Medicine at Oxbridge - A-level choices

I want to apply for medicine at Oxford or Cambridge. The A-levels I'm definitely taking are Biology, Chemistry and Maths. I initially intended to also do Physics, but I have read that the admissions people like a contrasting subject? If this is correct, would English Language be better than Physics?

P.S. I don't have the opportunity to do any other Art subject.

M.

Reply 1

Dadeyemi

13

my brother is in Cambridge for medicine and he did maths, further maths, biology, physics and chemistry.

Reply 2

sunspoon

14

how come your sixth form doesn't offer english literature?
Anyway, it doesn't really matter whether you take physics or enlgish, but if you're applying to UCL, swap physics for english lit, not lang.

Reply 3

Helenia

20

There are about 5 colleges in Cambridge which require you to have 3 sciences for Medicine, but I can't remember what they are. It'll be on the website though. An awful lot of us have 3 sciences, but it's certainly possible to get in without now, and at other medical schools it's a definite advantage to have an Arts subject.

I agree with sunspoon about doing lit rather than lang though.

Reply 4

mom1

In Year 11? Choosing Your AS and A levels?

Your choice of AS and A level subjects in Year 11 (or equivalent) can have a significant impact on the course options available to you at university.

* If you have already decided on a course that you would like to study at university, we recommend that you take a look at the course requirements above before you finalise your A level choices to check that they will facilitate a Cambridge application. You might also wish to do this for the same course – or similar courses – at other universities.
* If you have not yet decided on a course that you would like to study at university, we recommend that to maximise your potential course choice at Cambridge, you select at least two traditional academic subjects among your A levels. Certain A level subjects are considered essential or useful for a number of courses at Cambridge, therefore choosing one or more of these will help you keep your higher education options open. These subjects include:
o Chemistry
o English Literature
o History
o Mathematics
o Languages
o Physics
Other subjects that also facilitate course choice at Cambridge include Further Mathematics and Biology.

From CU general entrance requirements.

Choose English Lit not Lang

All Colleges strongly prefer applicants to have Chemistry A level.

The following Colleges prefer applicants to have three science/mathematics subjects at A level: Christ’s, Jesus, Magdalene, Newnham, St John’s, Trinity. In the case of Magdalene, this must include A level Mathematics.

From the Medicine entrance requirements site.

Ring a few colleges if you are not sure.

Good Luck

Reply 5

linca2

I want to study medicine at oxbridge also ^^.
It would be awesome if my dream came true.
I'm currently taking the three sciences and two maths.
I already have a Chinese As level at grade B but that's hardly anything special when I'm of chinese ethnicity. Actually, getting a B is quite embarrassing because of that, but I'm British born, so it was expected. Hehe. Well I'm retaking the exam anyway. Because I was so close to an A. T_T
I'm taking general studies also. But I don't have any General Studies lessons because it doesn't fit into my timetable. My school has supplied me with all the material other students in the school are provided with for General Studies. The only reason I'm taking the General Studies paper is because my friend who went to the Liverpool University open day told me that it is a required subject for prospective medical students.
Out of curiosity would anybody like to tell me if General Studies really is important?
Also, are Advanced Extension Awards important?
Oh and another question (sorry for being annoying) what type of results are oxbridge expecting from the BMAT if you are to have a decent chance of getting in?

Reply 6

mistrydude

4

do proper traditional subjects (which you are), theres a list of wot to avoid on the cam website)

general studies isnt important, AEA is sometimes asked for if you dont have the 3 sciences thing, but any AEAs, if you do well, make you stand out from the crowd

Reply 7

sunspoon

14

linca2

I want to study medicine at oxbridge also ^^.
It would be awesome if my dream came true.
I'm currently taking the three sciences and two maths.
I already have a Chinese As level at grade B but that's hardly anything special when I'm of chinese ethnicity. Actually, getting a B is quite embarrassing because of that, but I'm British born, so it was expected. Hehe. Well I'm retaking the exam anyway. Because I was so close to an A. T_T
I'm taking general studies also. But I don't have any General Studies lessons because it doesn't fit into my timetable. My school has supplied me with all the material other students in the school are provided with for General Studies. The only reason I'm taking the General Studies paper is because my friend who went to the Liverpool University open day told me that it is a required subject for prospective medical students.
Out of curiosity would anybody like to tell me if General Studies really is important?
Also, are Advanced Extension Awards important?
Oh and another question (sorry for being annoying) what type of results are oxbridge expecting from the BMAT if you are to have a decent chance of getting in?

Well done in getting the B in AS Chinese! I only got an A at GCSE which was extremely demoralising so I didn't take the AS/A2.

As for General Studies, no it isn't necessary at all for Liverpool, but it is helpful. It is pretty much ignored at virtually every single medical school in the country.

Liverpool only will consider it for the 4th AS subject at grade B (which you already have anyway from Chinese).

Typical Offer
A-Level: AAB plus B in 4th AS subject .... General Studies only accepted at AS level.

