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

Currently doing my AS levels, does it matter if I do badly in one of them? (happens to be the one I'm dropping as well)

Yes. A lot of universities require a fourth AS to be at least a B and some ask for a C. Some universities don't have a requirement for a fourth AS in which case it wouldn't matter. However by getting a bad grade, you narrow your choices of where you can apply.

Reply 8041

Domxmb

2

In year 12 at the moment and my application isn't that good from what people tell me:

2* 6 a at gcse
will get a's at bio/chem/phys/math

but even more lacking my work exp/extra curriculars:

By time application is sent off:
-1 week shadowing hospital in multiple departments (orthopedic, trauma, gynacology/obstetrics, cardiology, medicine)
-10 months volunteering at british heart foundation.
-On personal statement it might mention that i will start volunteering at care home as she turns 18 in late 2012 and the care homes here require 18+ of age.
-For arguements sake say a decent Ukcat 650-720
-Done silver Duke of edinburgh
-Swims/runs/plays guitar as hobbies

Would it be advantageous that many departments will be visited on work experience?

Here's the problem with getting any decent work experience/volunteering

EVERYTHING, I mean EVERYTHING around here that is anything related to care you need to be 18+ for anything around me (within an hour on a bus). I did do a week (full day) working with disabled people in a factory where they work but someone told me that won't help much so I won't do more of it :/..

Called 30+ GP offices and no luck. Checked other hospitals no luck within an hour from me...

What would you do in my situation? I'm afraid I have no shot at getting in when I apply in October this year. Do you guys have any idea on what to do compensate for the no care stuff or what?

Reply 8042

mel608

Honestly, coming from a succesful medicine applicant, you can stop worrying. When i applied I didn't have an amazing amount of work experience- I'd had a work experience placement at a hospital on a rehabilitation ward, but the placements are only 2 days, I had spent an hour each week over 2 months working with disabled students, I'd recently started volunteering at a hospice for a couple of hours a week, and I'd volunteered with my local rainbow and brownie group for a year. I had a second hospital placement at the end of october so i wrote that into my personal statement and spoke about it at interview. So not a great deal by any length, but i managed to get 3 interviews and 3 offers. It's not so much about the amount of work exp/ volunteering but what you draw from it, and how you are able to reflect on what you experienced.

Your grades are good enough at GCSE at least, practice for the UKCAT and revise hard to get your AS and A2 grades. As far as work experience goes, i think it would be good to show that you've seen the 'less glamorous' side of medicine. I know you say you've not been able to volunteer at a care home, but they may allow a short work exp placement which is better than nothing. Or perhaps a nearby hospice will let you volunteer? I would say to continue with the disabled people in the factory- any contact with disabilities and people is good for medicine applications. I think my extra-curriculars may have contributed to my interviews, as well as being able to reflect on work exp and volunteering, so try show roles of responsibility e.g. applying for head boy/ girl etc, and ways in which you've demonstrated problem solving, teamwork, communication etc.

More than anything show your motivation, enthusiasm and commitment for studying medicine, as this is what they want.

Reply 8043

purplefrog

18

Original post by Domxmb

In year 12 at the moment and my application isn't that good from what people tell me:

2* 6 a at gcse
will get a's at bio/chem/phys/math

but even more lacking my work exp/extra curriculars:

Getting all As at AS will certainly help your application. And there are many medical schools which don't do A* counts.

By time application is sent off:
-1 week shadowing hospital in multiple departments (orthopedic, trauma, gynacology/obstetrics, cardiology, medicine)
-10 months volunteering at british heart foundation.
-On personal statement it might mention that i will start volunteering at care home as she turns 18 in late 2012 and the care homes here require 18+ of age.
-For arguements sake say a decent Ukcat 650-720
-Done silver Duke of edinburgh
-Swims/runs/plays guitar as hobbies

I take it you're not entirely writing about yourself? :rolleyes:

a high UKCAT score will only help
It is not so much the quantity of stuff you do but the QUALITY of your REFLECTIONS upon it. Though anything done in the long term help show perseverance.

Would it be advantageous that many departments will be visited on work experience?

No. Doing it in lots of departments by itself will not boost your application. However depending on your spin in reflections, it might cast a positive light upon it. However, your reflections might also hinder the work experience you've done too.

Here's the problem with getting any decent work experience/volunteering

EVERYTHING, I mean EVERYTHING around here that is anything related to care you need to be 18+ for anything around me (within an hour on a bus). I did do a week (full day) working with disabled people in a factory where they work but someone told me that won't help much so I won't do more of it :/..

Called 30+ GP offices and no luck. Checked other hospitals no luck within an hour from me...

