My GCSE and A Level results. What options does it open for me and where does is nationally rank me?
Pretty much any door to a top university would be open to you with those results. You got good GCSE results but employers and universities concentrate more on A level results. 4 A's at a level can get you into oxbridge etc, but the subjects you chose lead onto sciency careers and a business career. If you are thinking about what career to pick you should go on university websites and find out what courses you would like to do and what a level grades/ucas points/subjects you'd need at a level to take them. I guess the doors it closed would be for university degrees in completely different subjects, ie maths! Your gcse's were above average nationally and your a level results would be ranked pretty much at the top of the A level results (though can you get A*'s now in some of the harder subjects like physics?). But anyway they're good results!
Which is the best option, IB or A levels?
IB is more useful from a scholarly perspective. It teaches you how to think outside of the box from traditional high school courses and helps you start to think like a college student. As far as preparing for university classes, I would say that IB is more useful. You can actually look at hundreds of IB schools around the world through a company called schoolinks if you're serious about getting into an IB school. But then again as Andrew said, I would need to know more specifics of what your goals are with IB or A Levels or what you're thinking of studying in college.
Can you help me pick my A-Level options? (thinking of sciences + maths + one more subject)?
My Predicted Grades Are: Maths Linear – A*/A Maths Pair Pilot (Applications + Methods) – A, A Core Science – A* Additional Science - A* - I had and still have got the potential to do the single sciences (physics, biology and chemistry) because I got 7A in my Year 9 test but I was stupid at picking my options English Language – A English Literature – A History – A*/A French – A/B Drama – B Religious Studies - A/B For My A-Level Choice I want to do, these following subjects for sure: Maths Chemistry Biology (still thinking about this) Is Physics really hard at A-Levels? But I’m not sure what my 4th subject should be (I want to do a fourth subject, so that I can drop one in my 2nd Year) I’m considering History (or English Literature) I really like it and enjoy but I can’t stand going through 2 more years of essay writing. Also, I kind of got put off by my Mock Results. In my Y10 exam i got A*, for my Coursework i got A. For my mock i got C, 1 off B. I must admit I didn’t revise at all for the exam and that our teacher hadn’t taught us the two new type of questions. Is History really hard at A-Level? If I do Maths, Chemistry, Physics and Biology, would that be too much pressure on me? I don’t particularly want to go into Medicine or anything but I was reading up on the Oxford Undergraduate courses ( I don’t want to go Oxford, I just think their website is really helpful) and I really like Chemistry, and don’t mind doing Biochemistry. I’m not sure about what I want to do when I grow up. I want to become a songwriter but that’s just a hobby and like a side job (I’m going to be contacting Song writing contact companies for that as soon as I’m 16) and I want to do something in the Music Industry and have this job in mind but it doesn’t require any qualifications. So with my education I just want to have fun and I really am interested in the sciences. Give me some advice?
A level options - maths. biology, chemistry, ? for medicine?
I wish to apply to CAMBRIDGE medicine. For A2, I wish to take -Biology -Chemistry -Mathematics For my last AS option, im not sure whether to take -Philosophy and Ethics -Physics Here is my reasoning for the following subjects: Philosophy and Ethics: Ethics complements Science studies, and the course covers topics like evolution and genetic engineering. It has a little bit of essay work, and i heard that this is favoured by medical universities. Physics: It complements Mathematics, and gives a good combination (maths with physics, and biology with chemistry). It shows that you are determined to go into medicine, and assuming i get all As, it will show great scientific ability. I also enjoy the subject, as with all science subjects, and will NOT, i repeat NOT mind having too much work load or care about my narrow time table. I'm not too keen on taking english lit or history, even though i've heard that they are good essay subjects, that are favoured by a lot of unis. Please include any past experiences, and the a level options that u have successfully got into medicine with. Thank you :) Gaurav :) ;)
Am I good enough to take Art & Design at A-Level?
