[AspiringGenius]

(Original post by Sarcastic_Sazza)
This is not exactly a question of 'Am I good enough?' as I am applying to Medicine either which way.
But I'm just airing a concern.
In my year there is only one other person aside from me applying to Medicine and we both are on a very equal footing where entry requirements are concerned. However, we are both unsettled by the fact that in the history of our sixth form, not a single student has ever achieved a direct place in a Medical school.

A small amount have got in through other routes such as graduate entry or reapplying after a gap year, however that doesn't really make me feel better.

Basically, should I be very worried? Because every time I think about it, I can't help but be D:

No! It won't matter the slightest bit. My college is very large and so has several people applying every year and we have had peopple getting in for praically every med school. At the same time we also get perfectly good applicants rejected, so it really has no bearing.

The people at your school rejected, were rejected because of their application, not because of their institution of learning

Good luck!

[AspiringGenius]

(Original post by Dubstep Prince)
Hi guys,
I really want to do medicine but I am not sure if I am wasting my time, because my GCSE's may be bad.
These are my predicted grades:
Eng lit: a*
Eng lang:a/a*
Chem:a/a*
phys:a/a*
biol:a
maths:a
history:a
french:b
geology:c
r.e: a*
welsh: c
And the welsh bacc.
Many thanks in advance!!
(I think I will resit biology though)

Wait until you get your results, you can't make any assumptions until then.

Those GCSEs would be fine, except for Birmingham. You may also be disadvantaged at Oxford, Cardiff, Edinburgh and a couple of others.

Don't worry about resitting biology. An A is fantastic!

[Sarcastic_Sazza]

(Original post by AspiringGenius)
The people at your school rejected, were rejected because of their application, not because of their institution of learning

Good luck!

Thankyou! I only felt worse when I discovered that a student applying last year wasn't offered a place at Med school. And we all thought, teachers included, she'd be a shoe in because of the amount of hard graft she did.

[Dubstep Prince]

(Original post by AspiringGenius)
Wait until you get your results, you can't make any assumptions until then.

Those GCSEs would be fine, except for Birmingham. You may also be disadvantaged at Oxford, Cardiff, Edinburgh and a couple of others.

Don't worry about resitting biology. An A is fantastic!

Ahh okay, thanks!

What about Bristol? I live in Cardiff and my parents don't want me to go too far away for financial reasons, and Bristol is only 45mins away.
Btw, are you a med undergrad?

[Dubstep Prince]

(Original post by myyrh)
Look more than fine to me. Don't waste your time resitting Biology.

Thanks for your time

[Dubstep Prince]

(Original post by myyrh)
Look more than fine to me. Don't waste your time resitting Biology.

Ohh, okay. Thanks for your time

[AspiringGenius]

(Original post by Dubstep Prince)
Ahh okay, thanks!

What about Bristol? I live in Cardiff and my parents don't want me to go too far away for financial reasons, and Bristol is only 45mins away.
Btw, are you a med undergrad?

I'm not too sure. I wouldn't be able to say without checking, and you can do that. Med schools post any admissions information on their websites. They won't hide anything as were not like the US, Medical schools don't feel pride from high applicantffer ratio and would rather get applications from suitable applicants only.

I am an AS student, but I am planning on applying next year and have med schools in mind so am up to date with admissions criteria for those I am interested in. I also have gone through GCSEs.

[Dubstep Prince]

(Original post by AspiringGenius)
I'm not too sure. I wouldn't be able to say without checking, and you can do that. Med schools post any admissions information on their websites. They won't hide anything as were not like the US, Medical schools don't feel pride from high applicantffer ratio and would rather get applications from suitable applicants only.

I am an AS student, but I am planning on applying next year and have med schools in mind so am up to date with admissions criteria for those I am interested in. I also have gone through GCSEs.

I've checked it and it says you need 5A's etc. but I'm worried they have only stated the bare minimum.

Oh right, good luck with your application!

