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A level options

Hey guys so my current a level options are geography, economics, psychology and, politics ( + an epq). So i was going to drop a subject and i’m not too sure which one to drop. I know I want to take geography for sure, though I'm not sure what i want to do at uni. If say i wanted to do something like international relations or HSPS ( or something of that sort most likely a humanity) at top unis would it be ok to do geo psych econ and drop politics?? Or what would the best combination be. A lot of unis have no requirements but does it look better to do a certain set??

Reply 1

Original post
by krishyiscool
Hey guys so my current a level options are geography, economics, psychology and, politics ( + an epq). So i was going to drop a subject and i’m not too sure which one to drop. I know I want to take geography for sure, though I'm not sure what i want to do at uni. If say i wanted to do something like international relations or HSPS ( or something of that sort most likely a humanity) at top unis would it be ok to do geo psych econ and drop politics?? Or what would the best combination be. A lot of unis have no requirements but does it look better to do a certain set??

Are there any specific universities that you’re interested in?

Reply 2

Original post
by Talkative Toad
Are there any specific universities that you’re interested in?

I would love to go to a top uni and do something of the humanities sorts ( most likely) there, places like cambridge ( probably a long shot lol so I don’t want t sound too cocky) or like durham or you know ones like those that are up there, though I want to know the best a level combination i can take to maximise chances

Reply 3

Geo, Econ and Psycho would be strong picks, especially with an EPQ

Reply 4

Original post
by tghngf
Geo, Econ and Psycho would be strong picks, especially with an EPQ
Thank you sm, do you think it would be strong for a full on humanities course such as HSPS by cambridge because some would say politics would be stronger

Reply 5

Sorry, idk y I sed geo, I'd agree w them, Politics > Geo

Reply 6

Original post
by krishyiscool
I would love to go to a top uni and do something of the humanities sorts ( most likely) there, places like cambridge ( probably a long shot lol so I don’t want t sound too cocky) or like durham or you know ones like those that are up there, though I want to know the best a level combination i can take to maximise chances


The only reason why I asked for specific universities was so that we could check the entry requirements.

Looking at Cambridge’s Website it says the following under subject requirements:

There are no required subjects for entry to HSPS.

Colleges do normally require A*/7 in an essay-based subject. Some Colleges may give preference to certain subject combinations, so always check College websites.

Most HSPS students (who had studied A levels and started at Cambridge in 2018, 2019 and 2023) had studied:
English (language or literature)
History
Languages (ancient or modern)
The rest had usually taken at least one of:
Classical Civilisation, Further Mathematics, Geography, Politics, Law, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Religious Studies, sciences (Biology, Chemistry or Physics) or Sociology.
Economics
Government & Politics
Mathematics
Although these are common subject combinations, this doesn't mean they're favoured. 



Also the idea of facilitating/strong vs non-facilitating/weak subjects has been scrapped other than for universities who still have a list of “preferred subjects” on their website such as LSE and UCL for example.

Reply 7

Original post
by krishyiscool
I would love to go to a top uni and do something of the humanities sorts ( most likely) there, places like cambridge ( probably a long shot lol so I don’t want t sound too cocky) or like durham or you know ones like those that are up there, though I want to know the best a level combination i can take to maximise chances

Durham:

https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/courses/international-relations-l250/#entry-requirements

So the best A-level combination (in my opinion) would be the ones that you enjoy the most/can get the best grades in while still meeting the entry requirements. So it’s worth checking individual university websites that you’re interested in to get a general consensus on what on specific subjects are required for international relations or similar, if any at all.

Which subject do you like least out of the 4 that you’re doing or which one do you think that you’ll be less likely to get that A/A* in?

Reply 8

Original post
by Talkative Toad
Durham:
https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/courses/international-relations-l250/#entry-requirements
So the best A-level combination (in my opinion) would be the ones that you enjoy the most/can get the best grades in while still meeting the entry requirements. So it’s worth checking individual university websites that you’re interested in to get a general consensus on what on specific subjects are required for international relations or similar, if any at all.
Which subject do you like least out of the 4 that you’re doing or which one do you think that you’ll be less likely to get that A/A* in?
Thank you sm!! To be honest im not quite sure yet because although economics gets hard ( and im scared of the graphs as of now) theres more revision resources online for it and guides to achieve the grades whereas with politics I have no idea how to revise though it would potentially be easier to achieve an A. So, would dropping economics be smarter ( though i think it may be higher regarded than politics)

Reply 9

Original post
by krishyiscool
Thank you sm!! To be honest im not quite sure yet because although economics gets hard ( and im scared of the graphs as of now) theres more revision resources online for it and guides to achieve the grades whereas with politics I have no idea how to revise though it would potentially be easier to achieve an A. So, would dropping economics be smarter ( though i think it may be higher regarded than politics)


I would personally disregard the idea that economics is “higher regarded than politics” especially when you factor in that many economics degrees actually require you to have maths (it’s more important to have maths + then also further maths if relevant than it is to have economics). To give the example.

Universities won’t care about this unless they have preferred subject list in general or for the specific course where politics is listed in the non-preferred section unlike Economics.

If you enjoy economics less than politics and don’t believe that you’ll do as well in subject compared to politics then yeah.

Reply 10

Original post
by Talkative Toad
I would personally disregard the idea that economics is “higher regarded than politics” especially when you factor in that many economics degrees actually require you to have maths (it’s more important to have maths + then also further maths if relevant than it is to have economics). To give the example.
Universities won’t care about this unless they have preferred subject list in general or for the specific course where politics is listed in the non-preferred section unlike Economics.
If you enjoy economics less than politics and don’t believe that you’ll do as well in subject compared to politics then yeah.
Thank you for all your help, my biggest concern right now is that politics is not as interesting as well as how i have no idea how to revise it unlike economics, you are right about the whole well regarded” aspect of this all though, (also another thing i’d like to add is that I do not intend on doing econ at uni) well anyway, Thank you so much for you're time and help with this all
(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 11

Original post
by krishyiscool
Thank you for all your help, my biggest concern right now is that politics is not as interesting as well as how i have no idea how to revise it unlike economics, you are right about the whole well regarded” aspect of this all though, (also another thing i’d like to add is that I do not intend on doing econ at uni) well anyway, Thank you so much for you're time and help with this all

Yeah I wanted to add the disclaimer that I’m aware that you don’t want to do Economics at uni, it was just for me to note as further explanation.

Have you tried asking your teachers for politics resources (if that’s the main reason why you’re not interested in the subject)? If you don’t like politics as much as econ (materials available for the subject or not) then you’re probably better off doing econ.

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