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I want to study medicine at a top university, any tips.

Hello everybody,
I have always loved to study medicine, it has been my passion for a long time and I just want some help on what I should do to improve my chances of studying medicine in one of the top universities in the UK (or world, i'd love to travel to a different country).

For my GCSE's I got:
A - Mathematics ( i worked very hard and only just missed out on A*, i started year 10 with C's in exams)
B- English Language (one mark of an A)
A* - Biology
A* - Chemistry
A* - Physics
A - History
A - Geography
A - English Literature
B - French (again one mark of an A)

Year 10:
RS (short course) - A
Citizenship (Short course) - B
PE (Short Course) - C (Nobody got a higher grade in the year though)

I know that my GCSE grades may not look very impressive for a medicine applicant but I did not go to a great school. I was a private school but it was a very poor one (only a 25% pass rate in Maths and English in 2015) and I actually got the highest results in the year. Would my GCSE results at all hinder my chances of studying at one of the top universities e.g. Oxbridge, Imperial College London, Edinburgh

I do feel as though i came out stronger after studying in a terrible school and it has helped me focus and work in my sixth form. I dealt with a lot of racial abuse and stereotyping and this helped me in my desire to study medicine as i wanted to make people feel better, especially people suffering from depression and other mental health issues.

I am only take 3 subjects at AS and A-level (everybody at our school does 3 apart from a few students who are going to take four subjects all the way to a level). I am studying Biology, Mathematics and Chemistry and i really enjoy the course and learning the sciences.

I have done a work experience during the summer holiday at a psychiatric wing (I want to become a psychiatrist). I enjoyed it greatly and learned a lot from it and i think it has been of great benefit.

Does anyone have any tips on what I should do to get into medicine at a top university. I know people say it doesn't matter where you study for medicine but i also want to meet students at top universities and learn from them too.

Sorry for all the writing, i just wanted to give a detailed picture.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 1

ForestCat

Original post by EmiloPeter

Seriously get over the idea of a 'top' university. You will need to apply where you stand the best chance of getting in. You will meet people who you can learn from, in all walks of life and at every university.

Reply 2

nexttime

As all med schools require at least AAA, job applications are blinded and the fact that almost 2 in 3 medical applicants fail to secure any offers at all, the notion of a'top university' means a lot less in medicine and getting in somewhere means a lot more.

You should search for places that your application profile is suited to.

Reply 3

redhelen

Since you are at a private school I think they will look at your gcses as pretty poor tbh ( A at English lang is a requirement at some places for example)so you need to look at getting As predicted for your A levels and doing really well at your UKCAT/BMAT.

Reply 4

EmiloPeter

Original post by redhelen

I know i went to a private school but it was a very poor performing school with a very low pass rate. I've moved out into a well performing state school now. Anyway would it help that i got the highest results in the year. i've read on most uni websites that for medicine they look at your gcse results in comparison to the average gcse results of your school

Reply 5

EmiloPeter

Original post by ForestCat

Thats a good point and i agree, do you have any advice on getting into a medical school, i've already started volunteering at a care home.

Reply 6

NPWorld

Personally I think your GCSEs could have been better, since you have the ambition of getting into a medical school and you went to a private school. I went to a terrible state school, had slightly better than yours, but even still I felt it wouldn't be enough. I'd imagine oxbridge is almost certainly out of reach.

But, the most important thing that you can do now is to ace your A-Levels and do really well in UKCAT/BMAT. One recommendation is that you do 4 AS subjects, that certainly was looked upon more favourably when I applied.
Do a wide variety of work experience too.

As someone mentioned earlier, get rid of the idea of a "top" medical school. Hardly relevant in medicine.
Another thing, avoid concentrating on psychiatry and don't mention that interest anywhere (personal statement, interviews etc), purely because the interviewer might be specialised in something else and you don't want to annoy/offend/exclude them :smile:

Good luck and with effort you will definitely one day reach your dream. :smile:

PS: Don't risk your application by applying to med schools like Oxbridge, UCL, Imperial etc, because there will be incredibly strong students applying and genuinely not worth the risk.