[Thorax]

Pretty sure your GCSEs aren't good enough for Bristol. Not sure about the others.

[myyrh]

(Original post by dartsqueen16)
great i am thinking about applying to these unis bristol, exeter, southampton, brighton and sussex med school, hull/york med school and possibly sheffield going to look round them soon

Exeter- Select applicants for interview based on UKCAT and predicted grades so try and aim for a relatively high UKCAT to be clear of their cut-off
Southampton- Extremely competitive because of the number of applicants and the fact that they don't interview. Personal statement and reference must be top notch.
Bristol- Also heavily oversubscribed partly because they don't use the UKCAT. They are also quite personal statement heavy. GCSEs may not be as competitive as other applicants.
Sheffield-Normally place a lot of importance on UKCAT and operate a high cut-off however it had less emphasis this year.
BSMS- Your GCSEs may not get you as high academic score as other applicants, they also put quite a bit of weight on personal statement too.
No idea about HYMS sorry.

[parentlurker]

don't wish to be unkind but you'll need to up your game a lot. You have to be predicted 3 A grades but the med school will also look at how likely they think those predictions are to be right. They know more predictions are too high than too low.

Rather than a charity shop you should look for work in a nursing home. Any job is well regarded but so is showing that you can cope with the less glamourous side of medicine.

Some unis, like Birmingham and Nottingham, like a lot of A*s at GSCE.

Unless you are 100% sure this is what you want I'd suggest you consider other subjects to study. If you must apply work hard at the UKCAT and study the medicine wiki here for where to apply.

[dartsqueen16]

thanks what sort of things from the info i have given you all should i include in PS and what sort of things should i highlight and (bristol want 5A* or 5A)
which universities out of my choosen ones do you think are the best to go for and i reallly like bristol and exeter

[dartsqueen16]

well i am going to get experience in possibly two local nursing homes. this is deffo something i want to do i can see me retaking a lot of units in january and next summer to achieve my 3A's would some of the still except if i had predicted grades AAA but got AAB for example?

[thegodofgod]

(Original post by Sophie1716)
I've just finished all my AS exams in Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and Maths. I think I may have only achieved a B in Biology and Physics. If this ends up being true, I'm going to retake the summer modules in January. If I do this should I wait to apply to medical school until I have my full A-Level grades? Or is it predicted grades and not your AS grades that universities take most into consideration? I think my teachers will predict me AAA. Could someone please give me some advice? Thank you.

As myyrh said above, predicted grades are more important than AS grades.

If you will be predicted at least AAA, you should consider applying this year (for 2013 entry), although stay clear of institutions such as Cambridge and Birmingham, where they do look at your UMS scores / AS grades

[myyrh]

(Original post by dartsqueen16)
thanks what sort of things from the info i have given you all should i include in PS and what sort of things should i highlight and (bristol want 5A* or 5A)
which universities out of my choosen ones do you think are the best to go for and i reallly like bristol and exeter

Well when it comes to what to include, most of your personal statement is going to be about your work/voluntary experience and how you reflect on that in relation to your insight of the profession. Your extra curriculars should show that you have attributes which make you more suited to medicine (e.g. teamwork, leadership) also it's an opportunity for admission tutors to see what else you have going for yourself other than studying. It's really up to you. I would definitely consider Exeter provided your UKCAT score is around 650+ (645 would be cutting it fine). I wouldn't bother with Bristol unless your personal statement is absolutely fantastic.

[myyrh]

(Original post by dartsqueen16)
well i am going to get experience in possibly two local nursing homes. this is deffo something i want to do i can see me retaking a lot of units in january and next summer to achieve my 3A's would some of the still except if i had predicted grades AAA but got AAB for example?

If you got AAB at AS that would be fine so you could resit your AS modules in your A2 year. However the minimum requirement at A2 will be AAA so you must achieve that by the end of A2.

[dartsqueen16]

okay would it be okay if i personal messaged you when i have wrote my PS just so i sort of know what i need to work on add or delete. not sure weather i will get AAB in AS though because of my maths which i felt i didn't do well in but i will plan on resitting modules that are c and even low B. my maths stats was really close to an A same with my biology (like 2 marks of an A) which i don't really see the point on retaking those when they are so close to an A. and in chemistry all my practical marks were sort of average around 8,9 out of 12 which i know i can pull up if i redo them.

[myyrh]

(Original post by dartsqueen16)
okay would it be okay if i personal messaged you when i have wrote my PS just so i sort of know what i need to work on add or delete. not sure weather i will get AAB in AS though because of my maths which i felt i didn't do well in but i will plan on resitting modules that are c and even low B. my maths stats was really close to an A same with my biology (like 2 marks of an A) which i don't really see the point on retaking those when they are so close to an A. and in chemistry all my practical marks were sort of average around 8,9 out of 12 which i know i can pull up if i redo them.

Don't personal message anyone about your personal statement. It's too risky and it could get flagged by the UCAS plagiarism software. Get the TSR personal statement helpers to take a look at it once it's finished, there is a designated area for them and at least it'll be in safe hands. If I was you I would resit the modules which are low As too if you're confident you can achieve much higher. The UMS is more important than the actual grade itself when it comes to individual modules. Also A2 is much harder so it's always nice to have a cushion of a few marks.

[dartsqueen16]

okay will do just hope now that the exams i have just sat are good or i will probs end up wanting to retake several exams which i don't really want to do.

[00raiser]

(Original post by AKKaur)
Hey. thank you for the reply! You've given me some good points to think about.

