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The best?

What is the best medical school (by this I mean the one with the highest entry requirements) that I would realistically have a chance when applying to with these GCSE's

A*A*AAAAAAABB + 1/2A*

2A* 7A 2B 1/2A*

and for those wondering the B's were not in any subject medical schools specify you have i.e. english, maths or science.

Also I am aware of the requirements of most medical schools (having looked at the table on tsr and checked websites) but just as you only require C's to apply to Cambridge I just dont think the table tells the whole story.

Thank you

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Reply 1
Do the same at A Level and then you can think of going to the 'best' medical school in the country. I know loads of people who got similar grades to you but ended up with BBB (not saying its bad, but lower than their expectations) and had to go to give themselves satisfied with only a 'good' and not the 'best' uni.
Reply 2
Original post by muffingg
Do the same at A Level and then you can think of going to the 'best' medical school in the country. I know loads of people who got similar grades to you but ended up with BBB (not saying its bad, but lower than their expectations) and had to go to give themselves satisfied with only a 'good' and not the 'best' uni.


I already have an A* will hopefully get another one maybe even 2 and I should really get a 4th A aswell in my 4th subject.
Reply 3
There is a BEST MEDICAL SCHOOL? :shock:
Reply 4
Original post by Tetanus
There is a BEST MEDICAL SCHOOL? :shock:


You know I did write in brackets what I meant by that.
There's no such thing as a best or worst medical school in the UK, and entry requirements are frankly a stupid way of attempting to categorise them for those purposes. Your GCSE's preclude you from applying to Birmingham, and you should avoid Kings, Oxford and Cardiff too. Your UKCAT will rule in/out others who set specific UKCAT boundaries, and then you can narrow it down by decideding whether you want to do a traditional or integrated course, and whether you want to do PBL or not.
Reply 6
1. no such thing as best medical school.
2. the entry requirements for a med school are not based on how "good" it is.
Original post by Tetanus
There is a BEST MEDICAL SCHOOL? :shock:



Original post by anon2010
1. no such thing as best medical school.
2. the entry requirements for a med school are not based on how "good" it is.


err...hello....

bath medical school.....

its the very best in the country....
Reply 8
Original post by Becca-Sarah
There's no such thing as a best or worst medical school in the UK, and entry requirements are frankly a stupid way of attempting to categorise them for those purposes. Your GCSE's preclude you from applying to Birmingham, and you should avoid Kings, Oxford and Cardiff too. Your UKCAT will rule in/out others who set specific UKCAT boundaries, and then you can narrow it down by decideding whether you want to do a traditional or integrated course, and whether you want to do PBL or not.


thissssssssss.
Reply 9
You know, as much as I'm sure you enjoy being sarcastic to other people whilst sitting comfortably infront of your computer screen, it doesn't really help anyone apart from making you feel big and strong. You know what I meant by best - its even written in brackets so could you either answer my question or not bother me please.
Reply 10
Original post by Becca-Sarah
There's no such thing as a best or worst medical school in the UK, and entry requirements are frankly a stupid way of attempting to categorise them for those purposes. Your GCSE's preclude you from applying to Birmingham, and you should avoid Kings, Oxford and Cardiff too. Your UKCAT will rule in/out others who set specific UKCAT boundaries, and then you can narrow it down by decideding whether you want to do a traditional or integrated course, and whether you want to do PBL or not.


Would you say those are the only ones to avoid? In hindsight this should have been the title for this thread.
Original post by arunadindane
Would you say those are the only ones to avoid? In hindsight this should have been the title for this thread.


You don't have a UKCAT, BMAT or any A Levels yet, so I don't have any other criteria to go on...
Reply 12
Original post by arunadindane
You know, as much as I'm sure you enjoy being sarcastic to other people whilst sitting comfortably infront of your computer screen, it doesn't really help anyone apart from making you feel big and strong. You know what I meant by best - its even written in brackets so could you either answer my question or not bother me please.


You fundamentally misunderstand how medicine admissions work - it is nothing like general university admissions. A candidate doesn't apply to "the one with the highest requirements" or anything like that, they apply to that one that has the course that they prefer, and secondary to that the medical schools in which their UKCAT/GCSE's are suitable for. There isn't really one "with the highest entry requirements", and if there is, you're presuming that high entry requirements correlate with 'the best' - which it doesn't. It's purely coincidental.

