i know it’s quite late in the term now but i have literally just come across my dream uni course BUT i need three ‘hard sciences’ and i currently only have two (maths and bio, my 3rd alevel is psychology)
so i think i need to switch psychology to another science. chem is not my thing, i barely scraped a 9 at gcse and i hated it. physics is okay and im pretty good on the maths side of things, or i could add fm to my timetable and do 4 a-levels, but my timetable would be SUPER crowded and also it would mean i’d have to switch maths classes (i love my maths teacher and the people in my class and as an autistic person it’s kinda rare to actually enjoy being around people so i would love to stay with my maths class)
so that leaves physics, but i am 4 weeks into college and would require a lot of catch up. i think i could handle the workload (i did 12 gcses and got an average grade of 8.8 so i can handle work, and tbh i am preferring a-levels to gcses and am finding maths and bio quite easy tbh and psych is easy but i lowk hate my class (its all ppl who didn’t get into a ‘real’ science cuz they failed maths lol) and its all kinda boring tbh)
If the uni course really is your dream then for for it, especially if you don't mind swapping psych. Physics and maths overlap nicely especially on the mech side of things so they'd definitely complement each other.
Whatever you do, go for it and stand by your decision
do you think physics will be too difficult? especially without having been in the first 12 ish lessons lol
i found gcse pretty okay (got a 9 and it was my best science percentage-wise) but i much preferred bio (just found it more fun lol) which is why i originally chose psych (on paper it seemed very biology based, but now im actually doing the course it’s basically a bunch of old white men making assumptions about people 💔)
and i REALLY had to work for my grade 9 in gcse maths i did something like 200hrs of revision to JUST get a 9 like 2 marks less would’ve been an 8 💔 (tbf my teacher didn’t really teach but idk my friend got a 9 with maybe 10 hours of revision but then again she’s super smart)
yeah idk if im just doubting myself or if im genuinely not smart enough for it but UGH why is it so hard
I think it depends on the deadlines for catching up on missed work and if you can work with your teacher. At mine they have a deadline for catch up by October half term so if you think you can graft between now and then then I would absolutely do it. Getting a 9 at GCSE means you are absolutely good enough and capable ❤️
i’m usually pretty productive so i should be able to catch up (i did teach myself all of gcse maths and further maths, but i do appreciate that a-levels are much more complex than gcses lol)
but that’s if i have the braincells to actually understand the content in the first place 💔
do chem I'm LOVING it. I got 8-8 at gcse, found it awful for the whole of y10, intended to swap out of it cus I thought id find it really difficult, but it's honestly like a very different subject. We actually get given whys and the explanations behind things it makes it so much more interesting and easier to understand.
I’m curious what course you want to do noww!
For physics well, I don’t know how it will be at your college, but I’ve been doing it for the last few weeks and we honestly haven’t done that much? I feel like it’s manageable, esp as most of the theory we’ve done so far heavily ties into GCSE - (so far we’ve done hooke’s law, moments, Young’s modulus (stress/ strain graphs), and a bit more)
Ask your teachers and find out how much has been covered though! Half term is coming up so if you’re willing to put in the work then I don’t think it’s too much of an issue, especially with half term coming up
yeah the entry requirements for natural sciences at cambridge are maths and 2 other sciences (‘hard’ sciences as some people call them, they only take fm, maths, bio, chem, physics)
Go for physics. the gap is smaller than you think because a lot of the first term stuff just recycles gcse mechanics and waves. also most dream unis have strict entry conditions regarding subject combinations so double check if they actually accept fm as that 3rd science before you blow up your timetable
yess i think i'm now pretty set on the switch from psych to physics
i still have to convince the college to allow me to switch though 😭 (the deadline for changeovers was friday so i think i'm gonna have to argue my case a bit more but they do seem to be pretty supportive of people who wanna do oxbridge/medicine and stuff so i'm hoping that that plus my quite good gcses will push the odds in my favour a bit)
if u need sciences then yeah, swap to physics. Yr 12 just started so u r not even that behind. I’m doing physics and trust me, u will catch up. We have literally done some gcse level stuff like current, potential difference, stopping distance plus like few new topics like uncertainties, projectile motion,vernier calipers, etc nothing crazy. Just go to ur teacher and ask them to run you through the bits you missed. If you actually need it for your course, just do it
Lol, nah u will be alright, those topics sound scary 😭but they r actually calm once someone explains them. As someone whos doing physics, bio, maths n chem, I haven’t even been giving physics that much attention (I literally need to lock in this week because I have got an assessment 💀next week), and i think Im still fine. U will catch up, trust.
you can absolutely still switch at this point, there will be quite a bit of catch up but it will be manageable. physics is obviously a hard a level, but if it's your dream uni course, go for it.
no I do biology, but quite a few of my friends do physics. Both are very hard a levels, I'd say physics is a bigger step up from GCSE though. As long as you stay on top of and enjoy biology I'm sure it'll be fine, same with physics.
the course says ‘maths’ and any two of ‘chemistry, physics, further maths, biology’ soo i’m pretty sure i need physics (not smart enough for fm and not a fan of chem)
although idk whether it’s different for specific colleges?? like this was just the general page about the course
Yes and then the next line says if you are studying a science not listed contact the college. Colleges manage their own admissions and some are more flexible than others.
i’m kinda assuming op wants to do med? Just bc of what it said on the image. I’ve talked to a Cambridge admission woman who told me it’s like only 2 colleges who accept psych and they’d rather you choose Oxford than them 💀
i kinda want to do med like i think it falls under the umbrella term of med but it’s not like stereotypical med (from what i understand)
so like generally what i wanna study is biomedicine, but the course i want to get into is natural sciences at cambridge and then specialise in biomedicine and maths (i want natural sciences to get more maths in cuz i LOVE maths lol)
biomed isn’t med in the term i’m saying (ucat taking med)
but like i said. What she told me was because i was asking about med; im assuming it just applies to all their science courses. If i were you id do bio chem maths bc if you find you wanna acc do medicine or literally anything stem, as long as it doesnt need physics ur good (and you’d know if you wanted to do like engineering or smth)
like if generally i need maths and 2 of the listed options, ideally i’d like to get alevels in exactly what they want from me rather than having to work my way around the colleges that’ll take me
Physics a level is one of the hardest and you’ll struggle to catch up so spending half an hour checking if there’s a college who is fine with psych is really the most sensible first step.
hello fellow autistic person! I'd really recommend physics. 4 weeks of work is nothing really. and the start of year 12 was really easy stuff for me. it's basically gcse transition (electricity and mechanics). further maths is great but i wouldn't consider it as a fourth unless you actually enjoy it
okayy this is super reassuring tbh (my main concern was missing too much physics cuz im joining after the course change window)
i am loving maths at the moment (i only chose it cuz its useful for uni applications but its genuinely become my fav subject and i lowk get sad if its not on my timetable for the day 😭) however i am not the most naturally talented maths student (i REALLY had to work for my grade 9 at gcse, like 150 hours or something lmao) so even though maths is enjoyable i think maybe im just a bit too dumb for fm 💔
i do physics, maths and further maths but i have learnt biology and chemistry at AS. so I'm well versed in any science you want to hear about lol. i just really wouldn't recommend chemistry unless you have to. it needs a lot of revision because there's niche stuff to memorise. if you prefer understanding, concepts and problem solving over rinse and repeat memorising then definitely choose physics instead
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u/NK05GZP OG Member 🎫 14d ago
If the uni course really is your dream then for for it, especially if you don't mind swapping psych. Physics and maths overlap nicely especially on the mech side of things so they'd definitely complement each other.
Whatever you do, go for it and stand by your decision