A level choices advice

I am currently in year 11 and am planning to go into medicine, I picked bio, chem, math, and psychology, for my A level choices, however really want to continue further study in physics, as i'm really interested in it. I know that taking it as a 5th A level would be pointless and just too much work over-load, so I'm really confused on whether I should take physics instead of math. Because ultimately I'm better at Math, however, I don't enjoy it, and will most probably end up dropping it 1st year at AS level. But Physics I'm not as good at and will have to put in a lot more effort, but I am extremely eager to take it and fascinated with it, so will probably take it for the two years. I'm not sure whether 4 science A levels would be too much and I don't know anyone taking physics A level, without taking Math A level, because obviously it consists of a lot of math as well.
Any advice would be very much appreciated :smile:

Reply 1

chyssy

5

Hii,
In my opinion, you better still take math cz in some universities (that I know) they always list mathematics in their requirements, especially if you are going to take medicine. Choosing bio and chem in my opinion is very suitable if you want to go into medicine, and if you are interested in physics, maybe you can change psychology to physics, so you choose bio, chem, math and physics (but it depends on your choice :biggrin:

)

I think taking 5 subjects in A-level might be overwhelmed since the contents in A-level are - I can say it's hard, lol. And before deciding, I would suggest you to look at the syllabus of the subjects you are going to choose and maybe discuss it with your teacher or parents.

That's all my opinion, hopefully it can help 😉
All decisions are up to you and hopefully you'll get best grades in A-level exam later ! 😉

Reply 2

nour.elbetany

OP

Original post by chyssy

Hii,
In my opinion, you better still take math cz in some universities (that I know) they always list mathematics in their requirements, especially if you are going to take medicine. Choosing bio and chem in my opinion is very suitable if you want to go into medicine, and if you are interested in physics, maybe you can change psychology to physics, so you choose bio, chem, math and physics (but it depends on your choice :biggrin:

)
I think taking 5 subjects in A-level might be overwhelmed since the contents in A-level are - I can say it's hard, lol. And before deciding, I would suggest you to look at the syllabus of the subjects you are going to choose and maybe discuss it with your teacher or parents.
That's all my opinion, hopefully it can help 😉
All decisions are up to you and hopefully you'll get best grades in A-level exam later ! 😉

Hello, thanks so much for the advice, it's very useful to me, and I think I've concluded that I'm going to stick with Math A level and just learn physics as a hobby in my free time.
Hope you have a good day :smile:

Reply 3

Alternate6688

1

Original post by nour.elbetany

I am currently in year 11 and am planning to go into medicine, I picked bio, chem, math, and psychology, for my A level choices, however really want to continue further study in physics, as i'm really interested in it. I know that taking it as a 5th A level would be pointless and just too much work over-load, so I'm really confused on whether I should take physics instead of math. Because ultimately I'm better at Math, however, I don't enjoy it, and will most probably end up dropping it 1st year at AS level. But Physics I'm not as good at and will have to put in a lot more effort, but I am extremely eager to take it and fascinated with it, so will probably take it for the two years. I'm not sure whether 4 science A levels would be too much and I don't know anyone taking physics A level, without taking Math A level, because obviously it consists of a lot of math as well.
Any advice would be very much appreciated :smile:

Currently in Year 12, ultimately its about what you're going to enjoy and want to do for 2 years. If you pick Maths just because it will look better on an application, its probably not the best idea if you don't enjoy it. Doing four science A levels however is a LOT of workload, so I'd be very wary of that. IMO maths is far far easier than Physics, so if it ensures you wont be too stressed, I'd take maths. But in any case I wouldn't do 5 A Levels, you wouldn't have time for anything else 😅.
Hope this helps!

Reply 4

sonigreendress

12

mmmm i would say maths, because i think physics without maths wouldn’t look as good, as maths looks good on almost everything. Ultimately do what you enjoy and will be interesting in, look at specs (ensure it’s the right exam board!!!) and see what you’re enthused with the most. it’s a lot of work at the end of the day so you want to make this as easy and alleviate as much pain over the next two as possible

Reply 5

jeyles

1

You can always do an extracurricular activity during year 12 alongside your 4 A levels. For instance, partaking I the Young Enterprise Programme or doing a physics related EPQ (It looks great on your CV).

Reply 6

bibachu

Universities Forum Helper

13

Original post by nour.elbetany

I am currently in year 11 and am planning to go into medicine, I picked bio, chem, math, and psychology, for my A level choices, however really want to continue further study in physics, as i'm really interested in it. I know that taking it as a 5th A level would be pointless and just too much work over-load, so I'm really confused on whether I should take physics instead of math. Because ultimately I'm better at Math, however, I don't enjoy it, and will most probably end up dropping it 1st year at AS level. But Physics I'm not as good at and will have to put in a lot more effort, but I am extremely eager to take it and fascinated with it, so will probably take it for the two years. I'm not sure whether 4 science A levels would be too much and I don't know anyone taking physics A level, without taking Math A level, because obviously it consists of a lot of math as well.
Any advice would be very much appreciated :smile:

Biology and chemistry should be sufficient to study medicine for the vast majority of medical schools. If you enjoy physics and are considering it alongside medicine at university level, you may wish to take maths alongside physics as a fourth A level, or to replace one of biology and chemistry to lighten the workload. Ultimately, you need to be looking at the entry requirements for specific medical schools to gain a better idea of what combination would be accepted or not.

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