medicine

hey , just wanted to see what people thought,
im planning to study medicine and i'm on my last year in GCSE.
my grades aren't wonderful and wondering for any advice which may help get me get into university for medicine

grades for GCSE

maths B
science B
English C
Dutch D
ICT B/A
pche B
English lit B/C
business D <-- only subject im failing
resistant material B
geography C
RE and citizenship together C

i know my grades aren't the best however im planning to take biology ,chemistry , maths , Dutch and economics for A level. my question is, would i be able to get into any university in the UK or abroad if i get 3 A/A* in my A level and so lots and lots of work experience. .

Reply 1

joshohill

3

im planning to take the same career path as yourself! if you can get into 6th form or whatever with those grades then do as well as you can at a level. There are things called stalking pages http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medicine_Applicants_Stalking_Page_2013_Entry so you can see what other people have got on their UKCAT assessments and also UCAS scores. You should also try and head over to the medicine section on TSR - http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=195

Yes I think on the application showing you are academic is important but equally important that you are a rounded person that has social skills and are also committed to the career pathway...e.g work experience within medical environments and showing interest. :smile:

I hope your final gcse's go well.

If you want to find out about what med school's/unis require then checkout this http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medical_School_GCSE_Requirements

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medical_School_A_Level_Requirements

All the best mo79 :biggrin:

!

Reply 2

kalios

1

Are you sure you want to take an A level that you're getting a D in at GCSE?

Reply 3

wtpcarr

5

Original post by mo97

hey , just wanted to see what people thought,
im planning to study medicine and i'm on my last year in GCSE.
my grades aren't wonderful and wondering for any advice which may help get me get into university for medicine

grades for GCSE

maths B
science B
English C
Dutch D
ICT B/A
pche B
English lit B/C
business D <-- only subject im failing
resistant material B
geography C
RE and citizenship together C

i know my grades aren't the best however im planning to take biology ,chemistry , maths , Dutch and economics for A level. my question is, would i be able to get into any university in the UK or abroad if i get 3 A/A* in my A level and so lots and lots of work experience. .

i don't mean to be rude but , if you can't get higher than a b in maths and "science"( separate or combined???) then how do you expect to get A/A* at a level , which is soooooooo much harder . Most medicine applicants get a handful of a*s and as tbh , and why are U taking Dutch with a d and why economics aswell. Your ambition makes no sense. In theory you could still ace a levels and be fine but if so why couldn't you di the same at gcse , work experience is Important but sheer amount of it doesn't matter as much , maybe you should get more clued up on the application process , because even with 3as at a level great we etc. You can still struggle for a place.

Reply 4

joshohill

3

You wont have any worries for getting into 6th forms as most require B's ... I think that you may struggle on application but don't let others get you down, follow your ambition but make sure you brush up on what is required to make sure you're hitting the targets!

Reply 5

mo97

OP

hello, for dutch I mean A* sorry I have haven't written it properly. the reason I didn't do so good in gcse is because in year 10 I didn't take school serious. of course that was my fault and I realised to late . however I am definitely going to try my best in sixth form! thanks for the wishes and helps guys!

Reply 6

mo97

OP

Original post by wtpcarr

i don't mean to be rude but , if you can't get higher than a b in maths and "science"( separate or combined???) then how do you expect to get A/A* at a level , which is soooooooo much harder . Most medicine applicants get a handful of a*s and as tbh , and why are U taking Dutch with a d and why economics aswell. Your ambition makes no sense. In theory you could still ace a levels and be fine but if so why couldn't you di the same at gcse , work experience is Important but sheer amount of it doesn't matter as much , maybe you should get more clued up on the application process , because even with 3as at a level great we etc. You can still struggle for a place.

yeah I see your point about the maths and science but to be honest i feel that i haven't been motivated much and i feel much more motivated to do better. also the reason i am taking economics is because i didn't know what else to take for A level and i asked some people for their opinions and they told me maths would go good with economics so i decided to take that aswell.

