[moose5515]

(Original post by myyrh)
I don't think Manchester pay much attention to them because I know a few people who got interviews there with Bs at AS chemistry. Sheffield normally select applicants based on meeting their GCSE cutoff, UKCAT and personal statement. No idea about Nottingham sorry.

thanks manchester was the main one.

[nicecookie]

(Original post by myyrh)
Well A level predictions are normally solely based on your AS grades and maybe how you have worked throughout the year, GCSE grades should not really influence them. What are your GCSE grades like? depending on the university, they do play quite a big part when it comes to applying. You should try to secure some volunteering as it's never really too late but remember if worse comes to worst make do with what you have. It's way more important to reflect on your experiences (quality over quantity). If you get the required predictions you should apply because you have nothing to lose. If it doesn't work out you can always take a gap year and reapply if you're still interested in getting into medicine.

my gcse are 5a*, 5a, 1b (one of the a* is chinese which is my first lang and the b is english lit)

teachers in my school uses the ALIS system and the system uses your gcse results to predict your grades
the ALIS system predicted me to get BBBB
i'm just worried they will give me poor predictions based on the ALIS grades and my poor mock grades (which i didn't revise for)

also i've been trying to apply to be a volunteer in a centre but the person who responsible is away for annual leave and won't be back until 21st june...
but if i managed to get the volunteer placement and start volunteering in july, do you think that will be okay as long as i can reflect on it?

sorry if all this doesn't make sense and thanks for your help

[myyrh]

(Original post by nicecookie)
my gcse are 5a*, 5a, 1b (one of the a* is chinese which is my first lang and the b is english lit)

teachers in my school uses the ALIS system and the system uses your gcse results to predict your grades
the ALIS system predicted me to get BBBB
i'm just worried they will give me poor predictions based on the ALIS grades and my poor mock grades (which i didn't revise for)

also i've been trying to apply to be a volunteer in a centre but the person who responsible is away for annual leave and won't be back until 21st june...
but if i managed to get the volunteer placement and start volunteering in july, do you think that will be okay as long as i can reflect on it?

sorry if all this doesn't make sense and thanks for your help

Are you an international student ? 5A*5As and a B are excellent GCSEs so I'm very surprised that you've been predicted BBBB at AS. Well if your AS grades aren't that impressive they could potentially base it on their little system they have going but normally they won't predict you a grade lower than what you achieved at AS. Predictions are down to the teachers so try and persuade them if your AS's don't go to plan.
Perfectly fine to start in July, still gives you ample time to gain some experience and you can always write it's ongoing in your personal statement so the admission tutors are aware.

[nicecookie]

(Original post by myyrh)
Are you an international student ? 5A*5As and a B are excellent GCSEs so I'm very surprised that you've been predicted BBBB at AS. Well if your AS grades aren't that impressive they could potentially base it on their little system they have going but normally they won't predict you a grade lower than what you achieved at AS. Predictions are down to the teachers so try and persuade them if your AS's don't go to plan.
Perfectly fine to start in July, still gives you ample time to gain some experience and you can always write it's ongoing in your personal statement so the admission tutors are aware.

no, i was born in the UK but i study chinese in chinese school
compared to other potential medic applicants in my school, my gcse doesn't seem excellent...

okay, just need to wait for that person to come back and hopefully start volunteering in july
i will work extremely hard from now on and i'll try my best to convince teachers to give me AAA predictions

i'm also doing YASS course and DofE Gold. possibly the EPQ as well.
would it be a good thing to mention these things in the PS if i can reflect on it?

also how important is extra curricular activities?
i don't do much sports
all i do is play the piano and learning chinese and japanese
would this be okay as well?

thanks

[myyrh]

(Original post by nicecookie)
no, i was born in the UK but i study chinese in chinese school
compared to other potential medic applicants in my school, my gcse doesn't seem excellent...

okay, just need to wait for that person to come back and hopefully start volunteering in july
i will work extremely hard from now on and i'll try my best to convince teachers to give me AAA predictions

i'm also doing YASS course and DofE Gold. possibly the EPQ as well.
would it be a good thing to mention these things in the PS if i can reflect on it?

also how important is extra curricular activities?
i don't do much sports
all i do is play the piano and learning chinese and japanese
would this be okay as well?

thanks

They're quite important. It's a chance for you to show the admission tutors how well rounded you are that you're not just some sort of lifeless academic machine. It's also a great opportunity to highlight your skills and attributes which are essential in medicine e.g teamwork. DofE should definitely be mentioned in your personal statement and since you're doing Gold I'm sure you have plenty of experiences you could put in.

