A Level options

[skz5]

My DD is in yr 11 this year. We recently went to a 6th form open day where she has picked 3 a levels, however she wants to pick a 4th. She has decided on Biology, Chemistry and Geography (she wanted to take Physics but she can't without Maths and she doesn't want to do Maths under any circumstances) and she now needs to decide on what to pick out of Psychology and Politics. She really can't choose between the two so which would be most useful? Which one would you recommend?

Has she got any idea what she wants to do after 6th form? Also why does she want to do 4 A levels when only 3 are needed?

Psychology goes well with the sciences & Politics I’d have thought goes well with Geography.

Which does she think she’ll get the best grade in?

She wants to do something in science! She can't decide which field to go into but she knows that she wants to do science. Her aim is to get into Cambridge medical school and she is prepared to work hard for both so she's sure she'll get good grades no matter which one she takes!

If Cambridge is the aim I’d tell her to focus on getting the highest possible grades in 3 subjects but perhaps doing an EPQ in the other subject areas, rather than risk dropping a grade by attempting 4.

Yeah that's what I said! She says she wants to at least attempt 4 and then drop one if she's not getting high grades!

Hmm, if she won’t listen to you is there anyone else whose judgment she trusts a teacher maybe.

I am amused to proffer the opinion that practising medicine can benefit quite a lot from understanding either/both Politics & Psychology.

Being more serious, Psychology at A-level is not math heavy -- good academic psychologists are very good at statistics, though. Politics probably is the more reading & heavy essay writing subject of the 2 Ps. Does she like essays & reading?

Yeah she's been told by everyone but her heart is set on 4! She knows that if she's not enjoying one or isn't getting high enough grades then she can drop one!

And yes! She doesn't mind writing essays and she loves reading! She can also understand statistics very well! She's very torn on which to pick! Bless her little heart 😂

Does the 6th form offer taster days/sessions?

Yes we went to an open day today but there's a taster day sometime in December!

DD started with biology, chemistry geography and psychology in year 12, and discovered that she really hated psychology.

She dropped it after AS levels and stuck with the first three, and did really well. She is currently in her third year at university studying biomedical sciences and achieving good marks so far.

Maybe she’ll get more of an idea from that then.

My Ds changed from Music Tech to Music after his taster day.

I think she needs to double check with her school would it be possible to drop one subject or not. And if yes, in what circumstances

@RampantIvy

DD started with biology, chemistry geography and psychology in year 12, and discovered that she really hated psychology.

She dropped it after AS levels and stuck with the first three, and did really well. She is currently in her third year at university studying biomedical sciences and achieving good marks so far.

What did the psychology course include? Why didn't she like it?

The art department always point out that the Royal College of Surgeons bemoaned the lack of fine motor skills in aspiring surgeons so offer Art as an extra to improve them for future medics.

She found it boring and unchallenging, and extremely content heavy. They have to memorise loads of case studies and horrible experiments carried out by people with difficult to spell names. I think the more interesting topics were covered in year 13. Loads of students dropped it in year 12. This is always a problem with an untried subject.

Has she checked entry requirements for medicine at Cambridge? I'd have expected maths and chemistry to be their essentials, tbh.

I think some Cambridge colleges ask for maths. If she wants to do medicine she needs to look at how courses are structured at different universities.

Some do problem based learning, some do case based learning, some don't do any clinical experience for the first two or three years (I believe Oxbridge do this, but I am happy to be corrected), and some offer clinical experience fairly early on in their studies.

Thanks everyone! She's decided to pick politics and do psychology as a reserve! She can always change! And Cambridge requires chemistry and and one of biology, physics or maths! Thanks for your help everyone!

My DD is in y12 now she picked Chemistry Biology and Psychology- even though she hates writing essays and memorising anything, she in fact loves her psychology lessons, she recently got A* in her assessment. She finds Biology the most challenging - lots of maths involved in sciences - Biology especially, she finds Chemistry OK. Good luck to your DD

Rather than a 4th A level - has she considered doing Core Maths. DD is doing it over 2 years and is finding it really useful for both Biology and Psychology. She knew she didn't want to do A level Maths but wanted to show that she knew more than GCSE.

Although its rather early to be thinking about courses - especially for medicine - if she's very fixed on Cambridge I think it would be worth checking how many people get in without 3 sciences. I am out of date but it used to pretty much be a requirement (or might be Oxford I'm thinking about).