Reply 7

wtpcarr

5

Original post by mo97

yeah I see your point about the maths and science but to be honest i feel that i haven't been motivated much and i feel much more motivated to do better. also the reason i am taking economics is because i didn't know what else to take for A level and i asked some people for their opinions and they told me maths would go good with economics so i decided to take that aswell.

you've got 5 without economics, is it not hard enough for you already ???, alot of people blame lack of motivation, but to be able to expect to jump from poor gcse to outstanding a levels is a crazy assumption. Sorry but in my opinion that somone that can't motivate them for gcse science and maths which most med applicants ace with no revision anyway doesn't seem like somone that can go on to get 3 as and get into med school .

Reply 8

mo97

OP

Original post by wtpcarr

you've got 5 without economics, is it not hard enough for you already ???, alot of people blame lack of motivation, but to be able to expect to jump from poor gcse to outstanding a levels is a crazy assumption. Sorry but in my opinion that somone that can't motivate them for gcse science and maths which most med applicants ace with no revision anyway doesn't seem like somone that can go on to get 3 as and get into med school .

okay so you tell me what I could do to increase the chances of me going to medical.

Reply 9

wtpcarr

5

Original post by mo97

okay so you tell me what I could do to increase the chances of me going to medical.

work on trying to get as close as you can to 4a*s in maths and sciences then take that momentum into a level , but you're looking at an uphill struggle and alot of people back out if applying after they see their grades aren't going to be good enough

Reply 10

ergo30

2

Original post by wtpcarr

you've got 5 without economics, is it not hard enough for you already ???, alot of people blame lack of motivation, but to be able to expect to jump from poor gcse to outstanding a levels is a crazy assumption. Sorry but in my opinion that somone that can't motivate them for gcse science and maths which most med applicants ace with no revision anyway doesn't seem like somone that can go on to get 3 as and get into med school .

You can't just get the grades without any revision whatsoever, that's crazy talk, and I don't think 'most' medicine applicants get awesome gcse grades without revising. :rolleyes:

Reply 11

wtpcarr

5

Original post by ergo30

You can't just get the grades without any revision whatsoever, that's crazy talk, and I don't think 'most' medicine applicants get awesome gcse grades without revising. :rolleyes:

of course you can't that's not what I meant because revsision at a level is really important but some people just find it way to hard to get 3 as in the 3 hardest subjects , and actually yes even some unsuccesful med applicants get pretty good gcses 5A*s+ with not too much effort tbh, gcses are nothing in comparison with a levels and if you can't get at least a/a* at gcse you'll find it really hard to get anywhere near an a at a level even with loads of revision , especially chemistry and maths!

Reply 12

king_revision

5

Original post by mo97

hey , just wanted to see what people thought,
im planning to study medicine and i'm on my last year in GCSE.
my grades aren't wonderful and wondering for any advice which may help get me get into university for medicine

grades for GCSE

maths B
science B
English C
Dutch D
ICT B/A
pche B
English lit B/C
business D <-- only subject im failing
resistant material B
geography C
RE and citizenship together C

i know my grades aren't the best however im planning to take biology ,chemistry , maths , Dutch and economics for A level. my question is, would i be able to get into any university in the UK or abroad if i get 3 A/A* in my A level and so lots and lots of work experience. .

Let me suggest something: choose a different career :biggrin:

Why are you taking Dutch if you going to get a D?

Reply 13

king_revision

5

Original post by wtpcarr

of course you can't that's not what I meant because revsision at a level is really important but some people just find it way to hard to get 3 as in the 3 hardest subjects , and actually yes even some unsuccesful med applicants get pretty good gcses 5A*s+ with not too much effort tbh, gcses are nothing in comparison with a levels and if you can't get at least a/a* at gcse you'll find it really hard to get anywhere near an a at a level even with loads of revision , especially chemistry and maths!

Maths is pretty easy. I'm a final year GCSE student and i've already got an A on S1 :smile:

I'm also doing Further maths gcse, which as you said gcses are easy :smile:

Reply 14

Username97

Original post by wtpcarr

of course you can't that's not what I meant because revsision at a level is really important but some people just find it way to hard to get 3 as in the 3 hardest subjects , and actually yes even some unsuccesful med applicants get pretty good gcses 5A*s+ with not too much effort tbh, gcses are nothing in comparison with a levels and if you can't get at least a/a* at gcse you'll find it really hard to get anywhere near an a at a level even with loads of revision , especially chemistry and maths!