So I have to choose 4 A-Levels to start in September and I really want to choose Art & Design but I'm not sure if Im good enough to take it at A-Level. After sixth form I hope to go to university and study something to do with either art, film or theatre (how many courses do you study at university? (my ULTIMATE dream would be to go and work for (and I know it's optimistic) an animation company and work on animated films and either do some sort of art-based job or be a voice actor, which A-Levels would be needed for this?)). I can copy stuff perfectly like if I'm looking at a poster of, for example, Homer Simpson - I could copy (not trace) that perfectly and I can also draw portraits (with reference) and still life pretty well but the thing which makes me hesitant is the fact that I've just been watching some videos on YouTube and the guy I'm watching can just draw pretty much anything perfectly without any sort of reference. If I can't draw without reference am I really good enough to take A-Level Art & Design? Also, I've heard that there's a massive workload for Art & Design at A-Level, but how much are we talking about? 3 pieces of art a night? What? How much? If you've taken/are taking art at A-Level then please give me an indication of roughly how much work you have to do in, say, a week. Also, out of the following options, which 3 go best together but also with Art & Design (art is my priority (the reason that I haven't listed Graphics or Animation and stuff like that is because no schools in my local area offer it as an A-Level (sorry about all of the brackets haha!)))? Media Studies Product Design (I have no experience of making things, I can draw and paint but that's about it, I might be rubbish - should I take that risk?) Psychology Theatre Studies Oh and just to add, I can't take: Art & Design, Media Studies, Psychology and Theatre Studies because of this weird timetable system that my school have. But any other combination involving those subjects and definitely Art & Design should be fine. If you read all of that, then thank you so much! :-)
What is the best combination of A-Level's to take in order to study PPE at Oxford?
You do not need to have done politics, economics or philosophy to do PPE at Oxford… and as these subjects at A level are not as prestigious as some others I wouldn't recommend doing just these three at A level (Though of course it would be great to do one in addition to the more traditional / difficult subjects known as ‘facilitating’ subjects*)MATHSWhen I was in high school, an older cousin who studied classics at Cambridge recommended I took maths at A level as it's highly regarded by universities and employers and is useful to boot. I would say it's good advice for anyone who has the ability to do the subject.Do you need Maths for PPE? You can do undergraduate economics without it ( I don't recall needing anything more than gcse skills and a confidence with algebra) but I would say it is more useful than A level economics as a preparation. My impression is that A level economics focuses on the social science side of the subject but further study of economics is more Maths based. I also believe a Maths A level is higher regarded / considered more difficult.ANOTHER ANALYTICAL SUBJECTThis could be economics, or it could be a science. Anything that develops logical thinking skills would be good preparation for PPE. You will need these skills for all the subjects - e.g. philosophy courses can cover Boolean logic etc. I also consider History an analytical subject - you are not going to be asked to emote but to analyse and categorise political systems, causes of events etc. But history may come underAN ESSAY BASED SUBJECTYou will not be answering q&a sheets but writing essays on all three subjects, so the ability to write an interesting and stylish essay is essential. History is a great one, but do something you enjoy.SOMETHING YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUTBE an interesting person that a tutor wants to teach!DEBATEIn addition to you academic subjects, debating is a great extra curricular preparation for PPE - it demonstrates an interest in philosophy and politics, helps you prepare arguments and gives you the confidence to discuss ideas with tutors and peers. Flipping scary … but it means nothing in life will ever freak you out after you have done it!—Facilitating subjects: The subjects which are most often required by courses (all courses overall) are sometimes called "facilitating subjects" and these are:Mathematics and Further Mathematics.English Literature.Physics.Biology.Chemistry.Geography.History.Languages (Classical and Modern)
Better option to get into Medical School?
I am currently debating between two options for my college and major choice, and I was wondering if one or the other would be preferential to a Medical School. They are both excellent schools, but I was just wondering if one would be better than the other. MSOE (Milwaukee School of Engineering)- Bio Molecular Engineering or Marquette University- Bio Medical Sciences I am open to both choices, and would like to hear what other people have to say about this. As a side note, I could probably play soccer at either school, have a 3.8 GPA, and a 32 ACT if that makes any difference...