To drop history or psychology A level....no real idea what to do at University....any help or advice welcome for DD.

[Canadalife]

DD is doing A levels in Maths, Chemistry, Psychology and History. Going into second year at college she needs to drop one......but is totally confused about which one.

She has done AS and did equally very well in all subjects. She has no real idea what she wants to do at Uni. Her grades are good enough for RG and poss Oxbridge. She enjoys psychology more.

Our advice at the moment is that history will help to keep more doors open because it is a 'facilitator' subject. It is very much her decision.

We are struggling to advice and she is floundering. Please help with your experience or knowledge. Thanks

[Canadalife]

Many thanks for all your interest and advice. she liked the idea of Maths and philosophy.....so we looked at maths combos and there are some Maths and Psychology options. She was quite excited by St Andrews. In fact it is the first time I have seen a sparkling of interest.

All other ideas welcome.

[Dunlurking]

Glad to help. I can see joint honours Maths and Psychology at St Andrews would tick lots of boxes

[Canadalife]

Having other people input has been really useful. It helps to get other ideas and has expanded our thinking. Plus DD has read the thread and it is good to hear things from other people.

[Dunlurking]

Going to open days helped my ds. He did Drama, History and Maths and considered all 3 as degree options at various stages but is now doing Liberal Arts. He went to talks on History and Drama as well as Liberal Arts at too many university open days and it helped him crystallise his thoughts.

[Dunlurking]

I should say he dropped Physics after an AS. So very similar kind of mix to your dd.

[Canadalife]

Just to up date because of this thread and your suggestions. DD is starting at Lancaster doing Natural Science. She has found a combination of subjects that suits her interests. Thank you again.

[RedHelenB]

I I would suggest it is easier o get a high grade in psychology than history as the marking is more open to interpretation in history judging by the results at the college my kids gave been to/are at.

[Skiiltan]

Why does she have to drop one? My DD has just done 4 A levels....

State schools/colleges are only funded for three subjects per student. If they are providing extra staff time and exam entry fees for a fourth subject for some students they have to subsidise this from money they receive for other students. Some will do this if they feel there is a strong case for it because of the student's specific academic aspirations, but colleges in particular can find it difficult because they don't have the funding for pre-sixth-form students to dip in to.

[Skiiltan]

Sorry. Hadn't spotted this was a zombie thread.

[MrsMonkey13]

Is she actually being forced to drop one? The college I went to strongly encouraged this but I kept on all four and still did well at all subjects. Worth bearing in mind if she wants to continue with them all.

[Marmie4]

My DS was almost in the same position last year, he wanted to pursue a science degree and chose philosophy instead of history as his 3rd subject, he got the same grade at AS for both but slightly preferred philosophy. When he applied for his uni choices he found that Russel groups weren't really bothered as long as he did well in his science subjects. He actually got 5 offers from Russell group unis. However to pursue science at Oxbridge the advantage was to have 3 science/maths subjects, it didn't rule him out but definitely went against him. Hope that helps and good luck.

[Hiddeninplainsight]

Loved the update! So glad things worked out well. Hope she loves her Uni.