GCSE&#x27;s good enough for cambridge medicine?

i am expected to get 4 grade 8's and a 9, and 3 7's o o f

Reply 5

Medicine at cam isn't that heavy on A*s at GCSE, I know plenty of medics in my year who have less than 6 A*s. I only had 5 and I study medicine at Cambridge. I know O*ford are pretty GCSE heavy which is why, in all honesty, I picked Cambridge. Both are amazing medical schools so it doesn't really matter which one you go to tbh, both very similar places, similar courses, similar experiences.. I would just apply to your strengths and make sure you're picking medical schools which look for the stuff that is strong on your application. I did well at AS (they were a thing in my day) and not so well at GCSE so chose Cam. It was a no-brainer at the time tbh.

Reply 6

wow! well done for getting in and i agree with cambridge, being less gcse heavy, is it true they prefer private schools?

Original post by Elliottmanwaring

Medicine at cam isn't that heavy on A*s at GCSE, I know plenty of medics in my year who have less than 6 A*s. I only had 5 and I study medicine at Cambridge. I know O*ford are pretty GCSE heavy which is why, in all honesty, I picked Cambridge. Both are amazing medical schools so it doesn't really matter which one you go to tbh, both very similar places, similar courses, similar experiences.. I would just apply to your strengths and make sure you're picking medical schools which look for the stuff that is strong on your application. I did well at AS (they were a thing in my day) and not so well at GCSE so chose Cam. It was a no-brainer at the time tbh.

Reply 7

spingu101

13

As a current offer-holder, you will be up against people with mostly higher GCSEs than you. However, if you can displace your GCSE profile with an excellent BMAT score and interview performance, you definitely stand a chance. One person I know (this is quite a unique case) had only 2 A*s due to their circumstances at the time they sat their GCSEs, but did very well in the BMAT and interview, and exceeded their A*A*A offer requirement, now a first year student. At the same time, a few of my friends this year who got all A*s and 3 9s at GCSE got a below average BMAT score, and weren't invited to interview. Don't get too hung up on what you have achieved, now it's time to focus on what you can achieve in the future months.

Reply 8

spingu101

13

My college is about 75% state school, but admittedly even though this is one of the highest colleges for proportions at state school, it is still not representative. Academic ability is (or it definitely should be) the only discriminating factor in deciding who gets in.

Original post by Coolkitkat23

wow! well done for getting in and i agree with cambridge, being less gcse heavy, is it true they prefer private schools?

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 9

Absolutely not, I'm from a normal state school in South-West Wales as are many of my peers. Funny enough that's why I'm still so active on TSR now because it is such a shame so many state school kids don't give medicine at Cambridge/O*ford a shot because I know plenty would get in. I want more state school kids to just give it a shot!

Original post by Coolkitkat23

wow! well done for getting in and i agree with cambridge, being less gcse heavy, is it true they prefer private schools?

Reply 10

im applying thanks alot my dude! another thing if you dont mind... (sorry) i havent done anything for my cv and im from a pretty average family.... what should i do when i go to sixth form?

Original post by Elliottmanwaring

Absolutely not, I'm from a normal state school in South-West Wales as are many of my peers. Funny enough that's why I'm still so active on TSR now because it is such a shame so many state school kids don't give medicine at Cambridge/O*ford a shot because I know plenty would get in. I want more state school kids to just give it a shot!

Reply 11

Proportionally, this is quite rare but as an occurrence this happens every year. A medic in my year, at my college has only 2A*s at GCSE but for 3A*s at A2. Cambridge are looking for the brightest and best who're on an upward trajectory of academic performance. If you nail your interview and you're doing really well at Alevels to prove you're a smart student, you should get your place. Yeah BMAT matters but I didn't do amazingly and neither did loads of my mates who are at Cam. I was in the 5s for sections 1 and 2 and 3A. Amazing advice here though, I would make sure you focus on your grades at the moment and work really hard in school to be in with a chance of getting an offer!

Original post by spingu101

As a current offer-holder, you will be up against people with mostly higher GCSEs than you. However, if you can displace your GCSE profile with an excellent BMAT score and interview performance, you definitely stand a chance. One person I know (this is quite a unique case) had only 2 A*s due to their circumstances at the time they sat their GCSEs, but did very well in the BMAT and interview, and exceeded their A*A*A offer requirement, now a first year student. At the same time, a few of my friends this year who got all A*s and 3 9s at GCSE got a below average BMAT score, and weren't invited to interview. Don't get too hung up on what you have achieved, now it's time to focus on what you can achieve in the future months.

Reply 12

Original post by spingu101

My college is about 75% state school, but admittedly even though this is one of the highest colleges for proportions at state school, it is still not representative. Academic ability is (or it definitely should be) the only discriminating factor in deciding who gets in.

thanks for telling me this, im from a pretty average school, so hopefully theres no bias... anyways i agree academic ability is what gets you into any university

Reply 13