A more accurate question would be "I like lecture-based courses, hate PBL, and want early patient contact. Which school would suit me? Would my grades be appropriate?"
Reply 13
Original post by Becca-Sarah
You don't have a UKCAT, BMAT or any A Levels yet, so I don't have any other criteria to go on...


Good (as in the standard for medicine) A-levels at worst A*AAA
sat UKCAT last year obviouly would have to resit this year but got 670 so assuming I were to manage to repeat that, what do you reckon?
Reply 14
Original post by arunadindane
What is the best medical school (by this I mean the one with the highest entry requirements) that I would realistically have a chance when applying to with these GCSE's

A*A*AAAAAAABB + 1/2A*

2A* 7A 2B 1/2A*

and for those wondering the B's were not in any subject medical schools specify you have i.e. english, maths or science.

Also I am aware of the requirements of most medical schools (having looked at the table on tsr and checked websites) but just as you only require C's to apply to Cambridge I just dont think the table tells the whole story.

Thank you


Stay away from King's; Birmingham; and Oxford; and you're all set (kinda). As long as you meet the requirements your application will be considered, so check those out. Also, to stand a better chance, do some research into how universities actually grade applicants. You should concentrate on getting predicted a minimum of AAA (and achieving this at AS level), and also try and get a very high score on the UKCAT. Also, get some work experience etc.

EDIT #1: Your UKCAT score is good, maybe consider Barts; Manchester; and St Georges (if you interview well, as they interview MANY candidates). The former two love the UKCAT, although I'm not sure what the requirements were for this year - do your research. Also, stay away from Sheffield as they want 720+

EDIT #2: Unis with higher requirements for medicine aren't necessarily better, you'll be lucky to get ONE offer for medicine. It really does not matter where you graduate from, and to be honest, you shouldn't be too fussy (not being rude, but your GCSEs aren't the best). You have a chance by any means, though, so good luck :biggrin:
(edited 13 years ago)
Original post by arunadindane
Good (as in the standard for medicine) A-levels at worst A*AAA
sat UKCAT last year obviouly would have to resit this year but got 670 so assuming I were to manage to repeat that, what do you reckon?


I think Sheffield's cut off was way above that this year, and I suspect Barts was pretty close.
Reply 16
Original post by arunadindane
You know, as much as I'm sure you enjoy being sarcastic to other people whilst sitting comfortably infront of your computer screen, it doesn't really help anyone apart from making you feel big and strong. You know what I meant by best - its even written in brackets so could you either answer my question or not bother me please.


Was just messing. Soz. :s-smilie:

I got identical grades to yourself at GCSE. Like Becca said, you won't be able to make it into some of those med school that set out crazy high GCSE requirements e.g. Birmingham.

In terms of Cambridge and Oxford, although they require something like 9 C's or above at GCSE, I read somewhere that the majority of Oxford applicants have something mad like 90% A*'s..

..tough as ****. Just have a look at the requirements of schools that you're interested in & absolutely destroy your AS's to keep your options as wide as possible.

Peace. :biggrin:
Reply 17
Original post by Beska
You fundamentally misunderstand how medicine admissions work - it is nothing like general university admissions. A candidate doesn't apply to "the one with the highest requirements" or anything like that, they apply to that one that has the course that they prefer, and secondary to that the medical schools in which their UKCAT/GCSE's are suitable for. There isn't really one "with the highest entry requirements", and if there is, you're presuming that high entry requirements correlate with 'the best' - which it doesn't. It's purely coincidental.

A more accurate question would be "I like lecture-based courses, hate PBL, and want early patient contact. Which school would suit me? Would my grades be appropriate?"


While I realise my title suggests I'm unaware that you receive the same standard degree wherever you go and it doesn't affect your job prospects at all, I did not mean it in that way so I'm sorry for that. So I'll rephrase the question and ask what is/are the medical schools with the highest entry requirements that my poor GCSE's wont hold me back. Or better the schools to avoid. Thank you.
Reply 18
What do HYMS and Manchester think about GCSE's and UKCAT? - Realistically
Reply 19
Original post by arunadindane
What do HYMS and Manchester think about GCSE's and UKCAT? - Realistically


From TSR, I think there are a few users with similar GCSEs who received offers from HYMS. And Manchester rank using UKCAT (well, they did for 2010 entry). You should check out the Medics and Applicants Profiles Thread.

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