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Should I apply for medicine?

cvsvas
(edited 8 years ago)

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Your GCSE's dont matter much if you get the 4 A's at AS.
Reply 2
Avatar for Romula
Romula
11
Do you have Maths, Chemistry and Biology at A level? Do you have relevant work experience? Then yes, absolutely.
Original post by xyx11
Hi guys. I am now in Year 12. I went to a comprehensive school and I have now moved to a grammar school for sixth form. I really want to do medicine however I feel my gcses are not good enough. I got 5 A*s, 6 As and a B in Religious studies. Do you think I should still apply for medicine considering these are my gcse results?

Which unis should I apply to.

If you are passionate about it then I think you should because your 5 A*s and 6 A's is very good unless you are asian then I can understand that you did not get your 12A*s. I am thinking of doing the same thing as you so goodluck :u:
Original post by Romula
Do you have Maths, Chemistry and Biology at A level? Do you have relevant work experience? Then yes, absolutely.


You don't need maths for medicine. Only chemistry is essential and biology opens up more schools.
Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!
Original post by xyx11
Hi guys. I am now in Year 12. I went to a comprehensive school and I have now moved to a grammar school for sixth form. I really want to do medicine however I feel my gcses are not good enough. I got 5 A*s, 6 As and a B in Religious studies. Do you think I should still apply for medicine considering these are my gcse results?

Which unis should I apply to.


Those are great results. You will need to avoid the GCSE heavy schools but you'll still have plenty of options. The UKCAT will also play an important role in deciding where to apply.
Reply 7
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xyx11
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Original post by Romula
Do you have Maths, Chemistry and Biology at A level? Do you have relevant work experience? Then yes, absolutely.


I am currently studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Geography. I have done a weeks work experience at a hospital and 1 week at a surgery. I also go to the care home as well.v
Reply 8
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xyx11
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Original post by ForestCat
Those are great results. You will need to avoid the GCSE heavy schools but you'll still have plenty of options. The UKCAT will also play an important role in deciding where to apply.



Ok thank you. Which unis would you suggest then that don't focus on your GCSE's a lot.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 9
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xyx11
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Original post by TheYearNiner
If you are passionate about it then I think you should because your 5 A*s and 6 A's is very good unless you are asian then I can understand that you did not get your 12A*s. I am thinking of doing the same thing as you so goodluck :u:


Thanks for your reply. If you don't mind me asking how did you do at gcse?
Reply 10
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xyx11
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Original post by 06sulraj
Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!


Thank you :smile:
Original post by xyx11
Hi guys. I am now in Year 12. I went to a comprehensive school and I have now moved to a grammar school for sixth form. I really want to do medicine however I feel my gcses are not good enough. I got 5 A*s, 6 As and a B in Religious studies. Do you think I should still apply for medicine considering these are my gcse results?

Which unis should I apply to.


Your GCSEs are fine for medicine at most places. However, medicine is very competitive so it's important to apply strategically. There are certain places, such as Cardiff, Oxford, QUB (you can drop QUB from the list if you're applying post-A2 with AAAa because they don't care about GCSEs at that point), Birmingham et cetera, where you'd certainly be competing with people with better GCSEs than you.

I'd aim for those that focus more on A Level results (Cambridge and Exeter, among others) and admissions tests like the UKCAT or BMAT when deciding who to interview if I were you. This is because no medicine offers are made without interview these days and most medical schools don't have the resources to interview everyone so usually come up with a shortlisting mechanism -- you'll need to go for the ones that don't use GCSEs extensively in this mechanism because the interview is the first hurdle and if you don't make it to interview, you don't get an offer.

Your GCSEs are excellent, really. It's just that, with more and more people applying strategically each year, the cut-offs for the various factors get pushed up. So for UKCAT-heavy places, UKCAT cut-offs are pushed up, for GCSE-heavy places, academic cut-offs are pushed up. And so on and so forth. :tongue:
Original post by xyx11
Thanks for your reply. If you don't mind me asking how did you do at gcse?


I am in year 11 so I haven't done it yet
Reply 13
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xyx11
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Good Luck
Original post by TheYearNiner
I am in year 11 so I haven't done it yet
Original post by xyx11
Good Luck


Thanks! :bootyshake:
Original post by ForestCat
You don't need maths for medicine. Only chemistry is essential and biology opens up more schools.


Although most of the ones that make biology optional insist that it be taken up to AS Level, at least. I don't know if doing that would be a disadvantage, but it would certainly be a help to lecturers if they weren't teaching people who've done only the basics two years before starting the course.
Reply 16
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xyx11
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Original post by Hydeman
Your GCSEs are fine for medicine at most places. However, medicine is very competitive so it's important to apply strategically. There are certain places, such as Cardiff, Oxford, QUB (you can drop QUB from the list if you're applying post-A2 with AAAa because they don't care about GCSEs at that point), Birmingham et cetera, where you'd certainly be competing with people with better GCSEs than you.

I'd aim for those that focus more on A Level results (Cambridge and Exeter, among others) and admissions tests like the UKCAT or BMAT when deciding who to interview if I were you. This is because no medicine offers are made without interview these days and most medical schools don't have the resources to interview everyone so usually come up with a shortlisting mechanism -- you'll need to go for the ones that don't use GCSEs extensively in this mechanism because the interview is the first hurdle and if you don't make it to interview, you don't get an offer.

Your GCSEs are excellent, really. It's just that, with more and more people applying strategically each year, the cut-offs for the various factors get pushed up. So for UKCAT-heavy places, UKCAT cut-offs are pushed up, for GCSE-heavy places, academic cut-offs are pushed up. And so on and so forth. :tongue:


Thank you so much for your reply. I have been thinking about applying to Leicester, Keele and Nottingham.
Reply 17
Avatar for Romula
Romula
11
Original post by xyx11
I am currently studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Geography. I have done a weeks work experience at a hospital and 1 week at a surgery. I also go to the care home as well.v


Then you're golden. I'd try and get a bit more work experience- shows your passion. :smile:
Original post by Hydeman
Although most of the ones that make biology optional insist that it be taken up to AS Level, at least. I don't know if doing that would be a disadvantage, but it would certainly be a help to lecturers if they weren't teaching people who've done only the basics two years before starting the course.


Its not impossible to come in to medicine without biology and do well. Non-science grads quickly catch up with science grads in GEM courses. Most of a-level biology is pretty irrelevant anyways, and the necessary parts get covered in more detail during the course.

My point was I am sick of this pervading myth that you need maths for medicine. You only need chemistry (and there are ways around that) and biology to open up the majority of schools. Only Cambridge wants a third science, which can of course be physics.
Original post by xyx11
Thank you so much for your reply. I have been thinking about applying to Leicester, Keele and Nottingham.


Leicester, I think, uses a holistic process so strong A Levels and and a good UKCAT score would make up for lower GCSEs at Leicester. There's also the perk that, because a lot of people applying there know this, they'll all have their brilliance spread over quite a few different measures as well rather than doing amazingly at only one or two measures, which you'd get with GCSE-heavy schools. So the average person would likely have lower GCSEs at Leicester than, say, Oxford or Cardiff, where almost everyone applying would have seven or more A*s.

Not sure about Nottingham but Keele uses GCSEs to decide who to interview alongside the personal statement, unless you're applying with completed A Levels. If you're applying with completed A Levels, GCSEs aren't used. :smile:

It's not much help because it's outdated (so you should check university websites to make sure) but this should give you an idea of what different schools are looking for: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Applying_to_Medical_School_using_your_Strengths
(edited 8 years ago)

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