drop biology?

[lilyofthe]

DS is in the first year of his A levels. Wanted to study a STEM subject at university but wasn't sure what so to keep options open he currently reads for 5 subjects: maths, further maths, chemistry, physics and biology. He now thinks he wants read for engineering at Imperial/UCL/Bristol and wants to drop biology, but this is the subject where he scores the highest marks (around 90% so far in exams). With other subjects it's more of a struggle with scores around 60%. Teachers say biology is his strongest subject and he is better off dropping further maths or chemistry. Offers for STEM subjects at the top universities seem to be so ridiculously high and 2 A start and A in some cases and further maths and chemistry are recommended over Biology. Is it better to keep biology just because he may be able to score better in it?

Which subject does he like best is the first question?

The second question is what school in its right mind lets students do 5 A levels!? If he is getting 60% in subjects when he does 5, imagine what he'd get if he did 3! (or 4, I guess if he does FM...)

5 A levels is far too much, so yes I would drop 1. I would look at the courses that he wants to do at the universities he want's and see the grades and subjects they prefer. Most will offer on 3 A levels only.

I would drop chemistry if I were him, unless he much prefers it over biology as the higher grades would be the most important thing for him. Important to keep further maths, and physics obviously important for engineering so unless he wants to do chemical engineering I'd drop chemistry.

Agree drop Chem if his aim is Engineering. He should also think about dropping Bio in year 13 and take the AS this year if poss. But he must be absolutely certain his grades for M, FM and P will be in the A / Astar range.

If he’s getting 60% in Maths, then Further Maths seems unwise.

Maths, Physics, Biology (if he scores well in that) would seem the wisest option in terms of getting the grades needed (better to get all As / A stars in ‘less than perfect’ subjects than to get eg ABB or ABBC in ‘perfect’ subjects in terms of university choice).

I'd drop biology. It gives the impression he's hedging his bets between engineering and medicine.

Unless he's interested in biomedical engineering, it's not going to stand out as a foundation for engineering, and dropping it will give him more time to focus on his other subjects.

(As in, the doors closed by getting an A star in Biology but not having Further Maths are smaller in number and less critical than the doors closed by getting Bs and Cs in Further Maths and Chemistry)

Is 60% the low side of a grade B? If so he should drop chemistry and further maths. More than 3 is very unwise if you compromise grades.

Drop further maths, biology is ace.

Hi, OP -

Writing as a former Russell Group admissions tutor, I think your DS had not been well advised. Quality trumps quantity every time, and every university in the land will make offers to pupils doing three A levels.

Someone working hard for 60% whilst doing five ALs should immediately drop two of them. Sadly we can’t assess how realistic FM is for your DS, because he hasn’t attempted it in a reasonable setting. Thus I don’t feel in a position to offer an opinion as to which two he should drop. However, and I rarely say this, I am seriously annoyed on his behalf at his school or college.

Hi Op. My DS has offers from Imperial and UCL for Engineering for this year and they have offered him based on all 4 A-levels (Need A minimum in all with a couple of A *.His friend who does five A-levels has been offered a space based on him achieving a minimum of A grade in all five subjects. Competition is fierce and my son found his knowledge of FM and physics helped with the online exam and interview. If the school offers further maths, then the top universities do expect you to take that as a fourth alevel for STEM subjects. Best for your son to drop biology or chemistry space, depending on which engineering course interests him.

If you have a look on TSR you can see that most at Imperial who have been offered a place study 4 A-levels and predicted grades are mostly A*/ A. There is a similar page for UCL too for you to get an idea.

To get into those unis he will need all A* and will be competing along side others with exceptionally high results.

Is he getting 60% with maths? That suggests he is unlikely to get a high enough grade in further maths for Imperial engineering. even if he drops both chemistry and biology at this stage.

Sometimes what a student finds easiest does not match their interests and ambitions at school but it should be taken into consideration. What attracts him to engineering in particular?

He needs to focus on his maths, physics and only a third subject to give him the most opportunity to pull his other grades up. Continuing biology would likely allow him the most catch-up time. If he makes sufficient progress in Year 13 he could always do sone further maths mechanical modules as extra study to help the transition to undergraduate engineering maths.

thanks! @mumofthree22 DS will go for electrical engineering. Very impressive that your DS had offers from both Imperial and UCL. Congratulations! I know friends' DCs who had offers from Imperial but not UCL for electrical and mechanical respectively. So it must be down to something in the personal statement. Any tips based on your DS's experience as to what may have made your DS's personal statement/achievements stand out at UCL?