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MEGATHREAD - The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread MK III

Hey guys. Here's what I've done:

x

Content wise your fine.

But in medicine, it is not about how much you do. Medical schools don't really care about what you have done. They are more interested in what you have gained from doing it, what you learned from it, and how it changed you as a person. Reflection> Content.

Reply 1181

GeneralOJB

Just apply to universities that set no A/A* GCSE requirements - Cambridge for ex. only ask for 5 A*-C's. To be competitive you really want to aim for 100 UMS in your AS modules though, and get some good work experience.

Reply 1182

Pentium

Should I consider a Biomedical course to medicine then?

Reply 1183

Helloworld_95

19

Original post by Pentium

Should I consider a Biomedical course to medicine then?

You should research alternatives to medicine, it doesn't need to be biomed even if you want to do GEM.

There are a couple of places which will take you iirc, if you had another A then you could be set for a few more so it might be worth doing some resits.

Reply 1184

CpnCornetto

11

Original post by Helloworld_95

You should research alternatives to medicine, it doesn't need to be biomed even if you want to do GEM.

There are a couple of places which will take you iirc, if you had another A then you could be set for a few more so it might be worth doing some resits.

I got two offers from medical schools with 1A* 2A 6B and a C.
It's possible to do it man but it's not easy.
You might need to take a gap year.
But think about the situation especially with the fee's the way they are at the moement and postgraduate medicine being so much more competitive as well.
It depends on other stuff you do such as work experience and your A levels though.
And of course getting a good UKCAT score always helps.
Some uni's really don't care about GCSE's as long as you meet the minnimum requirements. They will then just rank you on like UKCAT or something to select for interview.

Reply 1185

Hype en Ecosse

20

Original post by CpnCornetto

I got two offers from medical schools with 1A* 2A 6B and a C.
It's possible to do it man but it's not easy.
You might need to take a gap year.
But think about the situation especially with the fee's the way they are at the moement and postgraduate medicine being so much more competitive as well.
It depends on other stuff you do such as work experience and your A levels though.
And of course getting a good UKCAT score always helps.
Some uni's really don't care about GCSE's as long as you meet the minnimum requirements. They will then just rank you on like UKCAT or something to select for interview.

Did you end up buying the cornettos you promised everyone?

Reply 1186

Pentium

Original post by CpnCornetto

I got two offers from medical schools with 1A* 2A 6B and a C.
It's possible to do it man but it's not easy.
You might need to take a gap year.
But think about the situation especially with the fee's the way they are at the moement and postgraduate medicine being so much more competitive as well.
It depends on other stuff you do such as work experience and your A levels though.
And of course getting a good UKCAT score always helps.
Some uni's really don't care about GCSE's as long as you meet the minnimum requirements. They will then just rank you on like UKCAT or something to select for interview.

Legend dude! Btw what a-levels did you get and UKCAT Sore and is work experience all about the time you do it for or the myriad of places you go to?

Reply 1187

laym

5

Currently I'm in year 12 and I have taken Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths
I'm predicted all A's at AS level

At GCSE (my main concern) I didn't do as well as I had hoped and only got 5A* 4A 1B
(B in english literature :frown:

)

I'm not worried about work experience and extra curricular as I have lots of things lined up for that to do next year which I'm really excited about

Is it uncommon for people with my grades to get into medicine?

Reply 1188

izpenguin

15

I'm sure there are places that will consider you with those grades.
Just be careful when applying to make sure you apply to places that are likely to consider you (do your research!).

Reply 1189

Helloworld_95

19

Definitely, 6A's is enough for all but a handful of med schools and your GCSEs are enough for some of those too.

Reply 1190

ryanb97

15

look at medicane stalking pages from previous years and compare yourself to those people

then think about it.. in all honesty if it is a good idea

ryan

p.s. i dont hink they are bad grades... its just that its only one factor

Reply 1191

Selym95

15

That is more than fine. Do not give your GCSE's another thought, they are appropriate for medicine; focus on your AS levels; they are significantly more important and if you come out with AAAB minimum you can be confident of gaining offers

Reply 1192

Kutta

19

you will be fine my friend

Reply 1193

Tackla

14

Yup. Someone from my Sixth Form got an offer from UCL for medicine last Friday, he got 4A* in GCSE's one less than you. Now hard for your A levels :smile:

Reply 1194

username571327

11

More than enough for most med schools.

Reply 1195

raveen789

9

Original post by badwolf96

Hey guys. Here's what I've done:

•

Long term Work Experience at a nursing home

•

2 Work Experience at National Orthopaedic and St. Heliers

•

Black belt in Karate

•

Grade 2 Piano

•

CCF Corporal

•

Charity trip to Nepal

•

I run the Medical Society at my school

•

Bronze, Silver and Gold DofE

•

International tour with a theatre production

•

Some special spanish qualification

•

1 week helping Disabled kids

•

Regular reader of Biology review and Student BMJ

•

B team cricket

•

3 A* 6 A and 1 B at GCSE

•

Swimming as a hobby

•

Medlink course and 2 other Medical courses

•

Hoping to get a phlebotomy course, a GP work experience, some work experience with my uncle in Zimbabwe and a part-time job in a hospital/pharmacist.

I'm not trying to show off before anybody tries to argue against me, but is this enough?
This is everything (not a prefect, no sport awards etc.)

How do I look compared to other candidates?

Out of extra curricular's and I don't mean volunteering/work experience, you will be lucky to fit in 3 or 4 things and talking about why they are beneficial at the same time. Remember you only have 47 lines (including spaces between paragraphs) and a limited amount of words. You need to include an introduction to why you want to do medicine, work experience/volunteering then extra curricular's/gap year and a final paragraph. All that is a lot so don't go crazy on the extra's :smile:

Reply 1196

el.sammo

3

anywhere else given offers yet apart from leicester? :smile:

Reply 1197

richtea5

Original post by laym

Currently I'm in year 12 and I have taken Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths
I'm predicted all A's at AS level

At GCSE (my main concern) I didn't do as well as I had hoped and only got 5A* 4A 1B
(B in english literature :frown:

)

I'm not worried about work experience and extra curricular as I have lots of things lined up for that to do next year which I'm really excited about

Is it uncommon for people with my grades to get into medicine?

At Gcse i got similar; 6a*3a1b and ive currently got 2 interviews, gcses really dont matter a great deal its probably best to just avoid places that are completely gcse orientated for there entry requirements. I reckon that the med schools individual entrance policies vary so much that people entry to medicine is quote open. I'm only at interview stage but gcse grades havnt influenced my application a great deal and if i am rejected it wont be because of them :smile:

Reply 1198