For Cambridge:

For applicants taking two science/mathematics subjects at A level with one or more non-science subject(s), the agreed minimum offer* is two A grades in the A level science/mathematics subjects plus an additional A grade in one other A level subject, plus an A grade at AS level in a third science/mathematics subject.

Advanced Extension Awards will not normally be required.

For Oxford, they only make offers based on three A2s.

For the BMAT; at Oxford they use the BMAT on a sliding scale with GCSE percentage A*s to select for interview. For example if I were applying, I would need to be the top 11% of BMAT scorers to get an interview. http://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/courses/preclin/applying/assessingchances
Translating that into the BMAT scores, from the results graphs on the BMAT website http://www.bmat.org.uk/results.html I would need to get around 6.7 in both sections 1 and 2 plus around 11 in Section 3 to get an interview. Total; 6.7+6.7+11=24.4, which is bloody hard.

This is for 30% A*s at GCSE.

At Cambridge, I don't actually know how they use the BMAT, since they interview the vast majority of applicants. I would think it is best to score as highly as possible; that's what I'm gonna do.

Hope this helps.

Reply 8

naza

hey
interested in applying to Oxbridge for medicine
wondering what gcse grades we are looking at? thanks

Reply 9

Huw Davies

11

There's no set cut-off: the better your GCSEs, the less exacting the BMAT requirement is. See the table linked to in sunspoon's post.

Reply 10

Speedbird2008

3

For Cambridge, I would say do all sciences and Maths.

It will help a great deal in your college selection.

For Oxford, do English, as they're less stringent about taking all sciences and Maths.

:smile:

Reply 11

Nimbus

12

So...
take all sciences if you are confident you can get into cambridge and only really wants to go to cambridge?
Otherwise, better to take an arts? For the sake of universities like UCL and "pleasing" oxford? :smile:

And the usual combination is maths, chemistry, biology?

And in order of most important to the least important factors (for Oxbridge):

A-levels > potential and enthusiasm (shown by work experiences and etc) > BMAT > personal statement and teachers' comments > GCSEs > other activities in and outside of school > other qualifications?

And it's strongly recommended to get A*s in the sciences and maths GCSEs.

:smile:

Reply 12

*pitseleh*

20

If it's any help whatsoever, one of my friends is a fourth-year medic at Oriel, Oxford and he took Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths for A-level. He also took English Lit. for AS.

Reply 13

*stars and stripes*

6

I'm taking Biology, Chemistry, Maths and French for A2 and I found at least 6 other people who had exactly the same combination on my interview day (both applicants and current students). This may just be a coincidence numbers-wise, but I guess it shows you can get interviews/ offers with that combination and imo, if you've got 3 sciences, then you'll be fine! :smile:

Reply 14

LeeHyori

cool - that's what i am going to take next year lol

Reply 15

winj96

Speedbird2008

For Cambridge, I would say do all sciences and Maths.

It will help a great deal in your college selection.

For Oxford, do English, as they're less stringent about taking all sciences and Maths.

:smile:

doesnt make a difference. lots of people do all sciences and maths, lots of people do sciences and something else. if you've got the scientific ability it doesn't matter. I did French A level, other medics did English and Economics i think, and a couple did maths.

Reply 16

Helenia

20

Speedbird2008

For Cambridge, I would say do all sciences and Maths.

It will help a great deal in your college selection.

For Oxford, do English, as they're less stringent about taking all sciences and Maths.

:smile:

There is not ONE college in Cambridge which requires all 4 science subjects. There are about 5 requiring 3 (including Chemistry), but that's it. Unless someone really likes the sciences there's no need at all to do them for Cambridge's sake - I only have 3 and so do a large number of my friends.

Reply 17

marshmallow_mayhem

I have an offer for medicine at Oxford(St Catz) this year. I was going to do Physics too but ended up doing Biology, Chemistry, Maths and German. There were a lot of staff changes in our Physics department during our AS year so I was very glad not to have chosen it! But I don't think it actually matters- do whatever you like best.

Reply 18

Nimbus

12

marshmallow_mayhem

I have an offer for medicine at Oxford(St Catz) this year. I was going to do Physics too but ended up doing Biology, Chemistry, Maths and German. There were a lot of staff changes in our Physics department during our AS year so I was very glad not to have chosen it! But I don't think it actually matters- do whatever you like best.

Oh wow, you are doing the "shiny" combination. XD(some of my friends and me decided to refer to the maths, biology, chemistry and a language combination as the "shiny" one). :biggrin:

I am thinking of doing that.XD May I ask how you are finding it? is it a good balance? :smile:

Reply 19

*stars and stripes*

6

Yay, it seems I'm doing a *shiny* combination too as you put it lol...just replace German with French :smile:

It's fun and it's nice sometimes to have a break from sciences and really get into essay-writing, analysing literature or film etc. Personally, I wouldn't have picked any other subject combination!

Medicine at Oxbridge - A-level choices

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