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Reply 240
lol come to your college?
just do biology in yr 13- you'll be alright
Reply 241
Josh93
I was at an Oxbridge conference where the representative from Cambridge advised that you not bother applying if you had less than 7A*s at GCSE and that was for non-medical courses, but I'll grant that they don't have an official requirement.


He may have advised that but he's an idiot. Different colleges may treat GCSEs slightly differently but on the whole GCSEs aren't that important to them. AS UMS marks are more important as well as A2 predictions.
Not when you spell school with a W.
Reply 243
Scrubby
He may have advised that but he's an idiot. Different colleges may treat GCSEs slightly differently but on the whole GCSEs aren't that important to them. AS UMS marks are more important as well as A2 predictions.


He was a complete idiot :P he put me off applying.
I don't think most medical schools care too much as long as you have B and above in english and maths, Birmingham definitely has a high GCSE requirent though. If you're worried about your GCSE's then just check the 'entry requirements' section for the uni you want to apply to and it should say if they require a certain number of A's/A*s.
Reply 244
Zyanide
Are Unis fussed about resits?
I'm currently doing A level Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Maths, Further Maths and I'm in year 13.

-Chemistry maybe an A
-Biology I checked all the UMS I've got so far and I definitely can't get an A, because even if I get 100 percent on Unit 5 it's still not over 80 percent overall, and I'm not resitting Unit 4..should have really but it's too late now, but I'm guessing a B
-Physics - B?
-Maths - definitely an A
-Further Maths - probably below D

I dunno, if I really get ABBAD (LOL it spelt bad.)
and if I resit Biology, Physics next year (year 14), and get As in them both
do I still have a chance to goto a medical school?

or are my predicted grades or whatever gonna screw me over?
if not, can I apply for Biomedical instead, and then do Medicine after?

it's just that B in Biology really that I'm stressed about..
please help



Hi :smile:

I'm a bit confused here.

I believe Medical schools give offers based on 3 of your best A levels, so the D and one of the Bs won't be part of the final offer usually. Secondly I believe only one of Maths and Further Maths is considered so your better grade will be taken which is an A?

So wouldn't you come out with AAB meeting some medical schools' entry requirements? Chemistry is usually the one which is specified at grade A,which you say its possible for you to get?

I think its possibly better if you applied after getting your A Levels and have a gap year, least this way you can get some more work experience/voluntary work and save some money for university. Something like working as a Healthcare Assistant in a hospital could be useful as you get to experience working in a medical environment as well as getting paid for it.

I really think going into year 14 is not a good idea, a lot of places won't consider candidates who take a further year to complete A Levels unless there are extenuating circumstances.

And of course you can apply for Medicine after Biomedical Science, it is quite a common route to take. :smile:

hope that helps a little.
Reply 245
Zyanide
I just found it, and for the people that are looking for it it's here
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medical_School_Resit_Policies






I think I might be going for post grad, I dunno yet.
would they still penalise me for my A-level resits?
or do they just expect me to get a good grade in Uni?



I'm not sure if they'd penalise you as such but I think you could get into a good university without resitting and potentially penalising yourself.

And yes you would need at least a 2.1 or 1st in most places.

:smile:
Reply 246
hey_its_nay
universities will greatly penalise and might not even consider your application if it takes more than 2 years to do your a levels


What about a school that does accelerated A-levels in one and half year? My school's bit different. We're admit to A-levels at the age of 18 and graduating at the age of 19. Do you think the penalty still apply on us?
Reply 247
Hey,

Well in January I got AAAB in Maths, Physics, Chem and Biology.
After the exams I have just sat in the summer, I am more likely to get BBBC or BBCC (yes, they went that bad).

I was looking to apply to Imperial/barts/St.Georges/UCL, but after my shocking performance in June, do you think I still have any chance?

My teachers said they would predict me AAAB or AAAA, if I do take all 4 to A2.

I just want to make sure that I'm not gonna apply stupidly to uni's that look alot at AS grades.

I got 4A*4A 2B's at GCSE, so mediocre again.


Thanks for the help!

(this is of course if I get a decent UKCAT)
But you've got AAB (assuming your predictions are right) - apply to AAB unis then. You still meet those requirements.
Reply 249
Not at those Medical schools no. Sorry.


