Too early to choose career at 15!!!

[Swarskid2184]

My DD is in the middle of her mock GCSEs and has to choose her A level subjects this week (awful timing!).

She is good at lots of subjects- predicted 8 or 9 in all subjects. She had always wanted to do a science degree- initially to be a vet, then marine biology or something like that. But is doing exceptionally well at English and history at the moment...

So, her current choices are either;

1. Maths, biology and chemistry; or
2. Maths, History and English lit

So different and still no idea of degree choice...

Any advice?

Or a science, maths and English.

I agree with Petrichery.

In general converting to arts is better accepted (and quicker) than trying to convert to sciences. If she has any interest in a scientific career then do Maths/sciences rather than mixing them.

Keep up the music, any theatre interests and arts as extra curriculars.

She is a scientific artist. An artist with exhibitions inspired from natural sciences

Right, well that's rather different to switching to the humanities. Many artists are self-trained - many more, of course, are trained through fine arts study, and most of those would say they benefited greatly from it.

I would suggest that the differences are not absolute but of degree/type. So, clearly both a science degree and a humanities degree will develop skills of reasoning and analysis, but what that looks like in practice will differ across the two. Similarly, both degrees will develop skills in communication but if you honestly think you couldn't tell the difference between an essay written by the average science student and an essay written by the average literature student then I think you're delusional. I'm not saying one would be better and one worse, but they will have developed very different styles of writing.

Out of interest, why do you think universities want an A-level in the humanities subject being studied if it doesn't equip the student with any extra skills? Wouldn't that be a rather foolish thing to do in these times where the competition to recruit students, even for good universities, is fiercer than ever?

Its only a problem if she has to go straight to uni. I did first a levels then stayed on for another year to do 2 more as levels to widen uni choice. I was worried id be older that everyone else on my course but was the youngest. Everyone had at least a year out working etc. There is plenty of time.

No she never “switched”. But that’s the point, you can be a scientist and still be an artist.

Of course you could tell the difference in an essay written by an average science vs. humanities student. But we’re not talking about the average student. OP’s daughter sounds far from average.

No she never “switched”. But that’s the point, you can be a scientist and still be an artist.

Ok, I think we're talking at cross purposes as I thought we were talking about studying STEM vs studying a humanities subject. Being an artist is a different thing entirely. If OP's daughter wants to write novels then (while the intense exposure to different types of literature might help her develop her own style rather quicker) of course she doesn't need an English literature degree. Because to be 'an artist' requires no formal qualifications at all. However, if she does a science degree she can't then be an English literature lecturer. Because you can be both a scientist and an artist in your sense, but you can't be both a scientist and a humanities scholar without going back to scratch for your humanities training. This was my sole and (I thought) very uncontroversial point - that choosing to do all sciences will not, in fact, as people have repeatedly claimed in this thread, leave every door open. Unfortunately every decision she makes now will open some paths and close others.

if she does a science degree she can't then be an English literature lecturer well, yes, I agree with that! Although if there was a chance she'd want to be I would have expected another language to be a consideration. Disclaimer: I know nothing about English degrees, I dropped it as soon as I could.

But I still reckon it would be easier to re-train to do a humanity than to re-train as a scientist. If she were to later do a distance degree, that must be far simpler as a humanity (Skype seminars etc) in a way that just isn't possible for lab work.

There are areas of science that involve more linguistic skills once you have qualified; writing, publishing, journalism, regulatory divisions, marketing, government etc etc.

I picked my A-levels at 16 and by 18 had changed my mind as I hadn't enjoyed my A-level subjects, but by then I was trapped. I wanted to study a different degree subject but no university would consider me for courses that didn't match my A levels. Choose carefully and try to keep options open!

The other thing to consider is that universities (and employers) select based on UCAS points. High points in one subject are worth more than lower points in a "better" subject. Choose the subjects she thinks she can score the highest points in, even if they aren't quite as relevant to her future career choices.

I know a lad who just do 3 sciences + math at A-level... and went off to study law (at high reputation Uni).

I'm confused by the assertion that chemistry is a must for most science-based degrees. DD1 has been looking at university physics courses and the entry requirements are pretty much all physics, maths and preferably further maths. On that basis, she's going for those three subjects plus German, because she likes it and wants some variety. Hoping she isn't making a mistake ....

I'm confused by the assertion that chemistry is a must for most science-based degrees. DD1 has been looking at university physics courses and the entry requirements are pretty much all physics, maths and preferably further maths.

Go and visit the link I posted to the russell group guide. Sciences are split into the physical and life sciences. Chemistry is needed for the life sciences only. So pretty much if you want to do physical sciences, then you pick maths, further maths and physics. If you are doing 4 subjects then ofc you can pick English.

This is to those who suggested a humanity as the 3rd. It doesn't work if you are going to go for a physical science subject. However, iirc, for life sciences it's just biology and chemistry.

There is a huge volume of reading and writing for A Level English and History and if she’s not mad keen on writing long essays then stick to maths and sciences. There must be subjects she’s stronger and weaker in. My DD got 9s and A/A*s in all 10 GCSEs so on paper good at all subjects but in reality for her, maths and sciences were always going to be more of a stretch at A Level for her than English Lit, languages and history.

I agree with PP, IB would be ideal for her!