MEDICINE - *RESULTS DAY 2015* - AS Level Results Discussion &amp; Advice

Original post by happydays507

Hey everyone,

I see everyone's very stressed out- as am I and was wondering if i could get some advice please :frown:

I'm wanting to apply for medicine, my GCSEs were: 11A*, 4A
However, I just got back from being abroad yesterday and got my AS results which were AAAC with the C being in Chemistry :'''(((
(Other subjects were Biology, Maths, Religious studies)

I will be resitting Chem this year, but was wondering if realistically speaking, I stilll have a chance? Im reading through other posts in this thread and people seem to have done really well with all As in their ASs this year which is both pleasing but worrying.
Furthermore, what should I drop? I HATE maths so have said that I will be dropping that, however will that put me at an even more disadvantage if i carry on with religious studies which is obviously not an academic subject unlike maths????
(Btw, my maths breakdown was C1-B C2-B S1-A) It's a miracle I got an A overall ://

Finally, i sit my UKCAT in exactly 10 days and have only started revising as of this morning and I want to cry... I didn't realise it was this difficult!!!! I'm honestly freaking out and having a mental breakdown right now I don't know what to do... any tips on how I could maximise my knowledge and condense revision into 10 days?? D: ((everyone said it was just a common sense test with no revision required?!?!?!))

Honestly thank you so much in advance to anyone who's willing to give me any advice :frown:

Thanks x

Hello!

First off, very well done on your GCSE results. Seriously, they are very good and if you apply to Universities which love GCSE's (eg: Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool) you will max out your score for this criteria and thus give yourself a high chance of receiving an interview.

Your A level grades are not the end of the world, you have 3 A's there which is a great start. What you now need to do in regard to your chemistry is resit the modules this year alongside your A2 stuff. It will be difficult yes, but not impossible. You also need to get your teacher to predict you an A for chemistry, possibility even include in your teachers reference any reasons why you did not achieve an A this year. It would also be useful to get them to predict A*'s for the other 2 subjects.

As for which subject to take, I would strongly suggest only taking maths if you realisticly think you can achieve an A again this year. If not, then you need to take RE. Yes it may be less academic and thus decrease your chance of an offer, but there is no point getting an offer if you cant get the grades you need at the end.

People who call UKCAT a common sense test are idiots. The UKCAT is the hardest thing I've ever done and I did 2 months prep. You have 2 options at this point, work hard to do as much revision as possible, or consider delaying your test (I think thats possible, check on the site). You can only sit this once, make sure to do it right. If you decide to continue, then all I can say is practice practice practice. Do both the tests on the official website and also go and buy the book for it too. if you can do the ones in the book and on the site, you can do the UKCAT, because it is easier then what they give you to prepare!

Finally, getting your UKCAT wrong is not the end of the world, Cardiff, Liverpool and Keele (3 places I applied so I know) don't use it/ hardly use it so you should be fine.

Hope this helps you and others in a similar situation, please either reply or PM if you need further help!

Reply 768

Original post by Candycay

Hi guys, can you give me some advice on which medical schools to apply for?
GCSEs - 2A*, 8As, 1B (really dissapointed with these)
AS - AAAB
A2 predictions - A*A*A
UKCAT - 720
Volunteering - 1 week in hospital, 2 weeks in gp surgery, and longtime volunteering at youth club for disabled children
Extracurriculars include a few things like karate, art and photography.
Do you guys think I have a realistic chance of getting an interview at Cambridge if I was to apply despite my bad GCSE grades?

To be brutally honest, I don't think so. Main reason I say this is because of your AS grades and GCSE results combined. Even though you have great predictions, I've never heard of an individual get an interview without 4 A's at AS (usually they also love a 5th one too). Your GCSE results also sadly don't reflect what they want either, usually its around at least 5 A*'s.

If you still want to apply then good on you, go for it, just remember you only have 4 options for medicine, and its competitive enough as it is, apply smart to places you have a higher chance of being accepted into :smile:

Reply 769

RedNebula

14

So you need AAAA to get an interview at the likes of Cambridge? Just wondering if this is the same everywhere?

And also, if a school was lower standard, how many universities allow a slightly lower grade requirement for people from there, eg AAAB?

Thank you for your help :smile:

Reply 770

RedNebula

14

Original post by FireDwarf2

To be brutally honest, I don't think so. Main reason I say this is because of your AS grades and GCSE results combined. Even though you have great predictions, I've never heard of an individual get an interview without 4 A's at AS (usually they also love a 5th one too). Your GCSE results also sadly don't reflect what they want either, usually its around at least 5 A*'s.

If you still want to apply then good on you, go for it, just remember you only have 4 options for medicine, and its competitive enough as it is, apply smart to places you have a higher chance of being accepted into :smile:

So you need AAAA to get an interview at the likes of Cambridge? Just wondering if this is the same everywhere?

And also, if a school was lower standard, how many universities allow a slightly lower grade requirement for people from there, eg AAAB?

Thank you for your help :smile:

Reply 771

Hey

No just Cambridge/Oxford look that high, most others want the generic AAA :smile:

.

Some Uni's do vary in their offer, like Keele offered me A*AB/AAA but most stick with the generic AAA.

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Reply 772

RedNebula

14

Okay that's good thank you! :smile:

Reply 773

justinamarina

6

Original post by Candycay

Hi guys, can you give me some advice on which medical schools to apply for?
GCSEs - 2A*, 8As, 1B (really dissapointed with these)
AS - AAAB
A2 predictions - A*A*A
UKCAT - 720
Volunteering - 1 week in hospital, 2 weeks in gp surgery, and longtime volunteering at youth club for disabled children
Extracurriculars include a few things like karate, art and photography.
Do you guys think I have a realistic chance of getting an interview at Cambridge if I was to apply despite my bad GCSE grades?

May I ask what your UMS average was in your top three ?

Reply 774

tdixon97

Hey, I'm applying after a gap year and wanted to know which UKCAT universities I had the best chances at gauranteeing an interview!
These are my stats:
GCSEs: 7A*, 3A, 1B (B in Eng Lan)
AS: AAAA
A2 achieved: A*A*A*
UKCAT: 760
My main worry is my GCSEs not being high enough... thanks

Reply 775

Hedwig24

6

Original post by justinamarina

Definitely apply to Oxford , I know someone with literally the same GCSEs , UKCAT score and AS Grades (she got A*A*A in A2) and got into Oxford to study medicine this year

Thank you, I will definitely look into it! I guess I would have to do well in BMAT though which is always a gamble.... :smile:

Reply 776

TheyCallMePolish

9

I got 4A*'s 5A's 1B at GCSE with mitigating circumstances.

I got AABBC at AS (Biology, Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Further Maths)

I averaged 650 in the UKCAT.

Predictions for A2 are A*AA

Am I good enough for an interview at Leicester, Liverpool, East Anglia or Sheffield?

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Reply 777