AS Results: Medicine/Geography help!

(edited 12 years ago)

If you really want to do medicine and your teachers are predicting you the A's in Chem and Bio, I say go for medicine. If you get rejected then go for the gap year, etc.

Medicine or Geography, strange degree choices as geography tends to be with geology or geophysics, and medicine tends to be biomedical, medical eng, etc.

You are going to have to write your personal statement carefully, as an admissions tutor for medicine would be able to see in your PS that you were applying for geography. And vice versa especially since you are applying to oxbridge!

What would you do if you get an offer for Geography at Oxbridge, and a offer for medicine from a place like Imperial, which one would be your firm?

Reply 2

x_emme_x

swingin_yoyo

Hello, thank you very much for your reply.
I wouldn't apply for both, as like you say quite rightly they are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
What I meant to communicate was that either I go for medicine, and then my top choice would be Imperial (is this realistic given my circumstances?)
Or I look at my grades as 3 As, with 100% in Geography, and a B and C but I've taken 5 AS levels, and apply for Geography, if so could I apply to Oxbridge for Geography or are the B/C grades going to smash my chances of getting an interview?
I would be very very happy and satisfied to get an offer from either Imperial or Oxbridge for the two different subjects.

With your 5th subject drama, It is seen by some unis as a soft subject. I think for a realistic chance of getting into imperial for medicine you need an A in chemistry so resit you chemistry ones to get them to A grades.

Oxbridge ask you to fill in a form with your module grades and a column asking whether you plan to resit them, so if you state you want to resit that could work to your advantage, although it might not. My friend got into law at Cambridge with a C in mechanics but she told them she was resitting it, she has gained a place at Cambridge.

I think if they are impressed with you, they will not be bothered by the B and the C as you're said to them you are resitting them.

What I was trying to get across eariler was what do you see yourself doing in 10 years time? If you are interviewed they will ask the question "So, why do you want to become a Doctor?" and you need a good answer to succeed.

Reply 3

x_emme_x

No, it's only oxbridge. Predicted grades yes. I think they are one of the hardest ones to get into though, you'll have to look at unistats to see how many people they reject for medicine.

It sounds that you have plenty to write about, I'd apply for medicine then. From what you have just said it sounds to me that you prefer your sciences to your geography and don't really blame you!

Good luck

Reply 4

x_emme_x

If you are predicted all A's, you have a chance of not getting thrown into the rubbish bin by the admission tutor. If you have to preform well in BMAT (I think it's BMAT for imperial but check that as it could be UKCAT), have lots of good work experience, write a good personal statement, have a excellent references you would have a chance of getting an interview.

A boy at my sixth form got AAAAA in Bio, Chem, Physics, Maths and further maths and Imperial still rejected him, but he was good enough for Oxford!

One problem is with medicine, there are about 20000 applicants for about 12000 places, so there is much competition that medical schools can be picky over stupid things! Good luck!

Reply 5

emma_wemma

Maybe you could consider resitting the sciences next year and not apply to any, then apply once you have the full A-level grades? Obviously you wouldn't have your college/school's support with the UCAS form but you can get help with writing a PS on the internet etc.

That way you can have your definitive grades (no conditional offers!), and you will know if your grades are good enough or not for Imperial and so can go from there.

And also, (please don't take this the wrong way! :smile:

) you only need 3 A-levels and 4 AS-levels, so you could maybe drop 2 AS's and focus 100% on the 3 you choose (especially if resitting). Most (if not all) medical schools say that having more than 3 is no more advantageous than having 3.

Good luck!

xx

Reply 6

swingin_yoyo

No offense taken :smile:

So if I carried on with my biology, maths and chemistry....dropped geography and drama (bearing in mind I got As in these, so re-takes aren't needed) and then worked to get my B and C up to As and got predicted As, then how much of a bearing do you think the fact that I did worse than expected on my initial sitting will have on my application? (provided my personal statement is strong, and bmat results are sound)

Reply 7

x_emme_x

swingin_yoyo

Nothing as you're not applying to oxbridge! As long as your predicted those A's (or just 1 B) you're fine!
Your teachers may say that you have worked hard to obtain A's which can only be positive!
Prehaps if you don't want to drop 2 a-levels keep geography.

Reply 8

clozet

swingin_yoyo

Hello everyone, I hope you have had a good summer and are happy with results and university places.
I have just recieved my AS results....

