My teacher gave us a sheet where we have to seldect what we are thinking about taking at AS level. It is just what we are thinking about taking so they can start thinking about the time table but it should be as realistic and accurate as possible. Problem is i've always thought i was gonna do all sciences and maths but now im thinking of picking something like this: *Maths *Physics *RE *English Literature I don't know whether i should concentrate on just one thing (sciences and maths or RE and Lit n stuff like that) as it would make getting into uni easier. For example if i do engineering, id be more likely to get in with maths n science subjects. What do you guys think? btw in my school we are limited to a maximum of 4 AS and 3 A2.
Do whatever you enjoy. 4 AS is plenty of work tbh, no need to rinse it too early. If you're planning to take a sciency subject at uni (that will feel like a long way off yet), it's a good idea to take maths. It's a really big step from GCSE to full A2, and it's really worth doing, if only to see what's going on. For mine, I did Maths, Physics, Further Maths, Electronics and Computing, followed by Maths, Physics and Electronics at A-level. I'd advise against computing tbh, I hated the half-truths of it all. [edit]Don't worry, although killalot says below you should know what you want to do, just a rough idea is plenty. Science, go for maths, physics and similar, depending on what science you like. [/edit]
your in the same position as me Iv chosen mine. I advise seeing what you want to do at uni and base your choice on that. Im doing History Design and tech phisyics chemistry.
I'm currently doing Maths, Physics, Chem and Bio. The best advice I can give you is think about what you really enjoy doing, and do you currently enjoy the lesson. Also, science/maths subjects can be hard on the homework sometimes, make sure you have free time.
take photography and three that you KNOW will take to A2!! ok, i admit, this is what i wanted to do and i took ICT instead. hated it. grr. my A2s were maths (mech), physics and chemistry. needed the maths for uni, other two were 'interesting' - physics teacher was really cool, chemistry teacher was a complete nutter. good times, good times.
For most people, 'Do what you like' is definately the best advise. Just a little heads up though, a few science courses at university require two science A-levels, plus maths. (Ie my degree does - Natural Science at Durham. Its the same at a few other places though.) Might not affect you, but just a heads up.
As a career i always thought id be happiest as an engineer because of the maths but i now like RE (even though im not religious at all) because of the philosiphy and ethics involved but im not sure what sort of jobs people get with degrees in philosophy so can anyone tell me? If i knew that it would be a big help in helping me decide what career to pursue. Thnaks in advance and for all those who have replied already
You can do maths and philosophy degrees . I've just changed from a maths degree to accounting, business finance and management. Maths is very hardcore at uni. But nobody knows what they want to do, well very few anyway, so if you pick what subjects you enjoy you'll be ok .
As an alternative, if you are undecided about your uni choice and therefore are taking a diverse selection of subjects, see if any local schools do the International Baccalaureate. It's more arduous than A levels, but it keeps your options open till very late and it is, on the whole, loved by the universities. -> ib.org if you want some more information and to see lists of schools that do it.
Don't do something if you don't enjoy it. Seriously. That is the single biggest piece of advice anyone could give you. I want to do (electronic) engineering at uni. I did physics, chemistry, triple maths and electronics. I was planning on dropping chem after AS, but that didn't happen and now I hate it. I can't drop it now though, because everyone (parents, teachers, uni offers) expects me to do it. Don't do english unless you know you love it and want to spend hours and hours learning texts that are assigned to you. If you just choose what you love, you can concentrate and it makes it far easier. I love electronics and physics, and as a consequence don't have any trouble with them at all. The maths is just hard. I hate chemistry and as a result I failed most of the tests last term. You also have to watch that most engineering courses specify physics and maths in their offers, as well as another subject, usually supposed to be science based. ch424
Have you gotten any conditional uni places yet? Because if you have and they don't want chem then you might as well drop it.
Maths and physics most people die in. I'm doing philosophy this year rather than R.E and I love it. English lit i really wanted to do but missed out on the opertunity. I'm currently doing philosophy, economics, computer science | maths-dropped
I carried on Physics from AS to A2 and dropped it after recieving all my conditional offers from unis (around 1/2 way through A2). I was applying for electronic engineering with Maths, Physics, Electronics and Computing at A2, i dropped physics and just informed the unis, they were all fine with it and said it wasn't a problem. This is probably to do with the fact that I was doing both physics and electronics A2 and i wouldn't have expected it to pan out if i dropped physics and wasnt doing leccy however... Oh and parents/teachers really do not have a say in the matter, its up to you what you want to learn by this point in life!
I couldn't agree more with that. Unless you're aiming for a uni course which absolutely demands certain A-levels (medecine maybe?), just do what you like. It's what I did and I'm quite enjoying French, Latin and Biology, and tolerating Computing. Stay away from media studies though. It is the devil in AS form.
I think ramble's spot on there. You have to become an academic or an entrepreneur or something that's really not like engineering at all... Though teaching RS/philosophy to a load of 14 year olds who think they've got philosophy sorted (kinda quoting maddox here) could be a bit trying and repetitive. Then again, all the RS teachers I've met seem to really enjoy their job... And people, thanks for the insights, but please stop telling me to quit chemistry. This thread is about liquid's exams, not mine. I'm going to stick at it regardless of what a few people I've never met think. You don't know me, how I think, how I work, how I interact with people face to face (I'm less bitter/conceited when I'm not hiding behind the anonymity of bit-tech), how I relate to my friends/parents/teachers or what I want out of my time at school.
Do what you enjoy. I wish i'd done business but i opted for the science subjects instead because i thought they were going to get me a better uni place. In reality i just ended up doing subjects i never really intended doing. All engineering courses require Maths and Physics and as long as you have them they usually don't care what the other grades are in. If your into computing or IT then don't bother doing either of them. They just contradict so much knowledge you will already have. I now do electronic engineering at UMIST and took Maths, Physics, Geography and Computing all at A2 level. My school also had a 4As 3A2 limit rule but i never decided what i wanted to drop and ended up taking them all. I cannot stress how important it is to just take the subjects you enjoy. However make sure your future uni place doesn't require certain subjects as you don't want to be shooting yourself in the foot. My GF hated the biology teachers at my school but wanted to do medicine and asked all the uni's if it was required. They all said it wasn't a pre-requisite and then when she applied with 4 A's in other sciences they turned around and said Biology was required. Suffice to say she was a little pissed off.
