a-level options?! help!!

hii! i need to submit my a-level option choices by the 31st but i'm stuck on what to do... i wanna to medicine in the future, hence im picking bio and chem, but i'm stuck between maths and psych 😭 i was thinking of picking either
- bio, chem, maths, psych as level (1 yr)
- bio, chem, psych, epq
- bio, chem, maths, epq
tbh i don't rlly like maths (working at an 8 at gcse rn!), but i feel like having a maths a-level rather than psych would keep my options open... but then again i've heard psych is easier to get a higher grade in compared to maths. i also feel like doing an as level is probs not worth it, if i can do an epq instead 🤷 plus doing 3 sciences seems like a looot of work... i've also been suggested do do bio, chem, maths & psych and drop either maths or psych, but that means i would only be left with 3 options, and wouldn't get to do an epq...
i've checked some uni's websites and some of them need maths/another science as the 3rd option & some don't mind what your 3rd option is 👀
any advice/help would help a lot!! THANKS

hii! i need to submit my a-level option choices by the 31st but i'm stuck on what to do... i wanna to medicine in the future, hence im picking bio and chem, but i'm stuck between maths and psych 😭 i was thinking of picking either
- bio, chem, maths, psych as level (1 yr)
- bio, chem, psych, epq
- bio, chem, maths, epq
tbh i don't rlly like maths (working at an 8 at gcse rn!), but i feel like having a maths a-level rather than psych would keep my options open... but then again i've heard psych is easier to get a higher grade in compared to maths. i also feel like doing an as level is probs not worth it, if i can do an epq instead 🤷 plus doing 3 sciences seems like a looot of work... i've also been suggested do do bio, chem, maths & psych and drop either maths or psych, but that means i would only be left with 3 options, and wouldn't get to do an epq...
i've checked some uni's websites and some of them need maths/another science as the 3rd option & some don't mind what your 3rd option is 👀
any advice/help would help a lot!! THANKS

If you dont really like maths then id choose psychology.
If you choose a subject you dont enjoy then you are stuck with it for 2 years.
You could always choose something maths related for your epq if you wanted.

hi fellow year 11 here!! If you don’t like maths don’t pick it. many of my peers and teachers say that we should pick maths because it “open doors” for us, however you can only really open those doors if you get a good grade. So, if you know that you’re not a maths person AND can’t guarantee a 7-9 I suggest picking psych, but if you can go for it. for reference I picked bio, chem and geo (mainly because i always got 8s and 9s in geo)

contrary to what is being said above, i would personally take maths in your situation. do remember that unless your school is totally unreasonable, you can always do a last-minute switch to psych if your maths gcse is truly awful- unless there a clash in terms of timetabling, although i highly doubt there won't be a few people taking chem, bio and psych (especially now that everyone seems to want to become a psychologist or whatever).
i say this because the difficulty of maths at a level is, from what my friends so far (i'm in year 13), not severely ramped up from gcse. in that if you succeeded in getting 8/9 in gcse maths, you have a pretty solid shot at an A*/A if you work hard at a level.
it's completely dependent on you though. if you are not an overly high-achieving student, or do not put much effort or time into studying (this is not said in a place of judgement, just realistically) go for the subject of psych, because at the end of the day yes, it is generally easier to score high, and high grades are crucial for med since it is the most competitive course. but if you're a hard-worker, who loves your other two subjects of bio and chem and are quite confident in them, there's no harm in undertaking a subject you find challenging if you think you can actually get a good grade in it, because for top universities (which you may be aiming for) you should ideally have bio, chem and maths for med.

yh, i mean i don't rlly like maths in the moment, but if i actually understand/ get a lot of questions correct i don't mind it at all tbh. it's just that idk if it's going to be like that at a-level too bc i've heard a-level maths is quite hard... i think i can guarantee a 7-9 at gcse maths but idk how hard the jump to a-level will be tho 👀 ooh that's a nice combo, what were u thinking of doing in the future..?

well if you end up picking maths for a levels and you end up still not liking it, your sixth form SHOULD give you the opportunity to change from maths to psych! Bc you’ll start to lose motivation to work hard in maths especially at A-Level since the work is way harder. Do you already do gcse psych? because I was gonna say if you enjoy it and you get good grades then you might as well pick it however I have heard that it’s content heavy. Regardless, I’m pretty sure every subject at a-level so just go with your gut. And thanks for asking, at first I was very confused on what I wanted to study but I’ve settled on pharmaceutical science!

