A level choices advice?

Hi I'm currently in year 11 and planning to apply later when I'm in sixth form to US unis like Wharton, Chicago for finance and also UK ones like LSE, Bath, Warwick etc. I was wondering what A levels choices I should take. I'm predicted a strong set of GCSES mostly 8/9s except for one 7. I've chosen Maths, Economics, Physics and Geography and also will take an EPQ alongside (my school forces everyone to take 4 a levels they rarely let you drop one). I'm on the verge with further maths as maths isn't my strongest subject - predicted a high 8 maybe 9 in GCSEs - but I understand its fundamental for finance at Uni so it's a must sadly. Idk if a level further maths will cause me to do badly on the other a levels does anyone know how intense and tricky it can be. I also have been on the edge with Physics, as it was recommended to me since it keeps my options open like engineering for example if I don't enjoy finance. But sixth formers at my school have said Maths and physics can be really stressful and hard and I was looking at Uni requirements and mainly for finance courses its an A* in maths and the rest they don't care too much. I'm native in spanish and I was wondering if taking spanish a level which I would definitely get an A*(predicted to get 100% combined in the gcse spanish ik the spanish gcse and alevel are very different) would increase my odds better and reduce the risk of getting a B for example in physics .Any advice would be great thanks.

Have you looked at the stated 'entry requirements' for the specific course you want to do on each University website? Start there.
And by the way, if just taking what you see as 'hard' A levels is already putting you off, you might like to rethink taking a Finance degree at highly competitive Unis - that is going to be even harder,

Hi I'm currently in year 11 and planning to apply later when I'm in sixth form to US unis like Wharton, Chicago for finance and also UK ones like LSE, Bath, Warwick etc. I was wondering what A levels choices I should take. I'm predicted a strong set of GCSES mostly 8/9s except for one 7. I've chosen Maths, Economics, Physics and Geography and also will take an EPQ alongside (my school forces everyone to take 4 a levels they rarely let you drop one). I'm on the verge with further maths as maths isn't my strongest subject - predicted a high 8 maybe 9 in GCSEs - but I understand its fundamental for finance at Uni so it's a must sadly. Idk if a level further maths will cause me to do badly on the other a levels does anyone know how intense and tricky it can be. I also have been on the edge with Physics, as it was recommended to me since it keeps my options open like engineering for example if I don't enjoy finance. But sixth formers at my school have said Maths and physics can be really stressful and hard and I was looking at Uni requirements and mainly for finance courses its an A* in maths and the rest they don't care too much. I'm native in spanish and I was wondering if taking spanish a level which I would definitely get an A*(predicted to get 100% combined in the gcse spanish ik the spanish gcse and alevel are very different) would increase my odds better and reduce the risk of getting a B for example in physics .Any advice would be great thanks.

It's not really putting me off i don't mind doing physics or FM a level its js if i can make my life easier later on iykwim. I got recommended these subjects by my house tutor so ig he sees me more than capable of taking them but if theres an easier route with the same end goal of studying a finance course at an ivy or lse uni level ofc I would much rather take it. I also really enjoy finance i didn't choose this path stereotypically like many people "who think by studying and getting a degree in this industry they can make a lot of money etc" instead its kind of always been like a niche of me since I was much younger until I was old enough to realise i could turn it into my career.

