dd has finally chosen Alevels she wants to do ...

[brimfull]

maths
physics
french
music

she was toying with economics instead of music but loves music .
As yet she is unsure what she would like to study at university ,do these leave her options open enough?

I am sure someone will come along and say music is a waste fo time

Excellent mix, I think, leaving a huge range of further study possibilities while keeping credibility for good universities.

I wouldn't say that music is a waste of time - had a friend at school (music school as it happens (who did a-level music) and she went and studied bio-chemistry at University.

I would imagine having music A level would be a recommendation for almost any uni course - it's a very challenging subject. And as far as economics goes, having maths must more than make up for dropping it in favour of music.

I agree about music being challenging - I found it by far the hardest of all the subjects I did - yet it "should" have been the easiest....makes me a little cross when it's labelled as an "easy" option.

It looks like a great mix.

There aren't really any easy A-levels. They've all got their highs and lows. I'm assuming that music also means that she will do a lot of extra-curricular work, which will be very impressive on any UCAS form.

thanks that's really reassuring

music teacher nearly slapped me when I asked her views about music being a soft a level

I think dd will be very challenged by it but would enjoy it more than economics.

maths and music is a great mix and fairly common - apparently the same parts of the brain are involved in maths and music. The maths will allow her to study economics later if she wants.

exbatt - that theory never worked for me - I'm HOPELESS at maths LOL

economics is one of those subjects best studied at university i think. music is a fab choice, and combined with the others makes her look scarily intellectual.

I think that's a great choice - really solid academic subjects are what most good universities like to see. I think economics courses (if she ended up wanting to do that) are more interested in maths than economics A level I think anyway, or at least treat them equally so I don't think she misses out there.

The only thing I would say is that if she wanted to do medicine or some other science courses then they might prefer her to have chemistry as well as maths and physics, but I imagine that could be outweighed by the fact that she has done two other academic A levels. May just be worth looking into a little.

Good luck to her - I think they're tough choices (no soft options there!) but will stand her in good stead with university applications.

has decided against doing medicine

is really undecided about what to do at university

ultimately would like to get on a graduate management course with a large cosmetics firm,but adamant she doesn't want to do chemistry.

Did you know there is an acoustic engineering degree option at southampton where you study music and engineering together? A good solid degree, which can't be easy.

wow what an eclectic mix! Should stand her in good stead for pretty much anything!

I did maths and physics A Levels and found them particularly challenging, my other choices of Biology and Chemistry far less so.

I do wish I hadn't focused so much on science, I would have had far more choice post-18 if I hadn't.

sounds interesting microwave,wonder what career that would lead to?

Tiger-what did you end up doing?

Teach economics at uni and am not to impressed with content of many a level economcis courses. so i would second the idea that safe not to do it. Some unis do demand it though for those studying economics so may be best to check.

Thanks for the warning witch.Will check out some university websites.
Part of the reason we were put off it is the school is teaching it for the first time.Music is much more established at the school.

ggirl I did a degree in Biochemistry then was a Food Microbiologist for a while and now work with food packaging.

I wish I had done French and something computery at A Level as I would have liked to extend my knowledge of both - also I enjoy writing so perhaps should have done English Lit or something!

with hindsight I think I should have actually done some work in school

yes me too! I did science with a view to becoming a doctor but basically couldn't be arsed and just did enough work to scape through... same with my degree too sadly

I agree - I did maths, further maths, physics and chemistry at a level. In retrospect, Chemistry wasn't really my thing, I narrowed my options far too early and I'd have loved to have done something like English Lit.

Sounds like a really balanced set of options without being all over the place.

Oh, also please let her know (I really really wish someone had told me this) that if it turns out that you hate your subject you chose at uni, you can always change course in the second year as long as your first year exam results were reasonable.

good point rubberduck
nothing is set in stone

my youngest brother changed courses after the first year at Uni - from Physics with Astronomy to Archaeology! Hows about that for a turnaround

Nothing is forever.

DS1 did a not dissimilar mix: Maths, Physics, History, Economics and Music Technology for AS. Miss GGirls's selection is very good - especially the French - though I wonder whether it could be criticised for not having a subject involving much essay writing - perhaps, though French and Music do involve this? Otherwise, it is an intellectually demanding selection!

Tonmeister course