A levels for environmental science/geology

[myladyjane]

Dd was planning to do maths, chem and geography with a plan to do geology (or possibly Environmental Science) at uni. She has a passion for physical geography so geography very much her favourite choice.

just back from a 6th form interview and bit of a curve ball thrown in - if she really wants to do geology, take physics and chemistry, possibly not geography. This came from the Head who has a degree in Environmental Science.

dd is pretty strong academically, doing triple science and just got a 8/9 in her physics mock. So capable of the a level but hadn’t really entertained it before. She will research it more of course but she’d looked into quite a few uni courses already and this hadn’t jumped out at her so curious of any real life experiences.

I don’t personally know anyone who has done either of geology or env science at uni, but just as an example, Uni of Leeds says it requires ABB including two from: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Environmental Science, Further Mathematics, Geography, Geology, Marine Science; Mathematics, Physics, Statistics. env science has a similar requirement.

So any of the choices mentioned would be good (I infer btw that this list is literally alphabetical rather than in any preferential order). Similar for a couple of other RG unis I looked at.

If geography was a strong choice for A level then it is certainly a good idea. I wonder why the teacher suggested it wasn't?

Might she choose something else ultimately? Physics and maths is a good combo that supports an engineering degree. Physics without maths is unusual and often vetoed by schools actually tho someone in DS2's year did it and did well. I would say if she loves her initial choices they support her destination degree well.

Thank you so much for looking, really appreciated. When she’d looked herself she’d come up with similar. I also raised the need for maths as well as physics so basically she’d either have to do 4 or drop the geography. Whilst they offer 4, none of us think that would be great for her (she is highly anxious and would risk burning herself out).

she does love the geography- it’s her favourite by a mile but I think it’s fine to be honest. I suspect courses which don’t count it are probably courses she wouldn’t fancy.

interestingly they told her yesterday the applicant numbers for geography were pretty low so they may not be running it. She’s a track 8 student with the odd 9 on a good day so they were pretty keen on her.

she has a place somewhere else as well that she really liked so she has options. It’s just she’s been set on these 3 a levels for a couple of years and the suggestion threw her

funnily enough I know two people who did these courses. In the case of the younger one, she was based in Ireland and her subjects were.
english, Irish, maths, Spanish, geography, physics and chemistry.

i know it’s a different system but that’s what she did.

I know lots of people who work in this area.
Most of them have first degrees in physics or chemistry, or physical natural sciences, and ended up specialising later, at PhD level.

Having fundamental knowledge of physics, chemistry and maths is likely to make life on a more traditional course a lot easier. You won’t close any degree off with those choices.

But if you love geography, do that (though natural sciences at Cambridge is likely to be closed off if you do, if that matters); it’s better to follow your interests.

Generally most universities are moving towards less restrictive entry requirements. (But check that you won’t just have to spend your first year doing compulsory “physics for geologists” modules instead of the ones that sound more interesting!)

Look at the reqs from Unis she would hope to target in 2 yrs time.

I did a Geology degree (a long time ago) after A levels in Geography, Geology & Maths
chemistry would have been useful

Talk to a uni. The school teacher will of course say your kid needs to do x regardless as they want to have the kids in their subjects. Not independent views either.

For geology definitely do maths. Chemistry and geography will go well with that. No need for both chemistry and physics. For environmental science geography and a science would be fine. So I think her choices are perfect for either.

Get your DD to look up Complete Uni Guide rankings for Geology and then check course requirements for the top, say, 10. You will find that only Cambridge for NatSci ask for Chem and Phys and Maths; Oxford say Phys would be desirable if taking Maths and Chem; for the others, typically two sciences, where one can be Maths, is acceptable.

Once DD had done this homework, suggest she get in touch with Head of Sixth Form to ask him to explain his reasoning in more detail and for him to cite which unis would look unfavourably on Geog as a third A level for Geology courses. This is likely to sort fact from misperception. Better an Astar in Geog than a hard won B in Physics.

