A-level choices
I'm starting college in a couple of months and for my A-levels, I've chosen Biology, Psychology, Sociology and History. I really want to study medicine in university and I know that you have to have chemistry as an A-level to do so. I'm good at chemistry but I do find it very difficult at times and I struggle. Is it worth doing chemistry if I struggle a lot with it? And is it worth aiming to do medicine in university if I struggle with it?
Original post by cartync01
I'm starting college in a couple of months and for my A-levels, I've chosen Biology, Psychology, Sociology and History. I really want to study medicine in university and I know that you have to have chemistry as an A-level to do so. I'm good at chemistry but I do find it very difficult at times and I struggle. Is it worth doing chemistry if I struggle a lot with it? And is it worth aiming to do medicine in university if I struggle with it?
If you found GCSE chemistry hard then you're gonna struggle with it at A-Level even more. Take subjects you enjoy and know you'll be good at. If you're sure about going to Uni to do Medicine even though you struggle with it then put more time in studying. My advice is do the stuff you enjoy because at the end of the day you're more likely to do good in a subject if you enjoy it.
If you take it and end up hating it then just drop it at AS.
Original post by Oneiropólos
If you found GCSE chemistry hard then you're gonna struggle with it at A-Level even more. Take subjects you enjoy and know you'll be good at. If you're sure about going to Uni to do Medicine even though you struggle with it then put more time in studying. My advice is do the stuff you enjoy because at the end of the day you're more likely to do good in a subject if you enjoy it.
If you take it and end up hating it then just drop it at AS.
If you take it and end up hating it then just drop it at AS.
Thanks for the advice
Original post by cartync01
I'm starting college in a couple of months and for my A-levels, I've chosen Biology, Psychology, Sociology and History. I really want to study medicine in university and I know that you have to have chemistry as an A-level to do so. I'm good at chemistry but I do find it very difficult at times and I struggle. Is it worth doing chemistry if I struggle a lot with it? And is it worth aiming to do medicine in university if I struggle with it?
For medicine- as well as biology- you might also need either maths or chemistry, or maybe both. Id check the university requirements.
Original post by cartync01
I'm starting college in a couple of months and for my A-levels, I've chosen Biology, Psychology, Sociology and History. I really want to study medicine in university and I know that you have to have chemistry as an A-level to do so. I'm good at chemistry but I do find it very difficult at times and I struggle. Is it worth doing chemistry if I struggle a lot with it? And is it worth aiming to do medicine in university if I struggle with it?
From what I've looked at, you need chemistry and one of biology, physics or maths to do medicine. Not sure if it's every uni, but it seems like most.
Ok:
1) Chemistry is absolutely, ABSOLUTELY mandatory for any respectable medical school, you simply will not even be in the running, let alone considered, if you don't have Chemistry, whilst some universities don't have biology mandatory, Chemistry is required for all.
2) Medicine is a highly competitive field, they pick those with the heaviest academic subjects, good GCSEs and the lot, so even if you did take Bio and Chem, and say...History or Sociology, at AAA, may be passed over for someone who took Mathematics, and has AAA with Bio/Chem. In summary, to increase your chances, you should probably consider doing Maths too.
1) Chemistry is absolutely, ABSOLUTELY mandatory for any respectable medical school, you simply will not even be in the running, let alone considered, if you don't have Chemistry, whilst some universities don't have biology mandatory, Chemistry is required for all.
2) Medicine is a highly competitive field, they pick those with the heaviest academic subjects, good GCSEs and the lot, so even if you did take Bio and Chem, and say...History or Sociology, at AAA, may be passed over for someone who took Mathematics, and has AAA with Bio/Chem. In summary, to increase your chances, you should probably consider doing Maths too.
Chemistry is a formal requirement. I don't know of any medical schools off the top of my head that don't require at least AS Chemistry. There is a reason to this, and that they assume familiarity with the content to ensure you can sufficiently engage with the necessary biochemistry introduced throughout the course. That said, as I understand you won't be "doing" Chemistry as in GCSE/A-level once you get to medical school - for many it's just one of the numerous hurdles they need to jump to secure a place.
Maths is not required although I always recommend it (for anyone, applying to any course. LEARN CALCULUS DAMN IT
) - it's fairly relevant as calculus based reasoning is certainly a useful skill for a doctor to have in analysing certain types of results, although you won't be solving any integrals or differential equations explicitly unless you do a PhD in some area that necessitates it. History is well regarded in general, although Psychology is arguable more relevant if you wanted to include an essay based subject. Sociology is probably less useful as it's both less relevant than Psychology and considered less academically demanding than History.
It's also worth noting you'll still need to take A-level Chemistry for most graduate entry medicine programmes if you haven't already taken it. Additionally the most common pre-GEM degrees are biomedical sciences and chemistry - both of which require chemistry. If you absolutely loathe it, I would probably recommend considering another direction - there are many healthcare careers that involve patient care where chemistry is not a requirement.
Maths is not required although I always recommend it (for anyone, applying to any course. LEARN CALCULUS DAMN IT
) - it's fairly relevant as calculus based reasoning is certainly a useful skill for a doctor to have in analysing certain types of results, although you won't be solving any integrals or differential equations explicitly unless you do a PhD in some area that necessitates it. History is well regarded in general, although Psychology is arguable more relevant if you wanted to include an essay based subject. Sociology is probably less useful as it's both less relevant than Psychology and considered less academically demanding than History.It's also worth noting you'll still need to take A-level Chemistry for most graduate entry medicine programmes if you haven't already taken it. Additionally the most common pre-GEM degrees are biomedical sciences and chemistry - both of which require chemistry. If you absolutely loathe it, I would probably recommend considering another direction - there are many healthcare careers that involve patient care where chemistry is not a requirement.
Original post by Emma:-)
For medicine- as well as biology- you might also need either maths or chemistry, or maybe both. Id check the university requirements.
Hands down you need Biology and Chemsitry
You don't necessarily need Maths
Check some unis and you'll see that they don't require maths
You're going to spend the majority of your time over the next 2 years on your A levels, so please don't do subjects you struggle with or don't like, just for the sake of a career path. Pick subjects you enjoy, and worry about university when the time comes. A lot can change in a couple of years, after my GCSEs I was set on being a psychologist, and now I have changed my mind completely. You may really enjoy another subject and want to study that at uni, so unless you're absolutely 100000% sure you only want to go into medicine, then keep your options open. 
Original post by Oneiropólos
Hands down you need Biology and Chemsitry
You don't necessarily need Maths
Check some unis and you'll see that they don't require maths
You don't necessarily need Maths
Check some unis and you'll see that they don't require maths
Ive not properly looked into it myself- thats why i said check.
They might not require maths, but i bet it would might be a useful subject to take.
Original post by cartync01
I'm starting college in a couple of months and for my A-levels, I've chosen Biology, Psychology, Sociology and History. I really want to study medicine in university and I know that you have to have chemistry as an A-level to do so. I'm good at chemistry but I do find it very difficult at times and I struggle. Is it worth doing chemistry if I struggle a lot with it? And is it worth aiming to do medicine in university if I struggle with it?
Hi! I study History, Psychology and Biology and enjoy them, and sociology looks good too!! You're right though, for medicine chemistry/maths are often required. Could you maybe try a website like unifrog? Don't know if you've encountered it, but it can tell you which courses you can do with which subjects so maybe you could look into medicine courses that don't require chemistry?
In terms of your question I'm not a chemistry or medicine expert, but would just say to make you sure you think about whether you enjoy chemistry enough for a medicine degree if you're unsure about choosing it!
Hope this helps a bit and good luck in your a levels!x
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