A-level subject combinations help!!!

Ive applied and got offers from LAET and Woodhouse college with the subjects biology, chemistry and maths but I’m having second thoughts? I feel like I find biology boring and it’s such a content heavy subject. As well as this I am always hearing people say that you can lose a ton of marks for saying the wrong words (like sends instead of transmits). I feel like my anger issues could not handle that. Anyway these are my other subject combinations I was thinking about doing:

Physics, maths, further maths and chemistry
Or
Physics, maths and chemistry

My sister goes Oxford and I intend on doing the same as of now to do maths with computer science so I can go into a wide range of careers but in the present I wish to do software engineering.

I was going through the Oxford computer science statistics and it says that 92.6% of applicants who were shortlisted offered further maths to get onto those courses.

Any questions to ask myself or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Reply 1

Ajhdhd

Original post by royal-esteem

Ive applied and got offers from LAET and Woodhouse college with the subjects biology, chemistry and maths but I’m having second thoughts? I feel like I find biology boring and it’s such a content heavy subject. As well as this I am always hearing people say that you can lose a ton of marks for saying the wrong words (like sends instead of transmits). I feel like my anger issues could not handle that. Anyway these are my other subject combinations I was thinking about doing:
Physics, maths, further maths and chemistry
Or
Physics, maths and chemistry
My sister goes Oxford and I intend on doing the same as of now to do maths with computer science so I can go into a wide range of careers but in the present I wish to do software engineering.
I was going through the Oxford computer science statistics and it says that 92.6% of applicants who were shortlisted offered further maths to get onto those courses.
Any questions to ask myself or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Just out of curiosity why would you not do computer science?

Reply 2

sana.u

Original post by Ajhdhd

Just out of curiosity why would you not do computer science?

Probably because they wish to do software engineering instead? Or maybe the college/university does not offer computer science.

I did biology so I can attest that it is content heavy, but I also took psychology edexcel which had even more content. If you genuinely like biology then take the subject or else you will be wasting time learning and revising a subject that you don’t enjoy. In terms of writing specific words, for me it was kind of second nature as I was learning through my course, like the more you do past papers the more you would be used to writing the right words, if that makes sense. If your sixth form/college offers computer science, then obviously take that, but I’m assuming that they don’t. I can talk about chemistry if you want to know more about it, but for the maths and physics, again if you are willing to put the effort it and you find the area of maths and/or physics interesting, then take it. However, i’m not sure about taking 4 subjects, because it might be a lot of workload for you, but if you think you can handle that for 2 years then go for it. Sorry for waffling!

Reply 3

royal-esteem

Original post by Ajhdhd

Just out of curiosity why would you not do computer science?

Both colleges do offer it it’s just that it wouldn’t make any difference on an application to Oxford at all. It’s not even in the useful subjects list! It also means that my subjects are more broad that was and I can pretty much go into anything I want if that makes sense.

Reply 4

Ajhdhd

Original post by royal-esteem

Wow that's quite surprising!

If you've lost interest I would say don't do biology because it's a LOT. The process aren't incredibly complex but if you have no interest in them then it'll be harder to get yourself to understand and memorise them.

It seems you're set on chemistry so no need for advice there. But I will say that a lot of people who have taken further maths in my school have dropped out. They go through content very quickly and it's rather easy to fall behind.

But whatever you decide to do good luck 😊

Reply 5

dzloadinng

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Reply 6

valerinax

laet is not worth it don’t bother coming 😭(laet student)

Reply 7

NotRike

Original post by royal-esteem

Ive applied and got offers from LAET and Woodhouse college with the subjects biology, chemistry and maths but I’m having second thoughts? I feel like I find biology boring and it’s such a content heavy subject. As well as this I am always hearing people say that you can lose a ton of marks for saying the wrong words (like sends instead of transmits). I feel like my anger issues could not handle that. Anyway these are my other subject combinations I was thinking about doing:
Physics, maths, further maths and chemistry
Or
Physics, maths and chemistry
My sister goes Oxford and I intend on doing the same as of now to do maths with computer science so I can go into a wide range of careers but in the present I wish to do software engineering.
I was going through the Oxford computer science statistics and it says that 92.6% of applicants who were shortlisted offered further maths to get onto those courses.
Any questions to ask myself or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Do Maths, FM, Physics, Chemistry. Solid combo. It's literally the best for maths and computer science. And also to respond to someone earlier who said why not do comp sci, many universities (including Oxbridge) don't really care if you took if for A-Level, and you can still easily do a comp sci degree without comp sci A-Level.

Reply 8

anotheralt012334

Original post by valerinax

laet is not worth it don’t bother coming 😭(laet student)

why may I ask? also if not laet what schools do you recommend?

(edited 9 months ago)

Reply 9

lalexm

Original post by royal-esteem

Ive applied and got offers from LAET and Woodhouse college with the subjects biology, chemistry and maths but I’m having second thoughts? I feel like I find biology boring and it’s such a content heavy subject. As well as this I am always hearing people say that you can lose a ton of marks for saying the wrong words (like sends instead of transmits). I feel like my anger issues could not handle that. Anyway these are my other subject combinations I was thinking about doing:
Physics, maths, further maths and chemistry
Or
Physics, maths and chemistry
My sister goes Oxford and I intend on doing the same as of now to do maths with computer science so I can go into a wide range of careers but in the present I wish to do software engineering.
I was going through the Oxford computer science statistics and it says that 92.6% of applicants who were shortlisted offered further maths to get onto those courses.
Any questions to ask myself or advice would be greatly appreciated!

If you are serious about doing Mathematics and Computer Science at Oxford, you need Further Maths.

It says that it is highly desirable, which essentially means you need it to stand any realistic chance.

As per the Oxford report - "Of the 90 applicants studying A-levels in the UK who weren’t taking Further Maths as a full A-level, 7 were shortlisted for interview, and fewer than 3 were offered a place".

Note the "fewer than" comment, so that will only be 1 or 2 max, out of 90. They might also have done it as an AS.

Reply 10

royal-esteem

Original post by lalexm

If you are serious about doing Mathematics and Computer Science at Oxford, you need Further Maths.
It says that it is highly desirable, which essentially means you need it to stand any realistic chance.
As per the Oxford report - "Of the 90 applicants studying A-levels in the UK who weren’t taking Further Maths as a full A-level, 7 were shortlisted for interview, and fewer than 3 were offered a place".
Note the "fewer than" comment, so that will only be 1 or 2 max, out of 90. They might also have done it as an AS.

It’s funny how much of a difference 2 months of thinking can do😭. Now I’m taking maths, chemistry, physics and economics and have no idea what I want to do at university. I feel like this combo is a little more laid back. My sister is really passionate about the fact I should not take fm and take 3 a levels so I’m most likely going to drop physics or econ for the exact statistics that you listed. Basically from my sisters perspective aswell as her friends first hand experience it doesn’t really matter what degree you get if you go to Oxford- for example her friend took mandarin and is now becoming a lawyer in China 😭😭

Reply 11

lalexm

Original post by royal-esteem

Yep, unless doing FM, it is best to take 3, with ideally an EPQ in something relevant to the degree you will be applying to. You want to do something you enjoy, but I agree that for a lot of jobs, where you go is arguably more important than the degree subject.