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Critical Situation - Need help to make a decision!

Okay, so i just finished my first year in A Levels. I did Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Maths. I want to study medicine in university. However after results day, i am not sure what i will do.
C-Biology
D-Maths
E-Chem
E-Physics(I dropped physics for A2)

Normally i am very good at all these subjects but unlike GCSEs, A Levels put me into a literal trauma and i did no sleep any more than 8 hours in the total 2 weeks of exam period. However, universities dont care about the excuses, they care about the success. (I am retaking all maths units C1/C2/S1)

Also, few days ago i was checking for when i can do my UKCAT exam and when i found out all was booked, soon as i found a spot i took it which landed on 1st of September giving me about 3 days of revision for UKCAT, knowing the difficulty of the UKCAT i probably wont the anything extra ordinary in that exam neither. And at this point im loosing hope so her i am.

Is it possible for me to get into to Medicine?
Is it worth even applying to unis with my current results?
Any other advice?
Original post by Waiser
Okay, so i just finished my first year in A Levels. I did Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Maths. I want to study medicine in university. However after results day, i am not sure what i will do.
C-Biology
D-Maths
E-Chem
E-Physics(I dropped physics for A2)

Normally i am very good at all these subjects but unlike GCSEs, A Levels put me into a literal trauma and i did no sleep any more than 8 hours in the total 2 weeks of exam period. However, universities dont care about the excuses, they care about the success. (I am retaking all maths units C1/C2/S1)

Also, few days ago i was checking for when i can do my UKCAT exam and when i found out all was booked, soon as i found a spot i took it which landed on 1st of September giving me about 3 days of revision for UKCAT, knowing the difficulty of the UKCAT i probably wont the anything extra ordinary in that exam neither. And at this point im loosing hope so her i am.

Is it possible for me to get into to Medicine?
Is it worth even applying to unis with my current results?
Any other advice?


You have to do Biology and Chemistry to do medicine, Maths is a good choice to.
Your chances of getting into medicine might not be the best this year. Many universities don't care that much about AS, but getting your teachers to predict you the AAA might be a challenge. That combined with a (potentially) low UKCAT doesn't put you in a good position. It's certainly possible for you to get into medicine, and if that's something that you really want, you shouldn't give up. If I were you, I'd maybe apply this year (to BMAT unis too), but mainly focus on getting great A2 results, and reapply next year with more preparation. Good luck :smile:
Reply 3
Original post by StationToStation
Your chances of getting into medicine might not be the best this year. Many universities don't care that much about AS, but getting your teachers to predict you the AAA might be a challenge. That combined with a (potentially) low UKCAT doesn't put you in a good position. It's certainly possible for you to get into medicine, and if that's something that you really want, you shouldn't give up. If I were you, I'd maybe apply this year (to BMAT unis too), but mainly focus on getting great A2 results, and reapply next year with more preparation. Good luck :smile:


Thanks for the help, is it possible to get in without giving a gap year?
Reply 4
Original post by Waiser
Thanks for the help, is it possible to get in without giving a gap year?


Personally, I doubt it. It's going to be very difficult without the predicted grades.

Also, are you sure medicine is right for you? It's a very stressful career, so you'd need to be able to deal with that. If you can't handle AS levels, what makes you say you can handle having people's lives in your hands?
I'm not trying to dissuade you from parsing medicine, but you should really think carefully as to whether or not you can handle it.

What did you get in your UKCAT, though?
Reply 5
Original post by Gogregg
Personally, I doubt it. It's going to be very difficult without the predicted grades.

Also, are you sure medicine is right for you? It's a very stressful career, so you'd need to be able to deal with that. If you can't handle AS levels, what makes you say you can handle having people's lives in your hands?
I'm not trying to dissuade you from parsing medicine, but you should really think carefully as to whether or not you can handle it.

What did you get in your UKCAT, though?


For my UKCAT I had 3 days to revise and I got 520, 540 and 620, the 620 for QR and the other two I cannot remember right now. And yes, I am 100% sure I want to do medicine and I'm sure right for me, from my work experiences in medical clinics and so on most of the doctors were impressed by my performance and they did say that I am unusually calm as if I was in the field for some time. AS Levels were easy, I failed because I was an idiot and didn't realise how big of jump it was until the end and due to that I had too much stress and pressure on me during exam season. I am not exaggerating , I had around 9 hours of sleep during the 2 week exam period.

If you don't mind me asking, you seem to have some knowledge of this field, what exams did you take and how long ago?
Reply 6
Original post by Waiser
For my UKCAT I had 3 days to revise and I got 520, 540 and 620, the 620 for QR and the other two I cannot remember right now. And yes, I am 100% sure I want to do medicine and I'm sure right for me, from my work experiences in medical clinics and so on most of the doctors were impressed by my performance and they did say that I am unusually calm as if I was in the field for some time. AS Levels were easy, I failed because I was an idiot and didn't realise how big of jump it was until the end and due to that I had too much stress and pressure on me during exam season. I am not exaggerating , I had around 9 hours of sleep during the 2 week exam period.

If you don't mind me asking, you seem to have some knowledge of this field, what exams did you take and how long ago?


In that case, then definitely go for it! Make sure you can get predicted AAA, prove to your teachers that you can work hard, and that you do better. Apply this year regardless, maybe to the PS heavy universities, Cardiff if you have at the very least 8A*s at GCSE, and BMAT universities. Do your research and apply where you stand a good chance of interview it's possible you can get in. Most likely you'll have to take a gap year, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing, you could take that year to work as a HCA, maybe travel the world a bit. Just make sure you work harder this year and achieve those grades :biggrin:

I'm also hoping to apply this year, also :smile:
I took AS levels and I've done my UKCAT, might do the BMAT, but it's not completely set in stone yet.
A high ukcat score would make up for your AS levels BUT as you haven't got either it might make more sense to wait until you have your A levels in the bag before applying. Were your gcse grades high?
Original post by Waiser
I am not exaggerating , I had around 9 hours of sleep during the 2 week exam period.


Is that supposed to be a bad thing?
Original post by Waiser
AS Levels were easy, I failed because I was an idiot and didn't realise how big of jump it was until the end and due to that I had too much stress and pressure on me during exam season. I am not exaggerating , I had around 9 hours of sleep during the 2 week exam period.

... so they weren't easy. Your chances of getting into medicine next year are essentially zero. You have two options:

1. Restart your AS levels now, continue to A2 the following year, apply for medicine.
2. Continue to A2 while re-sitting basically all your AS exams, take a gap year, apply for medicine the following year.
He would only need to resit Maths as Biology and chemistry aren't modular
Reply 11
Honestly, i think retaking yr12 and retaking the ukcat is your best course of action right now. I see no way that you could get into medicine with your current grades/scores. Sorry :frown:
Unless you have medically confirmed extenuating circumstance don't retake year 12!
If you do, I think there is not a single medical school that will take you!

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