[nicecookie]

(Original post by myyrh)
They're quite important. It's a chance for you to show the admission tutors how well rounded you are that you're not just some sort of lifeless academic machine. It's also a great opportunity to highlight your skills and attributes which are essential in medicine e.g teamwork. DofE should definitely be mentioned in your personal statement and since you're doing Gold I'm sure you have plenty of experiences you could put in.

thank you so much for your advice! i feel so much reassured and i know what to do now

[TheGuy117]

I'm the batman, i applied to medicine but the universities i applied to still haven't got back to me (Oxford, Camebridge, Imperial, UCL and Durham) (After explaining to UCAS that i was indeed batman, they let me apply to 5 universities, including Oxford AND Camebridge)...how long will they be?

[Stephen95burrows95]

(Original post by CraigKirk)
To add to what myyrh suggests, which I believe is the better option, if all goes utterly terribly during AS results day and you are uncomfortable with taking all your AS modules again as well as your A2 modules in one year, then you should be able to resit your AS year altogether. Following this, come applying time, you may be allowed to claim extenuating circumstances so that you are not penalised for taking your studies over three years.

If you take this option, be sure to email the universities that you are interested in applying to before submitting your application. This is because different universities may have different degrees of leniency considering the mentioned deaths happened at the start of the first AS year - not during exam season. Furthermore, ensure that your referee discusses your extenuating circumstances in your UCAS reference.

EDIT: To clarify on the significance of your losses, if it affected you quite a lot, then it should be suitably significant. The universities can't know how much you cared about your great, great aunt or grandparent as they don't know you by person. Although I'm not at all suggesting that this is the case, I believe that since the universities can't be too intrusive about your feelings about the matter, you could effectively milk it even if you weren't that affected by the deaths. To reiterate, I'm not suggesting that this is how you really feel - I'm simply saying that your circumstances should be 'significant' enough.

thanks for the advice but that seems way too risky tbh, I think the gap year sounds more doable because I don't think I've done bad in all my exams, just a couple so I think I'll manage the resits

[zaraasker]

can you only apply to one of cambridge or oxford? this may have already been asked and sorry if it is!

[myyrh]

(Original post by zaraasker)
can you only apply to one of cambridge or oxford? this may have already been asked and sorry if it is!

Yeah you can't apply to both.

[monica95]

Can you properly settle down with a family while still being a doctor? As well as settle down at the average-ish age of around 30?

[TheGuy117]

(Original post by myyrh)
Yeah you can't apply to both.

Well i can because i am batman so i get special treatment because i am the best in the world, saving Gotham city and all so yh, HAHAHAHAHA i get to apply to both and you don't!

[Xiomara]

I'm sure you've all heard this before but I'll ask again (sorry)
Do I stand a chance of getting into Cambridge (for Medicine, obviously) with really below (Cambridge standard, anyway) average GCSE grades? 3A*, 5As, 3 Bs and a C? Worth retaking two of the As in January?

In January, I got an A in Chemistry, though only 80 UMS, and have retaken the other two in June. Haven't got results back yet, feel the exams went reasonably well overall but who knows if that's top UMS well? Plus my ISA marks will drag everything down as they weren't great, all averaging at around 38/39 out of 50.

What should I do? We all know that you only get 4 spaces for a medical school and at this point it seems like Cambridge is a bit of a lost cause, should I just not bother applying? My one saving grace (ish) is that I've published a book and am in the process of publishing another, but that's not really related to medicine is it?

If you've read all of this, thanks. Let me know what you think.

[foldingstars45]

(Original post by Xiomara)
I'm sure you've all heard this before but I'll ask again (sorry)
Do I stand a chance of getting into Cambridge (for Medicine, obviously) with really below (Cambridge standard, anyway) average GCSE grades? 3A*, 5As, 3 Bs and a C? Worth retaking two of the As in January?

In January, I got an A in Chemistry, though only 80 UMS, and have retaken the other two in June. Haven't got results back yet, feel the exams went reasonably well overall but who knows if that's top UMS well? Plus my ISA marks will drag everything down as they weren't great, all averaging at around 38/39 out of 50.

