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hey iā€™m yr 11 and want to pick biology chem and philosophy

hey iā€™m yr 11 and not sure on my alevel choices iā€™m thinking biology chemistry and philosophy but i donā€™t really see people with this combo so idk if itā€™s good.I do enjoy philosophy but i donā€™t want to waste and alevel or regret.PLS IF ANYONE HAS DONE SIMILAR TELL MEE
Reply 1
Original post by hanuuu
hey iā€™m yr 11 and not sure on my alevel choices iā€™m thinking biology chemistry and philosophy but i donā€™t really see people with this combo so idk if itā€™s good.I do enjoy philosophy but i donā€™t want to waste and alevel or regret.PLS IF ANYONE HAS DONE SIMILAR TELL MEE

Hi Iā€™m in year 13 and I do bio chem maths and philosophy. I definitely enjoy all of them, but I would say that philosophy is by far the hardest. I found the other subjects relatively straightforward, but philosophy took me the most time to understand the content, learn it and then argue for a position well in essays. But what you find easiest and hardest is a personal thing and everyone has their own preferences and areas which theyā€™re the best at. If you enjoy philosophy and are good at understanding and debating complex ideas, then definitely go ahead with it. Just donā€™t be under the impression that because it isnā€™t a ā€˜hard scienceā€™ it will be much easier. Also, if youā€™re thinking of applying for a subject like medicine then donā€™t worry about those a levels being unsuitable because you can apply to basically any medical school with them.
Reply 2
Original post by Saad06
Hi Iā€™m in year 13 and I do bio chem maths and philosophy. I definitely enjoy all of them, but I would say that philosophy is by far the hardest. I found the other subjects relatively straightforward, but philosophy took me the most time to understand the content, learn it and then argue for a position well in essays. But what you find easiest and hardest is a personal thing and everyone has their own preferences and areas which theyā€™re the best at. If you enjoy philosophy and are good at understanding and debating complex ideas, then definitely go ahead with it. Just donā€™t be under the impression that because it isnā€™t a ā€˜hard scienceā€™ it will be much easier. Also, if youā€™re thinking of applying for a subject like medicine then donā€™t worry about those a levels being unsuitable because you can apply to basically any medical school with them.

hey iā€™m hoping to apply to dentistry and most courses only need boo and chem.
thank you sm but i genuinely enjoy philosophy and find it so interesting so hopefully it will be goo at alevel
Reply 3
Original post by hanuuu
hey iā€™m hoping to apply to dentistry and most courses only need boo and chem.
thank you sm but i genuinely enjoy philosophy and find it so interesting so hopefully it will be goo at alevel

Iā€™m glad to hear. Hopefully you will enjoy philosophy then, but remember that you can always change any of your a levels in the first few weeks of sixth form if you donā€™t want to continue with them. All the best.
Reply 4
Original post by hanuuu
hey iā€™m yr 11 and not sure on my alevel choices iā€™m thinking biology chemistry and philosophy but i donā€™t really see people with this combo so idk if itā€™s good.I do enjoy philosophy but i donā€™t want to waste and alevel or regret.PLS IF ANYONE HAS DONE SIMILAR TELL MEE

my sixth form didnt offer philosophy so i couldnt do it but i do chemistry (year 12 currently) and really enjoy it-deff my fav subject im taking, workload seems alright so far and weve started on some year 2 topics so id say if you like it at gcse take it for a level!
Reply 5
Original post by hanuuu
hey iā€™m yr 11 and not sure on my alevel choices iā€™m thinking biology chemistry and philosophy but i donā€™t really see people with this combo so idk if itā€™s good.I do enjoy philosophy but i donā€™t want to waste and alevel or regret.PLS IF ANYONE HAS DONE SIMILAR TELL MEE

sorry for writing so much lol

i do the exact same combo and i love it!! philosophy is such a break from bio and chem. i also apply some of the biology to religious studies, for example genetics in the discussion of free will and determinism. also, religious studies has given me many skills science exams do not. there is a lot more content, but i find it super interesting. be prepared to ask existential questions, like what is goodness or do humans have a fully free will.

