Directions In Life (No Spam)

[winter rose]

Originally Posted by giles337

Ok, I am at a stage in life where I need to start making desisions. My subject choices in the next year will determine what I study for the next 3, and then what I take at university. Unfortunately, while I am not clueless as to what to do, I have three or four options that appeal to me, depending on which subjects I take. All of them end in me doing "what I want to do", I'm just not sure which one I "want to do" most. So here goes....

Well I for one always had more than one choice in mind.I bounced from med to stats to teaching. I was all over the place in high school. But first of all like the others have said, do NOT drop out of school.Thats a no no, thats not even an option.Secondly take subjects such as math, science, physics and English. These are usually required for almost any program. So if you stick to these, you will most likely get into which ever program you apply to for uin.Another really good idea is to take some courses at summer school, or spend an extra year at high school. And once you do enter uni, you will maybe change your mind a couple of times.Not everyone knows what they will study.But the first year is always open, you can change if you feel you're not happy with what you chose. So either way, you'll for sure have plenty of time to decide what you will stick to for good.Good luck.

[giles337]

After much Musing and consideration, I seem to have a better idea of what I'd like to do.

Maths, I take a year early, due to taking GCSE a year early thus AS early, Thus A-Level early (hard work DOES pay off!)

This leaves me with 4 more choices. I go for

Physics, French, Geography: and, heres my dilemma. I'd love to study Philosophy, having become aware of it's availibility as a course. I have been advised that I do not need to take computing A level to study it at Uni, so this seems like an all encompassing route. What are the merits/benefits and disadvantyages of philosophy? It is an entirely new subject to me, so any information about it would be nice

So this, it seems, it what I will be doing. Obviously it is not set in stone, but it appeals for now, so for now i'm happy. Many thanks for evryones inputs, and please, continue to post!
Thanks,
G

[winter rose]

I was a bit hesitant about philosophy too. But I took two courses, and I would say it has some interesting stuff. You should definately go for it.

[Denethorn]

I took what I was good at . As most have said, just run with it. One way or another you'll finish your education and end up on a career path, probably completely different from what you think it'll be right now

I took philosophy/religious studies too, it became very intresting and (more importantly) stimulating at AS & A level. Philosophy is one of those subjects that looks good on a CV and is helpful in numerous careers. Unfortunately, computing isn't one of them. But I still highly recommend it.

Advantages: is a valuable qualification in social work, teaching, the medical profession, the civil service, the legal profession, public relations and journalism. So it opens many, many doors. What is important to understand, is it's not the knowledge you gain from the course, its the skills you develop from studying philisophy.

Disadvantages: it is a new course. You come somewhat unprepared as you haven't got the "ground work" from a GCSE or anything like that. It is also very different from other subjects. Ofcourse it depends on the teacher, but I found it to much more discussion based and conceptual work rather than hard facts. Whereas most subjects serve the info you need to get the grades on a platter :/

If you enjoy ideas and are prepared to be challenged this could be a slot on your time table that you look forward to

[C Elegans]

Originally Posted by giles337

Maths, I take a year early, due to taking GCSE a year early thus AS early, Thus A-Level early (hard work DOES pay off!)

This leaves me with 4 more choices. I go for

Physics, French, Geography:

Ok, so you have Maths, Physics, Geography, French - that's the option I personally preferred from your original options, since it offered the most flexibility for the future. If I understand you correctly, you can now choose a 5th subject since you are doing the Maths a year earlier?

I'd love to study Philosophy, having become aware of it's availibility as a course. I have been advised that I do not need to take computing A level to study it at Uni, so this seems like an all encompassing route. What are the merits/benefits and disadvantyages of philosophy? It is an entirely new subject to me, so any information about it would be nice

My opinion is that philosophy is an excellent subject to study for a while, especially for a young and intellectually curious mind. The disadvantage of philosophy is simple I think: you will never get a job by focusing on philosophy at uni, but that's not a relevant problem for you. Instead, at this level you will be able to gain from the advantages: philosophy is good for exercising your intellectual skills, your reasoning, your critical thinking and ability to analyse things. It will help you to select what is relevant and irrelevant information, and it will help you to develop better problem-solving skills. I think it would be an excellent choice for you.