The Student Room Group
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>
Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

Feeling gutted about my gcses :(

Scroll to see replies

Reply 40
Avatar for Nnitrk
Nnitrk
1
I got 8A*s 4As in my GCSEs this year - they're probably not good enough grades for Oxford (because Oxford explicitly state they care about the no. of A*s you get), but would these grades at least give me a shot with Cambridge?
Original post by Nnitrk
I got 8A*s 4As in my GCSEs this year - they're probably not good enough grades for Oxford (because Oxford explicitly state they care about the no. of A*s you get), but would these grades at least give me a shot with Cambridge?
8 is a lot. That is 66.6% of your GCSEs. Choose the place you feel that you will be best suited in. (More likely at Cambridge though)
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Nnitrk
I got 8A*s 4As in my GCSEs this year - they're probably not good enough grades for Oxford (because Oxford explicitly state they care about the no. of A*s you get), but would these grades at least give me a shot with Cambridge?


Stop talking rubbish.
Original post by RomeoSantos
Stop talking rubbish.


He's not talking rubbish, he doesn't have a great chance at Oxford as his A* percentage is not great
Original post by manlike99
He's not talking rubbish, he doesn't have a great chance at Oxford as his A* percentage is not great


he has a great chance at oxford.
I've not read every comment on this thread in great detail, but the people who are saying GCSE's have no impact at all on Medicine simply have no idea what they're talking about.

Sure, for a lot of subjects your A levels are far more important and as long as you get the minimum in maths/English/science GCSE requirements you'll be set, but medicine is not like that. There are so many applicants that places are incredibly competitive, and so many applicants have flawless grades that even if you in theory make the 'minimum' requirements you'll still be far below many others in academic achievement. Some unis specifically use an algorithm to calculate your % of A*s at GCSE mixed with your UKCAT score to decide who to interview. For many people OP's grades would be great, but for medicine he is very much below average.

Of course there are odd anecdotes about people getting in with poor grades, but for the average applicant this simply isn't at all likely. So my advice, OP, is to attempt it if you wish and try to aim for a very high UKCAT score, but be prepared for disappointment. If you were one of the highest scorers in your school then that may work in your favour a tiny bit, but it's unlikely to make a significant difference I'm afraid. I'm sorry, the medicine application process is brutal. I know a girl who got 11 A*s at GCSE with 3 A* predictions at A level and got rejected from all but one of her medicine applications :s-smilie:
Original post by RomeoSantos
he has a great chance at oxford.


The average medicine applicant there has 94% A*s or something like that
Original post by Nnitrk
I got 8A*s 4As in my GCSEs this year - they're probably not good enough grades for Oxford (because Oxford explicitly state they care about the no. of A*s you get), but would these grades at least give me a shot with Cambridge?
You're still a little bit below average but in all honesty they should be fine as long as you do well in the BMAT, at least to secure an interview. After that no one can really say.
Original post by manlike99
The average medicine applicant there has 94% A*s or something like that


Then the rest of this lads application better be outstanding.
Original post by 9091student
I got 7As and 2Bs i have no chance of getting into medicine, im devastated


Heya,

I understand that you're bummed as you just missed out on doing medicine and it's ok to feel upset about that- just know that the grades you got are absolutely outstanding and if you take medicine out of the equation, they are grades that most people would do anything to get! You should be proud of yourself and your hard work, you did awesome!
The OP is right, he doesn't actually have a chance at getting into medicine in the UK.

Yes, most medical schools have minimum requirements of 6A grades, however these are MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS!! Everyone here is trying to butter you up, but the harsh reality is that most applicants will have much stronger grades.

However, this is not the end of the road. There are thousands of courses out there, and with nearly straight A's your options are very much open.
Original post by Roundhead
I got bad GCSE's, (Literally the lowest out of my group of friends) but I scraped into A levels.

And now that I have finished AS, I am moving onto A2... and the guy who got all A* / A's in GCSE has to do BTEC.

Goes to show how irrelevant GCSE's are in the grand scheme of things for preparing you for A levels.


That is what I'm trying to say and even if it's not, just be grateful and happy. There are people who did WAAAAAY worse than him and many others like him and they probably feel ashamed even embarrassed that people with A*/A/B grades had done "bad", they probably feel like "if that is bad, what do my grades equate to" That is how I felt and after my first attempt of as failed also, I felt like total **** and when into mental health.

I would be jumping for joy other those, where they are relevant or not, I would see on top of the world. Like I said I'm not trying to be harsh or mean, just saying be grateful..happy even people have gotten worse and have to deal with that.

what college does he go to?? the majority say C upwards for 5+ gcses are able to go A-Level.
Original post by MoshBosh
The OP is right, he doesn't actually have a chance at getting into medicine in the UK.