Useful reading - Accountancy, banking and finance | Prospects.ac.uk

If you’re doing an epq+ 4 a levels, well firstly I don’t recommend it, but secondly I’d suggest doing Spanish as one of your a levels as it’ll be easier and help with workload/consistent top grades.
Beyond that you don’t actually need further maths for finance at top unis-for economics yes, but finance is very different to economics. If you’re not keen on it now I’d avoid it. I’d personally go for something like Spanish, maths, economics+ one other subject , doesn’t matter what 4th subject just make sure you’re interested in it. Physics would keep doors open to science/engineering degrees and does complement maths well. Further maths would help a bit with LSE/imperial finance degrees (because lse loves fm and imperial only offers econ, finance and data science for finance degrees) . However it is A LOT of maths and you don’t seem too keen so it’s not important to take it(if you wanted to do economics type degrees it’d be different-definitely take fm). Geography complements economics well and if you like it would be a great option. It does have tough coursework though.
But make sure you’re interested in your subjects, that’s the most important thing to help you do well.
On the whole, I can’t understate the workload of 4 a levels on its own, let alone with an epq, so bear that in mind. Tried it for a bit-just couldn’t manage that plus 4 a levels which included coursework , apprenticeship applications, and uni applications. And I really liked my epq too.
Relating to finance, I’d highly recommend an access to finance outreach programme or work experience (these often go hand in hand too).

You don’t need further maths for finance.
I know lots of friends with finance/economics offers at great unis without it, including lse’s finance course and Warwick’s economics course(and Warwick economics is mostly maths so for finance you’ll almost certainly be fine). So do it if you want to do boatloads of maths , and I guess it could maybe be marginally helpful for certain uni course admissions or knowing very specific maths methods before uni. For LSE finance admissions you could also optionally take the TMUA to impress them with maths ability and that’s far easier than suffering through further maths a level but also not required at all . It’s a very abstract subject and goes deep into pure maths so it should depend on whether that’s something you’d like.

My school forces everyone to 4 alevels we dont get a choice (rarely they let someone drop an alevel like as it if there falling it but if not they kick people out im pretty sure) its an oxbrigde factory basically but i dont want to go down that route. Im definitely keeping Geography its best IGCSE by far i scored basically 100% percent in both my mock papers and got asked to do for alevel so thats a must. Then I genuinely still stuck on taking FM ik it would give me an edge over other candidates but it would mean a lot of my summer will be dedicated at catching up on FM content which i dont mind but will it be seriously worth it. I decided to tackle the other alevels a bit differently i agree with you about physics being crucial keeping doors open later and I was looking at UCL and other unis in the US and they recommend it for finance so I'll take it in the end and ill do spanish outside of school nice bonus looks good on cvs etc and if i end up working internationally (the first opportunity i get i will definitely be) as it's much easier to handle and probably get an A*. So currently id be doing Maths and for FM honestly i'd have to wait until GCSEs if i get a strong 9 in the end i can change my alevels choices after results day so id pick FM plus maths. Then definitely Geography, Econ and physics .Then for the EPQ if i do FM no way in hell ill have the time so i wont bother i do enough extracurricular stuff to broaden my application thanks for the advice tho.

You’re obviously really smart but I think you massively underestimate the workload of A levels. Maths is a must, econ is very relevant to finance and you want to take geography-frankly that would be a good enough combination on its own .
Under no circumstances should you take 5 a levels-mad schools like yours and the student room make it seem like 4 a levels plus epq is standard for applicants to top unis and while 4 a levels isn’t uncommon what really makes a top application is good admissions test/interview/personal statement. For most courses the first two of those aren’t applicable anyway so supercurriculars related to finance are far more important than a random extra a level in physics. What universities like UCL find attractive about applicants with physics, further maths, etc a levels for degrees where they’re not needed at all is a general level of technical skill and intelligence which you’ll get from any traditional a level subject including geography, economics, and Spanish. You’re talking about 5, potentially 6 a levels if you do Spanish privately, which is insane.
Getting straight As/A*s in three a levels is hard enough and the norm for people at top universities.
Since you have to do 4 , it would be a massive help if Spanish was one of them as that will be a fairly easy subject .
If you end up doing 4 at college plus Spanish at home, do NOT do an epq. An epq is basically just a good supercurricular and a good way to learn how to write extended essays . Both of those skills are more than covered by you already , especially with geography coursework and essay competitions.
In your situation, where you’re expected to basically burn yourself out , I’d consider combinations like:
-maths, econ or further maths , Spanish (at sixth form) , geography and if that’s manageable , an epq
-maths, econ , geography + either physics or further maths + Spanish at home
But BY FAR the best way for you to optimise your chance of admission to top unis for finance is by taking maths, geography, economics and Spanish/further maths with no epq. Because what’s most important is consistent high grades. Further maths is marginally helpful for one or two universities-is that worth risking your other grades?
And an epq is really unnecessary for hardworking students like you that do lots of supercurricular work already.
You should pick a levels which you like and are good at, and doing well in physics and further maths in particular depends on a genuine interest in the topics , or else really hard work. Speaking from experience, my 4th a level did nothing for me in getting me into great unis, despite being relevant to my subject. And I dropped my epq with no downsides , on balance I think it helped because I could just focus on maths and economics stuff.
As a final recommendation I’d look into doing maths challenges and olympiads if you want to show unis your maths ability. But finance isn’t a maths degree so it’s not necessary, it’s just a possible idea.

