HELP from Medics and medical students. Or even Medical applicants??

Original post by akash3141

What are/ were your GCSE grades (esp. in maths, eng. lang. and lit and the sciences) ...

Also, where are you applying or where are you studying??

A lot has changed recently with reformation of admissions processes by medical schools, so its better to make your own profile and scour medical admissions pages on university websites and email around asking for more personally detailed information.

as forestcat posted above there is a page for this here, but since I only just finished 1st year I will post mine below:
9A*, 1.5A at GCSE (also had some distinction*'s at BTEC but be aware that medical schools dont count these). My A was in French, my half A in R.E. and I took, maths, seperate sciences (I also took core science on a different exam board in year 9 hence the 4 science GCSEs), english language, english literature, history, geography.
I have currently just finished my first year at cardiff university.

Reply 4

username2434011

2

All A stars but some of my friends got in with 5 A stars and also remember all you need to do is meet the minimum requirements as then the focus is all on your UKCAT/BMAT and your personal statement and interview.

Reply 5

Original post by snmk007

All A stars but some of my friends got in with 5 A stars and also remember all you need to do is meet the minimum requirements as then the focus is all on your UKCAT/BMAT and your personal statement and interview.

true for some but not all, every medical school has a different admissions policy and focuses on different things.

That advice would be great for Newcastle. But for Cardiff where their minimum requirements are B in English at GCSE etc. yet you will not get an interview without 8A* (according to the previous two admissions cycles) then it doesnt work.

Reply 6

OP

Yhh that's what I was thinking.. Like, there's no point looking at GCSE admission requirements on websites when you're looking at actually something a lot higher..
Just saying, if I have like 7 A*'s (Maths, Sciences, Geography, Panjabi, Electronics) and 3 A's (History, English Lang. + Lit.) 1 B in French and A in FSMQ,, then will I have a high chance at most of the lower tier ones like Liverpool, Bart's, Leicester etc..
Also,, what kind of grades am I looking at for Birmingham if you know :-P ??

Reply 7

ForestCat

18

Original post by akash3141

Yhh that's what I was thinking.. Like, there's no point looking at GCSE admission requirements on websites when you're looking at actually something a lot higher..
Just saying, if I have like 7 A*'s (Maths, Sciences, Geography, Panjabi, Electronics) and 3 A's (History, English Lang. + Lit.) 1 B in French and A in FSMQ,, then will I have a high chance at most of the lower tier ones like Liverpool, Bart's, Leicester etc..
Also,, what kind of grades am I looking at for Birmingham if you know :-P ??

It is worth looking at minimum requirements as they tell you whether you'll automatically be rejected or not. Then look at their selection process for interview, that will then tell you what is important for that medical school.

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Reply 8

Mrs House

16

Knowing what other people achieved will not help you in any way. Just do the best you can

Reply 9

Helenia

20

Original post by akash3141

Yhh that's what I was thinking.. Like, there's no point looking at GCSE admission requirements on websites when you're looking at actually something a lot higher..
Just saying, if I have like 7 A*'s (Maths, Sciences, Geography, Panjabi, Electronics) and 3 A's (History, English Lang. + Lit.) 1 B in French and A in FSMQ,, then will I have a high chance at most of the lower tier ones like Liverpool, Bart's, Leicester etc..
Also,, what kind of grades am I looking at for Birmingham if you know :-P ??

There are no "lower tier" universities for medicine, so get that idea out of your head before you do much more research.

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Reply 10

OP

Original post by Helenia

There are no "lower tier" universities for medicine, so get that idea out of your head before you do much more research.

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I meant like Liverpool or Sheffield and I know from doctors that they are the "lower tier" because obviously it's places like Oxford, Cambridge, UCL etc. that are in the top while Birmingham, Manchester etc. are in the middle... If you look at average UCAS scores of medicine students you can class some as "lower tier" because there's consistent and obvious differences every year in the scores for people who go to Lancaster VS the people who go to UCL for example...

Reply 11

mliela

14

Original post by akash3141

I meant like Liverpool or Sheffield and I know from doctors that they are the "lower tier" because obviously it's places like Oxford, Cambridge, UCL etc. that are in the top while Birmingham, Manchester etc. are in the middle... If you look at average UCAS scores of medicine students you can class some as "lower tier" because there's consistent and obvious differences every year in the scores for people who go to Lancaster VS the people who go to UCL for example...

