Is Getting 4As better than 3As in A-levels

So , Im planning to do Medicine and Im doing Bio , Chem , Phys and Maths : All the essential subjects ;

so is A* A* A* around the same as A* A* A* A* , or does having 4 A* give you u significantly higher advantage.

Reply 1

bobsmith101

4

I think unis only look at top 3 but having 4 a stars will certainly look good on your ucas

Reply 2

amrr

1

From my experience, its not worth the risk of not achieving all A stars.

3A* is better than 3A* and 1 A

The advantage that it *might* put you at when applying to uni is not worth the risk.

You're better off putting that extra time into super curriculars for your personal statement - that could certainly make you stand out

Reply 3

bobsmith101

4

Original post by amrr

From my experience, its not worth the risk of not achieving all A stars.

3A* is better than 3A* and 1 A

The advantage that it *might* put you at when applying to uni is not worth the risk.

You're better off putting that extra time into super curriculars for your personal statement - that could certainly make you stand out

Do you really think it matters that much?

Reply 4

stonkz

2

I'd say it's only useful if you want to keep your options open in terms of uni courses but you already know what you want to do. As you're doing medicine you only need biology and chemistry, the time spent on doing the extra A-Level (in your case either physics or maths) could be better spent getting relevant work experience and volunteering time for your personal statement and med school interviews.

Reply 5

bobsmith101

4

Original post by stonkz

I'd say it's only useful if you want to keep your options open in terms of uni courses but you already know what you want to do. As you're doing medicine you only need biology and chemistry, the time spent on doing the extra A-Level (in your case either physics or maths) could be better spent getting relevant work experience and volunteering time for your personal statement and med school interviews.

I'm not doing medicine, I was just thinking in general, as most unis would still appreciate that

Reply 6

thegeek888

18

Original post by RPS1344

So , Im planning to do Medicine and Im doing Bio , Chem , Phys and Maths : All the essential subjects ;

so is A* A* A* around the same as A* A* A* A* , or does having 4 A* give you u significantly higher advantage.

Yes, you would be ranked higher in the shortlisting process for Cambridge as well Oxford and other popular Medical Schools in the UK and the rest of the world too. :biggrin:

Reply 7

apolaroidofus

20

the only time i think 4 a-levels can be helpful is when you're applying for courses where there are a lot of subjects that feed directly into it at very competitive universities. i've got an offer to study chem at oxford and aside from the required maths and chem, bio/physics/fm all provide really good preparation for the course and so having studied these subjects may make you slightly more desirable. that said, some colleges/schools can't even offer students the chance to do 4 so it would be unfair to give any significant advantage to these candidates and so many people who will be on my course have only done 3 a-levels. having done 4 a-levels the last 2 years i can honestly say that regardless of my grades i'm glad i did it because i have gained so much knowledge which will stand me in really good stead for university and it's massively improved my time management. however, i don't generally recommend it because it just doesn't give you any real advantage, and none at all in the majority of situations. to do it i think you have to actually want to study the 4, and not just be doing it to make yourself seem like a 'better candidate'. remember that by doing a 4th a-level, you aren't just increasing your workload, you're also decreasing the amount of time you have to complete said increased workload (time spent attending lessons in the 4th subject takes away from how much time you have to study outside of lessons). if you're organised and meticulous from the start you can definitely do it if you have the aptitude but i'd say 99 times out of 100 it just isn't worth it!