What should I do? We all know that you only get 4 spaces for a medical school and at this point it seems like Cambridge is a bit of a lost cause, should I just not bother applying? My one saving grace (ish) is that I've published a book and am in the process of publishing another, but that's not really related to medicine is it?

If you've read all of this, thanks. Let me know what you think.

Firstly, it's so impressive that you've published a book! Whichever unis you apply to will love that - make sure you mention it in your personal statement!!

You don't have to put your UMS grades onto UCAS, so if you just get an A grade, they don't have to know. An A grade is an A grade -whether it be a low A or high A.

My advice - personally, I wouldn't apply to Cambridge. I wouldn't even apply with my GCSE grades and they are only slightly better than yours. Cambridge folks generally tend to have something like 582728286 A* grades.

Do you really want to go to Cambridge though? Because (IN MY OPINION ONLY) their Medicine course definitely does not look the best. Isn't it something like you don't even get to go into a hospital until your fourth year?? I would find that kinda sucky tbh. I know a degree from Cambridge looks amazing, but a degree in Medicine looks pretty dandy wherever you get it from!

Hope this advice helps, and good luck in your UCAS app!

[CraigKirk]

(Original post by Xiomara)
I'm sure you've all heard this before but I'll ask again (sorry)
Do I stand a chance of getting into Cambridge (for Medicine, obviously) with really below (Cambridge standard, anyway) average GCSE grades? 3A*, 5As, 3 Bs and a C? Worth retaking two of the As in January?

In January, I got an A in Chemistry, though only 80 UMS, and have retaken the other two in June. Haven't got results back yet, feel the exams went reasonably well overall but who knows if that's top UMS well? Plus my ISA marks will drag everything down as they weren't great, all averaging at around 38/39 out of 50.

What should I do? We all know that you only get 4 spaces for a medical school and at this point it seems like Cambridge is a bit of a lost cause, should I just not bother applying? My one saving grace (ish) is that I've published a book and am in the process of publishing another, but that's not really related to medicine is it?

If you've read all of this, thanks. Let me know what you think.

In my understanding, I don't think Cambridge place too much emphasis on GCSE grades. They're more interested in your UMS, as you seem to realise.

As long as you get high UMS (preferably in the high nineties, ideally >94% as this is something like their average among applicants to medicine), and a reasonably good BMAT score, you'll gain an interview. Having published a book will be a good thing to mention in the PS, although I believe that Cambridge are generally far more interested in your grades and general intelligence for anyone's exceptional achievement of climbing Mount Everest to matter.

They admit based on very high UMS, good BMAT, good interview performance, medical experience and then a fraction by extra-curriculars. They don't tend to look too much at ECs because everyone who goes there has done everything!

E: If I haven't made it clear, I think it's worth applying only if your UMS scores on results day are at least 90%+, unless you're eligible for CSAS.

[CraigKirk]

(Original post by foldingstars45)
Firstly, it's so impressive that you've published a book! Whichever unis you apply to will love that - make sure you mention it in your personal statement!!

You don't have to put your UMS grades onto UCAS, so if you just get an A grade, they don't have to know. An A grade is an A grade -whether it be a low A or high A.

My advice - personally, I wouldn't apply to Cambridge. I wouldn't even apply with my GCSE grades and they are only slightly better than yours. Cambridge folks generally tend to have something like 582728286 A* grades.

Do you really want to go to Cambridge though? Because (IN MY OPINION ONLY) their Medicine course definitely does not look the best. Isn't it something like you don't even get to go into a hospital until your fourth year?? I would find that kinda sucky tbh. I know a degree from Cambridge looks amazing, but a degree in Medicine looks pretty dandy wherever you get it from!

Hope this advice helps, and good luck in your UCAS app!

Careful here: you do not put your UMS into UCAS. However, upon applying to Cambridge, applicants are required to complete the SAQ, which requires applicants' UMS to be entered.


Whilst this is true, I don't think they actually look much at your GCSE profile (this may differ by college - I'm not 100% sure on the policies of every college). Brilliant GCSEs are more of an Oxford thing, but then Oxford do not require UMS.

[Xiomara]

(Original post by foldingstars45)
Firstly, it's so impressive that you've published a book! Whichever unis you apply to will love that - make sure you mention it in your personal statement!!

You don't have to put your UMS grades onto UCAS, so if you just get an A grade, they don't have to know. An A grade is an A grade -whether it be a low A or high A.