You said that i should do A level biology or chemistry or both, i won't be able to get in to the course until after my 2 years at sixth form (Because i'll be resitting sciences externally). Therefore do you think it will be worth me taking the 2 years to get those A Levels at a college after sixth form and then doing Biomed/Biochem then going for a graduate entry to medicine?

Hmmm... Depends on how much you want to go into medicine. Because if you add another two years in to the whole thing... You'll probably spend a total of 9 years of solid studying.

And yes, it's impossible to get into medicine without biology and chemistry (both at AS and at least one at A2, MINIMUM!!!)


00raiser

[digitalis]

(Original post by dartsqueen16)
for gcse's
eng lang-A
eng lit-A
maths-A
biology-A
chemistry-A
physics-A
geography-A
applied art-c
art and design-C
german-C
french-C
short course pe -D

for my as levels so far i am taking biology, chemistry, maths and environmental studies.
for my january exams i got...
biology-B( nearly A)
chemistry-C(going to retake jan 2013)
maths-B(nearly A)
environmental studies-C(possibly retaking next jan 2013)

for my second as exams i think my biology, chemistry, and environmental studies went well. but i think i really mucked up maths so may need to retake C1 and C2.

i know i definitely want to take on biology and chemistry at A2 but not sure what my third A2 will be yet. would prefer to take environmental studies than maths as i have found maths really hard this year.

i have no relevant work experience yet but i am sorting it and hopefully will get some in 1 or 2 local care homes and possibly some in hospital and or gp surgery.

other experience is that i have volunteered in a local sweet shop plus some paid work at the sweet shop too. i am looking to get a part time job waiteressing too.

hobbies include darts which i have played in world masters for wales as a youth player twice and been in the last 16 in the world of it too.

i have a young first aid certificate and looking to do a first aid course soon and i have done a sign language course.

hoping to do some volunteering in a local charity shop too possibly after application don't know yet only really so much i can do in time i have got.

what do you guys/girls think?

Considering you missed the Sticky: The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread Mk II .....................

[Democracy]

(Original post by a.partridge)
you think all of the schools are the same?

cambridge ucas 590 for first years
keele ucas 460

that's relatively weak for you - understand that? relative? too abstract? prefer to cram like a computer?

So, lower UCAS points upon entry = "weak medical school"?

That's not how higher education works

[dartsqueen16]

What sort of things wuld prepare me for the ukcat test and interviews

[myyrh]

(Original post by dartsqueen16)
What sort of things wuld prepare me for the ukcat test and interviews

For the UKCAT get the 600Q book, also do the practice tests which you can download. For interviews, generally know your statement inside out, why you want to do medicine, current health related topics and you may want to brush up on medical ethics.

[a.partridge]

(Original post by Democracy)
So, lower UCAS points upon entry = "weak medical school"?

That's not how higher education works

yeah i'm sure the med students at cambridge are not academically more able than the med students at keele - that sounds like a reasonable assumption -.-

I really don't follow your 'reasoning' that all medical schools are exactly equivalent - this is probably because you have not actually provided any reason, merely arrogantly asserted it - I'm not impressed.

[Democracy]

(Original post by a.partridge)
yeah i'm sure the med students at cambridge are not academically more able than the med students at keele - that sounds like a reasonable assumption -.-

You're not a medical student/applicant, are you?

Stop changing your argument, you stated in very clear terms that there is a link between UCAS points on entry and whether or not a medical school is "weak". Which is fantastically simplistic and inherently flawed as you are treating institutes of tertiary education and research as if they were local secondary schools to be called "weak" or "strong" based on exam grades (of all things).

I really don't follow your 'reasoning' that all medical schools are exactly equivalent - this is probably because you have not actually provided any reason, merely arrogantly asserted it - I'm not impressed.

Whereas your snobbishness is very impressive

[Chief Wiggum]

(Original post by a.partridge)
yeah i'm sure the med students at cambridge are not academically more able than the med students at keele - that sounds like a reasonable assumption -.-

I really don't follow your 'reasoning' that all medical schools are exactly equivalent - this is probably because you have not actually provided any reason, merely arrogantly asserted it - I'm not impressed.

It depends how you're using the word "weak" though. To me, saying "weak medical school" implies its teaching is poor, which isn't really related to how strong its intake is.

I have no doubt that the Cambridge medics are more academically able than the Keele ones (I'll probably get negged into oblivion for that, but meh), but that doesn't make Keele a poor medical school.

[a.partridge]

(Original post by Democracy)
You're not a medical student/applicant, are you?

Stop changing your argument, you stated in very clear terms that there is a link between UCAS points on entry and whether or not a medical school is "weak". Which is fantastically simplistic and inherently flawed as you are treating institutes of tertiary education and research as if they were local secondary schools to be called "weak" or "strong" based on exam grades (of all things).



Whereas your snobbishness is very impressive

It's not snobbish for example if I was to say candidates with CCC were not as academic on average as those with BBB it would be telling the truth not snobbery -.-

The difficulty of the undergraduate course is obviously the factor that would determine whether somebody would be able to cope .... on the undergraduate course .... (understand?). The difficulty of the course is obviously lower at institutes with less able students entering, especially as relative position in the year is important.

Hence going to a school that is below the average difficulty would provide some mitigation to your academic suffering - and that is why I mentioned my friend found it hard even at such a place.

There it is in bite sized pieces for you.


And of course I don't do medicine - isn't it obvious from the fact that I gave an answer that wasn't just memorised from a textbook? I do physics