He may want to take up law....

While I understand that the sciences carry alot of weight, is it still worthwhile if the likelihood of an A may not be that great and a B or C is more likely?

Most unis req 3 A levels. If so, then wld a combination of maths, further maths and econ maths be looked upon favorably by the better unis?

What is the advantage of a 4th subject?

Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Economics are axiomatically regarded as "hard" subjects and are favored upon by universities.
However, do check whether do that particular university accepts Further Mathematics along with Mathematics as two separate subjects. If not, you'll be one subject short of the minimum required, rendering your admission chance to total zero.
Therefore, it is advantageous to have a 4th subject as either backup, or to polish your admission resume unofficially. As in unofficially, it is widely known to the UK community that taking above 3 A2 or at most, 3 A2 1 AS, have no effect in admission. Check http://thestudentroom.co.uk, a forum for UK students in which nearly all students are replied that above the required are insane.

However, it is advisable to take 4 subjects as to impress the admission committee, or to open the options to high-tier universities such as the NUS that preferred at least 4 A2. Besides, learn from that Pakistani kid that got 30+ As in his A Levels, getting him into Harvard.

An A is always better than a B or C. I can't say that a B in physics is better than an A in business studies but I can say that an A in physics certainly looks better than an A in media studies or business studies.

Law is also not a traditional subject. So be careful.

When you speak about better universities, I take it that we are talking about UK universities. Some schools do depending on the degree program. As you probably know, LSE specifically prefers applicants with traditional A-level subjects for programs like BSc Economics. They also tell you how they fell about the various combinations for various programs.

Oxford and Cambridge also list the subjects that prefer to see in an application. Outside of the UK, it doesn't matter for the most part.

4th subject means in the event that you are able to score straight A*s, it means that you have the potential to be a very good student academically. If you end up failling or just passing the 4th subject, better just stick with 3 and do well in them. No point taking on 4 unless it's specifically stated, like medicine or some programs in some universities. In which case, you have to score straight 4As anyways.

Great pick of subjects, finally someone who listens

If he is really good at Maths, I would say Further Mathematics (one of the hardest subjects amongst all the Maths/Sciences, but that is relative, as some people do really well in Further but fail Physics).

It's good because there is Econ and Eng Lit in there, so Further won't be "just another Maths subject" for those schools which prefer Further as a fourth.

If Further is too difficult, and he wishes to explore Philosophy, it's fine as long as really good grades are obtained in the first three subjects. But remember that means you do not get the boost of a strong, traditional fourth subject - things are quite competitive nowadays.

Where did you get this? Economics is clearly a traditional subject in the eyes of LSE... at least that is what was published on their website. LSE explicitly acknowledges six specific subjects as being the traditional subjects typical of its students for a number of courses... these are Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Economics, and Further Mathematics. It goes on to state preferred subjects for certain courses can include things like History, Literature, Geography etc. At least do some searching in advance, lest we steer others the wrong way.

Previously, some prerequisites still included Bs, e.g. AAB. That is changing/has changed, and for a relatively good/top university, you'll have a hard time finding anything less than AAA (LSE's entry requirements were actually not that high for some subjects compared to other schools - e.g. before, it had AAB for BSc Accounting and Finance, and only AAA for BSc Actuarial Science - Warwick had A*AAa for MMORSE, and even City had A*AA for BSc Actuarial Science). BSc Economics, BSc Mathematics and Economics, and LLB at LSE were/are each A*AA.

So, while I still believe a B in a strong science is better than an A in Law, you can't afford to get less than an A... although remember that for some of these competitive schools, and even some lesser ones, the Law subject is not so acceptable, even if an A is obtained. Put some effort in and an A is not so difficult... otherwise, pick a subject other than Law.

As I mentioned above, Further Maths should not be a third subject. Unfortunately some A Level boards have overlap between Maths and Further Maths, and certainly they are closely related. For that reason Further Maths needs to be a fourth subject for the "better unis" (which includes LSE), so that there is enough breadth. The lack of Further Maths is not a huge issue but will be a disadvantage for anything remotely quantitative (Economics, Actuarial Science, Statistics) at the better schools, and of course the top unis (like Oxbridge) need it for a Maths degree.