tbh, as my chem teacher and other classmates have mentioned, i would avoid a-level chemistry as it is really difficult, unless you are thinking of a university course that requires it. a-level chem is sooo different to gcses, its unrecognisable. there is little to no transfer of knowledge, and mainly new content. alternatively, if you don't enjoy it after some lessons, you can switch it out for something else. if you do end up loving chem, or need it, keep on going. it's really satisfying when you get the right answer and understand the concepts. plus, the friends ive made in chem are the best due to our collective struggle.
Reply 6
just do maths
Reply 7
Original post by Victor89
just do maths

damn.
cl gcse maths ainā€™t looking good,a level may end me
Original post by hanuuu
hey iā€™m yr 11 and not sure on my alevel choices iā€™m thinking biology chemistry and philosophy but i donā€™t really see people with this combo so idk if itā€™s good.I do enjoy philosophy but i donā€™t want to waste and alevel or regret.PLS IF ANYONE HAS DONE SIMILAR TELL MEE

a friend of mine did the exact same and has found it great, going newcastle for med next year šŸ™‚ i do philosophy and it's tough but not impossible and certainly a respected a level for pretty much anything. lmk if you have any questions!!!
Reply 9
Original post by hazzabazzaboom
a friend of mine did the exact same and has found it great, going newcastle for med next year šŸ™‚ i do philosophy and it's tough but not impossible and certainly a respected a level for pretty much anything. lmk if you have any questions!!!

oh cool. Just wondering abt the general content.Is it more based on theological arguments or based on religion or just the general study of philosophy?
Also do u need to learn quotes
Original post by hanuuu
oh cool. Just wondering abt the general content.Is it more based on theological arguments or based on religion or just the general study of philosophy?
Also do u need to learn quotes

Depending on your exam board you'll learn different things. I do AQA philosophy A level and I really enjoy it! It's one of my favourite subjects to learn about and philosophy is so useful in so many different areas. Our four topics in AQA are epistemology, which is about knowledge, moral philosophy (self explanatory), metaphysics of God, where we essentially explore arguments for the existence of God and look at whether the existence of God is compatible with the universe, as well as whether religious claims can mean anything, and lastly metaphysics of mind, which looks at whether the mind is a separate entity and whether there is a world that exists outside of the mind. You don't need to learn quotes but it can be useful. In moral philosophy particularly, I find it a lot easier to memorise quotes from philosophers, because they are so well known and fit in with their moral theories (e.g. Kant's first formulation of the categorical imperative). You'll need to memorise arguments and pretty much anything on the specification, however for AQA there isn't actually a lot of content, which I quite enjoy since I take two other essay based subjects with lots of content (politics and psychology). Since the specification was revised in 2017 and the first papers were sat in 2019, there are very few past papers available online, but since there is only so much they can ask you, revising for philosophy in my opinion is much easier than most subjects. The difficulty is with precision - you can lose marks for redundancy and inaccuracy in philosophy, so basically don't waffle too much. In AQA philosophy we have 2 papers: paper 1 is on moral philosophy and epistemology and paper 2 is on metaphysics of God and metaphysics of mind. They are both 3 hours long and the total marks for each paper is 100, with each section being worth 50 marks. In each section, you will be given a 3 mark question (usually a definition), two 5 mark questions (can be arguments, criticisms, defences, parts of a theory etc.), one 12 mark question which is essentially two 5 mark questions put together with an extra two marks for linking back to the question, and a 25 mark essay question. The 3-12 mark questions are all about content that is on the specification, so it is only AO1 marks (knowledge and understanding). The 25 mark essay will require you to give a judgement on a theory or argument, with AO1 being worth 5 marks and AO3 (your explanation of problems and judgement) being worth 20 marks. Your opinion counts a lot more in philosophy essays, which will contrast nicely with your current combination of biology and chemistry. I actually wanted to pick the same subjects as you before sitting my GCSE chemistry papers, but quickly changed my mind and ended up with psychology, philosophy and politics. However, if I had stuck with your biology and chemistry, I think picking philosophy out of my current subjects as my third subjects would have definitely been the right choice. Again, the content you learn will depend on your exam board, as I know other exam boards have a lot more content in them than AQA does.
(edited 8 months ago)
Original post by hanuuu
oh cool. Just wondering abt the general content.Is it more based on theological arguments or based on religion or just the general study of philosophy?
Also do u need to learn quotes

