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Oxford Medicine with these AS grades? Will they be horrified?

Hi
I was just wondering - I know its really late this close to the deadline, how much scrutiny Oxford place on AS grades particularly when they're not all A grades.
I got AAACC at AS and am now only doing 3A2 and am predicted A*AA (resitting the French written paper to get my mark up - they don't *strictly speaking* have any rules about resits, but I got an A in French overall at AS so it should be fine, I hope). I got a C in Chemistry and a C in Physics. I dropped Physics and History (really sad about History, I loved it).
so....what do you think?
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Avatar for bmx121
bmx121
i dunno but i think it depends on what you are applying to, also since you have 5 as you are still good, if you have an amazing p.s. go for it!
Almost 100% of the weighting goes to your % of A* at GCSE and your score on the BMAT although, most candidates will have a majority of As at AS
Candidates are shortlisted automatically by an alogrithm and a computer based on your pA*s at GCSE and BMAT score. AS grade won't have an affect unless you miss the intial shortlist.
C in AS chemistry raises a lot of questions and would be heavily discussed by the tutors, should you get as far as an interview. Giving an offer to such a candidate would be very controversial. Your BMAT and interview score would certainly have to be higher because of that. How much higher I couldn't say.

And no chem resits? So you're going to have to average what like 95% in chemistry just to get AAA?

This is assuming your GCSEs are good enough. Hopefully you know just how stringent Oxford are on that front!

Original post by hellomynameisr
Almost 100% of the weighting goes to your % of A* at GCSE and your score on the BMAT although, most candidates will have a majority of As at AS


Original post by studentsixth
Candidates are shortlisted automatically by an alogrithm and a computer based on your pA*s at GCSE and BMAT score. AS grade won't have an affect unless you miss the intial shortlist.


The shortlist is just for the interview, not an offer! The C in the most crucial (and the only compulsory) subject is still highly relevant.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by nexttime

And no chem resits? So you're going to have to average what like 95% in chemistry just to get AAA?

This is assuming your GCSEs are good enough. Hopefully you know just how stringent Oxford are on that front!

The shortlist is just for the interview, not an offer! The C in the most crucial (and the only compulsory) subject is still highly relevant.


I got 9A* and 2A at GCSE - is this good enough? We can't resit AS exams anymore due to changes in the specification and also changes to the course - it is now a linear course. AS exam results don't count towards the total A Level grade unless the subject is unreformed by new changes, such as Maths and MFL. The whole A level now only counts on the result of the exams at the end of Year 13 - so there's no point resitting?
The C in chemistry AS rules you out as far as I can see. It's the one A level they want to see you excel in.
Original post by iamaslostasyou
I got 9A* and 2A at GCSE


Below average for an offer holder but yes, within the acceptable range. https://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/pre-clinical/statistics

Ah been a while since i did AS.

The C is a big issue (what happened?! Did you get everything remarked?) but it is going to be an issue at a lot of unis. There might be some benefit in aiming for the less academic courses but I have no evidence to back that up. You just got to pick the places where you have the best chance and run with it.

And above all else - fix whatever happened and get an A - you can't meet any offers and can't take a gap year and reapply unless you get that A.
Original post by nexttime

The C is a big issue (what happened?! Did you get everything remarked?) but it is going to be an issue at a lot of unis. There might be some benefit in aiming for the less academic courses but I have no evidence to back that up. You just got to pick the places where you have the best chance and run with it.

And above all else - fix whatever happened and get an A - you can't meet any offers and can't take a gap year and reapply unless you get that A.


Unfortunately I was five marks off a B and 19 marks off an A grade - I think the main problem was that I didn't revise as much as I should have because of my Physics AS - doing 5 was a massive mistake and too much, especially since physics was the biggest jump from GCSE to AS (in mu opinion). I was too stressed with Physics I left Chemistry (I almost became complacent - it's terrible I know) till the end - the family situation was not the best at the time either (my granddad passed away around the beginning of exam season so my mum had to leave for a month to go halfway across the world for his funeral).

Thank you for the advice, though!
Original post by iamaslostasyou
doing 5 was a massive mistake and too much

You could well be right. I had a friend who did 5 - previously an A/A* student, was thinking about medicine, certainly should have been aiming for AAA/AAB - came out with ABCDD, Stupid decision, dreams crushed forever. At least you're still in with a chance, even if it might require a gap year.
Original post by nexttime
You could well be right. I had a friend who did 5 - previously an A/A* student, was thinking about medicine, certainly should have been aiming for AAA/AAB - came out with ABCDD, Stupid decision, dreams crushed forever. At least you're still in with a chance, even if it might require a gap year.


I don't want to make excuses but do you think that the situation at the time would count for extenuating circumstances - or would it have to be something more extreme?
Original post by iamaslostasyou
I don't want to make excuses but do you think that the situation at the time would count for extenuating circumstances - or would it have to be something more extreme?


Its worth getting your teacher to mention it in the reference.
Ok thank you very much for all the advice

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