Can i get into Cambridge University for medicine with 4 A*s, 8 As and 2 Bs???
Guys, please be honest with me.. is there any chance by which if i ace my A levels in Maths (stats), English lit, chemistry and biology AND i ace my UKCAT or BMAT that i get into cambridge for medicine???
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Original post by Determined queen
Guys, please be honest with me.. is there any chance by which if i ace my A levels in Maths (stats), English lit, chemistry and biology AND i ace my UKCAT or BMAT that i get into cambridge for medicine???
There is a chance but it isn't a great one. You'll need an exceptional ukcat and very high ums marks at a levels
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Original post by em.d_4
There is a chance but it isn't a great one. You'll need an exceptional ukcat and very high ums marks at a levels
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thanks guys.. i will try my best and i will also count on your help to direct me when I'm a bit lost
Original post by Determined queen
Guys, please be honest with me.. is there any chance by which if i ace my A levels in Maths (stats), English lit, chemistry and biology AND i ace my UKCAT or BMAT that i get into cambridge for medicine???
If the 2 Bs are in irrelevant subjects, you'll be fine if you do well on your A-Levels and BMAT.
I would change English Literature for Further Mathematics.
Make sure your EPQ is spectacular.
Get in an FSMQ also.
Make sure your EPQ is spectacular.
Get in an FSMQ also.
I doubt it
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The relevant information, rather than just a bunch of opinions...
http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/teachers/docs/student_conference_teacher_forum_presentation_2013.pdf
http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/teachers/docs/student_conference_teacher_forum_presentation_2013.pdf
Original post by skyakdu
Haha that's what I meant! Hazard of typing without thinking
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If you ace your AS levels, then absolutely, GCSEs are meaningless
My bmat wasn't exceptional.. AS Ums had a big influence on me getting an interview I believe.. Got an offer
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Original post by Protagoras
I would change English Literature for Further Mathematics.
Make sure your EPQ is spectacular.
Get in an FSMQ also.
Make sure your EPQ is spectacular.
Get in an FSMQ also.
FM is totally unnecessary for medicine, even at cambridge; they do consider it as a separate A-level unlike most med schools, but if you already have 3 science/maths it doesn't give you an edge.
FSMQ is only useful if you are applying for a maths degree, otherwise it's a waste of time that could be spend on other, relevant, aspects of an application.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by sunnydespair
If you ace your AS levels, then absolutely, GCSEs are meaningless
Not so, unfortunately. All med schools have minimum GCSE requirements for medicine, and while cambridge does look more at AS and less at GCSE than, say, oxford, most successful applicants will have good GCSEs as well.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by em.d_4
There is a chance but it isn't a great one. You'll need an exceptional ukcat and very high ums marks at a levels
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Cambridge applicants don't take the UKCAT..
Original post by Determined queen
Guys, please be honest with me.. is there any chance by which if i ace my A levels in Maths (stats), English lit, chemistry and biology AND i ace my UKCAT or BMAT that i get into cambridge for medicine???
You might be okay, cambridge isn't as fussy about GCSEs as oxford (who tend to only give offers to applicants with 70+% A*s at GCSEs).
While most offers are given to cambs applicants with 7+ A*s at GCSE, they do give the occasional offer to people with less, presumably in these cases all the other aspects of their application made them stand out.
Realistically the rest of your application would have to be exceptional - very high UMS at AS (preferably 95+% average), high BMAT score, excellent PS & work experience. Cambridge do rely on the BMAT a lot for filtering applicants, though different colleges use it differently.
I thought Decision Mathematics and some more Statistics would be a good to get in there.
Chuck in AS Critical Thinking instead of the FSMQ. (The FSMQ though, we are talking about Cambridge.)
Chuck in AS Critical Thinking instead of the FSMQ. (The FSMQ though, we are talking about Cambridge.)
Original post by 9967
My bmat wasn't exceptional.. AS Ums had a big influence on me getting an interview I believe.. Got an offer
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Congrats! it feels good to know s many people make it!
GCSEs do count
GCSEs husband just been at younger son's school (academically selective public school sending approx 12 to Oxbridge and 10 or so medicine each year with 85% to Russell group universities so know what they are doing) this evening. Parents were reminded that generally to get a place for medicine you need a minimum of 5 A* and the rest As at GCSE. That is very much the ball park that I understood. (If you are at a poor state school there may be allowances but that is a ball park).
Frankly you just aren't going to get into Cambridge with those grades. (COI Cambridge graduate doctor but so long ago it was easier in the 1980s and I was lucky I think).
I wouldn't particularly advise bright young people to look at medicine careers now anyhow in the UK. Look at other careers eg Chemical Engineering leads to lots of interesting well paid careers
GCSEs husband just been at younger son's school (academically selective public school sending approx 12 to Oxbridge and 10 or so medicine each year with 85% to Russell group universities so know what they are doing) this evening. Parents were reminded that generally to get a place for medicine you need a minimum of 5 A* and the rest As at GCSE. That is very much the ball park that I understood. (If you are at a poor state school there may be allowances but that is a ball park).
Frankly you just aren't going to get into Cambridge with those grades. (COI Cambridge graduate doctor but so long ago it was easier in the 1980s and I was lucky I think).
I wouldn't particularly advise bright young people to look at medicine careers now anyhow in the UK. Look at other careers eg Chemical Engineering leads to lots of interesting well paid careers
Original post by brutuswood
GCSEs do count
GCSEs husband just been at younger son's school (academically selective public school sending approx 12 to Oxbridge and 10 or so medicine each year with 85% to Russell group universities so know what they are doing) this evening. Parents were reminded that generally to get a place for medicine you need a minimum of 5 A* and the rest As at GCSE. That is very much the ball park that I understood. (If you are at a poor state school there may be allowances but that is a ball park).