To be honest, you're 99% likely to need to take a year out after A2 if you want to get into any Medical school.
Reply 250
Calm down! There's no point worrying about what AS grades you're going to get. Just wait until August so that you are absolutely sure that you have failed. Also, as you presumably do a lot of science if you want to apply for medicine, surely your January module grades will pull up your marks?

Lastly, chill out!
Reply 251
Do we have to declare AS level results/ can universities see what we have at AS? :smile:
manthew
What about a school that does accelerated A-levels in one and half year? My school's bit different. We're admit to A-levels at the age of 18 and graduating at the age of 19. Do you think the penalty still apply on us?

the're fine with it as long as it's under 2 years
I can still apply for Imperial (I think), Barts and St Georges. :smile:
Don't listen to v-zero, you do not need to take a year out. Just try and push your grades up.
UCL - I wouldn't risk it because they want all A2 exams to be sat in June, so allow it.

As long as your school does not cash in your AS grades, then your fine as you do not have to declare them. :smile:
You just put your predicted grades....just chill out.
not at those med schools. why not try brighton and sussex or peninsular? Some of the newer ones. Go to medlink and medsim. get the dvd they sell at medlink showing the stats of which unis end up with which students, grades, gender etc etc.

if you re-take the exams you did this summer and express that you are planning to you could stand a chance?

if not take a gap year, re-take the alevels and try again.
or try doing an access course

or do a biomed degree and do postgrad med
not at those med schools. why not try brighton and sussex or peninsular? Some of the newer ones. Go to medlink and medsim. get the dvd they sell at medlink showing the stats of which unis end up with which students, grades, gender etc etc.

if you re-take the exams you did this summer and express that you are planning to you could stand a chance?

if not take a gap year, re-take the alevels and try again.
or try doing an access course

or do a biomed degree and do postgrad med
Reply 256
Master.K
I can still apply for Imperial (I think), Barts and St Georges. :smile:
Don't listen to the dude above, you do not need to take a year out. Just try and push your grades up.
UCL - I wouldn't risk it because they want all A2 exams to be sat in June, so allow it.


Yeah I'm allowing UCL, I would have too many exams to do in January and June!
Reply 257
I doubt you'll get BBBC, you're just underestimating yourself, yes the exams were hard but I'm sure your grades wont drop by that much. Come August, you'll be surprised.
You're always your worst critic when it comes to exams - always think the worst. You never know, you could end up with AAAA.

Even if you don't, most of these unis don't care too much about AS grades unless you had to declare them.

I can only speak about Barts as I go there, but you're treated the same as every applicant once you meet the academic requirements (which you do - assuming your teachers do predict you at least AAA) - after that, it comes down to the UKCAT score (predominantly) as they operate a cut off score each year based on the calibre of students who apply that cycle and of course the PS, reference and interview (if you were to get one).
Reply 259
simi89
Hi :smile:

I'm a bit confused here.

I believe Medical schools give offers based on 3 of your best A levels, so the D and one of the Bs won't be part of the final offer usually. Secondly I believe only one of Maths and Further Maths is considered so your better grade will be taken which is an A?

So wouldn't you come out with AAB meeting some medical schools' entry requirements? Chemistry is usually the one which is specified at grade A,which you say its possible for you to get?

I think its possibly better if you applied after getting your A Levels and have a gap year, least this way you can get some more work experience/voluntary work and save some money for university. Something like working as a Healthcare Assistant in a hospital could be useful as you get to experience working in a medical environment as well as getting paid for it.

I really think going into year 14 is not a good idea, a lot of places won't consider candidates who take a further year to complete A Levels unless there are extenuating circumstances.

And of course you can apply for Medicine after Biomedical Science, it is quite a common route to take. :smile:

hope that helps a little.


Thanks for the reply.
and hrm I did some research and apparently there's alot of people taking that route (Biomedical -> Medicine)
so the competition is really great?

yeah I might get AAB but the B would be in Biology, isn't that quite a bad thing? I dunno.
and plus I have only got a C in GCSE English
(2nd time resit, oh god. lol)
I've never realised how important GCSE English is until like year 12 =/
*sigh*

When schools say they accept resits, that applies to the resits taken within the 2 years time, right?