Unless you put in the effort at school to learn it, then you obviously won't need much revision. But if you're like me and probably all of my school, then you don't learn a lot at school in most subjects, so you have to revise like crazy to get a good grade.
I know of a guy who got a B in their maths GCSE and predicted an A in a level maths (I think he got an A in AS). I guess some people don't bother trying hard with GCSEs, as some are capable.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 15

wtpcarr

5

Original post by Username97

Unless you put in the effort at school to learn it, then you obviously won't need much revision. But if you're like me and probably all of my school, then you don't learn a lot at school in most subjects, so you have to revise like crazy to get a good grade.
I know of a guy who got a B in their maths GCSE and predicted an A in a level maths (I think he got an A in AS). I guess some people don't bother trying hard with GCSEs, as some are capable.

Posted from TSR Mobile

well most good students learn alot in lessons tbh the not as much revision needed like I did at gcse also natural interest in the subject matter makes learning so much easier and not just because of the motivation. That example is quote rare as every student in my school who took maths a level with a b at gcse got a D or less. Tbh if you don't learn in lessons then you will be screwed with sciences and maths at a level . FACT . lots of people in my school (8or 9) were keen to do medicine going into as , and realiser that Chem a level especially was just too hard , maths aswell. And only 2 of us ending up applying , and one was resorting like 3-4 exams .

Reply 16

AtomicMan

13

Original post by mo97

hey , just wanted to see what people thought,
im planning to study medicine and i'm on my last year in GCSE.
my grades aren't wonderful and wondering for any advice which may help get me get into university for medicine

grades for GCSE

maths B
science B
English C
Dutch D
ICT B/A
pche B
English lit B/C
business D <-- only subject im failing
resistant material B
geography C
RE and citizenship together C

i know my grades aren't the best however im planning to take biology ,chemistry , maths , Dutch and economics for A level. my question is, would i be able to get into any university in the UK or abroad if i get 3 A/A* in my A level and so lots and lots of work experience. .

Some medical schools will not accept you with a C in English, make sure you research entry requirements before you apply.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 17

ergo30

2

Original post by wtpcarr

well most good students learn alot in lessons tbh the not as much revision needed like I did at gcse also natural interest in the subject matter makes learning so much easier and not just because of the motivation. That example is quote rare as every student in my school who took maths a level with a b at gcse got a D or less. Tbh if you don't learn in lessons then you will be screwed with sciences and maths at a level . FACT . lots of people in my school (8or 9) were keen to do medicine going into as , and realiser that Chem a level especially was just too hard , maths aswell. And only 2 of us ending up applying , and one was resorting like 3-4 exams .

I don't know too much about chemistry A-level but just wanted to know whether it would be easier to spend time memorizing from the books and regurgitating facts in the exams or learn all the content. Is A-level mostly application knowledge or just content memorizing? Because gcse is just past papers and application knowledge. Any advice on A-level?

Thanks

Reply 18

la95

16

I'd advise you to attempt to achieve at least Bs in your core subjects (maths, English, sciences), but As or A*s would be preferable. Furthermore, if Dutch is your first language, some medical schools may not accept it as a valid A Level. If you work hard, it may well be possible for you to achieve fantastic A Level grades - AAA is the minimum you'll need at A Level for the vast majority of medical schools. I'd also advise that you attempt to achieve all As at AS in order to prove to medical schools that you are capable of achieving such grades. It's also very important that you research the entry requirements of medical schools before applying and apply to your strengths, e.g. if a medical school places less emphasis upon GCSEs and more emphasis upon AS Levels, you'd be better off applying there than applying to a medical school with a GCSE-heavy application process. But at the moment, focus on trying to achieve higher grades than those you are predicted at GCSE - good GCSEs won't guarantee you a place at medical school, but they'll certainly make your life a lot easier.