*Closed* - The "Which Medical School Should I Apply To?" Uberthread [Part 1 of 3]

Thanks I'll see what I'm predicted and give it a shot. I haven't got anything to lose. Hopefully I'll be predicted an A for maths. I'm not opposed to taking a gap year though.

I also got four B's at AS.
We definitely need to be predicted 3A's minimum, but my chemistry teacher is refusing to talk about predictions, they're not allowed to talk about them. So, I think she's most likely predicted me a B. She didn't even let me explain my situation about medicine etc. Damn.

Don't worry about that, bully her into predicting you an A and explain yourself to her. Teachers have hearts too... it worked for me

Lol, yes! I'll try that on Monday since I have a lesson with her. That's good, that's good, you got your prediction! Btw, if you don't mind me asking, how far were you off an A in your subjects?

For me, I was 1 mark off an A in economics and biology but 10 marks for chemistry and maths. So, quite a few marks.

So, I'm going to retake chemistry unit 2, but have to get a really high mark in the top 80s/90s to get a high A overall.

But it's good to hear you got your prediction! I hope I get mine too.

10 marks? That's only half way between isn't it? All you need is 2 85s at A2 to make up for that

Persuading teachers isn't that hard as long as you have a persuasive argument, I wanted to add another subject to what I was studying last week, I spoke to my maths and economics teachers, told them what I wanted to study for my degree(maths), argued that another A level(English) I was taking wouldnt add to my application and also since I'd have to split my time between classes due to a clash I wouldnt get a high grade in all likelihood in English but the new one(chemistry) would help my app and that I was also good at sciences(got BB for my double award science GCSE - could've got AA as well), not forgetting I subtly showed my determination and they agreed with me, my English teacher did too when I checked with him.

I would think about applying to Sheffield and Manchester, Sheffield I know for sure have a higher cut off than your score. Manchester I have a feeling you may be at a disadvantage with your score again though I would try and find this out from last years applicants.
Off the top of my head you should look at Bristol (dont use UKCAT), BSMS, maybe Southampton?, Keele..Maybe look in the wiki for how specific unis use the UKCAT or ring them up and ask if they have a cut off for interview. Oh depending on what your lowest UKCAT score is maybe leicester? But dont if you got one low as they rank using the lowest or give points.
Hope i have been of some help xxx

I wouldn't apply for Manchester, sorry I got rejected from there with 635 average last year due to UKCAT and the cutoff is likely to rise again this year. Liverpool don't use the UKCAT so you're fine there And I'm fairly sure Sheffield also have a high UKCAT cutoff usually as well.. If I remember correctly it was 685 last year but you might want to check this. Not sure about Leeds, sorry.

Apparently Keele don't place a lot of emphasis on UKCAT, it's more about PS, and Cardiff use a points system whereby you gain points for GCSEs (can't remember details sorry)... but I do remember people last year getting interviews at Cardiff with UKCATs in the 620s

People correct me if I'm wrong ^^

So, is it two 85s without retaking? Ahh, thanks for the inspiring story I'll definitely talk to her on Monday, she already knows I want to do medicine because when I applied for head girl, I had my interview with her and the director of sixth form. So, in that interview I did mention medicine quite a lot. So, hopefully she'll agree.

And these were teachers who were against me taking chem when I first started talking to them, to quote my Maths teacher, "No no, don't take chemistry, continue with English, they prefer A2s to AS levels"(in an Irish accent), not forgetting he was saying I shouldnt do further maths to A2 in the space of a year as well. I've only sat one further maths unit so far.

What you might do is take a resit anyway like you said to fall back on and go for the 85UMS+(or better still 90 because it's better to aim high) in the next 2 A2 exams. If you have any weak areas(like my essay writing isn't great) then mention that you're going to do your best to improve them too working in your own time, so basically you want to show to your best ability that you're willing to put in the effort to get these grades.

Ahh okay, so you're in year 13 too, now? Lol at the Irish accent. It's great though, everything worked out for you.
Yep, I'm definitely retaking to get a high A at AS. Okay, cool, I'll definitely aim for that! The thing is, I don't know what my weak areas are, I think it was my exam technique because I got my exam script back for chemistry unit 2. I got majority of the questions correct, it was that I just messed up on little 1 mark questions which obviously had a great impact. Also, I remember sleeping quite late the night before the exam. This year didn't go very well for me, I had family problems etc which took up a lot of my time. Yep, I dropped economics now, so I have more free periods in which I revise for my resits. I messed up in my maths C2 exam because I didn't eat anything that afternoon and I had a really bad brain freeze in the exam, so my mind went blank.

So it was stupid things like these that brought me down. Otherwise, I don't think I have any particular weak areas. But, thanks a lot for the advice, it's time to work work work. I mean the worst that can happen is I get rejected this year and will have to reapply next year, but as long as I have those A's by the end of this year, I should be fine. I have UKCAT on sept 30th.

Technically... kinda... it is very complicated, point is I hope to go to university in 2011. I have to persuade two of my teachers to give me my predicted grades now too in all likelihood, shouldnt be all that bad but it's going to be my the bit I worry about most considering my GCSEs were relatively decent(not TSR standard but good enough), I won't enter my grades into my UCAS form and I'm trying to write an extremely strong PS. Have you started your PS? I started mine about 3 and a bit months ago but I've taken at least a month off

That's one(or three) thing(s) you've got to do to prepare for exams; bring plenty of chilled water(I normally freeze water and let it melt for summer), bring food or money for food and headache tablets probably wouldnt go amiss either.

Lol, yes! I'll try that on Monday since I have a lesson with her. That's good, that's good, you got your prediction! Btw, if you don't mind me asking, how far were you off an A in your subjects?

For me, I was 1 mark off an A in economics and biology but 10 marks for chemistry and maths. So, quite a few marks.

So, I'm going to retake chemistry unit 2, but have to get a really high mark in the top 80s/90s to get a high A overall.

But it's good to hear you got your prediction! I hope I get mine too.