A THEATRE STUDIES/DRAMA
A MATHS
A GEOGRAPHY
B BIOLOGY (aac in papers) (2 UMS marks from a B in one paper, 6 from an A overall)
C CHEMISTRY (b c c in papers) (3 UMS marks from a B overall)

GCSE: A*A*A*A*AAAAAA (B in shortcourse ICT, not sure if that counts:P)

I was predicted a B in Biology and in Chemistry, but the teachers said that my full potential was an A grade. In Biology in particular I got AAC in my papers. For the mock I got all results about 90% and a coursework mark of 28/32.
As you can imagine I am quite shocked and dissappointed with these two results.
I really wanted to do medicine, and apply to imperial but now I don't know if I can. I've been hearing mixed reviews and I wasn't sure that if I talk to my chem teachers and bio teachers (I worked really hard and I think I just gave into the stress, the teachers know my ability and how hard I worked though) then maybe I could still get good predictions, I'm just afraid they will predict me lower incase this happens again in A2.
I have always seen myself doing a career in medicine, just everything about it facinates me...however the subject (I can't really see what job I would have...) that I also love and have a real interest for is Geography, I got 100% in my Geography exam, which is hard to ignore.

So now I don't know what to do, I had high hopes for Oxbridge or Imperial.
Could I still apply to Oxbridge for Geo or is it not worth it? What about medicine at Imperial. I only need to re-take 3 or 4 papers and my other As are all above 90% (don't know if this makes a difference)
Any information regarding any of the above would be very useful.

I don't know if I should apply, take a gap year, which course, which university.

Thank you for your time
Please understand I am very dissappointed in myself and am looking for advice.

hi, im in a similarish situation to you (not subjects, but grades-wise) as i have just received my AS results and was very disappointed as i was aiming for 4As, cambridge etc etc etc. I, like you, got a C in the subject i kinda needed to get an A in (and should have got an A in!) so i know how you feel.

however, its kinda been helpful in that i've had a rethink as to what i want to do, and now i'm going for a diff degree :smile:

and im still going to apply to cambridge (my grades arent that bad!). i think i'd regret it if i didnt.

do you think you'd regret not applying for medicine/not applying now/applying for geography? if you do, you might as well just apply! the worst that could happen is you'd get rejected, and im pretty sure you'd get some offers from some decent unis! Exams dont always go to plan, and unis know that. So dont worry, just go with your instincts :smile:

Reply 9

Medicine Man

grades are not the be all and end all of an application
THis guy at my school got ABBCC (A in maths, B in bio and psychology, C in chem and critical thinking) for AS and STILL got into Imperial. Granted his PS was strong, as was his BMAT, but he still got an offer for 2008 entry. He just resat every single unit for his 3 A2 subjects and resat a full AS as Imperial require AAAb.

Reply 10

Ella_belle

If you're confident that you can pick up the As at A2 AND that your teachers will predict you as such, then go for Imperial. From what I remember, you can potentially decline your AS grades if you plan to resit, meaning that you won't have to declare them on your UCAS form (but check this with your school) - in which case all Imperial would see would be your predicted grades. That said, don't apply for medicine this year if you're not certain that you'll get the grades at A2. Offers tend to be AAB, meaning that you'll need at least an A and a B in Biology and Chemistry (they'll tag the offer if you continue with more than three subjects). You'll kick yourself so hard if you drop two subjects that you got As in at AS, work really hard to get an offer from medical school and then miss the offer. If you're not sure that you can improve your grades, better to apply for a different subject and then look into graduate entry medicine if you're still keen.

Reply 11

swingin_yoyo

Thank you for the very encouraging feed-back.
It seems like there is some kind of 'light at the end of the tunnel'
I was just wondering how different Oxbridge's attitude to my situation would be?
Furthermore (even though I am very passionate about medicine) could anyone give me any response on the Geography side of my enquiry? Especially the Oxbridge attitude towards AAABC with 100% in Geo (which I would study) and say I dropped the B and C grade, or just the C? Or would it be better to carry it on and re-sit?

Thank you all for your time.

Reply 12

Speedbird2008

Carry on and re-sit.

Then you have the option of EITHER Geography or Medicine.

I would recommend you take a gap year too - Geography and Medicine tutors encourage them.

Reply 13

Adygus

I know this is years ago now, but actually at the same time as you I applied to medicine and ended up doing geography at St. Andrews. I called them to tell the admissions I was keen on geography but I had to focus on the medicine wholly for the PS. So I sent him a separate PS for as a geography candidate...I think doing stuff like that, ringing them up etc, shows a lot of initiative and I got in after being rejected for med school... But funny enough, I just started medical school now. So if you do a degree away from medicine it won't destroy your chances of getting in years later if you still have the desire to do it.