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

According to that website my school offers Greek.

News to me!

Of course you are an admissions tutor.

Isn't everyone?

Wow.

Dd is reading Philosophy at a favoured MN University. She did not get all 9s. She did not do Greek, Maths or a MFL at A level. She got five good offers.

And she's from private school.

I am really here because someone inadvertently mentioned HPS (History and Philosophy of Science), and I'm shocked to learn it was ever considered a joke subject; Cambridge's HPS department is world-class, and I spent a happy year there, 25 years ago, doing my M.Phil. The tiny department was home to Simon Schaffer, Michael Redhead, Peter Lipton, and Nick Jardine, all giants of the field. Completely different beast from HSPS, though.

I've studied a tiny bit of sociology in one of my degrees, and found it immensely interesting. Who wouldn't want to analyse social structures from an interdisciplinary perspective? Maybe that should be my next project (I'm addicted to taking courses.)

It's a shame that the independent school where I teach doesn't offer it, but we get enough stick for Film Studies (unfairly; it's Eng Lit applied to a different medium, and one which is far more influential today).

The particular poster also assumed HSPS is the same degree... so a few misconceptions littered around.

Oh, I see you mentioned that!

I think HPS can only be done postgrad, or as part of natural sciences tripos now.

@Piggywaspushed It was ever thus; the teeny-tiny common room was filled with eccentric postgrads and students who had swapped in from NatSci for Part II. (One of my own A-level physics students followed that route many years later.)

I think she should look at the syllabus of each subject and go from there. As an aside, Dh was monitoring an economics teacher when it was online school (to check their behavior) and he got very into Economics. He said he wished he had done it at A level as it was so relevant.

You will never convince some people that sociology is a proper A level subject / rigorous academic discipline, even though it's taught at Oxbridge and all the other RG universities. Radio 4 has a regular sociology programme.

But no, it's a Mickey Mouse subject taken by thickos

And sneered at by posters with a superiority complex.

There’s loads of it on MN. FE and HE threads full of posters tripping over themselves to brag and/or sneer.

I always feel a bit sorry for the people doing it, as they obviously have something to prove by living their lives vicariously through their DC’s “successes”.

I think it's possibly more that some people's advice is very dated, or just based on their own small experiences. I think some of this is well intentioned but not actually accurate.

I’d do Sociology. Absolutely loved it at A level. Oxford has an excellent Sociology department, there’s no stigma these days.

As she has 2 harder subjects already the 3rd does not really matter that much anyway. On the qusetion of if admissions to Oxbridge have really really ujnfair and very very high criteria simply because parents busted a gut to pay for school fees even if in the end that school is worse than a state school that is pertty awful and unfair. My sons' school eg had 100% failure rate for Oxbridge in their year - they didn't try but their friend did; whereas local state schools get some in. I hope that is not because of unfair bias.

On the qusetion of if admissions to Oxbridge have really really ujnfair and very very high criteria simply because parents busted a gut to pay for school fees even if in the end that school is worse than a state school that is pertty awful and unfair.

Don't worry - applicants are contextualised against their fellow students at the same school so students from a badly performing private school will be in the same boat as those from a badly performing state school 👍

Not everyone busts a gut to pay school fees. Some people are extraordinarily rich.

I did English, Sociology (plus a degree in Sociology) and Economics so I’d say Sociology or Economics. Years ago Sociology A level
was a difficult subject if you hadn’t done the O level. Lots of my friends studied with the theories. My DS also did it with History and English and loved it. He eventually went on to study for a degree and Masters in History.

I know but a lot of people in private schools have 2 parents working full time (I took 2 weeks off to have a baby in and have worked full time without a break since 1983 for example). Also a lot of people like my son who drives a van for a living work very hard too but could not afford school fees.

However the concept that you might go to a sub par private school that is worse than the better state grammars and STILL be marked down because you did 3 not 4 A levels because of an assumption all private schools are (a) very selective and (b) fll of so much money and advantage it is only fair pupils' grades are regarded as lesser compare with posh comps where houses cost £1m or the elite state grammars with rich parents is a bit unfair.

Maths, history and sociology is a great combination. Lots of crossover with history and sociology. She should do what she wants to here I reckon and not worry about how it looks.

@Xenia
I suspect the 3 or 4 A levels thing is a complete red herring. In any case, any contextualisation that happens is to do with the performance of a school, not its sector. Students from a high performing state school will not be treated more favourably than those from a poorly performing private school (although why would anyone pay for a poorly performing school?)

They are interested in how good the candidate looks compared to those who have received the same standard of education, ie their peers at the same school. Are they exceptional, do they perform better than the typical student in that setting etc.

Has she considered law?

A couple of my dds friends are doing law and love it.

if she goes further and decides to do Sociology as a degree it is amazing how many subjects can and are brought into it. Aka Criminology Public Service "nature & society" was one module and that covered medicine and technology etc, politics history feminism and most of all inequalities ... the word relevant doesn't cover it. I did Psychosocial Studies as a very very mature student - on these interconnecting courses we had people who were going into public service police social workers and though my ds did PPE he knew people in the FCA training who did Sociology - why? because its main aim is critical thinking and research - I was encouraged to do individual research on some of my modules and the tutors were incredibly supportive

There are private schools that get contextual offers?!

There are private schools that get contextual offers?!

Nobody gets a contextual offer but everyone's achievements are looked at in the context of the circumstances in which they were achieved, yes.