The Student Room Group

Have I made a mistake?

Hi,

I started sixth form 2 weeks ago, and I am incredibly stressed.

I applied to do Biology,Chemistry,History and English because I wanted to keep my options opened since I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do at uni, and these subject were my favourite at GCSE.

However, once I started I was extremely overwhelmed, so moved to do History, English and Politics since History is my favourite subject, and I’d love to do it at uni.

However, I instantly regretted it, and I was scared of losing the opportunities Bio and chem gave me, so changed back to my original choice. But now, I’m back to being incredibly stressed.

I’m not sure what to do, and I’m of talking to my teachers about it in fear they’ll be annoyed at me for changing so much…

Also, since people are gonna ask. I’m stuck between doing history, or something bio/chem related (but tbh I’m leaning towards history), and even though I’ve enjoyed all my subjects so far, it’s just too stressful. Plus, my mom and my friends want me to keep on the sciences (my mum because she doesn’t want me to give up on them since I enjoyed them so much at uni, and my friends because they want me to be in their classes)

I just feel under a lot of pressure to pick what I want to study now, and regretting it later.

Any advice?
Original post by Daisy._.7777
Hi,
I started sixth form 2 weeks ago, and I am incredibly stressed.
I applied to do Biology,Chemistry,History and English because I wanted to keep my options opened since I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do at uni, and these subject were my favourite at GCSE.
However, once I started I was extremely overwhelmed, so moved to do History, English and Politics since History is my favourite subject, and I’d love to do it at uni.
However, I instantly regretted it, and I was scared of losing the opportunities Bio and chem gave me, so changed back to my original choice. But now, I’m back to being incredibly stressed.
I’m not sure what to do, and I’m of talking to my teachers about it in fear they’ll be annoyed at me for changing so much…
Also, since people are gonna ask. I’m stuck between doing history, or something bio/chem related (but tbh I’m leaning towards history), and even though I’ve enjoyed all my subjects so far, it’s just too stressful. Plus, my mom and my friends want me to keep on the sciences (my mum because she doesn’t want me to give up on them since I enjoyed them so much at uni, and my friends because they want me to be in their classes)
I just feel under a lot of pressure to pick what I want to study now, and regretting it later.
Any advice?
Have you considered dropping English or just 1 of your sciences?
Original post by Daisy._.7777
Hi,
I started sixth form 2 weeks ago, and I am incredibly stressed.
I applied to do Biology,Chemistry,History and English because I wanted to keep my options opened since I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do at uni, and these subject were my favourite at GCSE.
However, once I started I was extremely overwhelmed, so moved to do History, English and Politics since History is my favourite subject, and I’d love to do it at uni.
However, I instantly regretted it, and I was scared of losing the opportunities Bio and chem gave me, so changed back to my original choice. But now, I’m back to being incredibly stressed.
I’m not sure what to do, and I’m of talking to my teachers about it in fear they’ll be annoyed at me for changing so much…
Also, since people are gonna ask. I’m stuck between doing history, or something bio/chem related (but tbh I’m leaning towards history), and even though I’ve enjoyed all my subjects so far, it’s just too stressful. Plus, my mom and my friends want me to keep on the sciences (my mum because she doesn’t want me to give up on them since I enjoyed them so much at uni, and my friends because they want me to be in their classes)
I just feel under a lot of pressure to pick what I want to study now, and regretting it later.
Any advice?

Which subject is causing you the most stress at the moment? Which are you enjoying least? Id second Adam’s recommendation to drop one subject
Reply 3
Original post by DerDracologe
Which subject is causing you the most stress at the moment? Which are you enjoying least? Id second Adam’s recommendation to drop one subject

Thank you. I have considered dropping English or one of the sciences, however I’m unsure which would be the best option.

If I drop one of the sciences, I know I lose the option of doing something stem at uni. And, I’m worried if I drop English and go on to do history at uni, it might look odd that my other two subjects are sciences.

Luckily, I emailed my head of sixth form, and she said we can have a meeting next week to discuss what the best option would be.
Reply 4
Original post by DerDracologe
Which subject is causing you the most stress at the moment? Which are you enjoying least? Id second Adam’s recommendation to drop one subject

Also, to answer your questions.

