Should I take philosophy A Level?

For some context, my other choices are Maths, Chemistry and Biology (yes, I am trying to go into medicine) and I am debating between further maths and philosophy for a 4th A Level option.
I would say that I like maths, but not sure if I have the academic ability to do further maths (as well as the required love for maths). However the seemingly large essay-based side of philosophy is daunting to me, as well as the large amounts of information needing to be memorised

EDIT: For the few people who have replied, thank you very much. To clarify something, my school requires me to take 4 A Levels in year 12 and then I will be able to drop one of them in year 13 (which is probably what I will do)

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 1

DerDracologe

Study Forum Helper

Do you need to do 4 subjects?
From the sounds of it, you dont seem passionate about either subject and it seems like you just want to pick a fourth for the sake of it. If that’s the case then stick with 3 and try to get the highest grades you can. Unis only care about 3 grades anyway and with med being super competitive you’ll need to focus on super and extracurrilars plus the ucat etc

Reply 2

sillysparrow

hello ! im currently studying philosophy, im assuming you mean the AQA 7172 course which is pure philosophy, not religious studies/philosophy and ethics. philosophy is a very difficult subject, with many arguments from many different philosophers which you will need to be able to recall precisely and in detail. the large 25 marks analytical essays only make up half of your marks, this is where you'll need to judge the arguments to argue one way or the other. the rest of the questions are either definitions or outlining/explaining arguments. you essentially have to just rote learn them until you can explain them from memory.
it is a hard subject to get a high grade in, and if you are also planning to apply for medicine this may be difficult to balance with supercurriculars, work experience, ucat practice etc. is there a particular reason you need to do 4 a levels? it is much better to have high grades in 3 subjects than more average grades in 4.
if you're still interested and think you might be able to balance it, have a look at the spec and see if the topics on the course seem interesting to you. if not, you won't enjoy the course

Reply 3

Laylafromleeds

Original post by hensrule_spidey

for some context, my other choices are maths, chemistry and biology (yes, i am trying to go into medicine) and i am debating between further maths and philosophy for a 4th a level option.
I would say that i like maths, but not sure if i have the academic ability to do further maths (as well as the required love for maths). However the seemingly large essay-based side of philosophy is daunting to me, as well as the large amounts of information needing to be memorised