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Original post by spoinkytheduck
I would think it extremely unlikely that they would go up to above 720, this year the cut-off went down, and if it goes up next year, I doubt it would jump so high in one go 
Good luck
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Good luck
This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
Yeah 720 would be a pretty high cut of so hopefully Ill be safe
What are my chances of getting into med school?
-Am dropping my current AS's (law, eng lit, politics, ict) and starting again with bio, chem, geography.
-My Gcse's are average, 2A* 3A's rest B. (Science+add science BB)
-I have excellent extra curricular actives. Prefect, Editor, Debate Club etc.
What are my chances based on my history?
current prediction for my AS is (in order from above) BBAA
-Am dropping my current AS's (law, eng lit, politics, ict) and starting again with bio, chem, geography.
-My Gcse's are average, 2A* 3A's rest B. (Science+add science BB)
-I have excellent extra curricular actives. Prefect, Editor, Debate Club etc.
What are my chances based on my history?
current prediction for my AS is (in order from above) BBAA
(edited 11 years ago)
Hi,
I am 16 and just about to get my GCSE's. I would like to pursuit a career in Medicine. I have voluntary work at a hospital organised but am after some advice from all of you. How can I put my self ahead of others and what are some essential tips?
Thanks
I am 16 and just about to get my GCSE's. I would like to pursuit a career in Medicine. I have voluntary work at a hospital organised but am after some advice from all of you. How can I put my self ahead of others and what are some essential tips?
Thanks
Work really hard and you can achieve anything you want to.
On paper, getting into medical school rests on 3 things:
first and foremost - grades
a reflective and robust personal statement suitable for the medical schools you apply to (especially if they weight the PS a lot in their selection criteria)
strong scores on your entrance test(s) (if applicable)
And then your interview performance (but that's not something that's on paper)
Outside of the above, there is no tick-box approach to getting into medical school. Your PS need not follow a set structure, there is no 'magic combo' of subjects to take, work experience need not be in a clinical context and everything you write in your PS should stick to quality over quantity.
You only have one shot at grades so that should always be your top priority (something I took for granted but only realised fully when seeing some friends trip up due to this despite being amazing applicants otherwise).
first and foremost - grades
a reflective and robust personal statement suitable for the medical schools you apply to (especially if they weight the PS a lot in their selection criteria)
strong scores on your entrance test(s) (if applicable)
And then your interview performance (but that's not something that's on paper)
Outside of the above, there is no tick-box approach to getting into medical school. Your PS need not follow a set structure, there is no 'magic combo' of subjects to take, work experience need not be in a clinical context and everything you write in your PS should stick to quality over quantity.
You only have one shot at grades so that should always be your top priority (something I took for granted but only realised fully when seeing some friends trip up due to this despite being amazing applicants otherwise).
- Get some early experience. Note what things stand out to you and confirms your desire to study medicine. Why did they stand out to you? How did you feel?
- Go to any medicine or scientific related lectures or events
- Become more proactive in school
- Take your education more seriously
- If you don't have any hobbies, get involved and enthusiastic about something
- Start to really understand about what being a Doctor really means, and involves. Think about the challenges you could face and how you could deal with them
- Always reflect
- Balance as best as you can. Work hard and take frequent breaks. Don't burn yourself out.
- Be honest yourself. Any doubts you may have is fine, but ignoring them isn't. Make sure medicine is what you really want to do
Hope it all works out well for you!
- Go to any medicine or scientific related lectures or events
- Become more proactive in school
- Take your education more seriously
- If you don't have any hobbies, get involved and enthusiastic about something
- Start to really understand about what being a Doctor really means, and involves. Think about the challenges you could face and how you could deal with them
- Always reflect
- Balance as best as you can. Work hard and take frequent breaks. Don't burn yourself out.
- Be honest yourself. Any doubts you may have is fine, but ignoring them isn't. Make sure medicine is what you really want to do
Hope it all works out well for you!
I'm 14 and I want to pursuit medicine when I'm older. What sort of voluntary services can I join which will put me ahead?
Thanks
Thanks
Original post by ergo30
I'm 14 and I want to pursuit medicine when I'm older. What sort of voluntary services can I join which will put me ahead?
