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Dropping a subject

Helloooo
So basically, I am doing 4 A levels at the moment as well as EPQ. I want to do something in the Maths and computer science field. My 4 A levels are Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer science. Currently it feels quite hard to manage the subjects, and I was considering dropping physics, but idk why it feels quite hard to do so (and it might sound slightly dumb) because its the only lesson I have where the entire class has a strong bond, we help each other and support each other and the feeling of leaving all that just sort of haunts me. Does anyone have any advice on how I should deal with this? pls pls.

Reply 1

Hi hi~! This one is quite interesting.

You have quite the 4 subjects + EPQ, love them. However, you say you wish to drop physics for what reason? Is it because it's the msot difficult/hardest to keep up with or something?

But I don't think that's a bad choice. Despite everyone usually blaming Furthermaths & telling you to drop that, I think physics may be a good one. However, when I was in the same situation as you, I found that making a complete schedule of my entire year helped me out a bit. Not becuase I followed it, but because I knew where I should be, so even if I ignored my calenender I'd be able to catch up & cram for when I needed to know things.
Although, that only worked as a pro-fessional-crastinator.

Hope this could at least somewhat help~!

Reply 2

Original post by Floral_Whisper
Helloooo
So basically, I am doing 4 A levels at the moment as well as EPQ. I want to do something in the Maths and computer science field. My 4 A levels are Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer science. Currently it feels quite hard to manage the subjects, and I was considering dropping physics, but idk why it feels quite hard to do so (and it might sound slightly dumb) because its the only lesson I have where the entire class has a strong bond, we help each other and support each other and the feeling of leaving all that just sort of haunts me. Does anyone have any advice on how I should deal with this? pls pls.

I completely get you and this might be really stupid advice, but having a good class atmosphere and support can genuinely be a good reason to not drop the subject. On the other hand, if it's really grating you and really dislike the subject and feel overwhelmed by it, drop it. Your class will support you and they will understand (I swear everyone who studies physics at A level feels like they're so lost sometimes).

If you want to keep your options the most open, the subject to drop would be CS (as I think it's not a required subject for most degrees, including CS). But I assume you enjoy it and don't want to drop it if you want to go into CS in the future.

Obligatory warning, seeing as you do further maths: it gets a lot harder. I assume you're speedrunning through the maths course at the moment and haven't started further content (or if you have, you've started core pure 1). Further maths isn't an extension of maths A level, it's a whole different level of difficult. However, if you enjoy maths and want to do it for degree, I would think you'll be absolutely fine. It's not an impossible subject, just incredibly difficult. In my school, our further maths class more than halved when we started fully delving into the A level; I know at least 3 people who were on As and A*s in normal maths who dropped it because it was too hard.

Last option: would dropping the EPQ help? It's very fun, but definitely time-consuming (though probably not as much as your A levels).

Reply 3

I completely get you and this might be really stupid advice, but having a good class atmosphere and support can genuinely be a good reason to not drop the subject. On the other hand, if it's really grating you and really dislike the subject and feel overwhelmed by it, drop it. Your class will support you and they will understand (I swear everyone who studies physics at A level feels like they're so lost sometimes).
If you want to keep your options the most open, the subject to drop would be CS (as I think it's not a required subject for most degrees, including CS). But I assume you enjoy it and don't want to drop it if you want to go into CS in the future.
Obligatory warning, seeing as you do further maths: it gets a lot harder. I assume you're speedrunning through the maths course at the moment and haven't started further content (or if you have, you've started core pure 1). Further maths isn't an extension of maths A level, it's a whole different level of difficult. However, if you enjoy maths and want to do it for degree, I would think you'll be absolutely fine. It's not an impossible subject, just incredibly difficult. In my school, our further maths class more than halved when we started fully delving into the A level; I know at least 3 people who were on As and A*s in normal maths who dropped it because it was too hard.
Last option: would dropping the EPQ help? It's very fun, but definitely time-consuming (though probably not as much as your A levels).
Thank you! its helpful. I was thinking about dropping EPQ but I only have 1000 words left and we might submit it soon so I don't see a point in dropping it if its over soon yk what I mean. The reason I want to drop physics is 1. due to 'teacher reasons' 2. I for sure don't see myself doing anything related to it in the future.
About the feeling of leaving, I guess that will go away in a couple of days as I will be busy with my work and the students won't really ponder on it anyway, but still, they will also forget about it possibly much quicker than me.

Reply 4

Original post by Project-Tired
Hi hi~! This one is quite interesting.
You have quite the 4 subjects + EPQ, love them. However, you say you wish to drop physics for what reason? Is it because it's the msot difficult/hardest to keep up with or something?
But I don't think that's a bad choice. Despite everyone usually blaming Furthermaths & telling you to drop that, I think physics may be a good one. However, when I was in the same situation as you, I found that making a complete schedule of my entire year helped me out a bit. Not becuase I followed it, but because I knew where I should be, so even if I ignored my calenender I'd be able to catch up & cram for when I needed to know things.
Although, that only worked as a pro-fessional-crastinator.
Hope this could at least somewhat help~!

Hiiii, I want to drop physics due to very obvious 'teacher reasons' and I don't really see myself doing anything related to physics in my career I picked it initially because I was not so sure on what field I want to go in, but ig I see where I would like to dive into. Your advice is helpful!!

Reply 5

Original post by Floral_Whisper
Helloooo
So basically, I am doing 4 A levels at the moment as well as EPQ. I want to do something in the Maths and computer science field. My 4 A levels are Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer science. Currently it feels quite hard to manage the subjects, and I was considering dropping physics, but idk why it feels quite hard to do so (and it might sound slightly dumb) because its the only lesson I have where the entire class has a strong bond, we help each other and support each other and the feeling of leaving all that just sort of haunts me. Does anyone have any advice on how I should deal with this? pls pls.

Physics seems to be the obvious answer here. Pretty much all degrees in maths or comp sci will require both maths and further maths. Comp sci is probably a good thing to have if you intend to go onto comp sci. However physics would also be somewhat beneficial, but not as much really.

I personally believe that A-Level physics teaches things in simplified terms, and the things you would want from physics as a developer can be self taught to a pretty good level as needed (look at Physics for Scientists and Engineers by P. Tipler and G. Mosca - very good self study textbook for Uni level physics which can be found often quite cheap online).
You only need 3 A Levels.
Drop both the EPQ and one of the A Level subjects. You're giving yourself an unnecessary workload for no reason.

Edit: Just saw you said you only have 1000 words left of the EPQ. Well bam that out this weekend and get it out of the way then.
(edited 1 month ago)

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