Will my A-Level Choice Hinder me?

What are you not reading? I SAID 3 OR 2 and Maths.

Do you have a careers advisor at school/college? Most people here will be guessing.

Most people here are using university websites and prospectuses, which is actually a lot better than most careers advisors anecdotally.

Then my next question is: why is the candidate not doing this him/herself?

They should be!

I guess sometimes people just need reassurance that the stuff they've researched is not incorrect or somehow trumped by something else. Other times is that they've just trusted what they've been told by friends/teachers/careers advisers and haven't grasped the importance of going directly to the source. Or they're lazy. Various reasons.

So i am wondering whether my A-Level choice is going to reduce my chances of getting into medical school. My A-Level combination is: Biology, Chemistry, Psychology and physics. However i found AS physics a real challenge and i am seriously contemplating whether to drop it at A2 because i doubt i will be able to get the required A grade in A2. So i will be left with Biology, Chemistry and Psychology; Will this A-Level choice reduce my chances of getting into medical school providing i get the required grades?

If this does hinder me in applying to medical school i was considering picking up a Cambridge pre-u during A2 and completing it within one year, This is more practical than another A-Level as some pre-u subjects only have 3 units and put more emphasis on self study. But this is a route i really don't want to go down!

Thanks for all the replies, I am doing a ton of research at the minute into university prospectuses and i am aware they ask for Biology and chemistry and not maths, apart from cambridge, but the confusion arises from the fact that a few teachers at school say that you NEED Maths, I personally think they are wrong but it got me thinking that maybe admission tutors do prefer Maths and a 4th A2 but they don't make candidates aware of it on prospectuses? Yes this is now paranoia

So i am just here to get confirmation on what i thought was right from the start, and the majority agree that it is, but then again a minority say maths is preferred on here, why i wonder?

Do you have a careers advisor at school/college? Most people here will be guessing.

Thanks for all the replies, I am doing a ton of research at the minute into university prospectuses and i am aware they ask for Biology and chemistry and not maths, apart from cambridge, but the confusion arises from the fact that a few teachers at school say that you NEED Maths, I personally think they are wrong but it got me thinking that maybe admission tutors do prefer Maths and a 4th A2 but they don't make candidates aware of it on prospectuses? Yes this is now paranoia

So i am just here to get confirmation on what i thought was right from the start, and the majority agree that it is, but then again a minority say maths is preferred on here, why i wonder?

To be honest, I am waiting for my AS-Level results and UKCAT, If they are good i will be applying to universities that rely heavily on them and if they are not optimum then i will apply to a university that relies more on GCSE's and/or predicted grades. I might also try my luck at KCL if everything goes according to plan, but i definitely won't be applying to any other 'top' university.

Thank you so much, that is very nice to hear. My UKCAT is booked for the 3rd of september so just before 6th form starts! When is yours booked for?

Nowhere requires, or even prefers, Maths.

As other(s) have said, Cambridge prefers you to have three of Bio, Chem, Physics and Maths. Nowhere else.

Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology to A2 is absolutely fine.



Cambridge requires it, rather than preferring it.

AS and A Levels

Applicants must have AS or A Level passes in Chemistry and two of Biology/Human Biology, Physics, Mathematics. At least one pass must be at A Level.
Most applicants for Medicine at Cambridge have at least three science/mathematics A Levels and some Colleges require this and/or ask for particular A Level subject(s). See individual College websites for details.

Although some Colleges consider applicants offering only two science/mathematics subjects at A Level, please note that the success rate of such applicants is much lower. In the past three admissions rounds, 98 per cent of applicants for Medicine (A100) offered three or more science/mathematics A Levels and, of these, 23 per cent were successful in obtaining a place. Of the two per cent of applicants who offered only two science/mathematics A Levels, just 10 per cent were successful in gaining a place.