Thanks
Thanks
Lots of different kinds. Almost any kind as long as they are fairly caring and can be linked well to medicine. Desired ones are like care homes (VERY desired and some med schools outright say they'd like it), hospital voluntary (though not necessary), etc. Also get some work experience if you can, for example I did one week in boots, some days in a mental institute and disability type center, another 2 weeks in a nursery and other such stuff.
Original post by ViceVersa
Lots of different kinds. Almost any kind as long as they are fairly caring and can be linked well to medicine. Desired ones are like care homes (VERY desired and some med schools outright say they'd like it), hospital voluntary (though not necessary), etc. Also get some work experience if you can, for example I did one week in boots, some days in a mental institute and disability type center, another 2 weeks in a nursery and other such stuff.
Can I do hospital volunteer work at the age of 14?
Original post by ergo30
Can I do hospital volunteer work at the age of 14?
Hmm not sure about that one. I think there are issues with that. I know in my hospital I had to be 16 first. It isn't too much of a big deal if you can't get a hospital placement
Original post by ViceVersa
Hmm not sure about that one. I think there are issues with that. I know in my hospital I had to be 16 first. It isn't too much of a big deal if you can't get a hospital placement
Yeah I'm trying to find care homes which I can volunteer for, do you know any?
Original post by ergo30
Yeah I'm trying to find care homes which I can volunteer for, do you know any?
It would depend where you live
Try and get a decent one near your home. What I did was I typed my address onto Google Maps, clicked on 'search nearby' and searched for care/residential homes. I printed a list of the top 5 closest ones and called them all asking for experience. The first one took me Original post by ViceVersa
It would depend where you live Try and get a decent one near your home. What I did was I typed my address onto Google Maps, clicked on 'search nearby' and searched for care/residential homes. I printed a list of the top 5 closest ones and called them all asking for experience. The first one took me
Try and get a decent one near your home. What I did was I typed my address onto Google Maps, clicked on 'search nearby' and searched for care/residential homes. I printed a list of the top 5 closest ones and called them all asking for experience. The first one took me How old do you have to be? Is 14 old enough?
Original post by ergo30
How old do you have to be? Is 14 old enough?
It should be okay, I know many who started care home voluntary at that age. You'll be limited with the kind of thing they let you do anyway, because of your age.
Original post by ViceVersa
It should be okay, I know many who started care home voluntary at that age. You'll be limited with the kind of thing they let you do anyway, because of your age.
I'll just wait till 16 I guess.
Original post by ergo30
I'll just wait till 16 I guess.
I think it's worth calling and asking at least. You never know!
The other two a-levels don't really matter, do they? I do Biology, Chemistry, History and ICT and when I tell teachers I want to do medicine they always say "You don't have maths and physics!" which is rather irritating as I know they aren't necessary but now I'm getting pre-application nerves. There isn't some secret preference for all sciences which they keep to themselves or anything, is there? 
Original post by llessur123
The other two a-levels don't really matter, do they? I do Biology, Chemistry, History and ICT and when I tell teachers I want to do medicine they always say "You don't have maths and physics!" which is rather irritating as I know they aren't necessary but now I'm getting pre-application nerves. There isn't some secret preference for all sciences which they keep to themselves or anything, is there?
Nope your subjects are fine don't worry. In fact some medical schools like UCL say they put a slight preference on applicants who have done a contrasting A level e.g. a Humanities subject like History.
Original post by llessur123
The other two a-levels don't really matter, do they? I do Biology, Chemistry, History and ICT and when I tell teachers I want to do medicine they always say "You don't have maths and physics!" which is rather irritating as I know they aren't necessary but now I'm getting pre-application nerves. There isn't some secret preference for all sciences which they keep to themselves or anything, is there?
Silly people. Your A-Levels are perfectly fine. Maths or physics is not a necessity.
Original post by llessur123
The other two a-levels don't really matter, do they? I do Biology, Chemistry, History and ICT and when I tell teachers I want to do medicine they always say "You don't have maths and physics!" which is rather irritating as I know they aren't necessary but now I'm getting pre-application nerves. There isn't some secret preference for all sciences which they keep to themselves or anything, is there?
When I applied it was a case of you need to do at least to science subjects (maths/biology/physics/chemistry) and often they want you to have done chemistry.
At Manchester, I know plenty of people who didn't do Biology to A Level, it meant they had to do a bit extra work to catch up but have overall done well =] xxx
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