A level choices - keeping degree options open

11

Hey I’m choosing my A levels next term. Right now I’m planning on studying physics at university, and my dream is to go to Oxford to do this, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to let go of humanities just yet. I’ll be doing physics, maths and further maths, but I was wondering if I could have some help choosing a 4th subject that could keep me open to apply for a humanities course like Law. My school’s philosophy course looks really interesting, but I was wondering if a different option would still let me apply to a top course if I decide to follow the humanities route?

Reply 1

McGinger

20

There are no required subjects for Law - most people find an essay-based subject useful for skills/LNAT but it isnt essential. Science/Maths heads make very good Law students - its all to do with logic.

Humanities degrees like English or History will want an A level in that subject, but many others will just require 3 grades ,or possibly 'an essay based subject'. Same for most Social Science courses.

And there are also Science/Philosophy degrees :
BSc Physics and Philosophy | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol
BA Mathematics and Philosophy – Undergraduate degree study – GV15 - University of Birmingham
Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Thought BA | University of Leeds
Etc etc.

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post

by danny_ddd

Hey I’m choosing my A levels next term. Right now I’m planning on studying physics at university, and my dream is to go to Oxford to do this, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to let go of humanities just yet. I’ll be doing physics, maths and further maths, but I was wondering if I could have some help choosing a 4th subject that could keep me open to apply for a humanities course like Law. My school’s philosophy course looks really interesting, but I was wondering if a different option would still let me apply to a top course if I decide to follow the humanities route?

As above there are no subject requirements for law. Philosophy may of course be interesting if you're interested in it, and Oxford in fact have a dedicated joint honours course in Physics & Philosophy.

Otherwise within the humanities, generally English lit and other literature based degrees expect English lit at A-level, history usually although not always requires A-level History, language subjects typically require a language (often the target language when it comes to European languages although many are available ab initio - most non-European languages are taught from scratch and they just want to see your language learning ability generally). Outside of that you often have a lot of flexibility as there typically aren't specific subject requirements - philosophy rarely has any subject requirements, likewise linguistics, archaeology and/or anthropology; classics based subjects often have routes for those without classical languages and are often fairly flexible on what background applicants have, although some background in essay writing can be useful.

If you want to take a humanities subject just pick whichever one you find most interesting - whether this is philosophy, religious studies, classical civilisation, or something else entirely.

Reply 3

danny_ddd

OP

11

Thanks your posts have been really helpful. I’ve thought about physics and philosophy but I think if I were to study physics at uni I would want to do pure physics (or a physics/astrophysics course). With humanity courses it would probably most likely be law, so would philosophy A level help me out in my application, or since there’s no technically required subjects would it make more sense to pick a subject which connects better with the other STEM options I’ll be studying, which some older kids at my school said can help with getting higher grades. Also would having a non STEM A level hurt my application if I stuck with physics?

Reply 4

Daisy._.7777

16

Original post

by danny_ddd

Thanks your posts have been really helpful. I’ve thought about physics and philosophy but I think if I were to study physics at uni I would want to do pure physics (or a physics/astrophysics course). With humanity courses it would probably most likely be law, so would philosophy A level help me out in my application, or since there’s no technically required subjects would it make more sense to pick a subject which connects better with the other STEM options I’ll be studying, which some older kids at my school said can help with getting higher grades. Also would having a non STEM A level hurt my application if I stuck with physics?

I wouldn’t hurt your application as far as i’m aware as long as you meet the grade requirement, and are taking required and preferred subjects for your course, which you would be doing by taking physics, maths and further maths. Philosophy would show you are a well-rounded student if anything. Also, it would show universities you have strong essay writing skills, which would be useful for your dissertation and would probably make you more desirable in my opinion. But I also don’t work at a uni so I cannot confirm this, I’m just repeating what I’ve heard from other.

Reply 5

username6990201

13

Your situation sounds extremely similar to mine one year ago deciding my A levels. I picked Maths, Further Maths and Physics to ensure that I'd be set up nicely to apply for a physics degree, and for my fourth I wanted a humanities and went for english literature because I thought I'd enjoy it and would actually help me develop my reading/writing skills properly. I'm going to study physics or physics and philosophy at university, and I'll look into law conversion options afterwards if thats the route I end up wanting.

A level choices - keeping degree options open

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