Advice philosophy or psychology A level

[Stressedmum7777]

Hi, hoping for advice for my daughter. She can't decide between philosophy and psychology A level. She has to.start with 4 A levels and has chosen English lit, biology and chemistry and then as 4th either philosophy or psychology. She is an all-rounder so able at maths and English. She doesn't know what she wants to do at uni. She doesn't know which will be most useful for any degree ( could be science or humanity) and which will be easiest to get a good grade if its one that she continues with. She doesn't know how to decide and has been doing preparatory reading for both and still can't decide?! Many thanks

Hi there, I'm currently doing a degree in Psychology. My first year was a HNC which is higher than A level, but I suspect the subject probably wouldn't change so much.
I found it really interesting & fascinating to be honest. You learn about the mind & behaviour, and why people do what they do. You study past experiments which had major impacts on psychology such as obedience behaviour in humans & animal behaviour. Also people's personalities, the role of attention, and the function of the brain and how it works, and all the ins & outs of intelligence. Plus lots more! There is some maths thrown in too as statistics are used for writing psychology reports. Not sure about philosophy as I've never studied it. It all depends on what your Daughter finds interesting & what jobs she is interested in.

It's difficult when they are good at a range of subjects isn't it! Nice problem to have I know, but it can make decisions tricky. Also where there is no definite end goal (not unusual at this stage). She is being sensible, choosing traditional and known subjects and supplementing with something new, possibly interesting and unknown. Unless your school is very unusual Psychology will be attracting lots of candidates and with a wide range of abilities and motivations to do the course. (It's become a bit of default option, I think if was the 2nd biggest A level entry last year?) It makes a good 3 with Biology and Chemistry but won't open more doors than B&C alone. Philosophy tends to attract lower numbers who might be more motivated, but equally some students are dazzled a little by the word and think they will be turned into intellectuals overnight . Eng Lit and Phil make a great foundation for many Hum courses. (Someone will say, 'what about History', they always do, but contrary to MN wisdom it is possible to do Arts -in the broadest sense- degrees without History ).
Did she not get to do taster days for VI form? Our students got 4 days of lessons and this really helped with decision-making.
I know you say she has been doing some reading, has she also looked at the specific syllabus in each case - this might help.
Have you looked at the 2018 and 2019 results gained at your school and compared them with national figures for both P&P? Doing something you like and are good at is more important than result chasing, but if she is really stuck it might be worth a look. Obviously things can change over time, teachers may have left etc.

Thank you, we have looked up results and DD has looked in detail the syllabus, and has now decided that as psychology her initial choice will try this and I think they have a couple of weeks to consider changes. I've also asked for 2021 results - I know an odd new but school v national may be helpful. It seems v swings and roundabouts. appreciate comments on both subjects and numbers/views of students.

Is the philosophy actually philosophy or is it religion and ethics? Very few schools do the actual philosophy A level.

Yes, its actually philosophy which appeals to her, she enjoyed this part of the RE and philosophy GCSE.

Ah, OK! In which case, very challenging. But I see she gone for psychology, which I am sure she will enjoy.