Yes, most medical schools have minimum requirements of 6A grades, however these are MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS!! Everyone here is trying to butter you up, but the harsh reality is that most applicants will have much stronger grades.

However, this is not the end of the road. There are thousands of courses out there, and with nearly straight A's your options are very much open.


you're silly, at most of the universities, after the student has achieved the 6As they don't look at them further... e.g) Sheffield(6) Keele(6) Manchester(6) Liverpool(6) Southampton(7Bs) and some don't look at GCSEs at all apart from the B in eng lang so

edit: my friend got only 8 and got 3 offers
(edited 7 years ago)
I normally try to be nice and stuff but this is kinda annoying.

Sure you didn't get the grades you wanted but they are still very good. If I got those grades I'd be over the moon! You haven't messed up at all. With good A level grades, plenty of work experience I'm sure you'll have a chance of doing medicine
Original post by manlike99
you're silly, at most of the universities, after the student has achieved the 6As they don't look at them further... e.g) Sheffield(6) Keele(6) Manchester(6) Liverpool(6) Southampton(7Bs) and some don't look at GCSEs at all apart from the B in eng lang so


I'm sorry but you clearly have not researched this very well.

All these universities have a points based GCSE score system. E.g. 3 points for an A*, 2 points for an A, etc etc. They normally look at the top 8 grades, therefore a score out of 24. Most applicants will have a score of 22 or above, with very few having a score of around 18 or above.

The OP would have a score of around 14, so very noncompetitive. It is not helpful at all to make the OP feel like he has a chance at getting into med school.

He does have good grades, not for medicine, but for nearly every other course out there which hardly considers GCSE grades.
Original post by MoshBosh
I'm sorry but you clearly have not researched this very well.

All these universities have a points based GCSE score system. E.g. 3 points for an A*, 2 points for an A, etc etc. They normally look at the top 8 grades, therefore a score out of 24. Most applicants will have a score of 22 or above, with very few having a score of around 18 or above.

The OP would have a score of around 14, so very noncompetitive. It is not helpful at all to make the OP feel like he has a chance at getting into med school.

He does have good grades, not for medicine, but for nearly every other course out there which hardly considers GCSE grades.


haha nope, out of those, if you look on the website, only Liverpool does that and they give an A* and A the same number of points so I'm sure he'll be fine.
for example:
https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/media/mhs/bmh-faculty/UoM_Medicine_Your_Application_16-17.pdf

another one:
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/medicine/prospective_ug/applying/whathappens

and another one:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/a100/#entryrequirements

and yet another one:
http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lms/study-with-us/undergraduate/mbchb/entry-requirements-and-selection-process/selection-process/
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by manlike99
haha nope, out of those, if you look on the website, only Liverpool does that and they give an A* and A the same number of points so I'm sure he'll be fine.
for example:
https://www.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/media/mhs/bmh-faculty/UoM_Medicine_Your_Application_16-17.pdf

another one:
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/medicine/prospective_ug/applying/whathappens


Manchester have a 7:1 applicant to place ratio. Lets have a scenario where two applicants have similar A levels, similar personal statements, similar UKCAT etc.

Do you think the uni will offer an interview to the candidate with 6A's or 6A*s?

There is no winning with some people, by all means apply. Go ahead, and see what happens. If by some miracle the OP gets in, then I stand corrected. But with the average applicant with 6A*s (according to the medical school consortium), he really does not stand a chance.
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 57
Avatar for Morgii
Morgii
1
Original post by 9091student
I got 7As and 2Bs i have no chance of getting into medicine, im devastated


This just simply isn't true. All schools ask for different things. When it comes to uni places, it is less about how you are in GCSE and more about A-Levels that count. Because of the big jump, you could get all A*s in GCSE then 3 Cs at A-Level or even vise versa. As long as you work your ass of and start revising right from the start of term all the way through the 2 years you'll be fine
Original post by MoshBosh
Manchester have a 7:1 applicant to place ratio. Lets have a scenario where two applicants have similar A levels, similar personal statements, similar UKCAT etc.

Do you think the uni will offer an interview to the candidate with 6A's or 6A*s?


Similar UKCAT? The chances of someone having the same UKCAT is very very very low. Once you have the 6As, they have a UKCAT cut off and you have to beat it and have a decent non-academic form. Simple as.
I got 223 UMS for my AQA HIGHER SCA1HP and SCA2HP, but why did i get a D??

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you