<p>Hi everyone!
I am going to take my A levels in England next Year. Thats a big step for me coz I am not the best student in English in my class and I do not quite sure what to expect from this "journey"! But at all I decided to try this kind of experience I mean "lets try and see" you know... Sooo is there someone out there who can give me some advices?! About everything.... just tell me something of your experiences please! I mean how can I best manage my A levels there?! information please..</p>
<p>a levels are pretty good if you're kind of "set" on what you want to study.. the a level syllabi normally go into more depth than IBs. then again with the IB you can have a more well-rounded, broader education, so to speak. a levels would be pretty useful if you're planning to do uni in the UK.</p>
<p>i'm doing the "international" a levels too (hahaha what a euphemism for the singapore-cambridge gce a levels) and my experience has been uh.. let's just say it's not going that well? the key to doing well in a levels is consistency and practice. a painful lesson i'm learning now. but don't take my/our word for it, i daresay your experience is going to be quite different from mine.</p>
<p>Singapore A levels is probably twice as hard as the UK A levels..
I think Singapore A levels is deeper that the IB, but not the general International A levels.. For eg we just learn till the 1st law of thermodynamics, while IB covers the second law- if i'm not mistaken</p>
<p>jhl, whats the difference between the internation A levels, the IB and the A levels(in a normal english school)?? </p>
<p>limitedvocab, you know firs I thought about making my Abitur(german Alevels) and go than to an englisch university coz I know allready what I want to study(Medicine) but now I think its better for my englisch and so on..
Ah I dont want to be too curious, but what were the bad experiences? I mean the school or the people or all? <em>scared</em></p>
<p>Another question =) I want to take about 7 A levels subjects and I dont really think I can manage all of them at once, but someone was talking about take some subjects in the first year and other later... how does this works? can someone explain that??</p>
<p>Difference? Probably just the syllabus, difficulty of exam questions.. To be honest, i'm not that sure.. What i know is take as many subjects as you can, and take a range of subjects since the UK A levels aren't tough .. Sci, math, foreign language, social sci... Or else you'll regret.. You're going to study medicine? Then you'll do your undergrad in the UK?
maybe you should do 7 AS Levels during your first year.. Then drop one or two during your second year as A2 is tougher than AS.. And if you think you can cope, just do all 7 in your second year.. Take as many! There's nothing to lose.. Remember taking one less subject than the person next to you means that you have no chance of beating him.. Take the risk haha</p>
<p>well, i don't really know much about the a level/ib system overseas, as well as abitur.. but abitur should be acceptable for entry into uk universities, i think? you can try to search the other threads in this forum, i think there could be other german students who are or used to be in the same situation. but i understand your reason for wanting to do a levels first, and though ultimately it's all up to you.. i say go for it. i think it'll be loads of help, preparing you for life as a student in england and all. :)</p>
<p>oh i didn't mean to scare you! actually, you wouldn't really be able to classify my experiences as bad. i guess i like my school well enough (but maybe only because of the friends i've found). it's just that the a level system is not for me. i would have liked a broader, more liberal education.</p>
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well, i don't really know much about the a level/ib system overseas, as well as abitur.. but abitur should be acceptable for entry into uk universities, i think? you can try to search the other threads in this forum, i think there could be other german students who are or used to be in the same situation.
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<p>Cambridge and Oxford accept Abitur as an alternative qualification to A-levels or the IB diploma, but you are excepted to have a total mark between 1.0 and 1.5, which I suppose is pretty hard.</p>
<p>Another question =) I want to take about 7 A levels subjects and I dont really think I can manage all of them at once, but someone was talking about take some subjects in the first year and other later... how does this works? can someone explain that??</p>
<p>---- Ok, you take AS levels in Lower 6th, and then you would probably want to drop some for A2 (Upper 6th). </p>
<p>Your A level is an average of your AS and A2 results. 7 AS levels would be a LOT. 7 A levels would be simply ridicolous, and isnt really nesseracy. 5 at most is sensible.</p>
<p>Im at Oxford, and I only have 3 A levels, (I did 5 AS levels) so you dont really need alot to get into the best universities.</p>
<p>hi everybody! thanks again for the answers =)</p>
<p>jhl, Heartbreaker: I think I will take biology, human biology, chemistry, physics, math, psyhology, sociology(AS), german(AS) and maybe englisch.. is it clever to take AS in math if you want to apply for example to Cambridge? However, that are the subjects I need and I am interesting in. </p>
<p>bruno123: this why I want to do A levels, I mean Abitur is, not to say to hard, but your total mark is not just dependent on your knowledge! Sympathy and antisympathy is one point and you are also not really encouraged (my school and my opinion)!!! Also I want to have more extracurricular activities not just to sit in front of your books if you want to be the best! I mean if I ask a teacher if I can do some extra work: - "whaaat?why? you are good?! you will have the mark B/C" - whats that?? its just rediculous not to give a student the chance(if he is interesting in this topic) become an A student!! After some time you become really tiered to run against a wall!</p>
<p>limitedvocab: "more broader, more liberal education"??</p>
<p>we only get to study 4 academic subjects for a levels over here. i do chemistry math economics literature. i would've jumped at the opportunity to take other classes like foreign language, history.. stuff like that. but oh well. hopefully i can do this in college.</p>
<p>I think you should visit to the Cambridge website.. There's a list of subjects which i think they prefer you not to like.. If i'm not mistaken, human bio, psychology and sociology are some of these 'soft' subjects they don't really like.. You would be better off with Econ, history and geo.. But you should study what you like and make sure that you have at least 4 traditional subjects that they want like math, physics, bio, chem- pretty safe already.. Take further math if you want to study physics, math, computer sci, engineering</p>
<p>limetedvocab where are you from? I mean in Germany -Abitur- you can take 5academic subjects for your exams and you cant really choose them.. math, german and english is duty to take and the other two have to be from different topics like you arent alowed to take biology and chemistry coz there both from science.</p>
<p>jhl, are they looking for more various subjects?? I mean if I want to study medicine schould I have more subjects than just science? Such as history or geo like your mention?</p>
<p>Where do you want to study? If the uk and medicine, then chem, bio, physics and math are enough, in fact more than enough.. The rest are kinda bonus.. If the us is your choice, the wider the variety the better.. You can order the unis' prospectuses and have a look, or visit their sites..</p>