A level choices - Philosophy, Biology & photography???

[loveisenough]

DD is in the process of applying to college but unsure what she wants to do afterwards. She is interested in philosophy, biology and photography but wondering if they are good choices together. Any thoughts please?

Other possible subjects could be psychology, history, classical civilisation. She will also take sports enrichment.

Photography on its own limits her. Art doesn’t because it’s broader

Not true!

Art gives you experience of a wide range of mediums, photography doesn't which is what a pp meant I suspect.

The Art Foundation though is designed to give that broad experience.

If physiotherapy interest her, and you mentioned psychology, what about looking at Art Therapy as a possible career?

My understanding is that far fewer pupils are taking Creative Arts subjects at A level now. The attitudes on here may be part of the problem. On these threads subjects such as Photography are either considered too soft or too much work. If your dd genuinely enjoys creative subjects then continuing with one at A level is likely to be a good option for her.
Usually at this stage usually 3 subjects are chosen with a 4th as a reserve. So there is room to change at a later date.
Biology and Psychology are usually considered to complement each other well.

Trewser. Art is much broader and is more suitable for architecture for example. Both require a lot of work. I know because DD did both. However it won’t make much difference on the courses the op is quoting.

Have you considered IB? She can take more subjects. Several kids I know are doing that or the IBCP. Most unis like IB and some even have a preference.

If she wants to keep her options open, is four A-Levels possible?

In terms of university entrance requirements there are a small range of "facilitating subjects". These are usually widely taught at colleges, expected if you take the same subject at degree level, and well-regarded for applications for other degree subjects.

Maths (and Further Maths)
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
English Lit
History
Geography
Foreign languages

For your DD, pairing biology with another science is virtually essential if she wants a science degree to be an option. Chemistry or maths work well if she's interested in them. Psychology's not unreasonable but might limit her somewhat, and from memory of what my fellow students had in my own A-level days a combo of philosophy, psychology, and biology is going to be a lot of memorisation kind of learning.

The thing with niche subjects like classical civ is that if you plan on doing the same thing at university the uni usually doesn't even require the A-level (because it's niche so many candidates don't have it), and there's a loss of broader applicability.

In terms of university entrance requirements there are a small range of "facilitating subjects". These are usually widely taught at colleges, expected if you take the same subject at degree level, and well-regarded for applications for other degree subjects

The Russell group no longer encourage facilitating subjects I believe facilitating subjects dropped

OP
Your dd should take what interests her.
Seriously.

Oh right, I stand corrected then.

Photography?
V Bad choice IMO. Good uni will reject that immediately.

Not true. DD is doing photography as one of 3 A levels and had offers from all 5 of her university choices within a week of submitting her UCAS application. However at times she's found the workload heavy going and isn't applying to do an Arts degree.

The idea that all universities are highly selective is misleading. They are not. For many, including less stellar RG, it’s bums on seats. Some elite universities might not be so keen on photography (obviously Oxbridge, Imperial, LSE etc) but others really won’t care too much as long as the other two fit in with the course.

Although technically facilitating as a descriptive term is dropped, many courses will be clear about which A levels they require and which are helpful. Very competitive courses will want to see all 3 A levels as academic, especially science courses. Classical Civilisation falls into the helpful but not essential. Many other subjects are similar. Eg Politics, History of Art, Sociology etc. In fact Cambridge have a Subject Matters leaflet that lists the “facilitating” subjects under “keeping options open” but says a mix of many subjects doesn’t keep options open. They are simply the wrong subjects for an academic university such as Cambridge.,

However, I don’t think the OP was talking about Cambridge. It is though very dangerous to say the best universities are not looking at subjects taken and subject combinations. They really do! They just might not label them as facilitating!

She should do what she enjoys. DD also did one faciliating and one creative alongside philosophy. Original she'd intended to study music after sixth form, but she changed her mind. Her choices didn't stop her from getting five uni offers, so don't worry about the future too much.

There is clear evidence from recognised bodies like the Sutton Trust and the best universities like Cambridge that make it absolutely clear that doing what you like instead of doing what is academically needed, is not a good plan. Doing what you like can work for many DC if the combination is strong and the courses are not competitive. If they are, some universities are very clear about what they want. Getting offers from 5 universities may not be what happens when DC have a totally random choice. DC should study what they need, first and foremost.

If someone has studied music - this isn’t the same as photography. Although music isn’t facilitating it’s offered at Oxbridge and is considered decent academic prep for degrees in other subjects.