[internet tough guy]

yeah its similar with the arts + humanities, a dispropotionate amount of people want to do law

[x_leah27_x]

(Original post by Ry_p94)
Understatement. About 30 people in my year want to do medicine, but most of them are in it for the money/prestige judging by conversations I've had with them. About 10 are in it because they genuinely want to be a doctor for the rest of their lives. The vast numbers of people applying for the wrong reasons only makes the competition even more fierce unfortunately

there is not one person in my year (12) in school who is applying for medicine..hmm..

[ChildOfShakespeare]

Also another thing that I have noticed is that my friends who study arts/humanities related subjects say they reason why they don't want to study science is either because they don't enjoy them, or because they "couldn't become a doctor." Which is an actual quote, Medicine is one of the most popular science related degrees (I'm pretty sure it's the most, but just to be safe, I wrote one of) therefore when people think of science, they think Doctor.

[Ry_p94]

(Original post by x_leah27_x)
there is not one person in my year (12) in school who is applying for medicine..hmm..

I go to an A Level only college though, where there are about 700 people in each year

[Ry_p94]

(Original post by pi=3)
what do you mean by 'wrong reasons'? There is no denying the respect doctors get (or, at least, once did) and the decent money they make, but why is stating them as reasons wrong? When you say 'wrong', do you mean that they are disillusioned, or just that they don't have much of a moral compass?

Don't get me wrong, financial security and respect are obviously (powerful) incentives, but there are some people who want to study medicine as a trophy degree purely for those reasons. If I went to see my doctor I would hope they weren't just there for the money.

[Ry_p94]

(Original post by ChildOfShakespeare)
I genuinely wanted to be a doctor, but a lot of the people in my school who want to study medicine also had all A*'s at GCSE. I got 5A*'s and 6A's, so I assumed I wasn't good enough, therefore I tried to put myself off it so that I wouldn't be upset that I'd never be a Doctor. My predicted AS grades for bio,chem, maths and physics were AABB, but now my teachers think that I'll get AAAB because my maths modules went much better than the teachers and I anticipated.

Now I am worried that I may have had the opportunity and have now wasted it. I could have got so much work experience in the year 11 summer holiday. But now I have decided to apply to biomedical science, and there is no going back. I know I can do graduate, but thats 1-2 years extra, and more debt.

Any advice?

I've got the same GCSEs you have, and many people I know applying for medicine also have straight A*s but it's not a requirement (Liverpool for example don't distinguish between A or A*). Some unis take AS into account more than GCSEs, and if you wrote a good personal statement and had a high UKCAT score there is no reason you would't be invited to interview.

It's not too late if you really want to apply this year, as you could get some work experience in a care home, or even on a hospital ward if you're lucky; it isn't the length of time you do work experience that matters it is what you learn from it. Just do enough to write about in your UCAS application, then carry on doing it until your interview. Or alternatively apply after a gap year with known A2 grades (which is what I plan to do if I get rejected first time).

[sunny_veggies]

I think a lot of people consider it at first because of the prestige or money or whatever they think will be so great about it. But by the time it comes to applications / they got the work experience they realise it's not for them, too much work etc. I only know of 6 people in my year (12) who ever seriously considered it and out of those at least 3 are swaying away now, because they're not sure they want to commit their lives to it

[hannah60000]

(Original post by ChildOfShakespeare)
Well not everyone, but people who like science, the science related degree that comes to mind is doctor, and as it is well paid, quiet a few people want to do it.

I genuinely wanted to do it, but realised that I'm probably not going to get AAA+

But some people in my year (year 12) still want to do it even if they get C's and B's in their modules. I don't want them to realise that they have no chance after they apply.

What's your opinion?

Even people who have gotten lower still want to apply and to the most prestigious and competitive universities, never minding that Medicine is competitive where ever you go!

I think August should separate the boys from the men, after AS results, even still everyone wants the best for themselves and Medicine seems to guarantee it for most science orientated students (at least that is what they believe), so I guess they say why not!

[TheNextBigMoonFruit]

During my AS year, everyone doing Science wanted to go into Medicine. Then slowly, as we got into writing our personal statements in the 2nd year and professionals came in to talk to ask about Science-related degrees, more than half those students dropped out of wanting to do Medicine and switched to Bio-med instead - mainly because they thought they weren't going to get the grades.

[hannah60000]

(Original post by internet tough guy)
yeah its similar with the arts + humanities, a dispropotionate amount of people want to do law

I think people/students believe it will guarantee success if you do Law or Medicine and as I said before everyone want the best for themselves. Thus they believe doing these two degrees will give them this, along with Economics and Engineering, although they provide prospects of great careers they are not the only way to achieve this.

