Mature student wants to apply for Medicine. What's the best course of action?
Ok this is a bit of a long and weird one but I hope you'll hear me out.
I had originally wanted to study Medicine but had to change plans after failing my A Level Biology and Chemistry exams.
In October 2019 at 22 years old, I was doing my undergrad in Linguistics and was becoming increasingly disatisfied with the path I chose. I looked into re-doing my A Level Biology and Chemistry exams as an external candidate. I found a college that would let me do so and made arrangements with them to sit the exams in Summer of 2020. In early 2020 I even completed the required practicals for the A Level. This was all done with the intention of switching gears to potentially study Medicine.
Then COVID happened and my exams were cancelled. The combination of this and some other personal defeats in my life around that time, led to me abandoning the idea altogether. "Just a stupid unrealistic dream", I thought to myself.
Fast forward to now. It's 2023, I'm 25 and have graduated with a degree in Linguistics. But there is still this feeling of unfinished business that has been gnawing at the back of my mind relentlessly. I still want to pursue this idea and I will do whatever it takes to get there.
So, imagine you are me and you want to study Medicine. What plan of action would you take to get there? What kind of courses are there that could help a person achieve this goal? I know it won't be easy but I know in my heart that I've got what it takes to get there.
I know funding will also be a problem but for the sake of keeping answers simple, pretend that money isn't an issue.
What do I need to be doing to get there and is it even worth doing at my age?
I had originally wanted to study Medicine but had to change plans after failing my A Level Biology and Chemistry exams.
In October 2019 at 22 years old, I was doing my undergrad in Linguistics and was becoming increasingly disatisfied with the path I chose. I looked into re-doing my A Level Biology and Chemistry exams as an external candidate. I found a college that would let me do so and made arrangements with them to sit the exams in Summer of 2020. In early 2020 I even completed the required practicals for the A Level. This was all done with the intention of switching gears to potentially study Medicine.
Then COVID happened and my exams were cancelled. The combination of this and some other personal defeats in my life around that time, led to me abandoning the idea altogether. "Just a stupid unrealistic dream", I thought to myself.
Fast forward to now. It's 2023, I'm 25 and have graduated with a degree in Linguistics. But there is still this feeling of unfinished business that has been gnawing at the back of my mind relentlessly. I still want to pursue this idea and I will do whatever it takes to get there.
So, imagine you are me and you want to study Medicine. What plan of action would you take to get there? What kind of courses are there that could help a person achieve this goal? I know it won't be easy but I know in my heart that I've got what it takes to get there.
I know funding will also be a problem but for the sake of keeping answers simple, pretend that money isn't an issue.
What do I need to be doing to get there and is it even worth doing at my age?
Hey there, thanks for posting a question in the Medicine forum. 
The Medicine forum gets a high volume of questions being posted, and some of these are already answered by the resources and Megathreads that members of the community and volunteers have created. This is an automatic post which is designed to highlight these resources. Below is a list of threads and articles that could answer your question (you should be looking in the original post of the megathreads). If one of the below threads is a more relevant place to ask your question, please post a reply in that thread to ask your question. If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked below, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.
Megathreads
(Please read the first post, before then posting any further questions you have within that thread.)
The "Which Medical School Should I Apply To?" Uberthread
The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread
Medicine A-Level subjects queries
Work Experience and Voluntary Work
2023 Applicants:
Official Undergraduate Medicine 2023 Entry
Graduate Entry Medicine 2023 Entry
Medicine 2023 entry for resit / retake / gap year applicants
A100 Medicine for International Students 2023 Entry
Medicine Interview discussion 2023 Entry
2023 entry A100 / A101 Medicine fastest and slowest offer senders
Index of Individual Medical School Applicants' threads 2023 Entry
2023 Admissions Tests:
UCAT 2023 Discussion
BMAT 2023 Discussion
GAMSAT 2023 Discussion
UCAT 2023 Results
Other application years:
Official Undergraduate Medicine 2024 Entry
Graduate Entry Medicine 2024 Entry
Graduate Entry Medicine 2025 Entry
Useful Articles:
GCSE Requirements for Medicine
Everything you need to know about the BMAT
Work Experience as a Graduate or Mature student
Medicine Personal Statement Advice
Medicine Personal Statement Advice (Graduate Entry)
Interview Frequently Asked Questions
MMI Medicine Interview Tips
What to do after an unsuccessful first application
If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked above, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.
The Medicine forum gets a high volume of questions being posted, and some of these are already answered by the resources and Megathreads that members of the community and volunteers have created. This is an automatic post which is designed to highlight these resources. Below is a list of threads and articles that could answer your question (you should be looking in the original post of the megathreads). If one of the below threads is a more relevant place to ask your question, please post a reply in that thread to ask your question. If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked below, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.
Megathreads
(Please read the first post, before then posting any further questions you have within that thread.)
