A-levels

**Muddy28** · 25-10-2009, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by Wanabe DR SHAH

hello
im having difficulty choosing my a-level subjects
i definitely want to do biology chemistry and a humanity(either rs or history)
however im having difficulty on choosing between physics and maths
i want to do physics howver many ppl are saying to do maths as well
which i dont want to do
should i forget physics and just do maths or stick with physics and forget maths?

any advice would be greatly appreciated

thanks

Just a note of caution - if you opt to do physics to A2 level - many of the people in my class who did physics but not maths had alot of difficulty understanding some of the formula derivation, and maths in some questions. There is also using logs etc in some topics (like capacitance) - and people are struggling without maths A level. However if you opt for Maths A level then you don't have this problem (and some of the stats do come in handy for ISAs in A2 biology, if you do maths)

Having said this - Physics helped me personally alot with chemistry - which i found to be the toughest of my A level choices. The quantum stuff you do at AS really goes hand in hand with some of the structure chemistry you do, and ties in neatly - really helped me get my head around quite a bit of the stuff (and it carry's through to A2 too!).

You have to consider which you'd find more interesting as well - if you dont enjoy it, you'll find it more difficult to do well than in a subject you do enjoy, (especially with physics - if your not too interested in it then i would advise you not to do it - friend of mine made this mistake, and found it hard to get motivated to put in the work behind understanding the topics and ended up with a D (he got As in all his other subjects))

That being said - either is ok in terms of entry into medical school - they're both seen as rigorous subjects - and its not looked at as if doing well in one is better than doing well in another. Most schools just want to make sure you take something from each subject and can link it to others, and you think laterally as a result of this etc etc (ESPECIALLY oxbridge).

Hope this helps!

**Drnic** · 26-10-2009, 04:44 AM

Yeah actually if your going to do physics at least at as ud be soo much better doing maths and mechanics too. Only because theres a big part in physics on mechanics which really goes hand in hand with maths only at a much simplier level. As for it going hand in hand with chemistry I have to disagree. Physics at least at my school was a waste of time however like anything if you work at it ul get a good grade because it's simple. Maths however is pretty much all I do it's soo much work to try and get your head around everything before a test. Most Uni's only really want biology and chemistry so you can't go wrong in doing those 2 subjects to a2 as for your other two choices history, re, maths or physics any combination should be fine.

**xylophonefairy** · 26-10-2009, 03:11 PM

At GCSE I got a better grade in physics than I did in maths, (A* vs A).

At AS I got a C in physics and an A in maths. This was, possibly, due in part to the fact that I did basically 0 work for physics and we never saw a past paper before the exam (well, maybe we saw one), but seriously, physics is not an easy subject, especially without maths.

I might just be biased because I loved A level maths and despised AS physics, but I regret taking that subject over geography. It all worked out ok in the end seeing as I actually got to medical school by some crazy fluke, but if I could have my time again...

**Rippy** · 26-10-2009, 03:15 PM

For the sake of balance, I know plenty of people who did both maths and physics and got As in both.

**Muddy28** · 26-10-2009, 05:00 PM

Originally Posted by Drnic

Yeah actually if your going to do physics at least at as ud be soo much better doing maths and mechanics too. Only because theres a big part in physics on mechanics which really goes hand in hand with maths only at a much simplier level.

Definitely

Originally Posted by Drnic

As for it going hand in hand with chemistry I have to disagree. Physics at least at my school was a waste of time however like anything if you work at it ul get a good grade because it's simple. Maths however is pretty much all I do it's soo much work to try and get your head around everything before a test.

I think it depends how your work/learn. I'm doing Module 5 in chemistry, and alot of the kinetics go really well with physics. Also some of the metal complex chemistry works well with physics (like the transition metal colour chemistry). These are only two topics though - and physics is by no means essential. I didn't mean to say that it was essential - it just helped me develop a style of learning that I found useful in chemistry (you're right - most of the topics are irrelevant to medicine at a level, but by learning them, they can then be applied to certain specialities [like radiology etc]...). It also matters which subjects you enjoy or are better at. Maths didn't take up alot of time for me, as i liked it, but chemistry took way up more of my time.

Oh on another note - you use logs in chemistry, so maths is quite useful there (and for chemistry in general with the bazillion million calculations that you have to do

)

**Kinkerz** · 26-10-2009, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by Muddy28

Oh on another note - you use logs in chemistry, so maths is quite useful there (and for chemistry in general with the bazillion million calculations that you have to do

)

I agree with the 'some principles in physics help understanding in some principles in chemistry', but that bit I've quoted's pushing it. I know you use logs, but barely ... plugging numbers into a "-log[x]" equation hardly requires a mathematical mind.

**fortysixandtwo** · 26-10-2009, 06:19 PM

Just do whichever one you enjoy the most!

I did Physics, Maths, Further Maths and Chemistry when I did my A Levels 7 years ago. The two subjects I enjoyed the most was physics, first, and maths, second.

**flarestar** · 28-10-2009, 06:05 PM

Hey a couple of years ago I was in the ame boat as you, physics or maths. In teh end I chose maths, not only because I was better at it but also because of the way the curriculum works, mod 2 and mod 3 are just built up on top of mod 1 so it's easier to do, but I loved physics more. Did I regret not taking physics? A bit yes but it was easier for me to get an A in maths then Physics and I knew that so I went with maths.

PS the bit about some humanities subjects being considered easy by some uni's is true. I read an article in the times a couple of years ago about how Cambridge rated a-level subjects and psychology and sociology were at the bottom (psychology is a fun subject though I loved it). Don't worry about this it won't count that much against you (maybe like a whole 0.1%). Language A-levels by far were the hardest a-levels when I took them (I took french) but I've looked at the new curriculum and they're easier. A person who can fluently speak two languages is very valuable in any proffession so I suggest you look into that if you like languages. I'll try and find the article for the subject ratings again and post it on here if I find it.

Found it apparently they don't like you taking more then one of the list of subjects Universities bar entry to soft A-level subjects - Times Online

**Wanabe DR SHAH** · 29-10-2009, 11:54 PM

Thanks to everyone who has posted a response on this thread. Reading your comments have helped me immensely in deciding what to do. After reading your comments and doing a bit of my own research I have decided to take: Chemistry, Biology, Maths and History.