My advice - personally, I wouldn't apply to Cambridge. I wouldn't even apply with my GCSE grades and they are only slightly better than yours. Cambridge folks generally tend to have something like 582728286 A* grades.

Do you really want to go to Cambridge though? Because (IN MY OPINION ONLY) their Medicine course definitely does not look the best. Isn't it something like you don't even get to go into a hospital until your fourth year?? I would find that kinda sucky tbh. I know a degree from Cambridge looks amazing, but a degree in Medicine looks pretty dandy wherever you get it from!

Hope this advice helps, and good luck in your UCAS app!

Haha, thank you. Will do
Yeah, I'm aware of the UMS thing on UCAS, I was mentioning specifically for Cambridge's benefit seeing as they send that form around which you must fill in, with your UMS marks on it. I mean low 80s doesn't really touch the 95+ average I've seen around the place, so yeah.

Thanks for your advice, yeah I'm beginning to feel that way. Because if it comes down to it and they'll really scrutinise my GCSEs, they really won't hold up.
Actually, it was less about the prestige and more about the fact that you don't have any patient contact for a while! For me, I like to focus strongly on one thing and then another - so on the acedemic side for the first few years, then on to the 'people' side. That's why the course appeals to me. But yes, thank you for your input, it's helping a lot.

(Original post by CraigKirk)
In my understanding, I don't think Cambridge place too much emphasis on GCSE grades. They're more interested in your UMS, as you seem to realise.

As long as you get high UMS (preferably in the high nineties, ideally >94% as this is something like their average among applicants to medicine), and a reasonably good BMAT score, you'll gain an interview. Having published a book will be a good thing to mention in the PS, although I believe that Cambridge are generally far more interested in your grades and general intelligence for anyone's exceptional achievement of climbing Mount Everest to matter.

They admit based on very high UMS, good BMAT, good interview performance, medical experience and then a fraction by extra-curriculars. They don't tend to look too much at ECs because everyone who goes there has done everything!

I was aware the Cambridge are much less interested than Oxford in terms of GCSEs but I assumed they were still interested, and since mine do seem to be really low my chances would be much lower? Idk. Do you think it's worth emailing an admissions tutor or something, maybe at a less competitive college?

I totally understand about the EC thing, obviously with such competition to get in everyone else will have done everything! I think I'll wait until results day, see what my UMS% is like and then rule it out, lol. Thank you both for your helpfulness!

EDIT: Whoops, hadn't seen your edit :P Sorry. Erm it's possible that some of my UMS may get that high, but I'm worried about Chemistry which, coupled with that low A in January, has a pooey ISA mark (36/50) and I didn't feel CHEM2 went particularly well, so hey. That might be the deciding factor ;(

[CraigKirk]

(Original post by Xiomara)
I was aware the Cambridge are much less interested than Oxford in terms of GCSEs but I assumed they were still interested, and since mine do seem to be really low my chances would be much lower? Idk. Do you think it's worth emailing an admissions tutor or something, maybe at a less competitive college?

I totally understand about the EC thing, obviously with such competition to get in everyone else will have done everything! I think I'll wait until results day, see what my UMS% is like and then rule it out, lol. Thank you both for your helpfulness!

EDIT: Whoops, hadn't seen your edit :P Sorry. Erm it's possible that some of my UMS may get that high, but I'm worried about Chemistry which, coupled with that low A in January, has a pooey ISA mark (36/50) and I didn't feel CHEM2 went particularly well, so hey. That might be the deciding factor ;(

It's totally worth sending many, many emails every medical school to clarify your chances of obtaining an offer there. You've probably picked up that I'd encourage it: this is the best way to get the clearest, most specific information.

[Xiomara]

(Original post by CraigKirk)
It's totally worth sending many, many emails every medical school to clarify your chances of obtaining an offer there. You've probably picked up that I'd encourage it: this is the best way to get the clearest, most specific information.

Right then, I'll do that. Thank you

[You_Just_Might]

Hope is not lost yet, you won't know for sure till results day. Even with a lower set of grades at AS, you can still enlighten your application by having a great PS, UKCAT, interview etc. If you're a keen medic there's no harm in applying this year but choose universities wisely (ie ones which don't look so much at AS levels eg Durham). As long as you can make their entry requirements of AAA you should at least stand a chance.


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