The "Which Medical School Should I Apply To?" Uberthread
The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread
Medicine A-Level subjects queries
Work Experience and Voluntary Work
2023 Applicants:
Official Undergraduate Medicine 2023 Entry
Graduate Entry Medicine 2023 Entry
Medicine 2023 entry for resit / retake / gap year applicants
A100 Medicine for International Students 2023 Entry
Medicine Interview discussion 2023 Entry
2023 entry A100 / A101 Medicine fastest and slowest offer senders
Index of Individual Medical School Applicants' threads 2023 Entry
2023 Admissions Tests:
UCAT 2023 Discussion
BMAT 2023 Discussion
GAMSAT 2023 Discussion
UCAT 2023 Results
Other application years:
Official Undergraduate Medicine 2024 Entry
Graduate Entry Medicine 2024 Entry
Graduate Entry Medicine 2025 Entry
Useful Articles:
GCSE Requirements for Medicine
Everything you need to know about the BMAT
Work Experience as a Graduate or Mature student
Medicine Personal Statement Advice
Medicine Personal Statement Advice (Graduate Entry)
Interview Frequently Asked Questions
MMI Medicine Interview Tips
What to do after an unsuccessful first application
If your query is answered by one of the Megathreads or articles linked above, and you would like us to close this thread for you, please reply to this thread with just the words "thank you". A member of our team will then get it locked.
Original post by FloppaDingo
Ok this is a bit of a long and weird one but I hope you'll hear me out.
I had originally wanted to study Medicine but had to change plans after failing my A Level Biology and Chemistry exams.
In October 2019 at 22 years old, I was doing my undergrad in Linguistics and was becoming increasingly disatisfied with the path I chose. I looked into re-doing my A Level Biology and Chemistry exams as an external candidate. I found a college that would let me do so and made arrangements with them to sit the exams in Summer of 2020. In early 2020 I even completed the required practicals for the A Level. This was all done with the intention of switching gears to potentially study Medicine.
Then COVID happened and my exams were cancelled. The combination of this and some other personal defeats in my life around that time, led to me abandoning the idea altogether. "Just a stupid unrealistic dream", I thought to myself.
Fast forward to now. It's 2023, I'm 25 and have graduated with a degree in Linguistics. But there is still this feeling of unfinished business that has been gnawing at the back of my mind relentlessly. I still want to pursue this idea and I will do whatever it takes to get there.
So, imagine you are me and you want to study Medicine. What plan of action would you take to get there? What kind of courses are there that could help a person achieve this goal? I know it won't be easy but I know in my heart that I've got what it takes to get there.
I know funding will also be a problem but for the sake of keeping answers simple, pretend that money isn't an issue.
What do I need to be doing to get there and is it even worth doing at my age?
I had originally wanted to study Medicine but had to change plans after failing my A Level Biology and Chemistry exams.
In October 2019 at 22 years old, I was doing my undergrad in Linguistics and was becoming increasingly disatisfied with the path I chose. I looked into re-doing my A Level Biology and Chemistry exams as an external candidate. I found a college that would let me do so and made arrangements with them to sit the exams in Summer of 2020. In early 2020 I even completed the required practicals for the A Level. This was all done with the intention of switching gears to potentially study Medicine.
Then COVID happened and my exams were cancelled. The combination of this and some other personal defeats in my life around that time, led to me abandoning the idea altogether. "Just a stupid unrealistic dream", I thought to myself.
Fast forward to now. It's 2023, I'm 25 and have graduated with a degree in Linguistics. But there is still this feeling of unfinished business that has been gnawing at the back of my mind relentlessly. I still want to pursue this idea and I will do whatever it takes to get there.
So, imagine you are me and you want to study Medicine. What plan of action would you take to get there? What kind of courses are there that could help a person achieve this goal? I know it won't be easy but I know in my heart that I've got what it takes to get there.
I know funding will also be a problem but for the sake of keeping answers simple, pretend that money isn't an issue.
What do I need to be doing to get there and is it even worth doing at my age?
Hey, I am around your age, I am about to graduate with a biomed degree and I have a burning desire to study medicine. I do not have amazing grades however I am working on that. For example, I am thinking about redoing my A levels because most universities look at your A level grades. You could look into doing the required A levels for medicine or doing an access course to medicine.
Funding is an important aspect too. As a graduate, you can do graduate entry medicine or undergraduate medicine (Applying for UG medicine means there are more financial issues to consider but if you really want it, it can be done. You could take a few years out to save and get some valuable work experience e.g. working as a healthcare assistant in the NHS etc.).
I think age is just a number. It is going to a long road but I know we can do it and I think it will be a great journey (Hard, challenging and at times we might question ourselves but nonetheless I think looking back as doctors we would not regret pursuing our dreams. If we don't at least try we may forever think "what if").
Good luck!
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