The factory would have helped, anything that involves interpersonal relationships and a vaguely caring role/role of trust can help show suitability and give you insights into medicine. It doesn't have to be clinically situated.

What would you do in my situation? I'm afraid I have no shot at getting in when I apply in October this year. Do you guys have any idea on what to do compensate for the no care stuff or what?

If you do your work experience, focus hard your on your personal statement and UKCAT and avoid unis that count A*s at GCSE, you could be within a shot. Obviously there are so many variables at play here, so its impossible to say how strong your application is until October once all of these have been finalised, along with your AS results.

Reply 8044

HopefulMedic#1

Hi,
I have received no offers for medicine this year and I am currently holding an offer for biomedical science. I have 'firmed' it already and will soon apply for accommodation etc...
The offer is AAB. I plan to take a gap year if I receive AAA to reapply for medicine. On results day, is it possible (if I receive AAA) to cancel my contract with the uni, even though I firmed it?

Thanks

Reply 8045

Domxmb

2

Thanks guys who posted really appreciate it. If anyone has anything else to say I'd greatly appreciate it as well.

Reply 8046

dinrah04

10

I am still in Year 10, but as I wish to study medicine would a D in my Citizenship ruin my chances greatly, I mean I could get it up to a C in the exam. It's only worth half a GCSE and I'm not exactly failing anything else but would this greatly ruin my chances in the future?

Reply 8047

myyrh

9

Original post by dinrah04

I am still in Year 10, but as I wish to study medicine would a D in my Citizenship ruin my chances greatly, I mean I could get it up to a C in the exam. It's only worth half a GCSE and I'm not exactly failing anything else but would this greatly ruin my chances in the future?

Nope.

Reply 8048

dinrah04

10

Original post by myyrh

Nope.

Aha cheers, so with good A level grades and decent GCSE's will be places that will accept offers despite maybe a few possible C's or B's or just not a string of A*s? I mean I'm good enough at English, Maths, Sciences but I'm not entirely sure about Engineering or French? They're not exactly relevant so will it make much difference?

Reply 8049

myyrh

9

Original post by dinrah04

Aha cheers, so with good A level grades and decent GCSE's will be places that will accept offers despite maybe a few possible C's or B's or just not a string of A*s? I mean I'm good enough at English, Maths, Sciences but I'm not entirely sure about Engineering or French? They're not exactly relevant so will it make much difference?

It would depend on where you applied :smile:

Some medical schools do want a fair amount of A*s or As whilst others only care about the Maths, English and Sciences. The Engineering and French shouldn't matter as long as the rest are good. I had a C in French and it didn't really matter.

Reply 8050

Thracia

Remember, work experience doesn't have to be hospital or even healthcare based. I spent, as part of my gap year, a lot of time at a preschool for children with Autism. It may not have been strictly medical, but it showed commitment and I took a lot away from it.

Work experience isn't about spending a vast amount of time in a healthcare setting, it's more introspective and about what you can learn from it. Think, what have you learned from the factory? If you enjoyed it, I'd recommend continuing - especially if you have time in the summer.

Reply 8051

AkDo

11

Original post by Blast Tyrant

So,

I'm currently in year 11 at school, just about to do my summer exams etc. and lately I've really been thinking about applying to medical school. I understand that it's one of (if not) the hardest degrees to get into, in any university that has the course.

And so I've done a lot of research, checked a lot of university websites, read a lot of forums etc., but I swear I cannot get a straight or even remotely definitive answer from anywhere. Some things I see say you need about 8 A* GCSE grades to even be considered, and some will say the figure is more lenient dependant on extra-curricular activites.

Now, it's not that I can't achieve A*s in school, but I mean anything beyond 5 A*s will be a godsend for me. I thought people on here might be able to help me straighten this out so I'm just gonna throw everything down and ask for anyone's help, because I have just not found any at all (our careers advisors are absolutely crap).

Currently, I'm studying (and predicted):

Literature: A
Language: A
History: A
Biology: A*
Physics: A (likely A*)
Chemistry: (possibly A*)
Maths: A*
French: A*
Music: A (possibly A*)
AQA Higher Project Qualification: A*
And I know the majority of universities don't recognise it, but I'm doing the Critical Thinking AS this year and have an A prediction.

A levels: I know Chemistry is usually compulsory and Biology is preferred, and also that apparently Maths looks good with those two. My problem lies with my fourth option. I'm stuck between something completely non-sciency such as Music or French, or to stick with the science side and take Physics. I'll also be doing the Critical Thinking A2 in year 12.

I think the thing that I'm interested the most in though is the consideration taken into extra-curricular activities.