I’d say I’ve been enjoying History the most, but that’s not surprising since I was confident i wouldn’t be dropping that anyways. I have also been enjoying English, as well as chemistry (to my friends disgust lol) However, unfortunately I have been finding biology kinda boring at times, but I’m unsure whether it’s the subject, or the topic we are doing that I find boring (biological molecules)

So, whilst I guess the obvious choice would be to pick English,History and Chemistry, but it’s kinda an odd combo…plus, I know chemistry will be a lot of work, so is there much of a point in taking it if i don’t need it?

Also, there would be no point taking another science like physics since I hate it lol, and i don’t think I have strong enough maths skills to be doing A-level maths ( I got a 7 at GCSE, but still) plus I never really enjoyed maths as a subject, but maths in sciences I was comfortable with.
(edited 6 months ago)
Original post by Daisy._.7777
Also, to answer your questions.
I’d say I’ve been enjoying History the most, but that’s not surprising since I was confident i wouldn’t be dropping that anyways. I have also been enjoying English, as well as chemistry (to my friends disgust lol) However, unfortunately I have been finding biology kinda boring at times, but I’m unsure whether it’s the subject, or the topic we are doing that I find boring (biological molecules)
So, whilst I guess the obvious choice would be to pick English,History and Chemistry, but it’s kinda an odd combo…plus, I know chemistry will be a lot of work, so is there much of a point in taking it if i don’t need it?
Also, there would be no point taking another science like physics since I hate it lol, and i don’t think I have strong enough maths skills to be doing A-level maths ( I got a 7 at GCSE, but still) plus I never really enjoyed maths as a subject, but maths in sciences I was comfortable with.

I mean from what you said chem, history and English sounds like a good combination 🙂 If you were to go into stem what kind of field would that be in? If you’re not really interested in biology now, have you looked through the spec a bit to see if content further into the course is more interesting to you?
Reply 6
Original post by DerDracologe
I mean from what you said chem, history and English sounds like a good combination 🙂 If you were to go into stem what kind of field would that be in? If you’re not really interested in biology now, have you looked through the spec a bit to see if content further into the course is more interesting to you?


I haven’t actually looked at the rest of the spec for biology, but since I have the weekend before I talk to my head of sixth form, I might as well check the spec for all my subjects to see which ones I’d prefer studying. I might check the other subjects they offer just in case.

Thank you!
Original post by Daisy._.7777
Hi,

I started sixth form 2 weeks ago, and I am incredibly stressed.

I applied to do Biology,Chemistry,History and English because I wanted to keep my options opened since I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do at uni, and these subject were my favourite at GCSE.

However, once I started I was extremely overwhelmed, so moved to do History, English and Politics since History is my favourite subject, and I’d love to do it at uni.

However, I instantly regretted it, and I was scared of losing the opportunities Bio and chem gave me, so changed back to my original choice. But now, I’m back to being incredibly stressed.

I’m not sure what to do, and I’m of talking to my teachers about it in fear they’ll be annoyed at me for changing so much…

Also, since people are gonna ask. I’m stuck between doing history, or something bio/chem related (but tbh I’m leaning towards history), and even though I’ve enjoyed all my subjects so far, it’s just too stressful. Plus, my mom and my friends want me to keep on the sciences (my mum because she doesn’t want me to give up on them since I enjoyed them so much at uni, and my friends because they want me to be in their classes)

I just feel under a lot of pressure to pick what I want to study now, and regretting it later.

Any advice?

Unless you are taking double maths, taking four A levels is a bad idea. The workload just isn’t worth it.

The problem with “keeping your options open” is that in taking several completely unrelated subjects, you end up meeting the requirements for fewer courses post A level as three particular subjects that are closely related often are needed.

Chemistry, english and history is an intriguing combination but I could see it working. History and english are obvious subjects to take for something history-based, and chemistry is useful for the preservation of artefacts and determining their relative ages.
Original post by Daisy._.7777
I haven’t actually looked at the rest of the spec for biology, but since I have the weekend before I talk to my head of sixth form, I might as well check the spec for all my subjects to see which ones I’d prefer studying. I might check the other subjects they offer just in case.
Thank you!


As you may have discovered by now, biology gets significantly more interesting later on. The biological molecules is just the easy starting bit.

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