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retake

UserM09

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(edited 5 months ago)

Reply 1

Tulipbloom

Original post by UserM09

I am in Year 13 going to sit my exams in July for CS, econ and Maths
I want to do medicine is it worth retaking the 2 alevel years and do bio, chem something else to start over I will be 18 so the college said I can get the first year free and get the second year loan. Or shall I try to do a 1 year intense alevel for bio and chem and then apply to uni with my current subjects and these extra 2 which are science related. I am only worried about not getting any work experience or not being fully prepared for ucat. I don't know what to do and I have been thinking about this since January but I didn't change due to family pressure to just continue

Hey I think its worth retaking 2 A level years to do bio, chem, and the something else. Keep in mind that not all med schools require you to take chem at A level. Don't stress too much about work experience and remember that work experience can come in the form of virtual observations, in-person shadowing, volunteering/pursuing a care role, mentoring etc. The UCAT prep which I know can seem daunting, is actually not as bad as people make of it. One month of questions, strategy learning and mocks will be sufficient (so long as you learn to focus on your weak sections). I relate to you on so many levels. I too took A levels which didn't help me get any closer to my med dreams (business, Chinese, maths, and geo + EPQ) and found myself struggling to keep up and got C's in my first term of Y12. Took a small period off of sixth form and joined another school but ultimately decided to redo sixth form (restart Y12 joining another school) this time pursuing math, bio, chem, and the EPQ. Got the predicted grades I needed and did volunteering and shadowing alongside my UCAT prep. Although I was one of the oldest in my cohort, I felt more confident than ever in my studies and ultimately got offers from med schools that I could only dream off. Despite judgements from my family (and from some people in my year group), I was able to channel all my energy into my school work and really the lingering dream of wanting to be a doctor kept me going. We are young and ultimately it is our own life that we lead and what others may think = irrelevant. Hope this helps!