Colorado Technical University

How hard is a bachelors degree compared to GCSE's and A-levels and masters degrees?

I am thinking of doing a degree in a science of some desciption, such as biochemistry. I was wondering, exactly, how hard bacherlors degrees are compared to other qualifications, are they basic compared to masters degrees?

Public Comments

1. I don't know for sciences, they're presumably harder, I'm studying history at uni and I can say that GCSEs were a joke compared to a BA. A-Levels are still quite below the difficulty of degree. The first year of uni is considered the bridge between A levels and doing your degree. First year is quite easy and prepares you for the coming years so I wouldn't worry about the difficulty of a degree because you're trained to handle it in first year. I don't know about a masters as I haven't done one yet.
2. I don't know how it fares to a Masters degree because I'm not at that stage, but I'm in my first year doing a Maths degree and trust me, it is already lightyears ahead of Maths A-level. We cover what usually would be Further Maths A-level within a couple of weeks! This is only the first year too, and I'm stressing out. lol. A-level Maths is then of course, a lot harder than GCSE Maths, which is a joke like most other GCSE's. My ex got an A* in GCSE Maths and only did revision on the nights before the exams! For the most part, GCSE's are actually common sense and you can do well in them by just reading through textbooks. You may hear from teachers and certain students that a degree is easier than A-level, but that is quite honestly bullcrap from my own experience, but then again they are usually referring to non-traditional subjects like Criminology being done at mainly lower ranked unis. If you do maths or a science or one of the traditional humanities like History at a Redbrick, you won't be saying how easy it is, trust me. You don't have lovely pastpapers and specifications on exam board websites to help you revise!
3. Yes, it is a lot harder than school level but assuming that you are going to study something that you really enjoy, and not like at school where you often have to do some subjects you enjoy less, you might find it easier to study for it. As for comparing bachelors and masters, the difference knocked me sideways really. The masters was so much more demanding as it was more specialised and more in-depth. So it will take you a bit longer to get used to it but you will by then be used to challenges so you will manage.
4. It's much harder than A levels, but you won't know if you can do it til you give it a try.