The advantage of a fourth is that you meet the "3.5 A Levels" requirement, and you also have more than three - you sort of stand out. It is not quite clear how far this advantage goes... if your subjects are perfectly/extremely relevant, then three may be sufficient (sometimes this includes Further, which is always taken with/after Maths, and yes this contradicts the above but it is how it works), with no additional benefit from a fourth. Cambridge may make you an offer if you have three, but if you had four, you may receive a "harder" offer since the offer might include the fourth.

don't even thing about NTU or NUS unless you have outstanding extra co-curricular performance. Academic performance ain't enough. Imagine, a couple of my friends with 2A* 2As failed to secure a place.

2A* 2As is nothing compared to the hordes of 4A*, as well as local candidates of Singapore-Cambridge A-Level, 4flat STPM applicants and so. Not to mention that the NUS receive outstanding applicants worldwide, one of that I notice is India.

Yah. Economics, history and eng lit are traditional subjects. My recollection of this memory is 6-7 years ago. So yah, literature, math and economics are acceptable.

I think that FM has to be a fourth subject if the degree program is not related to the natural sciences. The issue of breath would only crop up if one wants to do a degree in the social sciences, the arts or management. FM was my 3rd subject and I got an offer to do physics at Imperial. I am guessing that if my choice was civil or mechanical engineering, I could have secured an offer with that combination too.

That's very discouraging... in fact, while there is a significant emphasis on extra-curriculars, they are not that important, you can still get into NUS without brilliant extra-curriculars (I don't know about NTU)... it's all about relevance and the application itself... sometimes A*A*A*A* with some wrong subjects may not be ideal, while A*AAA in the right ones just might cut it... I believe your friends did not write a very good application. I have heard of instances where three A Levels were insufficient though.

Yes, that is somewhat accurate... a three subject combination with Further would be considered quite acceptable by Imperial for Engineering, whereas the same might be deemed insufficient by Cambridge or LSE for undergrad Economics...

Er if you guys don't mind, I would like to 'tumpang' this thread to ask something:

I'm planning to take up Singapore Digipen's BSGD program (Bachelor of Science in Game Design) directly after A Levels (Sept. Intake for this course) and I'll be going for Disted College Penang's A Levels.

I'm having a bit of trouble regarding the 3 subject combination (this excludes the General Paper).
My first 2 picks would be Physics, Mathematics and either Further Mathematics or Economics. I am unsure of which one to go for (If I go for Econs there's a possibility of the timetable crashing) because I've heard that Further Mathematics is a pretty hard subject.

The question I would like to ask would be is Further Mathematics 'hard' in the sense that it is hard to understand or would it be that you just need more time to understand how the concepts work (along with a ton of practices to do)?

I like Mathematics pretty much and I've been through the Further Mathematics textbook which the lecturer at Disted will be using next year (it looks like an advanced version of Add. Maths to me). I used to be quite bad at Add. Maths during my Form 4 years but I've improved quite a bit ever since getting into Form 5. My weaker parts would be in logarithm and calculus (though I'm positive that if I do more practices I would get the hang of it) so uh, yeah.

My friend did A level a couple years ago, add maths always scored 99.............He gave a try on FM but eventually he gave up, reasons I am not sure........but maybe too difficult?

Ooooh O_o that hard ah...
Think I arrange for an appointment with the Fmaths lecturer first D:

As long as you don't think you're too smart for homework and practices, then Further Maths shouldn't be a problem. To score 90~100 for Add Maths, you don't really need to do that much exercises as compared to Further Maths. Currently doing Edexcel A-levels, covered a few chapters in the Further Maths modules and I find it okay.

They're like an advanced version of add. maths (f4 & f5) right o_O? Idk lol i was flipping through the fmaths textbook then I noticed that it was more or less like that. Will your lecturer give you a lot of practices to do? o_o

Maths itself is like an advanced version of add maths, especially the A2 parts. My lecturer basically told us to do most of the exercises in the textbook, then after finishing the syllabus we would do other papers like past year papers. It depends though, my lecturer was awesome ... not sure whether would I understand without his guidance.

Ooooh I see thanks ! Will consider taking up fmaths cause I have no interest in chem lol <.<

I have no interests in sciences >_> maybe it's just because I'm lazy