Help me choose my college subjects!!

[thest3alth]

Why hullo thar.

I'm gonna be going into college (UK student here) starting September, and really I should have made up my mind about what I want to do by now, but I really can't decide.

Let me tell you a bit about me. I'm interested in science at a higher level, although another college I had in mind (which I'm probably not going to) had a drop-out rate of over 50% by A2 level, so I'd like to know if that's for any reason. If you took sciences at college, what were your experiences like? If I take physics, I'll take maths with it, but there are only four slots available, so I may take Physics, Chemistry, biology and maths. Is this wise?

I'm also pretty political, although I'm torn between whether I'm political enough to take subjects like law, economics, English and history for a career in it, but alternatively,they offer a government and politics course which I can get a good overview. I've been mulling this over, a local place offers adult weekly courses for English, History and Law. I could possibly take Gov&pol, and if I like it, take these courses in the future.

Finally, there is computing. Now this the tricky one. Computing is the study of how computers work, so it only really fits with maths and possibly physics. Problem is, is that taking computing would screw up my science options. I'd probably have to drop biology for it, and Biology is a very nice course as it leads into a crap-tonne of other courses: medicine, genetics, biochemistry, etc.

tl;dr So, computing and gov+pol both have the same problem, they'd take up a slot on a otherwise very broad set of sciences I could take (Maths, physics, chem, bio) or humanities (english, history, law, economics (undecided on what I should go for)).

So, like most of my problems, I turn to teh int0rnet. If you took any of the above subjects, what are/were your experiences? f there are any adults now in employment who would give me some advice, I'd appreciate it a *LOT*. Thank you.

 

[I.N.producer]

I'm from the US so I've got a small question. Do you have to declare a major at some time or do you have a different system set up?

It sounds like you have a ton of ideas. Anyway, I would recommend getting math done quick if you're going into the sciences. All science is heavily math-intensive except Computer science, which still has a fair amount of math.

If your college has a lot of general education requirements, you should probably get those done as soon as possible. This also gives you time to decide your field of study, plus the last couple years will be more interesting classes.

I'm only a second-year Computer Science student, but I hope this helps. You also might want to be sure to take classes that you're sure will transfer if you decide to switch colleges.

 

[Arctodus_Simus]

Dude, as a scientist, three sciences and maths at A-level will probably put you off them for life, lol. If you have a specific goal in mind, take two sciences related to that and use your other two slots for something either fun, ridiculous, or helpful in another way.
Computer sciences will be helpful in pretty much any career you choose these days.
Frankly I loved science at college, but that I think was mostly because my biology teacher was certifiably insane; we spent FAR more time than was necessary (or healthy, lol) doing dissections on pretty much anything he could get his hands on.

Most uni courses will give you a maths refresher too, specific to the course, (and a lot of the sciences at college level will cover the maths required for them) so if that's a worry, you're relatively safe not taking it unless you really want to. Just make sure you have a very high GCSE, and keep in practice through your science subjects. Chemistry and physics will both keep you on your toes.

Out of the ones you listed, I'd take Bio, Chem, Eng (Eng Lang if you can take it) and computing.
Mostly because that's pretty much what I DID take, lol. I just had Psych in place of computing.


@ I.N., aye, its a different set-up; college there is Uni here. College here is a two year step between high school and uni where you pick three to four subjects that should be getting you the core skills for the degree you're aiming for.
And not all science is math heavy; biological chemistry is relatively light on it

 

[_Depression]

I'm a proponent of spreading out the courses you have to take with the ones you want to take. I'm going to college to get two degrees (Latin and Education, presumably for a career path that incorporates both) but I've taken courses in everything from Sociology to Astrophysics to Graphic Design to Sports Broadcasting, all things I'm interested in and which fall under general education courses to round out the number of credits I have to take.

A lot of the time you'll be surprised at what kind of courses your college offers, so look around and feel free to enroll in one that just catches your interest.

 

[SckizoBoy]

snip

Okay... if you want to do a science subject at uni, then it depends which one. If physics, maths or engineering, then take maths, physics definitely, one other science and computing (if applicable to engineering). Maths refresher classes are only really given for chemistry and biological sciences as the maths in physics and engineering (biomedical being the sole exception, probably) is quite heavy and most places will assume that you know it already. I'd still recommend doing maths anyway as it makes things easier later on.

Regardless, the science geek in me says do all three sciences and maths, the ecologist in me says do maths, chemistry, biology and history, while the little kid mathematician in me says do maths, physics, chemistry and computing/law.

You seem to have quite broad interests (just saying, nothing wrong with that), so it depends on your level of foresight, so what do you plan doing in six years time? Then work backwards to see what you want to do to get you there. Sorry if that seems a tad simplifying of your question.