A'level choice - ML / biology

[Premiumm]

DD plans to take French, Spanish and biology. She's interested in teaching languages. Does biology add anything to the mix? She refuses to consider history or English, despite being good at them and a reader. Because she enjoys biology.

Oh wait, I get it. By "top" you mean college-based. Ancient. Smart.

Gotya

@HelloThereMeHearties St Andrews is regarded as one of the top 3 UK universities for MFL, alongside Oxford & Cambridge. I presume the OP was talking specifically about languages rather than generically, although even on a generic basis St A is up there.

Yes, but isn't it funny how OP has picked only collegiate unis in her list of "top" unis, though

No because they’re all ranked in the top 5 for the subject.

Maybe. Maybe I'm just a cynic

Either way, OP's DD has a subject that she likes and wants to study (Biology), but OP seems to think it's more important she jumps through hoops to get to the sort of uni that OP approves of. When DD seems to have already thought this through.

I speak as someone with DC doing A levels, which were totally their choice.

I'm not trying to shoehorn her into Oxbridge. But she's expressed an interest in it, together with St Andrews (Durham's my suggestion). So if her choice is going to make that less do-able, I'd like her to know that, so she can take it into account. As I've made clear throughout the thread, the choice is entirely hers.
Is St Andrew's collegiate? I didn't think it was.

Hmmm. Small amount of numeracy possible required in Biology which would be useful. i have seen grad jobs advertised when then ask for a STEM or numerate subject at A level. You could possible make that (tenuous) argument which would be a good thing.
DS did no numerate subjects at A level and I feel despite his Cambridge English degree it would have been a good thing.
Ultimately she needs to do what interests her though

There is more to consider if she wants Oxbridge though, as you can see. Aim high but do not get overwhelmed! Unfortunately Oxbridge does mean a different applications process and she needs to understand that and want it enough to do the extra that is inevitably required. The best thing to do is to look at their web sites and decide if that is what she wants to commit to. Certainly Oxford set out very clearly what they look for and I took snapshots for you earlier.

@JunoTurner. Your relative studied Politics at A level and is doing MFL at Cambridge. Politics is considered an essay subject and it was a Politics essay DD submitted to Oxford. As a subject it is not the same as Biology and rather proves my point.

And do not let anyone say she should not consider St Andrews or Durham. Why not aim for the best universities and who cares what living arrangements they have?

Here's what OP said:

She says that she will compromise on a mid-ranking university if it means she can do her biology

And yet OP is posting a thread on maybe getting her daughter not to do Biology.

Re St Andrews, isn't one of the perceived major advantages of the Scottish universities the ability / ?requirement to take a broader range of courses in the first year? So it would seem a little perverse if that university from the OP's preferred list were to look askance at 'mixed' A levels?

Oh, and re submitting written work, Oxford, at least, does accept an extract from one's EPQ.
uni-of-oxford.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/446/kw/EPQ

Your relative studied Politics at A level and is doing MFL at Cambridge. Politics is considered an essay subject and it was a Politics essay DD submitted to Oxford. As a subject it is not the same as Biology and rather proves my point.

@PresentingPercy I know, I wasn’t trying to disprove your point! Although the essay my DN submitted was not politics, it was one she came up with herself and was about film from a European country.

Btw I’m interested in the Q raised here of whether St Andrews is collegiate and which universities are, so I’ve started a thread in this section asking.

I'm not sure why someone's being aggressive here. She's very young and has to decide on 6th form options. She's not especially mature for her age and like many teenagers wants to do what she most enjoys and isn't giving a lot of thought to the consequences of that (if any). And of course it's quite possible that she may change her mind about teaching over the next few years. I think that setting things out clearly for her at this stage, before she narrows her options, is a good idea. The choice then being entirely hers. I imagine that she would have a chance at any university with the biology, but that she would have a higher chance at some of them if she chose something more relevant.

I've always thought that Oxbridge and Durham are the only collegiate universities. I'm pretty confident that St Andrews isn't.

If she is eyeing up Oxbridge then the most important thing is that she gets top grades in everything. Doing a subject she doesn’t enjoy is always going to make that unlikely.

This is from the Vice Chancellor of St Andrews. She should know:
“I think St Andrews has many of the qualities of Oxford and Cambridge, although it’s not a collegiate university."

Did a quick google:-

The university encompasses three colleges: United College, St Mary's College and St Leonard's College. The purpose of the colleges at St Andrews is mainly ceremonial, as students are housed in separate residential halls or private accommodations. ... St Leonard's College is now responsible for all postgraduate students.

@Premiumm

This is from the Vice Chancellor of St Andrews. She should know: “I think St Andrews has many of the qualities of Oxford and Cambridge, although it’s not a collegiate university."

Interesting, thank you. I may have to quote that on my new thread!

If she wants Oxbridge she just has to do very well in her subjects. Obviously! The odds of applying for and getting an MFL
Offer are better than many other courses so if she's really good, it's worth a shot. But if your school barely sends any to Oxbridge make sure you do your own research on the admissions process. That's what we had to do bc school (bog standard comp) was next to useless.
So excel at your subjects, have plenty to say about your eventual chosen subject if you do apply, which means reading around it and doing extra stuff. And good luck!

Thank you. Her school rarely has any students who go to Oxbridge.

As a PP said, if she enjoys biology as well as MFLs then she could look at degrees that combine MFLs with linguistics rather than being literature heavy. This is one at Oxford but there will be others

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses-listing/modern-languages-and-linguistics#

That’s a good suggestion by @sendsummer

I know you say your DD wants to teach OP but scientific translation may be an option as a future career that could utilise and build on her live of biology.