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A-level choices help?

I may go into something medicine related so I'm definitely picking chemistry and biology. Is English lit a good choice?
I enjoy the subject but im worried it's too different from my other subjects. I could also choose latin, I'm better at latin than English so I have a higher chance of getting a good grade. (I do also enjoy latin, only drawback is that there's usually only like five people per class and im scared it might be a bit awkward. I do classical greek and there's only 3 of us in the class and the only reason its alright is because I love the teacher)

Reply 1

Original post
by Colesstar
I may go into something medicine related so I'm definitely picking chemistry and biology. Is English lit a good choice?
I enjoy the subject but im worried it's too different from my other subjects. I could also choose latin, I'm better at latin than English so I have a higher chance of getting a good grade. (I do also enjoy latin, only drawback is that there's usually only like five people per class and im scared it might be a bit awkward. I do classical greek and there's only 3 of us in the class and the only reason its alright is because I love the teacher)

if your considering medicine, maybe think about maths or sociology. Maths is a popular subject for medicine and will be a way to keep most unis open to you. Sociology is great for the ethics side of things as well.

English lit is facilitating and would work well for medicine. Not sure on latin, i dont take it. Bear in mind the difficulty of a subject at GCSE is easier than alevel, if something is harder for you, dont take it for a medicine pathway as the application is competitive and you need at least AAA.

Reply 2

Original post
by Colesstar
I may go into something medicine related so I'm definitely picking chemistry and biology. Is English lit a good choice?
I enjoy the subject but im worried it's too different from my other subjects. I could also choose latin, I'm better at latin than English so I have a higher chance of getting a good grade. (I do also enjoy latin, only drawback is that there's usually only like five people per class and im scared it might be a bit awkward. I do classical greek and there's only 3 of us in the class and the only reason its alright is because I love the teacher)

Bio, chem and any third is absolutely fine for healthcare courses other than at Cambridge to my knowledge. It will make no difference to your application what the third subject is unless you get a low grade, so you can ignore any notions that maths or physics or whatever else would be better 🙂
You seem to have a strong preference for Latin as a subject but reserves about class size which is totally understandable. One option would be to take both and see how awkward the Latin class is. You could then drop a subject based on the first few weeks if your school allows for this kind of thing.
My sixth form has pretty small class sizes and i think its a benefit tbh because if you dont understand something then you can get help instantly and often we get through content quickly because everyone is always on the same page. For reference 2 of my classes have 10-15 students and the other has 5 people only which is a much better atmosphere imo.

Reply 3

Original post
by DerDracologe
Bio, chem and any third is absolutely fine for healthcare courses other than at Cambridge to my knowledge. It will make no difference to your application what the third subject is unless you get a low grade, so you can ignore any notions that maths or physics or whatever else would be better 🙂
You seem to have a strong preference for Latin as a subject but reserves about class size which is totally understandable. One option would be to take both and see how awkward the Latin class is. You could then drop a subject based on the first few weeks if your school allows for this kind of thing.
My sixth form has pretty small class sizes and i think its a benefit tbh because if you dont understand something then you can get help instantly and often we get through content quickly because everyone is always on the same page. For reference 2 of my classes have 10-15 students and the other has 5 people only which is a much better atmosphere imo.

Thank you!! this was actually really helpful, I wasn't keen on maths a-level so I was kind of set on not doing it. I think I might give latin a try? :smile:)

Reply 4

Original post
by victorious-footb
if your considering medicine, maybe think about maths or sociology. Maths is a popular subject for medicine and will be a way to keep most unis open to you. Sociology is great for the ethics side of things as well.
English lit is facilitating and would work well for medicine. Not sure on latin, i dont take it. Bear in mind the difficulty of a subject at GCSE is easier than alevel, if something is harder for you, dont take it for a medicine pathway as the application is competitive and you need at least AAA.

Thanks ^^

Reply 5

Original post
by Colesstar
Thank you!! this was actually really helpful, I wasn't keen on maths a-level so I was kind of set on not doing it. I think I might give latin a try? :smile:)

Sounds like a good choice 🙂

Reply 6

Original post
by Colesstar
I may go into something medicine related so I'm definitely picking chemistry and biology. Is English lit a good choice?
I enjoy the subject but im worried it's too different from my other subjects. I could also choose latin, I'm better at latin than English so I have a higher chance of getting a good grade. (I do also enjoy latin, only drawback is that there's usually only like five people per class and im scared it might be a bit awkward. I do classical greek and there's only 3 of us in the class and the only reason its alright is because I love the teacher)

just wanted to say that maths a level opens a ton of options if you change your mind about medicine later and keeps your options more open (this is what happened to one of my friends and doing maths a level came in clutch)

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