What to do with these A levels?

[NameforMN]

DD is in yr 12 studying English literature & Language, Psychology and Film Studies.

She has no idea about what degree she could do so I'm doing some reading. What would any of you suggest?

I let her choose her A levels, but now regretting not pushing her to take something like Geography , as I'm worried her choices are all a bit light.

Also very aware she has no hobbies and spends most of her time lolling about on her iPad and talking to friends. What on earth do people put in their personal statements? She seems a pretty average teen, so can't be the only one who doesn't do alot.

https://wearencs.com/?utm_source=google-ads&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=outdated-translated-2023&utm_content=-&gclid=CjwKCAjw586hBhBrEiwAQYEnHY7RolQQ7-1wt6o0s2nGE1EK02m-kJj6I2tegvT9sIIoBG6O7Xe8IhoCTYwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

You must be 16 or 17 on 31 August of the year you’ll take part in your NCS experience. So there is scope for year 12s to participate.

I think that our DC were sent information about NCS through the local Connexions office sometime towards the end of year 11 (although DD had already had details about it from somewhere else - and signed up - by the time this arrived, iirc. She did the whole 3 week in person experience (this was in 2017); she had already been 'in Scouting' for over 10 years by then, so there wasn't much on the practical side that was new for her, but the final week certainly taught her just how frustrating it can be, trying to track down specific people (re charity liaison) in certain local organisations...

I think getting her out and about and life experience will help greatly OP.

Are there any clubs or interest groups? Duke of Edinburgh award? Young Citizen award? Lifeguarding qualifications? A part time job? Volunteering in the community or food bank? A lot of companies offer work experience on-line. Don't focus purely on academic achievements. She can be taught that at Uni or Apprenticeship. She needs life skills and her horizons expanded after lockdown.

It's absolutely fine to study for a degree purely for enjoyment of the subject and without knowing what you're going to do with it. Just make sure you aim for the best university you can for your chosen course.
I would encourage your DD to think about her interests and experiences to date (summer jobs and hobbies/sports etc) and what she would enjoy studying for three or four years. If she doesn't want to continue studying one of her A Level subjects at university, she could opt for something entirely new. There are so many interesting courses out there. Make sure she looks carefully at entry requirements on university websites to make sure she meets them. She could talk to relatives/friend's parents to find out what they do and what they studied to get there. The more investigation she does, the more courses she will discover and something will pique her interest.

If she is unsure I would definitely advocate taking a year out, getting some more life experience- in anything really, doing something she doesn't like could be as illuminating as something she does like! The cost of a University education these days is not something that most of us can take lightly, and once you've used up your student finance entitlement it's difficult to do another degree at the same level in the future, so you (or more to the point, she) want to be as sure as possible that it's the right choice.
A year is neither here nor there in terms of it making any difference to the University experience or long term career prospects but the additional maturity, time to think and get the decision right could make a huge difference. My DS was very ambivalent about going to University but a year out really crystallised his feelings. He is young for the year group so is only slightly older than a lot who went straight from school anyway, but there are lots of other students who have taken gap years on his course so he certainly isn't unusual. He did do some relevant work experience which helped his decision but I think it was just getting off the treadmill and not feeling pressured that he had to make a decision in year 13 or the world would end that helped most. I think quite a lot of young people jump at accepting anything, anywhere because they are under pressure and everyone else is sorted. I know it's not possible for everyone, but if there are doubts and it's feasible, I think a lot of youngsters would benefit from a year out between school and University.

I would suggest she gets a job rather than waste time and money on something in which she has no interest.

She might like to have a look at Linguistics? EG have a look at this course outline: