AS Business...Opinions please

sniffy

sniffy

sniffy

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Hey lads

I'm in my final year at 6th form college. I'm finishing off BTEC I.C.T and A2 electronic engineering. I decided taking up an extra AS subject for the final year but I'm having second thoughts (mainly due to the extra commitment electronics needs plus business studies makes for a horrible time-table). I decided to take up business studies as it's the only subject which might be useful for me.

Do AS qualifications actually mean anything though? I can understand their importance as it obviously leads you onto A2 but I'm only going to be completing the AS. I can obtain a few UCAS points but it's likely I won't be going to university so that's irrelevant. I can see it giving the impression I tried but failed if I just have the AS on my CV. I dunno though :/

Getting a unbiased opinion from anyone at college is nearly impossible, they're like bloody used-car salesmen so I thought I would ask you lot :) Thanks.
 
I don't think having 3 A levels and an AS suggests 'tried but failed' as it should be known by most employers this is the path taken nowadays. I got an E at AS maths, but have worked it out on my CV to just put 'AS Maths' as I passed, it could look good as another thing on your CV but it's up to you, a pass and your BTEC and A2 Engineering would look mint, but A's in comparison to C's could happen but only if you didn't spend too little time on them due to the business you've taken up.

How much will it affect you do you think?
 
RandomTom said:
I don't think having 3 A levels and an AS suggests 'tried but failed' as it should be known by most employers this is the path taken nowadays. I got an E at AS maths, but have worked it out on my CV to just put 'AS Maths' as I passed, it could look good as another thing on your CV but it's up to you, a pass and your BTEC and A2 Engineering would look mint, but A's in comparison to C's could happen but only if you didn't spend too little time on them due to the business you've taken up.

How much will it affect you do you think?
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Thanks for your reply mate.

From my point of view, yeah it can't hurt having it on the CV. I'm just unsure which impression that will give to prospective employers.

How much will it affect my other courses? That's a good question. I could have done better at electronics so I will definitely need to put in more effort this year. If I did do business, it would definitely take a back-seat so I can't see it doing too much damage to my other courses, it's more of a question if my other courses will affect business studies.
 
I did A-Level Business and found it to be my favourite subject. I learned lots of things which were actually useful (even at AS stage), basically the opposite of what my ICT A-Level gave me. :D.
 
I tried to get as much info as possible from my business teacher but he wouldn't tell me an awful lot :p What type of work did you actually do?
 
If you really think its gonna foul up your EE A2 then dont take it - if you are unsure, take it and if the workload gets too much drop it - I cant see you needing to really add that to any UCAS application or C.V. if you dont take any exams for it or anything...

I guess the relative value of it is dependent on what you might do - I cant see any harm in taking Business Studies as no one will frown on it (its not General Studies)...

Definitely worth doing if you dont think it will impact your other studies - the more feathers in your bow so-to-speak - why else are we moving towards the I.B....

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
sniffy said:
I tried to get as much info as possible from my business teacher but he wouldn't tell me an awful lot :p What type of work did you actually do?
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Our teacher was great. He used to have a flask and we'd joke he always had whisky in it :p.

As for what we did - marketing, finance, business law and a couple of others but I can't remember what - it's been about 4 years :o. Basically I found it all to be really helpful :).
 
I'd get as many qualifications as you can. I have an AS in ICT, although that's a completely different matter, as my degree is ICT.
 
I don't think the qualification itself means much on paper but I actually found the subject quite useful as an AS because it didn't get in the way of my other subjects, maths, Physics and design. I never actually took the exam in the end :p but the subject matter was good and I have been able to apply it in real life.
 
Well I decided to take it in the end. I'm a few months into it.

I'm finding it a bit "meh" (should be in lesson as I'm typing this). The actual lesson content is OK, I find it reasonably interesting and easy. It's just how the lesson is taught that's starting to break me. He'll spend like 45 minutes explaining the definition of break-even even though definition on the work-sheet is more than sufficent :rolleyes: It just makes my mind go to sleep and I'm starting to dislike the lesson more and more. It seems the majority in class like this spoon-fed method of teaching; I don't.

With that in mind, I need to re-evaluate. Shall I continue with the course? I'm on a full-time program without the AS in business so that isn't an issue. It basically comes down to how meaningful an AS qualification by itself is. I can get a good grade in this subject (B+ most probably) but that isn't the most important deciding factor for me. If it's somewhat meaningful then I'm sure I could drag myself to each lesson though.

Bit confused really :( I'm normally very decisive; certainly not in this instance. Can I have your opinions please? I know ultimately I need to decide myself but different opinions will help me to do that.
 
Speak to your careers advisor and see if you dropped it if it would effect any choices you can make when you apply to Uni...

As I said a while ago - give it a go, if it affects your studies drop it; if you dont think its worthwhile to your ultimate career then drop it also...

Only reason I could think of keeping it is that you may become self-employed one day and knowing a bit about finances is better than nothing - though I dont know how good AS Business Studies is in tackling real-world issues...

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
ps3ud0 said:
Speak to your careers advisor and see if you dropped it if it would effect any choices you can make when you apply to Uni...

As I said a while ago - give it a go, if it affects your studies drop it; if you dont think its worthwhile to your ultimate career then drop it also...

Only reason I could think of keeping it is that you may become self-employed one day and knowing a bit about finances is better than nothing - though I dont know how good AS Business Studies is in tackling real-world issues...

ps3ud0 :cool:
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Cheers ps3ud0 :) You raise some good points.
 
I got a B+ in the mock exam which he says is normally quite an accurate representation of the final grade you can expect to receive. It's easy, how it's taught is just bloody boring :)
 
I'm currently in my first year at college, studying AS Business Studies. If I were you I'd take it. The course itself is actually fairly simple stuff, most of it's common sense and seems relevant to every day scenarios. Try to get as many qualifications as you can, you never know what you might be doing in 10 or 20 years time, and an AS in Business Studies might just help you out. ;)
 
I will not be there next year; uni or work :) If I was to do the A level I would actually be more eager to go. I just feel I'm putting all this effort into a subject I don't like for a somewhat meaningless qualification.

The weight of an AS is very hard to gage. I've always seen them as a stepping stone to A-level (that opinion somewhat changed when I was applying). You only need to look at what UCAS awards for a single AS subject to see where I'm coming from.
 
Leeum said:
In that case, you may aswell complete the AS course. If you still feel the same way next September, you can drop it :)
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I will not be there next year; uni or work :) If I was to do the A level I would actually be more eager to go. I just feel I'm putting all this effort into a subject I don't like for a somewhat meaningless qualification.

The weight of an AS is very hard to gage. I've always seen them as a stepping stone to A-level (that opinion somewhat changed when I was applying). You only need to look at what UCAS awards for a single AS subject to see where I'm coming from.

Alex UK said:
I'm currently in my first year at college, studying AS Business Studies. If I were you I'd take it. The course itself is actually fairly simple stuff, most of it's common sense and seems relevant to every day scenarios. Try to get as many qualifications as you can, you never know what you might be doing in 10 or 20 years time, and an AS in Business Studies might just help you out. ;)
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I totally agree; I'm just unsure about the "AS in business studies might just help you out" bit ;)

Thinking about it, when would this qualification give me the edge? The ONLY instance I can think of is if I and someone with identical qualifications (minus business studies) and experience applied for the same job. Chance in that happening? 1/500?

Edit

Whoops, sorry about the double post. I meant to edit :)
 
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