Third A level - Sociology or something else?

[VaccinistaToteBagChicBaristas]

DD Yr 11 has chosen Maths and History and unsure of third choice between -

Sociology - Probable favourite & she was enthusiastic about taster session at school. I know it's fine for all unis including Oxbridge but is there still any snobbery around it amongst graduate recruiters? And, given she's also doing 2 very traditional academic subjects, does it matter?

Politics - she's generally interested in subject but thinks the A level syllabus (seems to be mostly about UK & US govt structure) looks quite boring. If she ends up applying for History & Politics degree, would it look odd or would she be disadvantaged without the A level?

Economics - seems good fit with Maths/ interest in current affairs but don't know a great deal about it.

English Lit - tried and tested, safe bet. She's very good at it but I'd say she likes it rather than loves it.

She's at a selective school - Economics & Sociology most popular A levels of these 4 & v good results in all 4 subjects.

Possible degrees History/ History & Politics/ Social Science type degree but still very unsure. Possible careers - discussed Law/ civil service/ teaching/ maybe even accountancy - but again still very unsure.

Any thoughts welcome. Thanks

I might be biased because did both Sociology A Level and a Sociology BSc, but it’s a brilliant subject and she should do that. Any snobbery about comes only from people who don’t know what it is. It’s everything about how society does and doesn’t function and is a great underpinning of history and politics.

It teaches complex critical thinking and arguing, and is great preparation for any degree where you have to write essays and make arguments. I think Sociology A level is harder than History actually, more to learn and remember.

The Sociology snobbery is hilarious. I’d encourage A levels that interest her and if there is overlap all the better.

DD is doing Geography, Psychology & Sociology and only at this stage in Y12 is she starting to benefit from crossover. Not only linked topics but whole swathes of the curriculum eg research methods. It ties all her learning together and makes it a much more holistic, deeper learning experience.

I wanted to study sociology at A level and was called up to a meeting with the deputy head and told not to as it was a Mickey mouse subject.

I was so indignant and incensed I took it up anyway and as they didn't have any teachers for it, I had to go to the local further education college for my lessons, which was an adventure!

I thought it was the most useful, interesting and relevant subject I had ever studied, a real eye opener to how society and the economy works.

This subject alone began my journey into research and academia and I took it alongside economics A level, also very interesting.

There are a huge array of job opportunities that open up with anyone with these subjects as their background especially if you are interested in working with people or in business so law, social work, teaching, public sector etc.

I ended up doing a master's in a similar subject to sociology and I have a very good public sector job now which I absolutely love.

Be prepared to study widely around the A level material given and I would say it is difficult to get a top level grade in the subject but that doesn't matter, if you are an interesting person ( and it's not just about top grades these days if you want to apply to Oxbridge). Being an interesting character with interesting experiences/ take on life to talk about in your interview is important. In my experience, opening your mind up by studying something like sociology will help with this.

I am surprised at a selective school she is starting off with only 3 subjects! Are there no other stem subjects she is good at? That would keep open many morevoptions for her

Ermmm ...she's doing maths.

Three A levels is all that is required.

I do actually think that this thread has been refreshingly sociology snobbery free... thus far.

Yes, I was referring to MN/general Sociology snobbery not specifically this thread.

Funnily enough butterfly that mickey mouse ruling was applied to my friend at school because she wanted to do Spanish! Apparently, French and German were the 'proper' languages. Imagine that now.

She went to Cambridge and studied languages with her Spanish (and French and German...)

I am surprised must say! Must be because OP's DD is otherwise doing 'proper' subjects...

Family members who took Politics A'level all seemed to regret their choice (they found it a bit dull). I would suggest her favourite between Economics and Sociology, plus an EPQ on an area of Politics she is interested in.

@PerpetualOptimist's suggestion to look at past papers of untried subjects is an excellent one. DD chose psychology as one of her A level subjects and hated it. Luckily it was a fourth subject so she dropped it after AS levels.

I’d say for her to go with what interests her the most. A Levels are hard but they’re made a lot easier if you have a genuine interest in the subject.

And then I would follow @ALS94's advice.

And there is no such thing as "facilitating subjects" any more. Certain degrees require specific A levels, but the term facilitating subject has been binned.

Not sociology.

Oxbridge might say it's fine, but that's because we don't want to discourage the kinds of applicants who are more likely to have done it. I am an admissions tutor and I always wish someone had done something more useful for their degree course. A language would be best. Or English Lit. Or a science subject.

Oh, I spoke too soon!

Admission tutor for what??

Cambridge literally teach sociology . It's in HSPS one of their flagship subjects, with some of the most competitive entry stats.

So a B in French is better than an A or A* in sociology @massifcentral?

Most universities want high grades.

wish someone had done something more useful.

How do you know this once they are studying? At what point do you assess how 'useful' their subjects were? Once the students are admitted, the discussion of A level subjects vanishes. I would hate to think an admissions tutor is actually bringing her own snobbery to decisions.

English Lit (I teach it) is less useful than many subjects. Great subject, yes. Teaches analysis , the use of sources , independent reading and writing, and hone essay writing skills. Depending on texts taught, teaches some history and cultural awareness. But many subjects do that.

DS is doing a history degree. His best result so far has been 74% in an essay where he used directly useful knowledge from sociology A level, upon which he was commended.

I obviously meant another STEM subjects to compliment maths
Most halfway bright people do 4 at my dcs school.

There's no need for them to do that. Is the school doing that to bump up results? Most schools can no longer luxury staff 4 options.

It's complement, by the way. I don't normally correct but it's an important distinction .

Science keeps Science options open. It is no better at keeping other doors open than any non Science subject. Unless people want to specialise, all A levels keep doors open. The OP's DD is no better a candidate for a history and politics degree with a physics A level instead of sociology . She doesn't seem to want to do a Science degree.

Most halfway bright people do 4 at my dcs school.

Is this the case at most schools? Can any teachers/admissions tutors confirm this?
It used to be the case at many schools before A levels were decoupled.

No, it isn't.

The only reason I suggested English lit is it went well with my hisotry A level and was the classic suggestion for law as knowing history and writing essays is quite good preparation although you can certainly be a lawyer with science A levels (one of my daughters is in that category)

As she has 2 traditional harder subjects already I think she should do economic or English lit but for this 3rd subject go for the one where the results are likely to be highest.

Wasn't actually arguing with you xenia. I understood your point.

No. And it has never been the norm to do 4 full A-levels.

BBBB is not seen as equivalent by unis to AAA, btw.

WRT sociology, it's your daughter's life and her qualifications. If she wants to do sociology and believes she can do well in it (if she believes she can do well in history, she probably can!) then she should go for it!

She is much better off getting, for example A*AA including sociology than AAB including something she is less keen on.

In terms of graduate employment, relevant work experience and placements will be what give her an edge, not subjects studied at A-level.

At DSs superselective grammar (top 5%) less than 40% took 4

At DDs grammar (top 20% - does that count as “halfway bright” what an appalling comment btw) less than 5% take 4

The whole uni admissions system is pants, really.

Many subjects at degree level unis are just looking at grades no matter the subjects. (Yes I know some eg Geography you need Geography A level etc, Econ need Maths etc. Many, many you don’t).

So I look at the subjects my DS did with some regret as I consider them harder to get A or A in than some others. For example, he did Biology. Are we saying that with all the medics doing Biology needing top grades only for admission that it’s just as easy to get an A in that as another subject that is less competitive?