Taking a fifth A level

[RandomTom]

Stop showing off

I concur, somepeople work dead hard for their grades but i suppose what would you expect in this thread

I don't know why media studies is a really disliked topic though, I can think of loads of other subjects equally uninspiring, if I could call it that.

 

[HangTime]

Personally I did 3 A-levels (this was back before AS levels were taken as standard) and found it very easy going compared to GCSE. Going down from 10 subjects (plus a bunch of nonsense that wasn't examined like RE, PE, Music etc etc) to 3 was heavenly and gave me a lot more free time than I had before.

Assuming that the current standard of 4 AS levels in the first year equates to around the same level of work, I reckon there's definitely the potential for reasonably intelligent students to do more.

The biggest problem I think is fitting things into a timetable, especially if you are studying in a school. One option is to take evening classes at a college however.

Personally I reckon it's a joke that secondary school students are forced to study so many subjects at a young age, many of which they have little or no interest in pursuing later in life or even taking a qualification in. I found that I had to do too many GCSEs (picked Spanish - which I didn't want to do -because it was the best of a bad bunch and a lot of my mates were doing it), yet at A-level I found it really hard to narrow it down to 3 subjects and had to sacrifice something I really fancied doing (History).

 

[[TW]Fox]

Get 300 UCAS points.

I didn't enjoy further education, it bored me stupid and I was only doing it as a means to an end - to get onto the Uni course I had chosen.

Thus, I did the absolute minimum required, did no studying outside of regular hours, did no revision for exams, and did all my coursework the night before it was due in. I got the required UCAS points for my course - but just under 300. Wasn't bothered, got into Uni, am thoroughly enjoying it....

... however, this year is placement year and NOT having that magic 300 slightly restricted my choice, and I suspect it will restrict my choice further with graduate schemes. It seems ridiculous that friends of mine who scraped a 2.2 so far were getting interviews for placements I was not even 'allowed' to apply for with a high 2.1 simply becuase of UCAS points, but ridiculous as it may be, its the way it works.

Get 300 UCAS points.

It tends to be only the large multinationals who recruit in this way, but they are often some of the better positions. Smaller companies value your degree over what you did at school years ago, but large blue chip companies seem to think what you did when you were 17 is far more important than your degree at 19-23...

 

[TommoUK]

My 6th form forced everyone to take general studies for 1hr a week, I have done general studies before at gcse and can honestly say it was a complete waste of time.

Yeah, at least critical thinking is recognised by a lot of universities unlike General Studies... still as a new course it doesn't carry that much weight.

 

[HangTime]

It seems ridiculous that friends of mine who scraped a 2.2 so far were getting interviews for placements I was not even 'allowed' to apply for with a high 2.1 simply becuase of UCAS points, but ridiculous as it may be, its the way it works.

I think part of this may be down to the fact that until you graduate, the only genuine qualification/certification you have is your A-levels. It's the same as the way in which prospective unis used to look at GCSE results of applicants, because they were the highest level official qualifications to go on (before modular/AS courses were introduced).

Also remember that the final year is very important at most unis in terms of weighting - just because someone has a 2:2 at the end of year 2, doesn't mean to say that if they knuckle down in their final year they won't achieve a good degree. Conversely someone on course for a 2:1 could easily blow it in their final year (I know this better than most....), and someone who wasn't that special at A-level may be considered at risk of doing so.

 

[HangTime]

I wouldn't agree it's at the cost of extra curricular activities or a social life, since I still find plenty of time for that. A bit less time while you're at school in free periods, but it shouldn't encroach on your free time out of school much at all.

I'd go along with that, the lack of much homework compared to GCSE and addition of free periods basically means that there's plenty of time to pickup the slack.

 

[Dave]

Meh, I had to do 6 subjects on top of ToK, Extended Essay and Community service for my IB! (feel like a grumpy old man)

 

[Energize]

Yeah, at least critical thinking is recognised by a lot of universities unlike General Studies... still as a new course it doesn't carry that much weight.

Critical thinking IS what I'm doing for my general studies AS.

It is very annoying being forced into it, it's hard enough doing 3 AS levels and an oracle I.T. course without having this forced on me. They try to force us to do pe as well but at least it's easy to skive from that lesson.

 

[Psyk]

I'd go along with that, the lack of much homework compared to GCSE and addition of free periods basically means that there's plenty of time to pickup the slack.

Yeah so far GCSEs have been the hardest part of my education. I found them harder because you have to do essay based subjects like english, which don't interest me much. Whereas at A-level I did subjects that interest me (except for IT, didn't like that much). And of course at university I'm doing something I enjoy.

I was technically doing 4 subjects all the way through my time at 6th form, but for various reasons I didn't need to go to most lessons for 2 of those subjects, so I ended up with lots of free time.

General studies isn't considered as a real A-level by most universities because you don't need to do any work for it. Anyone that is used to essay based subjects could probably just turn up to the exam and do really well without needing any lessons.

 

[Kappa]

Get 300 UCAS points.

Get 300 UCAS points.

is quoted for truth still illegal to say?

 

[carvegio]

Only do it if you don't think it will effect the other subjects you are taking or they are to your strengths.

I am not completely sure all those subjects compliment each other either.

Don't do it for the sake of just doing 5 i.e. bragging rights. Your uni won't care and most jobs won't care between 4 or 5 tbh also. It is much better to get 4 A's then AABBB or something like that. I did 5 myself, but one was a language I was fluent in and did 2 maths ones so it wasn't that bad or hard. But it suited my strengths and didn't mean I was constantly working - the opposite actually.

 

[Nitefly]

A lot? Which would they be?

Each university I applied to said it wouldn't accept general studies or media studies as A levels towards the offers they gave, as far as I remmeber. This was either stated at an open day or in the university course guidebook.

So...
University of York
University of Birmingham
University of Bristol
Royal Holloway
University of Sussex
Univeristy of Bath

Bear in mind this was for a scientific degree...

 

[[TW]Fox]

My Uni would not accept General Studies either for both my original degree (A BSc) or the one I later changed to (A Ba).

General Studies is pointless.

 

[UKTopGun]

I got ABC at A-level and a 2:2 degree and I still can't find a suitable job.

Qualifications aren't all their cracked up to be.

You also need luck plus good interviewing skills

My sister got 2:1 + a Distinction and beat a lot of students who got 1:1 purely because of the interviews.

Luck part: 25K + 3K bonus in first year.
Skill part: Good at interviews.

I wouldn't say they "aren't what they have cracked to be" because for a lot of people it's what gets you the job over somebody with none.

 

[beh]

No reason not to do General Studies imo. An A-level for just a few hours teaching, why not? Even if its not widely accepted it still might be taken into account if the decision is borderline.

 

[Psyk]

No reason not to do General Studies imo. An A-level for just a few hours teaching, why not? Even if its not widely accepted it still might be taken into account if the decision is borderline.

True, you might as well just show up and take the exams. But then again it'll look bad if you don't get a decent grade in it.

 

[axe]

True, you might as well just show up and take the exams. But then again it'll look bad if you don't get a decent grade in it.

a lot of my friends did this and they got A's and B's i went to general studies ( just turned up mid year in 1 ) and i can honestly say nothing we did in general studies came up in the Exam .

BUT i have learnt new things which i think is most important. Not just learning for the exam.


I found GCSE Easy i could have got 10 x B's but im a slacker. Just started A2 and i found AS level pretty hard . D D U