DH studied environmental science and has A-levels in Chemistry, Biology and Maths. My sister stand her friends all studied geology and associated subjects (mining engineering, minerals processing etc). Almost all of them had studied maths, chemistry and physics. I don’t remember any of them having Geography A-level.

I would say that's an excellent combination.

My husband is a Chartered Geologist.
His A levels were Geography, Chemistry and Biology. His BSc was Geography. His MSc was a geological thesis.
I'd stick with Geography because it opens up many options in that field.

My child took geography, chemistry and environmental science A levels plus a/s core maths, also took a taster course offered by the local university in environmental science to get an idea of the degree content. Started geology a level but found it very boring hence the environmental science switch. Intended studying for a degree in ES but was put off at several university open days due to the sheer number of students in this field and the generally low graduate wages so followed a chemistry based career instead (fortunately ES A level was counted as a science and a humanity for degree choices)

A close friend of DD’s who is now studying Geology at Imperial took geology, geography and biology at A level.

This was really helpful thank you. She’s going to do more research of course but it’s helpful to get some wider views.

I almost wonder if she works forward rather than back and works out what fields her preferred choices open up to her rather than work back from the degree iyswim. I am a great believer in finding a path in what you most enjoy so if geography floats her boat the most, start there.

thanks so much all.

I did geology, maths, FM and chemistry. She needs maths and a science at least, and any course that doesn't request that is a mickey mouse degree. I actually ended up doing geophysics despite hating physics at school, but geophysics is fairly different maths to pure physics. If she can do all the maths A-level mechanics papers as an extra AS (do they still exist?) that would actually be the most useful. In my time, the students without chemistry found the first year harder than the students without physics. FM & geology gave the best leg up which lasted well into 2nd year.

I’m fairly sure physics is a must for geology. Best balance for ES is geography , chemistry , physics. Note there aren’t a huge number of jobs in geology related roles now, but quite a lot more in ES

@Paaseitjes she definitely will be doing a science and maths. Just chem rather than physics as the preference.

But this is all super useful. She is possibly rethinking the geology or as a pp said mentioned maybe doing something like geography first then specialise post grad. She has a session with the careers teacher to talk it through and help guide her research - she’s in danger of getting google blind!

Geography keeps so many post grad and career options open. Geographers have to be numerate, literate, analytical, IT savvy and have an excellent general knowledge. They are desired by employers. (And just as importantly if you're going to take a degree in it, it's really interesting!)

My DD is applying for a geology degree and is studying A-level chemistry, geography and maths. She has received offers from all her shortlisted universities (all RG but not Oxbridge) with that combination of subjects.

Good luck to your DC!

I would have recommended physics over chem or geography if geology isn’t an option - I used to work with env scientists

I have a geology degree & did Geology, geography & chemistry a levels.
The chemistry was invaluable to the a lot of the modules but I was massively into palaeontology.

It does depend what she wants to do with the degree as well.
if she enjoys geography, I’d highly suggest taking it.
She can always email the admission tutors of the uni’s she’s interested in & see what they say.

If she loves geography she should do geography, surely? I did geography, biology and English lit. Have a degree in environmental science and geography, and a masters in environmental policy and management, and i work in the field... Although I'm 43 so some things have probably changed 😆

I just wanted to say how brilliant it is that your dd knows she wants to do geology at this stage.
There was a really interesting programme on R4 yesterday discussing the origins of life - found on Mars first apparently!- and the expert was a Martian geologist, how cool is that?
My dd is in year 12 doing 4 a levels and enjoying the rigour of work rather than 'loads of frees pissing about in the common room'
I would keep geography as that is her passion, see how she goes with maths/physics/chem with a view to dropping one of those horrors 😊
(My dd doing Eng lit, pyschology, maths and further maths. She's leaning towards Lit at uni but has no idea re career)

I have a geology degree and a further degree in a related subject. I’ve worked in adjacent fields all my career.
My Alevels were in geography, chemistry and general studies 🤷‍♀️.
Went to one of best practical-based unis for geolyin the country (sadly closed). I would say, stay reasonably science based but take what she enforces A levels.
Two years is a long time to study something you don’t enjoy.