- I'm considering doing a night's worth of volunteer work every week at my local care home.
- I play drums which I'm hoping to have at grade 8 by the time I apply for university.
- I'm wanting to play possibly another instrument to really any grade I could as well as drums.
- I used to be involved in a lot of sport such as playing Rugby for the school for four years, and also table tennis when I played at regional standard and came 3rd in the national school team finals with some friends a few years ago.

I know I've basically just explained my life in that whole post, but really, any sort of feedback on how I could possibly do anything to maximise my chances of getting into medical school would be greatly appreciated. Even suggesting which is the best combination of A levels to take or other things I could do in spare time would help me loads.

Oh and also, can anyone fill me in on UKCAT tests please? I know that they can be regarded highly and, as yet, I haven't looked to much into them.

Thank you! :smile:

Hiya

I know how difficult it is to get straight answers so I'll try and give you the most honest answers I can give but unfortunately things change year to year and every university is slightly different. That's why you've been experiencing different people telling you different things. Rest assured what I tell you is pretty much accurate. I suggest reading around on my blog too and asking as many as a billion questions if need be, I'll help =)

Let's skim through everything. First you need predicted grades of AAB or higher to even think of applying at A level. You're much better off with AAA because that opens up to you applying to ALL the universities that offer medicine and not just the select few that allow AAB applicants. For a detailed analysis I suggest reading this. But that's up to you, here's the information any way. Not a single university to my knowledge requires you to have maths but a few require Chemistry and Biology. You definitely need to take Chemistry so that you can at least apply to most. I would really suggest taking Biology. The last two are up to you. Personally I took Maths and French because I loved them and still do. I even took them to A2 because I loved them but it was a lot of effort and 4A levels do NOT help you in any way. Basically take ANYTHING you think you're good at and love because at the end of the day you need to do well, but Bio and Chem have to be two of your options.

Now to GCSEs. Birmingham asks for 8A*s (or it might be now at 9 - can't remember so do check that up). Basically most universities use a combination of UKCAT and GCSEs or BMAT and GCSEs to work out which candidates to interview. This is on the basis that all the candidates have done the relevant work experience (a week in a hospital or GP etc. is fine and more than enough - it's what you learn about patient care not the cool medical jargon that's important! i.e. ethics, empathy and holistic care etc.) and have met the above A level requirements. Some universities give you a score for how many A*s you have and add that to a score for BMAT/UKCAT and interview according to that. Others have a cut off for UKCAT/BMAT and a separate cut off for GCSE A*s and whoever is higher gets an interview. These cut offs vary year to year so look around to find them. But basically if you do well in the UKCAT or BMAT you'll be fine despite not having good GCSEs and vice versa. Some universities don't look at UKCAT or BMAT (like b'ham, leicester and one other I think). The BMAT unis are UCL, Imperial and Oxbridge (Cambridge + Oxford). The rest are all UKCAT universities. The UKCAT is an exam which includes various tests - I'd suggest going on the Kaplan course for it because they really helped me but they're expensive so you can just buy the books - 600 questions UKCAT book. Amazon it. For BMAT there's a wide range of books available too - this exam is different, not on a computer, includes science and has an essay section are some of the differences.

You already have way more than the "needed" extracurricular activities just from that list. You need to write about the skills you developed from these ECA's and NOT just write a list. That's for the personal statement. Just work on maximising your grades and doing the work experience, if you get all that then add the voluntary work to as much as you can do whilst preparing for the UKCAT and BMAT as early as possible because they're usually the source of downfall for candidates.

Okay that essay was MASSIVE and I really should get back to my exam revision. However I really hoped I helped you and others. If you've got any questions just let me know and check out the link in my signature also (if you want). If you need anything ask questions there (preferably - quicker response time) or here and I'll get back to you as soon as =D Wish you a hell of a lot of luck!

Reply 8052

llessur123

9

I have A*AAAAAABB in my GCSE's, the B's are in Maths and English Literature. I recently achieved some good module results in Biology and ICT. I'm also doing History, which is fine.

The thing is, I have a Chemistry module coming up and not to beat around the bush, I'm ****ed. Lets say I manage to get a B in Chemistry. If I achieve AAAB in my AS levels and manage to get an A predicted in Chemistry, do I still have a chance? I tried looking at websites and they are all quite ambiguous about it. If I'm predicted to achieve A*A*A*A in my A2s, but have AAAB in my AS, do I have a chance?

I'm going to try and work hard for Chemistry but it's not looking great at the minute. I guess I'm just trying to get options. I recently booked my UKCAT and stapled the receipt to my wall to try and give me some motivation haha :tongue:

Thanks!

