So I'm not sure if they did this when you were at school, but they basically give you a choice of what subjects to do. I've thought about doing Geography and Music, but I thought maybe I need to know what I'm in for?
What are your options? Maybe people who've taken the course can describe their experiences. I took a music GCSE. It was alright, I guess, but I only got a C, partially related to personal problems, but also related to the fact that most of it came down to analysing classical music at moderate depth, and that really didn't work for me. In addition to the classical music, we also had to analyse african and arabic music. Not saying you shouldn't take it, but consider whether this type of thing is for you.
I think it's safe to say I need to be able to know what's in a song irrespective of what genre it is, even if I do want to make R&B and Electronica music. ---------- Post added 7th Mar 2014 at 09:06 AM ---------- Aside from a music career, I wanted to take up acting too.
Ahhh geography weehhh >.<. That was the worst mistake i ever did~ but that is theteacher not the subject ^^ I am still in Second school but i nearly finish and i took Business Studies Food technology Geography* Computing* The ones i put stars on are ones i wish i didnt take and i wish i took Sociology and PRE instead ^^ I have heard music is really good too!!
Its really up to you~ History seems interesting to me too but i couldnt take it >.< My geography classes consist of Teacher writing on the board and we copy and worksheets which are like fill the blanks, me and mefriend just talk about anime all lesson and we still get fair grades (im averaging a D or C but i say that is my level and shegets the same really) so i guess your class would be much funner so dont let me put you off if its what you want ^^
Put it this way, what you take for your options may guide what you take at sixth form, and what you take at sixth form WILL influence what you want to do at uni. You want to do music production as a career, correct? There are a few basic options to get there: 1. Music GCSE, Music A-level (you will most likely need to play an instrument to get on the course - my sixth form required at you to be think...grade 4 or 5 in an instrument), music tech/production degree/diploma at uni 2. Do music tech instead of sixth form, no GCSE music required (my friend did this) 3. Do music tech/production at a private uni. No grades of any kind required. (I did this) 4. Figure it out on your own. No grades required. Try and land a job (good luck!) Basically just take what you will be interested in and keep in mind what you plan to do next. I mean I chose what...History, electronics and...I don't know something else probably...then quit everything and now I work as a carer, so you know, if you're not actually interested in the subject, I recommend you don't take it! I mean when I did my music tech diploma I don't think most of the people there could play an instrument or read music or anything, they just knew what sounded good and where handy with computers.
I made this mistake~ i took computing thinking 'im not really interested but its okaay i guess' and my bestest friend was taking it (NEVER DO THIS) so i took it and now i find it really hard and boring learning something i couldnt care less about >.<
Take whatever you will enjoy. You will perform better if it is a subject that you enjoy, rather than dread. I can't see how Geography will help you in music/drama, though haha
Oh yeah, another thing to consider is that no matter what you pick, don't make the mistake of thinking they will teach you everything you need to know. They won't. Not even close.
I finished my GCSEs with 5 A's and 3 B's. I did Maths Physics Chemistry Biology IT English Language History Electronics For my options I picked Triple Science, History, Electronics and IT. They told me I was allowed two free options, one humanity(so either geography or history) and I had to do Spanish because everyone in top set at end of Yr9 had to do it. My dad told them I didn't have to do Spanish, and they just accepted that instead of arguing, so I did Electronics instead and I am so glad I did that instead! For A-Levels I started Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology but dropped Physics after 3months because the teacher we had is seriously shite, about 50% of the class has dropped it and the year before about 70% dropped it because of him. I can't really advise you what to do, because it seems your interests is very different. I love Engineering, Mechanics and the more Technical/Academic subjects. I was always crap at English and subjects to do more with feelings so that includes music, drama, etc. It's a wonder I scraped an A in English, I actually lost marks in one of my History exams the exam board wrote to my teacher saying my handwriting is bloody awful and they can't decipher part of what I've written so sadly they can't award me the marks haha But anyway I would say to do History, you say yourself you enjoy it more and I think it's a more desired subject by employers. It shows you have a decent understanding of how to communicate properly, you can make an arguement, see both points of view of a disagreement, make reasoned judgements. It is a qualifications that really shows a lot about your ability to analyse things while geography is a lot less impressive so if you find History more interesting there's really zero reason to take Geography instead unless you want to do Geography A-Level which from what I've heard of friends that did it is REALLY boring. GCSE History is easy enough aswell, for Year 10 we did a piece of Coursework/Controlled Assessment on Vietnam and specifically operation rolling thunder which was proper easy. The second thing we did was at the end of Year 10 which was an exam on history of Nazi Germany and the NSDAP. In Year 11 we did two exams, one was about surgery/anesthetics/antiseptics that sort of thing, the other was about public health from roman times up to the 1800s. I found the two exams in Year 11 were more difficult than the Coursework and Exam we did in Year 10 but it was partly because I'm not interesting in medicine at all and just writing about some of the surgical stuff made me feel squeamish.
I'd say not geography- both my siblings did it and they hate it; My sister said everyone regretted geography. I don't know about music, it's what I want to take, but each to their own.
Do you have the option to change later if you find out you don't like the subjects? I chose science because I was good at it and it was interesting for me... It can be hard to choose though.
its about striking a balance between what subjects interest you ... and what subjects you really need for the future career - if you have decided on that yet !