[myyrh]

(Original post by Dubstep Prince)
I've checked it and it says you need 5A's etc. but I'm worried they have only stated the bare minimum.

Oh right, good luck with your application!

Gcses are good enough for Bristol. They're heavy on ps and reference so those both need to be top notch.

[Dubstep Prince]

(Original post by myyrh)
Gcses are good enough for Bristol. They're heavy on ps and reference so those both need to be top notch.

Ahh, I see. That's good news
Who actually writes my reference? And will they flag up the fact I got excluded in year 9 for having a fight?

[halfadoc]

(Original post by Dubstep Prince)
Ahh, I see. That's good news
Who actually writes my reference? And will they flag up the fact I got excluded in year 9 for having a fight?

You can pick who writes your reference to an extent (it does depend a little on your schools policy and whether they will let you). At my school it was meant to be our academic tutors but I scarcely knew my tutor and wasn't too impressed with her so doubted if she would write a well phrased reference that would show how motivated for medicine I was.

I got on very well with my chemistry teacher though (who was also head of science department so I figured it wouldn't look too bad if he wrote it rather than a tutor etc) who knew just how badly I wanted to do medicine, so I bucked my schools trend and asked him to write mine instead. He was lovely and asked me to write down some specific extra curricular stuff that I hadn't managed to fit in my statement so he could put it in reference . (also he showed me a copy first and asked me if I wanted to amend it at all - but I dont think they are really meant to do that...!)

So re the exclusion it really depends on how well you get on with the person who writes it and how much they back your application for medicine. Most referees wouldn't be that harsh to outright mention that though, but if they don't like you / back your application they often hint at things in it eg "X is very sociable with others in class" = talkative/ doesn't concentrate.

So pick carefully if you have the option , and you'd prob want to make it a tutor/ head of dep or year or house etc / dep or headmaster because in lots of schools that is who compulsory writes them so it might be obvious you dont get on with someone if it is just a normal subject teacher who writes it.

Hope that helps!

[Dubstep Prince]

(Original post by halfadoc)
You can pick who writes your reference to an extent (it does depend a little on your schools policy and whether they will let you). At my school it was meant to be our academic tutors but I scarcely knew my tutor and wasn't too impressed with her so doubted if she would write a well phrased reference that would show how motivated for medicine I was.

I got on very well with my chemistry teacher though (who was also head of science department so I figured it wouldn't look too bad if he wrote it rather than a tutor etc) who knew just how badly I wanted to do medicine, so I bucked my schools trend and asked him to write mine instead. He was lovely and asked me to write down some specific extra curricular stuff that I hadn't managed to fit in my statement so he could put it in reference . (also he showed me a copy first and asked me if I wanted to amend it at all - but I dont think they are really meant to do that...!)

So re the exclusion it really depends on how well you get on with the person who writes it and how much they back your application for medicine. Most referees wouldn't be that harsh to outright mention that though, but if they don't like you / back your application they often hint at things in it eg "X is very sociable with others in class" = talkative/ doesn't concentrate.

So pick carefully if you have the option , and you'd prob want to make it a tutor/ head of dep or year or house etc / dep or headmaster because in lots of schools that is who compulsory writes them so it might be obvious you dont get on with someone if it is just a normal subject teacher who writes it.

Hope that helps!

Pos rep! Thanks a lot, big help

If your ref asks you what activities you do out of class, couldn't you exaggerate??

[zohaib029]

Hey guys i wonder if any of you can be helpful... Im pretty much doing ok/alright in my Gcses i reckon ill get about 4 a* 1/2 a and maybe 3 b's. However i did make the biggest mistake of my life about 2 years ago when i was picking my Gcse. I chose i.t......because i was fairly dopy and not investigative, my teacher sold it to me as a Gcse, then towards the end of the year he said that they would just be ocr national moderation(which ocr say are worth a Gcse) ... The only plus side was that i would get 3 of them..... Would unis be ok with that or will they ignore it completely?any one with any experience from this situation?