Reply 8053

myyrh

9

Original post by llessur123

I have A*AAAAAABB in my GCSE's, the B's are in Maths and English Literature. I recently achieved some good module results in Biology and ICT. I'm also doing History, which is fine.

The thing is, I have a Chemistry module coming up and not to beat around the bush, I'm ****ed. Lets say I manage to get a B in Chemistry. If I achieve AAAB in my AS levels and manage to get an A predicted in Chemistry, do I still have a chance? I tried looking at websites and they are all quite ambiguous about it. If I'm predicted to achieve A*A*A*A in my A2s, but have AAAB in my AS, do I have a chance?

I'm going to try and work hard for Chemistry but it's not looking great at the minute. I guess I'm just trying to get options. I recently booked my UKCAT and stapled the receipt to my wall to try and give me some motivation haha :tongue:

Thanks!

Yes you do still have a chance. AS grades aren't actually used by some medical schools when it comes to viewing academics. Predictions are more important. Some medical school actually only ask for Chemistry at AS to be at a grade B so it really isn't the end of the world if you get a B. However you would really need to try and bring the grade up because A2 is a lot harder and you do need to meet the AAA target. Can I ask why you are taking all four of your subjects to A2?

Reply 8054

llessur123

9

Original post by myyrh

Yes you do still have a chance. AS grades aren't actually used by some medical schools when it comes to viewing academics. Predictions are more important. Some medical school actually only ask for Chemistry at AS to be at a grade B so it really isn't the end of the world if you get a B. However you would really need to try and bring the grade up because A2 is a lot harder and you do need to meet the AAA target. Can I ask why you are taking all four of your subjects to A2?

It's not that I'm bad at Chemistry, I just underestimated how much I needed to learn and now I don't think there is enough time. I think I could get an A at A2 if I worked hard enough. I need to keep on Chemistry and Biology, I don't want to drop ICT because I'm confident I'll get an A* in it and that would be a waste, I don't want to drop History because then I'll only have two academic subjects at A2! So I'm just going to keep them all on :smile:

Reply 8055

myyrh

9

Original post by llessur123

It's not that I'm bad at Chemistry, I just underestimated how much I needed to learn and now I don't think there is enough time. I think I could get an A at A2 if I worked hard enough. I need to keep on Chemistry and Biology, I don't want to drop ICT because I'm confident I'll get an A* in it and that would be a waste, I don't want to drop History because then I'll only have two academic subjects at A2! So I'm just going to keep them all on :smile:

It's just you don't want to find yourself in a position in which you may find the pressure of 4 A levels to be too much and risk dropping a grade in one. However I suppose you know your own abilities far better than anyone else :smile:

You do know that you get pretty much no advantage in taking four subjects (with the exception of Barts) Also I can't see why ICT isn't an academic subject :s-smilie:

ICT, Chemistry and Biology as A levels is sufficient for pretty much all medical school A level requirements.

Reply 8056

llessur123

9

Original post by myyrh

It's just you don't want to find yourself in a position in which you may find the pressure of 4 A levels to be too much and risk dropping a grade in one. However I suppose you know your own abilities far better than anyone else :smile:

You do know that you get pretty much no advantage in taking four subjects (with the exception of Barts) Also I can't see why ICT isn't an academic subject :s-smilie:

ICT, Chemistry and Biology as A levels is sufficient for pretty much all medical school A level requirements.

I'm quite interested in Barts so that's another reason. ICT is seen as "soft" and I'm worried it would disadvantage my application with my relatively weak GCSE's, so I'd just feel more comfortable with 4 :smile:

Reply 8057

Penguinsaysquack

16

Original post by llessur123

I'm quite interested in Barts so that's another reason. ICT is seen as "soft" and I'm worried it would disadvantage my application with my relatively weak GCSE's, so I'd just feel more comfortable with 4 :smile:

Glad to see someone interested in BL, it's an amazing place to study so let me know if you can't find something out from your research.. so long as you've done your research :smile:

I wouldn't personally think that ICT is seen as a soft A level, but each to their own I guess.

If you're interested in applying to BL then it's a good idea to do 4 A levels, especially if it'll make you feel more comfortable :yep:

Reply 8058

Vulpes

15

Original post by Penguinsaysquack

Glad to see someone interested in BL, it's an amazing place to study so let me know if you can't find something out from your research.. so long as you've done your research :smile:

I wouldn't personally think that ICT is seen as a soft A level, but each to their own I guess.

If you're interested in applying to BL then it's a good idea to do 4 A levels, especially if it'll make you feel more comfortable :yep: