Are Latin and Ancient Greek GCSE more desirable to top uni's than other subjects?

Hello all,

At the moment I'm studying for my GCSE'S and I'm taking Latin and Ancient Greek. Only 900 people take Ancient Greek GCSE nationally. I am predicted A*'s in both of them. In the future, I would like to study medicine at a top university, maybe even Oxford or Cambridge. I was just wondering whether these two subjects are looked upon more favourably than other subjects by universities or whether they'll just see them merely as another grade.

Thanks!

Reply 1

Kitty.Cat

4

I wouldn't think so, probably just another grade, they will mainly look at a-levels.

Reply 2

izzaha

2

For medicine university's like Birmingham look at how many A*'s you get as long as you get them in Maths science etc doing latin at gcse may not necessarily make you stand out its the combination of good grades and extra curriculum activities that will be good for medicine.

Reply 3

RadiantA

1

Nope - the most crucial GCSE's and A-levels are Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths. Universities look at how applicable the subject is to your course. Latin and Greek are nowhere as significant as chemistry, physics, biology and maths. The science and maths have a lot more to do with medicine.

Reply 4

AshleyKay96

1

Latin will help with medicine many of t he medical names for things are in Latin.

Reply 5

Pandora.

15

Original post by TheHighAchiever

Hello all,

At the moment I'm studying for my GCSE'S and I'm taking Latin and Ancient Greek. Only 900 people take Ancient Greek GCSE nationally. I am predicted A*'s in both of them. In the future, I would like to study medicine at a top university, maybe even Oxford or Cambridge. I was just wondering whether these two subjects are looked upon more favourably than other subjects by universities or whether they'll just see them merely as another grade.

Thanks!

Since the number of students taking Latin and Greek are so low, I doubt you'll have much of an advantage as universities will know that not many people get the chance to study them as so it would be unfair to give a minority an advantage. As long as you get your predicted grades you're at an advantage anyway, and on a personal level those subjects could be very good skills! :smile:

Reply 6

oxbowlake

They will see them merely as another grade.

Reply 7

Coke1

18

I am not sure if I agree with the above posts.

Very few people have a GCSE in those languages, and yes it may be 'unfair' to give a small minority of pupils an advantage, but at the same time it will still look different. I am just thinking, if they had to choose between two candidates, and it came down to them having the same GCSE and A-Level grades, surely one who had slightly more interesting subjects for their GCSEs would have that advantage?

I may be wrong, but just my opinion. Having an A* in something a bit different would look good in my opinion. Of course, they are only GCSEs but still..

Reply 8

Coke1

18

Original post by RadiantA

Nope - the most crucial GCSE's and A-levels are Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths. Universities look at how applicable the subject is to your course. Latin and Greek are nowhere as significant as chemistry, physics, biology and maths. The science and maths have a lot more to do with medicine.

Yes, they will be the subjects that they look at first (English too). I agree that it wouldn't mean much if you didn't have solid grades in the core subjects, but lets say you have A*s in all of the core, most important subjects (eng, maths, phys etc), and then in addition A*s in Latin and Ancient Greek, surely that can only help your application?!

Reply 9

RadiantA

1

[QUOTE="Coke1;37387073"]Yes, they will be the subjects that they look at first (English too). I agree that it wouldn't mean much if you didn't have solid grades in the core subjects, but lets say you have A*s in all of the core, most important subjects (eng, maths, phys etc), and then in addition A*s in Latin and Ancient Greek, surely that can only help your application?![/QUOTE

In all honesty - it doesn't actually help that greatly. In reality oxbridge care a lot more about your AS ums and interest in your subject. Actually spending the time doing medicine related work experience, courses and research will be far better for your application than an A* in Latin or Greek. I would probably argue that an A* in History, Psychology or Geography would probably be slightly more beneficial for a medicine student.

Reply 10

Alexandra's Box

17

It may look more interesting but the reason mmost people don't do it is because they are never given the opportunity - few schools offer it (and aren't most of the ones that do private? Something I've heard)
SO it would be unfair to pick someone just because they were lucky enough to do Latin or Ancient Greek, although they are challenging and having them is great!

Reply 11

books28

GCSEs are certainly not the most important thing in university applications but having A*s in Latin and Ancient Greek will be different and will show that you can cope with the challenging nature of these subjects. However, just as Alexandra's Box wrote, it would be wrong for universities to set you apart from other students with subjects that are not options in most schools. On the other hand, it will set you apart from those who have had the chance to study such subjects and turned it down or got a worse grade! The most important thing is that they are fun and you enjoy them! :smile:

Reply 12

JulietheCat

16

I took Latin as a GCSE and I studied it myself, building on the stuff I studied in primary school.

If I had a month or more in studying it, I would have gotten an A*. But as I only had 6 months to do my studying, I came out with a B which I was pretty impressed with.

Though I never saw myself to have an advantage over other people just because of GCSE Latin. But on the other hand, it means studying languages like Spanish or Italian would be a doddle because of this subject.

Reply 13

hysteria.overdue

No. As said, universities will only really look at A levels and have a quick look at the GCSEs to make sure you can understand English and Maths.

Having said that, I did both Latin and Greek at GCSE and find them both very useful to this day (4th year medical student).

Medical terms are rooted not only in Latin but in Greek too, words like "opsonization" and "hysteria" spring to mind - look them up!

Whilst there may be an argument that they should be looked at more favourably because of this and because of the skills involved in attaining them, they won't be because they're just too rare.

Reply 14

>Untitled<

14

Ahh. I was told this too when I was choosing GCSEs that taking Latin would make me stand out. But the truth of the fact is that Universities don't really place much of an emphasis on GCSEs anyway. And it's about your grades, and the degree you apply for. Stupid 4 years of Caecelius est in horto for nothing. :rolleyes:

Reply 15

username1006802

5

I think it's really important to get the top grades in maths, english lit and lang, and any science course you're doing. Universities want to see that you're capable of doing well in the traditional subjects, and although Latin and Ancient Greek are very respectable GCSEs, few schools offer them, mainly private schools, and with the majority of schools being state, I think universities recognise this fact, and understand that such subjects are not necessary. After all, subjects like modern languages are much more valuable, and humanities too.

Reply 16

123abc123abbc

1

I study both latin and spanish, and i disagree that studying latin makes spanish a 'doddle'. Sure, spanish words are derived from Latin, but so are English words, and the differences between these two languages are evident

Reply 17

Olstero_V4

Original post by Alexandra's Box

It may look more interesting but the reason mmost people don't do it is because they are never given the opportunity - few schools offer it (and aren't most of the ones that do private? Something I've heard)
SO it would be unfair to pick someone just because they were lucky enough to do Latin or Ancient Greek, although they are challenging and having them is great!

It is unfair, that's why the private school charge several thousand pounds a term for their students to have the opportunity!

Reply 18

Bobjim12

20

The London colleges ( ucl and icl) specify a language done at gcse except greek and latin, so no..

Sent from my camel using Etihad desertways

Reply 19

Pups_2000

1

I study Latin and my teacher, who has been teaching Latin for 30 yrs says "If you have a Latin or Greek Gcse, than your CV immediately stands out," idk if this is true,but he has 30yrs experience and I guess you will be honoured for having a high grade

Are Latin and Ancient Greek GCSE more desirable to top uni's than other subjects?

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