4 Full A levels?

[they_call_me_pg]

Hey guys. Im having somewhat of a dilemma here and wanted some advice from people who have no doubt been through the same things i have.

Iv just finished my AS levels in chem,bio, english literature and psychology (results on thursday). But I cant decide whether 2 try 2 do 4 full A levels or drop one of my subjects and just do 3 full and one AS level.

I was just wondering if it would be of any benefit 2 me if i do 4 full A levels or would i just be setting myself up for an unnecessary work load?

Also, obviously i cant drop chem or bio, so im having the dilemma of whether to drop psychology or english. I like both subjects and find psychology is my easiest subject but it seems 2 be a riskier choice as a 3rd A level as opposed to the more traditional choices. I would naturally be good at english but it takes up an awful lot of time in terms of reading and research.


Btw-a bit of background; iv got 9A* and an A at GCSE, I have gotten a weeks work experience in cardiothoracic surgery, a week in a pharmacy and a day with a GP (merely for information as the clinic was closed and i wasnt able to observe patients due to confidentiality etc). I have also my UKCAT on 3rd Sept to do and personal statement is underway and I do volunteer work as well. Im looking to apply for Queens Belfast, Glasgow, Dundee and possibly Liverpool for 2010.


I would appreciate any advice from people on whether to drop a subject and/or which subject i should drop without possibly jepordising my application.

Thanks a million in advance for any replies

Good luck to everyone getting results on Thursday!!

[House Jr.]

Hey guys. Im having somewhat of a dilemma here and wanted some advice from people who have no doubt been through the same things i have.

Iv just finished my AS levels in chem,bio, english literature and psychology (results on thursday). But I cant decide whether 2 try 2 do 4 full A levels or drop one of my subjects and just do 3 full and one AS level.

I was just wondering if it would be of any benefit 2 me if i do 4 full A levels or would i just be setting myself up for an unnecessary work load?

Also, obviously i cant drop chem or bio, so im having the dilemma of whether to drop psychology or english. I like both subjects and find psychology is my easiest subject but it seems 2 be a riskier choice as a 3rd A level as opposed to the more traditional choices. I would naturally be good at english but it takes up an awful lot of time in terms of reading and research.


Btw-a bit of background; iv got 9A* and an A at GCSE, I have gotten a weeks work experience in cardiothoracic surgery, a week in a pharmacy and a day with a GP (merely for information as the clinic was closed and i wasnt able to observe patients due to confidentiality etc). I have also my UKCAT on 3rd Sept to do and personal statement is underway and I do volunteer work as well. Im looking to apply for Queens Belfast, Glasgow, Dundee and possibly Liverpool for 2010.


I would appreciate any advice from people on whether to drop a subject and/or which subject i should drop without possibly jepordising my application.

Thanks a million in advance for any replies

Good luck to everyone getting results on Thursday!!

From what I've gathered, you gain little benefit doing 4 instead of 3. Considering you got 9 A*s it's highly likely that you would get an A in the fourth subject anyway but the time you spend revising for that subject will be much better spent revising for your UKCAT or doing some extra work experience, especially for Liverpool which values UKCAT results quite highly. Best of luck in making your decision

[Lilac Butterfly]

I agree, I remember reading somewhere that universities don't necessarily favour those with an extra A-level, because the offers are usually for 3 grades.

Your work experience and grades so far seem more than adequate, so only take another subject if you really feel you want to, otherwise focus on the other three.. I had the same dilemma; if I should continue with english or maths. I went with english because although maths was more traditional, I enjoyed english a LOT more and because of that, I managed to get the grades I needed.

Good luck with results!

[scout]

I think it depends on whether you think you can cope with the extra A Level. More importantly, do you really want to do the extra A Level? I'm not sure if it will really make any difference to your application considering your great GCSE grades, but if you enjoy all four subjects then I can understand that some people might not want to drop one ( I would personally be one of the people who wanted to see all four subjects through to the end. Nevertheless, four subjects are not required and you may be better putting your efforts into work experience, etc. It's not an easy decision and I think you should make it based on what you want to do and what you feel you can cope with. Results day may make the decision easier when you know how many UMS points you have in the bag. Best of luck

[Hughman]

Doing 3 A2s and new AS is totally pointless.

As for 4 A2s - not needed anywhere, but if you are 100% confident that doing them will not effect your grades, then there's no harm in doing so. Cambridge for example would rather you have 3 A2s at 90% than 4 at 80%.

[Drneuro]

Having 4 doesn't give you an advantage, but it depends what you want to do i suppose. You don't want to jeopardise your grades at A2, as the workload steps up another couple of notches.

Also for your personal statement, remember when you're writing about your work experience it's not what you've done or really how much, it's what you took from it.

Good luck for Thursday =)

[Krissy T]

I did 4 A2's and although I still got 4 A's I know I would have gotten higher UMS if Ihad done only 3. If you have really high UMS at AS and u think you can handle the extra work do 4 A"'s although it won't really give you an advantage. I honestly don't know why I did 4...probably because I couldn't decide which one to drop an all my teachers wanted me to...anyway if you didnt get really high AS don't take 4 A2's it's not worht it.

[xylophonefairy]

When I was between my AS and A2 years, one of my mum's friends (a teacher) told her to tell me that there was really no point in doing 4 A2's because all offers will be based on 3. And I have to say, the extra study lessons during the week were really useful for catching up on homework and whatnot. Honestly, I don't think I would have gotten 3 A's if I had kept physics on in year 13.

Though it was easy for me to choose the subject I was going to drop, and as I also dropped general studies and further maths for A2, I effectively halved my subjects, one of my friends was like you and couldn't decide. She took all four and got 3 A's and a B. Her offer was only 3 B's anyway, so she came out of it alright.

Anyway, you can always drop a subject during year 13 if you think you're not going to be able to keep up with 4.

[Hughman]

When I was between my AS and A2 years, one of my mum's friends (a teacher) told her to tell me that there was really no point in doing 4 A2's because all offers will be based on 3. And I have to say, the extra study lessons during the week were really useful for catching up on homework and whatnot. Honestly, I don't think I would have gotten 3 A's if I had kept physics on in year 13.

Though it was easy for me to choose the subject I was going to drop, and as I also dropped general studies and further maths for A2, I effectively halved my subjects, one of my friends was like you and couldn't decide. She took all four and got 3 A's and a B. Her offer was only 3 B's anyway, so she came out of it alright.

Anyway, you can always drop a subject during year 13 if you think you're not going to be able to keep up with 4.

Yes, the additional study periods saved my bacon. I did 90% of my work in them.

[they_call_me_pg]

Thanks for all the good advice people.Think I will drop one of my subjects.More than likely English as i know i cud do without all the readn and intense essay writing and quote learning etc.

So yes A2 chem,bio and psychology it seems. Will double check with my careers teacher as well 2 see what he thinks about it...