there are actually multiple courses called philosophy (at least commonly), i do aqa philosophy not aqa rs and assuming you want and are able to do the same course then this is only applicable to that. you do not study any theology at all - you study epistemology (the definition of knowledge, knowledge from perception and reason, scepticism) moral philosophy (utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, aristotelian ethics, metaethics, and applied ethical theories), metaphysics of god (is god coherent, three styles of argument for god's existence, the problem of evil very briefly, and religious language), and metaphysics of mind (dualist and physicalist theories). the poster below has given a much better explanation of how the exam works, but to answer your question no you do not need quotes, however it is generally preferable to remember logical form that is not directly quoted. i hope this helpsšŸ™‚
Donā€™t do bio or chem x (personal experiment)
Reply 13
Original post by bibachu
Depending on your exam board you'll learn different things. I do AQA philosophy A level and I really enjoy it! It's one of my favourite subjects to learn about and philosophy is so useful in so many different areas. Our four topics in AQA are epistemology, which is about knowledge, moral philosophy (self explanatory), metaphysics of God, where we essentially explore arguments for the existence of God and look at whether the existence of God is compatible with the universe, as well as whether religious claims can mean anything, and lastly metaphysics of mind, which looks at whether the mind is a separate entity and whether there is a world that exists outside of the mind. You don't need to learn quotes but it can be useful. In moral philosophy particularly, I find it a lot easier to memorise quotes from philosophers, because they are so well known and fit in with their moral theories (e.g. Kant's first formulation of the categorical imperative). You'll need to memorise arguments and pretty much anything on the specification, however for AQA there isn't actually a lot of content, which I quite enjoy since I take two other essay based subjects with lots of content (politics and psychology). Since the specification was revised in 2017 and the first papers were sat in 2019, there are very few past papers available online, but since there is only so much they can ask you, revising for philosophy in my opinion is much easier than most subjects. The difficulty is with precision - you can lose marks for redundancy and inaccuracy in philosophy, so basically don't waffle too much. In AQA philosophy we have 2 papers: paper 1 is on moral philosophy and epistemology and paper 2 is on metaphysics of God and metaphysics of mind. They are both 3 hours long and the total marks for each paper is 100, with each section being worth 50 marks. In each section, you will be given a 3 mark question (usually a definition), two 5 mark questions (can be arguments, criticisms, defences, parts of a theory etc.), one 12 mark question which is essentially two 5 mark questions put together with an extra two marks for linking back to the question, and a 25 mark essay question. The 3-12 mark questions are all about content that is on the specification, so it is only AO1 marks (knowledge and understanding). The 25 mark essay will require you to give a judgement on a theory or argument, with AO1 being worth 5 marks and AO3 (your explanation of problems and judgement) being worth 20 marks. Your opinion counts a lot more in philosophy essays, which will contrast nicely with your current combination of biology and chemistry. I actually wanted to pick the same subjects as you before sitting my GCSE chemistry papers, but quickly changed my mind and ended up with psychology, philosophy and politics. However, if I had stuck with your biology and chemistry, I think picking philosophy out of my current subjects as my third subjects would have definitely been the right choice. Again, the content you learn will depend on your exam board, as I know other exam boards have a lot more content in them than AQA does.
wow thank you so much.That is acc really reassuring i was so stressed abt options.i think we do edexcel but to know the structure of exams is so good.Well see after results day but iā€™m pretty sure on my options rn.
Anyway tysmm
Reply 14
Original post by hanuuu
hey iā€™m yr 11 and not sure on my alevel choices iā€™m thinking biology chemistry and philosophy but i donā€™t really see people with this combo so idk if itā€™s good.I do enjoy philosophy but i donā€™t want to waste and alevel or regret.PLS IF ANYONE HAS DONE SIMILAR TELL MEE

I would say for sure its the easiest of the 3.
Thats saying, of course, if you're essay savvy and can write well under timed conditions.
Otherwise in terms of content its not very difficult to grasp, especially against some Year 13 chemistry which arguably makes me question life more than philosophy as a subject.
Im currently doing a level exams now (obviously) and had gotten three med offers out of 4- initially I had wanted to do dentistry however the journey is basically the same as medicine.
so yes, its very possible to do dentistry with philosophy and might even be a much better option that stems subjects, especially maths which is such a burden rn

-random year 13 student
(edited 8 months ago)

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