Frankly you just aren't going to get into Cambridge with those grades. (COI Cambridge graduate doctor but so long ago it was easier in the 1980s and I was lucky I think).
I wouldn't particularly advise bright young people to look at medicine careers now anyhow in the UK. Look at other careers eg Chemical Engineering leads to lots of interesting well paid careers
GCSEs husband just been at younger son's school (academically selective public school sending approx 12 to Oxbridge and 10 or so medicine each year with 85% to Russell group universities so know what they are doing) this evening. Parents were reminded that generally to get a place for medicine you need a minimum of 5 A* and the rest As at GCSE. That is very much the ball park that I understood. (If you are at a poor state school there may be allowances but that is a ball park).
Frankly you just aren't going to get into Cambridge with those grades. (COI Cambridge graduate doctor but so long ago it was easier in the 1980s and I was lucky I think).
I wouldn't particularly advise bright young people to look at medicine careers now anyhow in the UK. Look at other careers eg Chemical Engineering leads to lots of interesting well paid careers
Why wouldn't you advise bright young pupils to pursue medicine now in the UK?
Perhaps I am rather negative. I am in my early fifties and have had a fascinating career culminating in a senior role in legal medicine so I have no moans or groans at all about my career.
The reason I would counsel caution is that the very brightest go into medicine because it is so competitive; they then have to compete with each other all the way along . We worked very long hours but were well looked after and relatively well paid. Young doctors in the NHS are badly paid for what they do, rotate around huge regions at short notice, are in effect low grade shift workers. Age for age paid much the same as a nurse (lots of examples on doctors.net one comes to mind of and A and E registrar the clever sister working in the same A and E as her sister a nurse. She and the sister were on the same salary although she had spent many years training).
There is a huge regulatory burden involved in training (talk to any junior doctor). About 25% have given up by F2: that says it all in my generation perhaps only 5% or less gave up medicine as junior doctors.
I have researched careers quite a bit recently as older son just left school, now doing a run through MEng in Chemical Engineering, leads to much more flexible global careers and actually better paid.
Do remember that doctors in this country now are public sector wage slaves run in the NHS by managers who wouldn't have got in to read medicine.
Having said that if you go into it with your eyes open then very best wishes.
The reason I would counsel caution is that the very brightest go into medicine because it is so competitive; they then have to compete with each other all the way along . We worked very long hours but were well looked after and relatively well paid. Young doctors in the NHS are badly paid for what they do, rotate around huge regions at short notice, are in effect low grade shift workers. Age for age paid much the same as a nurse (lots of examples on doctors.net one comes to mind of and A and E registrar the clever sister working in the same A and E as her sister a nurse. She and the sister were on the same salary although she had spent many years training).
There is a huge regulatory burden involved in training (talk to any junior doctor). About 25% have given up by F2: that says it all in my generation perhaps only 5% or less gave up medicine as junior doctors.
I have researched careers quite a bit recently as older son just left school, now doing a run through MEng in Chemical Engineering, leads to much more flexible global careers and actually better paid.
Do remember that doctors in this country now are public sector wage slaves run in the NHS by managers who wouldn't have got in to read medicine.
Having said that if you go into it with your eyes open then very best wishes.
Original post by brutuswood
GCSEs do count
GCSEs husband just been at younger son's school (academically selective public school sending approx 12 to Oxbridge and 10 or so medicine each year with 85% to Russell group universities so know what they are doing) this evening. Parents were reminded that generally to get a place for medicine you need a minimum of 5 A* and the rest As at GCSE. That is very much the ball park that I understood. (If you are at a poor state school there may be allowances but that is a ball park).
Frankly you just aren't going to get into Cambridge with those grades. (COI Cambridge graduate doctor but so long ago it was easier in the 1980s and I was lucky I think).
I wouldn't particularly advise bright young people to look at medicine careers now anyhow in the UK. Look at other careers eg Chemical Engineering leads to lots of interesting well paid careers
GCSEs husband just been at younger son's school (academically selective public school sending approx 12 to Oxbridge and 10 or so medicine each year with 85% to Russell group universities so know what they are doing) this evening. Parents were reminded that generally to get a place for medicine you need a minimum of 5 A* and the rest As at GCSE. That is very much the ball park that I understood. (If you are at a poor state school there may be allowances but that is a ball park).
Frankly you just aren't going to get into Cambridge with those grades. (COI Cambridge graduate doctor but so long ago it was easier in the 1980s and I was lucky I think).
I wouldn't particularly advise bright young people to look at medicine careers now anyhow in the UK. Look at other careers eg Chemical Engineering leads to lots of interesting well paid careers
Currently Cambridge looks very much at UMS at AS level rather than GCSEs. This may change with the changed system of exams at the end of the two years rather than in both Year 12 and Year 13, though.
GCSEs are important for a good many med schools, so of course it's important to get as many A*s as possible, since few people will only apply to Cambridge and nowhere else. But as someone who has been out of the application loop for a long time now and who hasn't been following TSR for all that long, you should be aware that schools, even very good independent schools, are often full of tutors spouting a whole load of rubbish about which subjects are needed and how well one needs to do to stand a chance, especially when it comes to Medicine applications.
Many highly-achieving schools set internal requirements for achieved grades etc for their students in order to limit who can apply for what and where (eg your '5 A*s and the rest As') - not because the student will not get in, but because the student might not get in, and they rely on their success rate to attract families who will pay their high tuition fees. Every so often we get an aspiring med student on here who has been told by their school that they can't apply for Medicine (or Oxbridge), or who has been completely overlooked when the school was inviting certain students, who had expressed an interest in applying, to extra prep sessions and mock interviews. Sadly, the aim for some schools is to back the winning horses and not to help as many people as possible who do have a reasonable chance.
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