Oxbridge Medicine or Engineering

Hi all,

I'm new to these forums so I'm sorry if this is out of place.
I'm currently in year 11, and am taking my GCSEs within the next couple of months.
For my mock GCSEs, I got 8 A*s, 2 As and a B (History)
I should be able to push the 2 As up to A*S leaving me with 10 A*s and probably an A in History.

So, my first question is whether these are suitably high for me to think about applying to Oxbridge? It may be of relevance that I scored 43 out of 50 in the practice TSA paper available from the TSA website. (Not sure if this score is good or bad)

Secondly, for my A levels I've chosen:
Maths
Further Maths
Physics
Chemistry
French
(General Studies)

With these A levels, I'm hoping to study either Engineering or Medicine at University (preferably Oxford/Cambridge). However, there aren't many institutions other than Oxbridge which don't require Biology at A level, so should I drop French for Biology or hedge my bets and apply to Oxbridge? (Bearing in mind that I would prefer to do French by a LONG shot)

Hopefully some of that made sense to you, thanks in advance for any helps or hints you may have.

Ciao!

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Reply 1

nexttime

if you swapped french for bio you'd have identical A-levels to me!! hated biology though, and my application did not go too well, but i did get into oxford for medicine.

i would have thought the main factor when deciding to do medicine (and probably engineering) is whether you like the career afterwards. look into it in detail, and remember that for a medical application work experience is vital.

Reply 2

ebam_uk

I was in the same shoes as you OP, in year 11, I was thinking either Medecine or Engineering. Although I did not consider the university, so your already slightly ahead of the game.

I reckon, you should go for Engineering (I am a bit biased obviously). If you can get A's @ A level, either course will be potentially open for you. Also work experience will be a must have for medicine.

Reply 3

Tyraell

I would advise you make your decision on medicine vs engineering sooner rather than later (if possible). If you then do decide on medicine you could (at the risk of closing your choice for engineering) dropping further maths for bio.

Applying for any subject at Oxbridge (or medicine in general) requires a lot of commitment to that subject. There's only so long you can sit on the fence for.

Reply 4

HartLou

How about Life Science?--||

Reply 5

maloreygorey

hi, was sort of in a similar situation to yourself (didnt apply to oxbridge though) i did maths, bio chem and physics AS levels, thinking id either apply for aeronautical engineering or veterinary medicine.

it was only after two weeks in year 13 did i decide that i wanted to go for vet med (althoough i'd already done most of my work experience by that point) that i decided to drop maths and carry on with biology. you could probably put off your decision for another year and wait and see what subjects you like . A level is very different to GCSE (science is sooo much better at A level)

you also have to think about your personal statement. medicine and engineering are so different that you couldnt apply to both with the same personal statement.

Reply 6

Speedbird2008

If you aren't doing Biology for Medicine:

1 - Why are you even contemplating Medicine if you don't like Biology?! You will find Medical School very hard for the first few years without it... and most of Medicine is arguably Biology orientated

2 - There are many Medical Schools which near enough demand Biology to A2 Level.

So yes, if you are remotely keen on doing Medicine at University, then do Biology!

Hope that helps.

:smile:

Reply 7

*River

Surely the main issue is deciding between Medicine and Engineering, and you need to make sure that you have useful/educational in some way experience for the former.

Reply 8

crazyflight

Tyraell, unfotunately I wouldn't be able to swap FM for Bio- FM is something you either do or don't do in addition to the "core 4"

Speedbird, it's not that I don't like Biology, it's more that I prefer French.

I think I'm more likely to go with engineering- Physics and Maths have always been my strongest subjects.

Could anyone tell me what an average/acceptable TSA score is? (I put mine in my first post)

Thanks very much for your help so far- it's much appreciated.

Reply 9

Donald Duck

crazyflight

I don't know why you could not, assuming you got enough work experience if you're going for medicine. Engineering wont be easy, but even I got in, so you should have a decent shot. Remember, engineering leaves most choices open, although becoming a doctor after is kinda hard.

Reply 10

aaloo

You have Chemistry which is the main thing. There are a 2 girls in my year who got 3 offers each from med school having Maths, Chem, Phys and an Art subject. They both dropped Biology as they hated it.

There are plenty of good med schools which won't require Biology. Just get the As and the top scores in the BMAT, etc.

I got an offer from Warwick to study Engineering even though I only had Maths as a related subject. (go on the Headstart course in year 12, get your school to pay for it, get onto a course at a good uni, you get offered a place on the last day as you are put onto a "special file")

I took Biology and French to A2. French is FABULOUS but I found Biology is dull and tedious. It would be more interesting under a more practical context but mostly, it was memorisation. You'll catch up at med school anyway.