You do realise that's also due to differences in entry requirements. When it comes to applying to medicine beggars can't be choosers. You just have to find a university that suits your statistics.

Reply 12

Original post by akash3141

I meant like Liverpool or Sheffield and I know from doctors that they are the "lower tier" because obviously it's places like Oxford, Cambridge, UCL etc. that are in the top while Birmingham, Manchester etc. are in the middle... If you look at average UCAS scores of medicine students you can class some as "lower tier" because there's consistent and obvious differences every year in the scores for people who go to Lancaster VS the people who go to UCL for example...

Im a medical student an there are no lower tier medical schools, every single schools asks for different requirements but all of them get you to the same end goal... Sorry but there is really no room to be "snobby" with med school applications because you could land yourself with no offer. Whats worse an offer from what you class as lower tier or no offer at all because you didn't apply to your strengths.

Every med school wants different things, i know so many people with 12A*s etc. Who i feel will not make as good doctors as those with 2/3, and this is why med schools have different requirements, of course the generally prestigious Oxbridge, imperial, UCL have higher entry requirements because of their university reputation, not because there a better med school.

Please please drop this attitude because it wont get you any farther when applying and if anything will hold you back. Choose your med school based on the course and whether your likely to get an interview!

Note to other people, this attitude of prestige is why every year many medical students lose out on places when they deserve one, if you do your research and apply to your strengths you will get a place at any medical school and join every other doctor in 5/6 years on the wards! Dont be snobby be realistic and you will get much farther and have a much more positive outlook on the whole application process.

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Reply 13

OP

That was kinda the whole point of my question ...

Reply 14

OP

Original post by Natalierm2707

Im a medical student an there are no lower tier medical schools, every single schools asks for different requirements but all of them get you to the same end goal... Sorry but there is really no room to be "snobby" with med school applications because you could land yourself with no offer. Whats worse an offer from what you class as lower tier or no offer at all because you didn't apply to your strengths.

Every med school wants different things, i know so many people with 12A*s etc. Who i feel will not make as good doctors as those with 2/3, and this is why med schools have different requirements, of course the generally prestigious Oxbridge, imperial, UCL have higher entry requirements because of their university reputation, not because there a better med school.

Please please drop this attitude because it wont get you any farther when applying and if anything will hold you back. Choose your med school based on the course and whether your likely to get an interview!

Note to other people, this attitude of prestige is why every year many medical students lose out on places when they deserve one, if you do your research and apply to your strengths you will get a place at any medical school and join every other doctor in 5/6 years on the wards! Dont be snobby be realistic and you will get much farther and have a much more positive outlook on the whole application process.

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Lol chill. I'm sorry if I offended anyone but I was only sort of comparing statistics of places like Liverpool compared to Oxbridge.. I'm not being snobby at all, that's why I want to sort of look at the ''easier'' ones to get into.. Thanks for the advice anyway.

Reply 15

OP

Original post by mliela

You do realise that's also due to differences in entry requirements. When it comes to applying to medicine beggars can't be choosers. You just have to find a university that suits your statistics.

Of course, I do. How am I being a ''chooser'' when i'm looking at the easiest ones to get into.

What you're saying would only make sense if I had 5 C's and i'm saying Oxford isn't good enough for me so i'm applying to Cambridge. Look at my question and my responses .. Maybe you might realize that it was just a comparison! Of course, all medicine schools are great and will get you the same job but it's kind of obvious that some are harder to get into than others!? It might not be due to the med. school being better,, but it's still harder!?

Reply 16

OP

Original post by Helenia

There are no "lower tier" universities for medicine, so get that idea out of your head before you do much more research.

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YES, I know! Maybe I used the wrong phrase, but what I meant was universities that are ''easier'' to get into. Fine, I got the words wrong but relax. By the way, to everyone, ''lower tier'' was the phrase my GP used when I asked him about applying so please relax and chill out.. I didn't mean to offend anyone because i'm kind of looking to apply to the universities that are ''easier'' to get into.. I have no idea, how that's making me snobby when i'm admitting i'm not good enough for the top ones but whatever..

Reply 17