Ps. I know they are pretty much worthless ... Also would the fact that my school is closing down due to a failed investigation help my application?
Samsung > Apple

[Vulpes]

(Original post by zohaib029)
Hey guys i wonder if any of you can be helpful... Im pretty much doing ok/alright in my Gcses i reckon ill get about 4 a* 1/2 a and maybe 3 b's. However i did make the biggest mistake of my life about 2 years ago when i was picking ny Gcse. I chose it......because i was fairly dopy and not investigative, my teacher sold it to me as a Gcse, then towards the end of the year he said that they would just be ocr national moderation(which ocr say are worth a Gcse) ... The only plus side was that i would get 3 of them..... Would unis be ok with that or will they ignore it completely?any one with any experience from this situation?

Ps. I know they are pretty much worthless ... Also would the fact that my school is closing down due to a failed investigation help my application?
Samsung > Apple

Many medical schools place little / no emphasis on GCSEs so if you focus on getting good AS and A2s, you should be fine. You should also attempt to secure work experience over the summer in a medical field.

The fact that your school is closing down will not help your application but you may apply for extenuating circumstances if you fail to meet any offers as a result.

[zohaib029]

(Original post by Vulpes)
Many medical schools place little / no emphasis on GCSEs so if you focus on getting good AS and A2s, you should be fine. You should also attempt to secure work experience over the summer in a medical field.

The fact that your school is closing down will not help your application but you may apply for extenuating circumstances if you fail to meet any offers as a result.

I would just like to add that my school was closing down due to poor grades and behaviour...incased you thought it was like a failed health and safety inspection

Samsung > Apple

[halfadoc]

(Original post by Dubstep Prince)
Pos rep! Thanks a lot, big help

If your ref asks you what activities you do out of class, couldn't you exaggerate??

Thanks for the rep . Yeah I guess you could (tho I wouldn't advise! Always chance your ref could find out and then I wouldn't imagine it would be such a good reference after that . (And you run the risk at medical school interview too, though some medical schools do have a policy about not asking things from the reference and only questioning from the ps)

Chances are with the limited space of ps you will have quite a few things you just couldn't fit on there, and at any rate even if you don't it doesn't really need to be extra-curricular based at all (your ps is more about that, the reference can just be academic and school activities), just happened that my ref offered to put some stuff in for me .

[Dubstep Prince]

(Original post by halfadoc)
Thanks for the rep . Yeah I guess you could (tho I wouldn't advise! Always chance your ref could find out and then I wouldn't imagine it would be such a good reference after that . (And you run the risk at medical school interview too, though some medical schools do have a policy about not asking things from the reference and only questioning from the ps)

Chances are with the limited space of ps you will have quite a few things you just couldn't fit on there, and at any rate even if you don't it doesn't really need to be extra-curricular based at all (your ps is more about that, the reference can just be academic and school activities), just happened that my ref offered to put some stuff in for me .

Thanks, you've been a great help! I owe ya one
What GCSE's did you get, if you don't mind me asking?

[halfadoc]

(Original post by Dubstep Prince)
Thanks, you've been a great help! I owe ya one
What GCSE's did you get, if you don't mind me asking?

(oh god I honestly had to think about this to remember, seems a longgg time ago !!)
4A*'s , 5 A's - higher grades being double science (shock horror not triple! My school didn't do that then, they started the year after I left hmph lol) , sociology and geography...

[wefoundlove]

I got quite poor GCSE's (mainly C's, handful of B's), how much does this matter when applying to Medicine? Is it possible to turn it into a positive (using the jump from poor school results to great college results as an example of determination and hard work/drive, commitment to the career etc?). Or, would I be better off re-sitting the science and maths ones before I apply?

[UlrichZA]

This is a good question. I would also like to know. Got A* and A for Afrikaans and English, but am not so sure what I will be getting for the Sciences and Maths, mainly because I didn't put the work in and not because I'm not capable.