If you dont really like maths then id choose psychology.
If you choose a subject you dont enjoy then you are stuck with it for 2 years.
You could always choose something maths related for your epq if you wanted.

As someone who does bio chem math and psych, I would say psych is definitely gonna be easier for u if you struggle a bit with math. Math alevel is much faster and more complex and the gap is quite big between gcse and alevel. I would also say that question types are also quite different to gcse (1st yr in alevel now so that’s just what i observed so far) and needs more application instead of just “i know i should do this here” (if u get it )
Unless you are very dedicated at committing to maths, pick psych imo. And i think psych alevel is pretty starter friendly ? In a way hahaha it’s pretty fast as well but you will get the hang (no one knows much about it so teachers would explain more). And i advise doing an epq on topic perhaps based on medicine / related issues to demonstrate interest

I attempted a-level maths and found it really hard. A couple of us in my class were the same. Dont want to scare you, we may have been just the minority.
How confident are you in getting good grades in the other 2?
You could start with maths, then switch to psychology in the first couple of weeks or so if you realise its not for you.

wait, really? how did u do in gcse maths? i mean idk abt a level bio and chem bc ive heard they're rlly content heavy but at gcse ive been getting 8/9s for both. yh i guess i could do that...

everyone's experiences will be different, which is why asking an online forum is generally not the best idea for things like personal subject choices, because everything on this thread from my own initial answer down to this final one is completely contradictory. nobody is wrong or right, just different.
i will say this: three of my friends took a level maths. one of them was generally more inclined toward maths and that sort of thinking, the other did really well at gcse, and the third struggled at gcse. only the one that sturggled at gcse is struggling at a level. compared to bio and chem, which increase *extremely* (and steeply) in difficulty from gcse, maths is slightly less of a jump.
it's too early for you of course, but have a sort of idea which uni you want to go to. if you're set on med, check the ones that don't accept psych in place of maths and weigh up if you really want to go to one of those, or could do in the future.
speak to your subject teachers OP, sixth form coordinators, students already in sixth form etc etc. don't look for actual concrete advise on an online forum like this, because it's a very personal and "iffy" question

yeah, everyone so far has said psych is wayy easier. I mean im working at an 8 rn at gcse, so how hard do u think it would be at a level? but as u said they are both very different... wdym by different question types? i mean... no, im not dedicated to picking maths, but i just feel like its a more useful and respected a level option compared to psych. plus apparently 62% of the ppl who sat their maths a level in June 2024 in my school got a*/a, so that's pretty encouraging... so idrk 😭 and yh ill defo do my epq on smth medicine related

wait, really? how did u do in gcse maths? i mean idk abt a level bio and chem bc ive heard they're rlly content heavy but at gcse ive been getting 8/9s for both. yh i guess i could do that...

If this is indicative in any way i get like low-mid 9s in math gcse and i am currently getting around 60% on math tests :0 (i do put in effort)but maybe ask people in the year above ? Perhaps on how your school helps u succeed in alevel math. Alevel questions are just less straight forward and you would be doing the same amount of steps in a gcse 6 marker for maybe 4 marks, and questions types are mainly those types tending towards the end of the gcse papers (ofc u get 1 marker 2 marker questions but just less and more complex ) sorry idk how I rly explain this . I would say math may in some sense open more doors but psych at the same time is a decent option and it’s not like totally unrelated. If u enjoy an essay subject (to keep u sane ) i rly recommend psych!