*MEGATHREAD* - The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread Mk II

Yes.




If it won't show up on an enhanced CRB check (which is what the medical school will do), and you don't have a criminal record then I'd say you'd be fine not mentioning it. I mean, they ask you to declare if you have a criminal record and it seems that you don't.

Now I don't know anything about the "contract" you signed, so don't take what I say to be correct.

To be honest I'm don't know if you should declare it, but if you did I doubt it would cause problems for you.

I welcome input from those with more knowledge/experience.

An ABC is a voluntary agreement which is not legally binding. It is not a criminal record or conviction so I doubt that you would have to declare it on any application as the question is likely to ask about convictions or a criminal record. Even an ASBO does not lead to a criminal record unless its terms are broken. If you are concerned then you have time to contact the Criminal Records Bureau yourself to reassure yourself.

Here is the main medicine page of the wiki, but there are lots more so just have a look around... http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medicine_at_University

Regarding UCAS points, FM would indeed give you more UCAS points, but medical schools don't make offers based on points (they are all grade-based) so it doesn't give you any advantage in that way either. Like I say, if it won't affect your other grades, do it, but I would recommend History instead myself.

The correct name is a "Acceptable behaviour contract", I just found now. Yeah, it's something voluntarily signed. I think I will email the Bureau as recommended thank you

I had something similar....basically I was with an older cousin who decided to nick some stuff and the security guy said I was part of it was well and was gonna do it etc....so I got banned from TX-maxx (not a great loss tbh)....but because no police were involved and it doesn't give me a criminal record...it won't show up (that is what the bureau said to me) and since mine is worse than yours....I doubt it'll come up

Wassit an ABC? And how do I contact the bureau? Email?

EDIT: The police were involved in my case :/

I have no idea what it was.....except that now I'm banned from TK-Maxx....pretty sure it wasn't an ABC (or at least as far as I know)

I'd say that as long as they didn't write anything down in a formal way....it shouldn't come up...

but go onto the bureau website and contact us

They must've changed their website, I can't find it. Sorry.

I haven't got my GCSEs yet, but in August I'm expecting:

4 A*s, 2 A's, 4 B's and a Distinction.

Are they fine for Medicine?

Yup.

Your results would be fine for most places
The thing that makes the biggest problem is the 1.5 D's
Or is that 1.5 distinctions in one of these weird gcse like courses

sing hallelujah and praise jebus!!!!

erm, are saying that I should pray or something?

There's no reason why you can't get into medicine with those grades. But you need to look carefully at the schools you apply to, avoiding those which emphasise excellent GCSE grades.

You can find a lot of information on medical school entry requirements here.

Even the Ds will not be a problem if you apply sensibly. Many schools only rank the top "n" GSCEs anyway.


A much bigger problem will be if you have no (or insufficient) work experience or non-academic achievements/interests/merits to speak about.

If you're at the end of your AS year now, and you haven't already done work experience/extracurricular stuff - it is still worth a try this year, but you are likely to fail.
However, if you start work experience asap, and get AAA at A-level, there's nothing to prevent you applying successfully after your A-level year (having a year out to do this).

Your situation is certainly not hopeless.

My GCSE results where as follows: 2 A*s, 9 As AND 1.5 Ds.

Now I moved to this country when I was 12 - started half-way through year 8 in a normal secondary-school. I missed two years of education, because of my birth date. prior to moving here i had minimal English knowledge-i knew how to introduce myself that's about it (and English is my third language).

Anyway, after moving here, I had to learn English (and French since it was compulsory). I had to self-teach everything i missed since i missed the start of year eight and two school years, because the school system here is different to the one in my country. So my grades where really bad until the end of year nine, since that's where my English improved. Because of all of this my predicted GCSE grades where really bad and teachers didn't really encourage me or think I could get good grades. Also during my GCSE exams, my brother was in hospital seriously ill. Because of all of this my grades suffered and I only got 2 A*s.
(I'm not trying to find an excuse for my not so astounding grades and I know that they're good, but the question is are they good enough? :P)

Medicine has always been my passion and that's the only profession I can see myself being in. As for my A-Level grades I think I might get As in Chemistry and Biology and German (native language), however I didn't do so well in Maths and English Lit, since I suffer from insomnia and perhaps anaemia(have to get that tested) - I'll probably get a B or a C in the worst-case scenario.

So if I get good Bmat results would I have a realistic chance? Give me your honest opinion!