Getting into med school!!!!

omg were doing exactly the same a-levels

I'm honestly not sure that grades do make that much difference. The thing is, A level grades don't really mean much at all in the grander scale of things, as you say, they are flooded with candidates, and all those candidates will have good grades. That does not help admissions one bit. What does shine through would be things that show yourself - the way you interview, the way you write a personal statement. First year medicine everywhere rapidly outstrips A levels, so I don't think they are really used as a powerful discriminator. The evidence for my argument is look at how universities and medical schools have introduced their own tests ontop of the A level system, to do exactly this.

Medics are fairly bright, as a generalisation; but to study medicine you don't have to be bright. The more 'brightness' you have just means you get through the material ffaster so you can spend your time doing other things which keep you sane.

Edit: Just to clarify, I am not trying to demean A levels. They do require a fair bit of work - more work than most students have ever done at 17 - hence the challenge. But things have to be weighed up depending on the level that you are at. Just as a 5M swimming badge might have been good at say age, 2, it is no longer so impressive at age 4. When you get to medical school, the slate is again wiped clean. Everyone is learning new material and after the first couple of weeks (where they usually run some sort of foundations course). You go on to get what you do based on your own merits. You should also take into account that because of different schools teaching slightly different A levels, to differing standards, grades may not reflect ability as much as teaching, and poor teaching will not stretch bright students. Look u Carl Gauss and Galois, or Hermite to prove the point...

Do an AS level, any AS will do. Imperial and UCL need a B and E in a 4th AS respectively, and you will greatly increase the number of unis you can apply to with 4 AS levels. Definitely try and do one in year 13.

Except you did really well in your Jan exams and I did not so well...also we're thinking of different courses at uni But yaaaay What boards are you doing?
Bio - Edexcel SNAB
Chem - OCR A
Psych - AQA A

What about Imperial's whole 'No Vocational Subjects' thing? I was having myocardial infarctions over having an a-level in psychology, until someone told me it was okay, Imperial won't mind it :P
Yeah, that's what I was thinking of doing, either doing it at my current school, or moving to MPW (just down the road from Imperial) and doing my A-levels plus an extra AS there

Excellent, and Psychology is universally counted as a proper A-level

Most universities don't count it as a science subject though, and Oxbridge list it as a less desirable subject. =|

Only Cambridge, and most med schools want Chemistry and/or biology. They don't care whether the third A-level is a science or non-science.

I'm fairly sure Oxford does as well, but I may be wrong.
I was only trying to say Psychology doesn't really get the respect it deserves

A lot of universities ask for Chemistry and another science subject (from Physics, Maths and Biology).

Big question, for me, anyway. Would I still be able to get into Med school (anywhere...) with three AS levels and the same three A-Levels?
If I get three A's in Bio, Chem and Psych at AS, then predicted the same for A-level would I have a chance of getting into med, or do we have to have 4 AS ?????

Please help! Any advice is helpful!

yeh i think youd get in somewhere.

im pretty sure theres an official site somewhere.

off topic, do you watch scrubs?

I'm not sure if someone's mentioned this, but one thing about Imperial and UCL requiring BMAT is that you don't get the results until after you've applied. This can be a bit risky as you don't know whether your score would be good enough for that particular uni and would not be able to apply according to your strengths.

But by all means take up a 4th AS, it will open up many more choices!

That's one of my worries already applied to the uni's, then you sit the exam :/
Yeah, deffo planning it!

I'm staying well away from BMAT unis At least if I score low on the UKCAT, I could choose to apply to somewhere that doesn't place that much of an emphasis on it. But BMAT is a pain in the arse, I died a little inside when I saw how much time you would have for each question!

Which one are you planning on taking?

I know! It's crazy, and some of the questions, I'm like, how are you physically meant to do them without a calculator -.- it's sad, but I'm doing both, applying to 2 BMAT unis and 2 UKCAT unis, just cause I love love love those two BMAT uni's and I'd be sad if I didn't at least try to get into either one of them, and I can't decide with one out of the two I want to apply to, so I'll aply to both Not like I've found anywhere else I really want to apply to I miiight change Southampton to St. Georges now, though...not sure, all London unis, I'm not really putting myself in a great position lol...

Very risky to apply to 2 BMAT unis!! My advice is to visit both - decide which one you prefer and then apply to that one only. Many people on TSR this year were caught out after doing badly in the BMAT. You could end up with 2 rejections by December if it all goes wrong

There is nothing wrong in applying to all London Unis if that is your preference. I am off to Southampton in September (providing I get the grades) - if you do apply there make sure your ps is really good - I wrote mine specifically with them in mind. They like to see a lot of reflection and experience in a 'carring role' (i.e. volunteering in a care home/Vitalise). Most medical school will specify what they want to see in a statement so make sure you check.

Try to do well in the BMAT and UKCAT (practice lots), make sure you apply to your strengths and as long as you have the GCSE requirements for individual medical schools and have a solid ps - you should get some interviews.

I know! It's crazy, and some of the questions, I'm like, how are you physically meant to do them without a calculator -.- it's sad, but I'm doing both, applying to 2 BMAT unis and 2 UKCAT unis, just cause I love love love those two BMAT uni's and I'd be sad if I didn't at least try to get into either one of them, and I can't decide with one out of the two I want to apply to, so I'll aply to both Not like I've found anywhere else I really want to apply to I miiight change Southampton to St. Georges now, though...not sure, all London unis, I'm not really putting myself in a great position lol...