like a very interesting subject. Thanks so much for your help!

Reply 3

My sister studied Biomedical Science and did all 3 sciences and core maths. I don’t think it matters if you do all science-based subjects as a dentistry or biomed degree would mostly want biology and chemistry. Out of those, I would pick psychology as if it still classed as a science, but varies from other sciences. Despite this, your other options such as english and history would be regarded as good subjects by universities, so ultimately pick which one you enjoy the most!

Reply 4

Original post by fayebarnard06
My sister studied Biomedical Science and did all 3 sciences and core maths. I don’t think it matters if you do all science-based subjects as a dentistry or biomed degree would mostly want biology and chemistry. Out of those, I would pick psychology as if it still classed as a science, but varies from other sciences. Despite this, your other options such as english and history would be regarded as good subjects by universities, so ultimately pick which one you enjoy the most!

Yeah, I definitely think I'm gonna go with Psychology now. Thanks so much for your help!

Reply 5

id suggest english over psychology because psychology is very content heavy, like my friend is doing 4 a levels bio, chem, lit and psych and she says psych is the most heaviest subject to take in. you deffo need ur third subject to be more like a therapy subject so id suggest english in those terms, but if you have taken psych before in gcse and know the workload, go for it! its an awesome subject

Reply 6

Hey there,

I study biomedical science at ARU Cambridge. For my A-levels, I studied Biology and Chemistry as well as maths.
Out of your options stated, I would really recommend maths or psychology. Although complex maths is not heavily used in biomedical science, a basic knowledge is required such as unit conversions, decimals etc. But also the stats and mechanics side of a-level maths is very useful in biomedical science: for data analysis, modelling, biomechanics and biostatistics. Also (at ARU) a maths module is required for first year so proved to be very useful for me! Additionally, in general maths is a very useful a-level to acquire. It enhances your problem solving skills and improves your academic performance as it will be useful in your biology and chemistry a-level- it provides a solid foundation for many career paths.
Psychology is also really useful for studying biomedical science. Much of what Is taught at a-level comes up in your degree, so it provides a base knowledge which you can build upon. Research skills are taught which can be applied to your degree, as well as enhanced critical thinking.
English literature and history wouldn’t be as useful as the other two, but can always be applied to biomedical science. They’ll enhance your communication skills, research and ethical consideration. These subjects will help you develop a well rounded skills set. Something I’ll say is for the degrees you want to choose, majority of unis will only require biology and chemistry as compulsory, so for your third choose something you enjoy and you’ll have a higher chance of acquiring the grades you want!

Hope this helps and let us know if you have any other questions,
Simran :smile:

Reply 7

Original post by ARUStudents
Hey there,
I study biomedical science at ARU Cambridge. For my A-levels, I studied Biology and Chemistry as well as maths.
Out of your options stated, I would really recommend maths or psychology. Although complex maths is not heavily used in biomedical science, a basic knowledge is required such as unit conversions, decimals etc. But also the stats and mechanics side of a-level maths is very useful in biomedical science: for data analysis, modelling, biomechanics and biostatistics. Also (at ARU) a maths module is required for first year so proved to be very useful for me! Additionally, in general maths is a very useful a-level to acquire. It enhances your problem solving skills and improves your academic performance as it will be useful in your biology and chemistry a-level- it provides a solid foundation for many career paths.
Psychology is also really useful for studying biomedical science. Much of what Is taught at a-level comes up in your degree, so it provides a base knowledge which you can build upon. Research skills are taught which can be applied to your degree, as well as enhanced critical thinking.
English literature and history wouldn’t be as useful as the other two, but can always be applied to biomedical science. They’ll enhance your communication skills, research and ethical consideration. These subjects will help you develop a well rounded skills set. Something I’ll say is for the degrees you want to choose, majority of unis will only require biology and chemistry as compulsory, so for your third choose something you enjoy and you’ll have a higher chance of acquiring the grades you want!
Hope this helps and let us know if you have any other questions,
Simran :smile:

Thanks so much for the reply, I ended up choosing Psychology and so far I think I've made the correct choice 🙂

Quick Reply