Hi I'm currently in year 11 and planning to apply later when I'm in sixth form to US unis like Wharton, Chicago for finance and also UK ones like LSE, Bath, Warwick etc. I was wondering what A levels choices I should take. I'm predicted a strong set of GCSES mostly 8/9s except for one 7. I've chosen Maths, Economics, Physics and Geography and also will take an EPQ alongside (my school forces everyone to take 4 a levels they rarely let you drop one). I'm on the verge with further maths as maths isn't my strongest subject - predicted a high 8 maybe 9 in GCSEs - but I understand its fundamental for finance at Uni so it's a must sadly. Idk if a level further maths will cause me to do badly on the other a levels does anyone know how intense and tricky it can be. I also have been on the edge with Physics, as it was recommended to me since it keeps my options open like engineering for example if I don't enjoy finance. But sixth formers at my school have said Maths and physics can be really stressful and hard and I was looking at Uni requirements and mainly for finance courses its an A* in maths and the rest they don't care too much. I'm native in spanish and I was wondering if taking spanish a level which I would definitely get an A*(predicted to get 100% combined in the gcse spanish ik the spanish gcse and alevel are very different) would increase my odds better and reduce the risk of getting a B for example in physics .Any advice would be great thanks.

yea thanks my school forces everyone who takes further maths to an olympiad so im guessing its the same as what ur talking. while i really do like this option -maths, econ or further maths , Spanish (at sixth form) , geography and if that’s manageable , an epq i personally dont enjoy physics im good it ig i got a 9 for both mocks and predicted a very strong 9 for gcses but ik alevel is very different. ill ask for a private careers session at my schools department but genuinely thanks for all the advice. I now got 200 hours for 3 weeks of pure revision 😭 also do you think work experience could improve my application my parents have made me go crazy applying to every finance firm in the city over christmas and february half term and i have like 4 alr set during summer i was wondering if in the end it acc matters. As i have a close friend whos father works for Oxford uni addimissions and apparantly they dont really care about work experience dont know whether to believe it or not. cheers

Like you say, a levels are very different. If you don’t enjoy physics don’t take it. Getting a strong 9 at gcse is trivially easy compared to doing well at a level where it’s 10 hours a week of stuff you won’t enjoy.
On work experience, it can help a bit for finance degrees because it’s directly relevant, and for landing spring weeks in the future it’s helpful too. I don’t think it can ever be a bad thing and the fact that you have 4 lined up is amazing-that’s difficult to achieve. It’s not helpful for Oxford because they don’t offer finance degrees-they offer traditional academic subjects like economics (joint honours with history/management). for degrees like econ and management, admissions is different to something like bsc finance.
A lot of admissions advice you see talks about a very long list of things you can do to help your uni application(work experience, reading, essay competitions, olympiads, a 4th a level in a hard subject like physics/fm, an epq, like this list goes on forever). Just because something may help, doesn’t mean you have to do even half of everything to be successful.
The common theme in the people with top uni offers at my sixth form is passion for the subject , not a long list of achievements and a levels. Most of us just did 3 a levels, a bunch of reading and maybe one essay competition or Olympiad type thing.
I’m sure you’ll do very well