Reply 11

thomasjtl

43/50 seems pretty good. The average they gave was 63%, so you did better than most, in theory (they of course sat it as a real exam under intense pressure, whereas you did it for kicks sat in your bedroom). I got 44/50 when i did it for procrastination a couple of days ago and got 44/50 and I'm at oxford doing compsci, so i'd say you're in with a chance.

Reply 12

chocolatebear

i would strongly recommend taking biology if you want to do medicine. although you do learn all the stuff it makes it so much easier if you at least have a basic understanding of things, certainly in the first term where they go over the basics. also you have to really enjoy biology (or at least the human side of it), since if you don't you probably won't enjoy medicine, especially at oxbridge which is extremely science based for the first 3 years. about 95% of applicants to oxford have biology (and it makes the science questions in interview much easier to answer) and so i personally think it might be a bit of a disadvantage not to take it.

Reply 13

thefish_uk

OK... if you like biology and chemistry (doesn't appear you're too keen on biology if you're not doing an A-level in it) then Medicine. If you really like maths and want to do a course that's effectively different applications of then do Engineering. For either you need to think about getting some work experience down. Alternatively you could drop French for Biology, keeping your options open, and decide when you've gotten some work experience. That way, if you really want to, you could drop Physics or Biology as appropriate in your second year but pick up French AS-level (if your sixth form/college allows it).

I think there's a big tendancy for people to choose Further Maths A-level just because they can do so as an extra and they want to look clever, without actually liking it.

One of my friends changed ambition from Chemical Engineering to Medicine during the lower sixth... he dropped Physics at AS and picked up Biology AS in his A2 year and also did some work experience. Cambridge didn't want him but Imperial College let him in!

Reply 14

FadeToBlackout

Both are highly vocational courses, in completely opposite areas. Medicine is particularly long, hard work, and requires a LOT of commitment and belief- and work expereince. Engineering, too, is also hard work and work experience would be helpful.

I'd suggest keeping your options as open as possible, but do some relevant work experience in medicine ASAP to see whether or not you like it. No-one, it seems, gets onto the medicine course without work experience.

Reply 15

HCD

FadeToBlackout

No-one, it seems, gets onto the medicine course without work experience.

A high BMAT score covers a multitude of sins. :wink:

Spoiler

Reply 16

Carl Sagan

aaloo

I got an offer from Warwick to study Engineering even though I only had Maths as a related subject. (go on the Headstart course in year 12, get your school to pay for it, get onto a course at a good uni, you get offered a place on the last day as you are put onto a "special file")

Please explain this part for me. Are you saying you can actually get an offer from the uni where you attend the course?

Reply 17

aaloo

joshm

Please explain this part for me. Are you saying you can actually get an offer from the uni where you attend the course?

it depends on the uni, and I suppose it depends on the year/whether they feel like doing it, so I would say, "yes you can, but don't count on it"

On the final day of the course at Warwick, the admissions tutor explicitly said to all of us "You have all been vetted thoroughly. We're seen your grades, we're had references from your schools. We know what you've achieved and what you are predicted to achieve and should you choose to apply here, I guarantee you will receive an offer from us."

And this was despite the fact that we'd all got massively drunk 3 nights in a row, basically trashed the place and had people passing out and vomiting everywhere.. hehehe, the course was fun and I learnt a lot. if you're going to apply for engineering, the course gets you extra ucas points (for what its worth.... which isnt much really) and looks really good on your PS.

Reply 18

Good bloke

aaloo

if you're going to apply for engineering, the course gets you extra ucas points

Have you any evidence to support this assertion? The UCAS tariff table does not mention it, and it does not sound very credible to me.

Reply 19

aaloo

Good bloke

Have you any evidence to support this assertion? The UCAS tariff table does not mention it, and it does not sound very credible to me.

you get 20 points. its part of the AimHigher thing. I don't really have time to hunt down links, etc, but from what I remember:

There's a section in your UCAS form where you can put it up to 3 summer schools you've attended. Thinking about it, 20 points per course may be a bit high.. (I have no idea about the point system... I go by grades...).

Obviously, its got to be an actual course run by one of the acknowledged providers. There's a drop-down list which includes Aim Higher and Headstart, and a couple of others.

I should add, courses are available in all kinds of subjects. Going to a state comprehensive, I was sent on week long courses for Art, Medicine, Engineering, Law, Drama, Maths, French, over two years. Headstart's just a little more "all that" as they make you fork out £200 for it. BUT, they let you off the registration fee for the Year in Industry, so that's sort of £25 back...