[pi=3]

(Original post by Ry_p94)
Don't get me wrong, financial security and respect are obviously (powerful) incentives, but there are some people who want to study medicine as a trophy degree purely for those reasons. If I went to see my doctor I would hope they weren't just there for the money.

Yeah thats true. Also lots of people influenced by parental pressure. Heard from one of the medics on tsr that some parents refuse to fund their kids degree if it isnt medicine or law! Wouldnt want to be them...

[ChildOfShakespeare]

(Original post by x_leah27_x)
there is not one person in my year (12) in school who is applying for medicine..hmm..

Depends how pushy your school is I suppose. Our school thinks they're elitist so push as many people as possible to study Medicine/Law, also if you get AABB+ in your AS levels, they want to to apply to Oxbridge.

[FluffyTutu]

When I was at school I wanted to be a biochemist, because the name sounded all sciency, so no, I don't think everyone wants to study medicine.

[rohitbd]

(Original post by ChildOfShakespeare)
I genuinely wanted to be a doctor, but a lot of the people in my school who want to study medicine also had all A*'s at GCSE. I got 5A*'s and 6A's, so I assumed I wasn't good enough, therefore I tried to put myself off it so that I wouldn't be upset that I'd never be a Doctor. My predicted AS grades for bio,chem, maths and physics were AABB, but now my teachers think that I'll get AAAB because my maths modules went much better than the teachers and I anticipated.

Now I am worried that I may have had the opportunity and have now wasted it. I could have got so much work experience in the year 11 summer holiday. But now I have decided to apply to biomedical science, and there is no going back. I know I can do graduate, but thats 1-2 years extra, and more debt.

Any advice?

Mate you do know you can get into med school with those grades, I had lower GCSE grades than you, and AS results are not looked at much for med schools, don't give up with those grades, look into the medic applicants profiles and realise they are not at all bad grades for med.

[areyouthere?]

(Original post by ChildOfShakespeare)
I genuinely wanted to be a doctor, but a lot of the people in my school who want to study medicine also had all A*'s at GCSE. I got 5A*'s and 6A's, so I assumed I wasn't good enough, therefore I tried to put myself off it so that I wouldn't be upset that I'd never be a Doctor. My predicted AS grades for bio,chem, maths and physics were AABB, but now my teachers think that I'll get AAAB because my maths modules went much better than the teachers and I anticipated.

Now I am worried that I may have had the opportunity and have now wasted it. I could have got so much work experience in the year 11 summer holiday. But now I have decided to apply to biomedical science, and there is no going back. I know I can do graduate, but thats 1-2 years extra, and more debt.

Any advice?

Its still not to late, you could try and do some work experience within the next couple of months, while preparing for your UCAS, by doing the UKCAT/BMAT and writing your PS. Off my head, I think with your GCSEs, the only 2 medschools that you will be disadvantaged if you apply are Birmingham and Kings.

From my experience, I would say to get into medicine, you need decent results, and a hell lot of research and planning to get an offer.( at least in the UK )

you have got enough and more time, so all the best and if you need any help just pm me.

[digitalis]

(Original post by hannah60000)
Even people who have gotten lower still want to apply and to the most prestigious and competitive universities, never minding that Medicine is competitive where ever you go!

I think August should separate the boys from the men, after AS results, even still everyone wants the best for themselves and Medicine seems to guarantee it for most science orientated students (at least that is what they believe), so I guess they say why not!

Sorry, grammar police. You're not a Yank, are you?

[chickenonsteroids]

No. I liked the sciences and never considered becoming a doctor.

[tiajacob]

I completely agree as 2 of my friends and I were exactly the same. At school and AS we all wanted to be doctors because we all got grades that we thought were good enough (As and A*) but after a lot of research I realized that I was in it for the complete wrong reasons. I ended up applying for psychology at ucl to hopefully become a forensic psychologist and my friends after much deliberation came to the same realization and applied for biochem and vet medicine (which i guess is a lot more competitive than medicine?). So yes I think that if people are good at science, medicine is the first career they consider, but as already mentioned...many change their mind :-)

[Jamal B]

(Original post by ChildOfShakespeare)
Any advice?

I'll be honest, your current grades don't look far different to what I had at that point, and I've got 2 offers in hand, somehow.
I know a lot of people have said this already, but if you got the work experience, and got a decent score on your UKCAT, you could still potentially apply.

[lukas1051]

I've never considered being a doctor. I've loved science for as long as I remember, but I've always wanted to do something research based, become one of those people who makes a discovery that changes the world, I've never wanted to do something vocational like medicine. People have always said I have to grades to be a doctor, but it's just something I've never actually wanted to do.

But then again, I've never had a desire for money, respect or power, I don't mean to generalise but I think a lot of people do aspire to be a doctor for the prestige it carries. I just... like science