Good enough for UCL medicine?

Hey

I'm a hopeful medic and was wondering with my stats if I would successful applying to UCL for medicine.

GCSE 2A*'s 6A's 2B's
AS level: biology, chemistry, english lit and psychology

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks xx

I don't have much experience of this, except one of my friends who I know well got an offer from UCL for medicine yesterday! I'll try to provide some info you might find useful...

She had 7A*s and I think 2 As at GCSE.

AAAB at AS (Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Physics)

Predicted A*AA

She got "average" scores on the BMAT in all 3 sections (sorry! I don't know what average is for the BMAT, I'm sure someone else will know though) and didn't do very well on the UKCAT (510, I think?).

She applied to;

Cambridge - interviewed - rejected
UCL - interviewed - offer (AAA)
Bristol - rejected pre-interview (Bristol seem to go a lot on Personal Statements...I don't think hers was a s strong as other applicants, and English isn't her 1st languag
Birmingham - rejected pre-interview (PS, I think the policy at Birmingham for GCSEs is 7A* minimum, or that's what I've heard from her, so you might want to miss them out!)

Remember to also look at which medical schools look at the BMAT, UKCAT, specific GCSE requirements etc.!

I wouldn't like to speculate on your personal chances - I don't know enough! I've given all the information I can, but I would remind you that much of your chances at getting into a medical school depend heavily on your AS/ A2 grades and predicted grades, whether you take the BMAT/ UKCAT and, ultimately, if you perform well in different types of interviews.

Good luck, keep working hard - it's great you're researching things early on though!

If you have a good personal statement that shows real passion for medicine as well as a good reference, it can to some extent (along with bmat score) compensate for other areas of your application. I have a friend who got an interview with 2A*s at GCSE. As long as you aim for As in AS bio and chem and that you have a gcse foreign language you have a shot. Make sure to look at the min. req- I may have missed something

All I can say is work hard to get decent AS grades, especially in Chemistry and Biology. I e-mailed them about it and they pretty much said you need that. They look at the BMAT, but I don't think it's a strict cut-off score.

If you have a good personal statement that shows real passion for medicine as well as a good reference, it can to some extent (along with bmat score) compensate for other areas of your application. I have a friend who got an interview with 2A*s at GCSE. As long as you aim for As in AS bio and chem and that you have a gcse foreign language you have a shot. Make sure to look at the min. req- I may have missed something

Just forgot off my first reply but I don't have foreign language at GCSE, but I speak two foreign fluent languages from childhood, so does that count?

Hey
I'm a hopeful medic and was wondering with my stats if I would successful applying to UCL for medicine.
GCSE 2A*'s 6A's 2B's
AS level: biology, chemistry, english lit and psychology
Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks xx

Hi I'm a UCL medicine offer holder and I agree that your GCSEs are fine, as long as you've got As in Maths, Science and it's good to have an A in English. If you don't have a GCSE foreign language then I highly advise taking one (if it's not too late) as they need a qualification otherwise you'll have to language modules at UCL.
As for BMAT they don't have a cut off point and every year UCL will post their average BMAT scores, an above UCL average score will strengthen an application.
You haven't done the classic 3 science and a maths so that will strengthen your application at UCL
Finally UCL look at your application as a whole so make sure your personal statement is good too! Good luck

Hey
My A's were in English and Science but got a B in maths, will that effect my stats? I think it might be a little late for me as we are already half way through the year, but I can speak fluently two foreign languages from childhood is that not any good? BMAT is something I think I will have to really work on to get good scores! I was really worried about my subjects at first but glad now that they aren't a problem Could you tell me what sort of things they like on personal statements like volunteering or loads of work experience? How much did you do? and do they like hobbies etc..?
Thanks xx

Hello I really want to get into ucl for medicine. Its a dream to study there. And was wondering whether I would be a suitable candidate. I am studying triple science and maths at as. My gcses are as follows...
2 A*s (English lit, geography)
8.5 As (chemistry, biology, English lang, maths...)
1 B (physics)
I took a gcse lang in french (A) and have recently just sat an Urdu Gcse. I also go to an arabic school on Sunday.

I also would like to know what they check for in an ideal student.
Thank you so much x

Hey well I think overall your GCSEs are fine, that B in physics may put you at a slight disadvantage but don't worry, it won't be a major factor as UCL generally looks at your entire application. They also like candidates who haven't done any resits for AS, although I'm not too sure how they find out about resits but that's what they say. As with any application with medicine, a strong personal statement will help you a lot. Achieving 4 As at AS will help your application as will a good BMAT score.
That's all I can think of to say for now, but hope it helps!

Thank you that really helped a lot. I guess I just need to try and do well in these coming exams...
For the BMAT exam, what scores would put me at an advantage? Thank you