The Student Room Group

Medicine 2017 entry

Poll

1st Choice medical scool

GCSE
6 A*s Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Further Maths, French, Music.
6 As Biology, History, Economics, English Lang, English Lit, RE.

AS
Biology A ( Edexcel Salters-Nuffield)
Chemistry A (OCR B)
Economics A (AQA)
Maths A (UMS: 98/97/86 in C1/C2/M1) (OCR MEI)
EPQ A* (on Precision Medicine/ Oncogenomics) (Edexcel)


Predicted Grades
Biology - A*
Chemistry - A*
Mathematics - A*

Work Experience
1 year Volunteer at King's
1 week with a cardiothoracic surgeon
1 week GP
1 week Anaesthetics
1 day Paediatrics, Psychiatry, Obstetrics, MaxFacS

Universities
Cambridge (Clare College) - FIRM (A*A*A)
Bristol - INSURANCE (AAA)
Newcastle - WITHDRAWN
Imperial - WITHDRAWN
Birmingham (Biomedical Sciences) - UNCONDITIONAL

Wider reading
Oncogenomics: Molecular Approaches to Cancer
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

UKCAT
Verbal Reasoning: 640
Quantitative Reasoning: 770
Abstract Reasoning: 800
Situational Judgement: Band 1
Average: 737

BMAT
Section 1: 6.1
Section 2: 4.9 :'(
Section 3: 3.5A

Discuss anything related to applying to study Medicine at University, and good luck! :biggrin:

*UPDATE*
Achieved Grades
Biology - A*
Chemistry - A*
Maths - A*
(edited 6 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
I only got 10 A grades and 1 B at GCSE and am hoping to study medicine, but looking at this years applicants threads I'm so scared. How on earth did everyone manage to get 12a* at GCSE?

I'm predicted A*A*AA in chemistry biology maths and physics so A level predictions aren't too bad. I'm gonna have to get a miraculous UKCAT to make up for the GCSE's :frown:. In short I've got no hope but good luck to the rest of you.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 2
Original post by SahraHB
I only got 10 A grades and 1 B at GCSE and am hoping to study medicine, but looking at this years applicants threads I'm so scared. How on earth did everyone manage to get 12a* at GCSE?

I'm predicted A*A*AA in chemistry biology maths and physics so A level predictions aren't too bad. I'm gonna have to get a miraculous UKCAT to make up for the GCSE's :frown:. In short I've got no hope but good luck to the rest of you.


I dont think you have no hope at all! Only a small minority managed to get 12 A*s and A LOT of unis will still give you an offer with those predicted grades!! You WILL get an interview, a lot of unis understand that A Levels are more important than gcse's. DONT GIVE UP :P
Reply 3
START OF YEAR 12:

I was wondering where a medicine applicants 2017 thread would be :colondollar:

I got 7A* 3A (Including English lit and lang :frown:) and 1B (drama, lol) in my GCSEs and I'm taking Maths, Further Maths, Biology Chemistry and Physics. Predicted 4A* 1A for A2 (A in maths :colonhash:) Although, at this rate I may drop Physics before taking it at AS, definitely will drop it afterwards.

My GCSE's aren't ideal (damn English grades!) but they are good, so I'm happy about that, but it means I can't apply to some universities...

I don't have any work experience (as of yet) but I find it amazing that some universities ask for at least 2 weeks of it (Do all of them ask that, or just some, because it is so difficult, especially for people born in summer like me...), and also, what counts as work experience?

In terms of extra curricular, I do babysitting from time to time, I volunteer at a local charity shop for two hours every week and have been doing so for almost 2 years, I volunteer with Revive through my school (a charity which helps with asylum seekers, giving them a friendly face, helping them to live in England, and teaching them English (I haven't actually gone to the centre due to FMaths, but they don't need to know that? Right? :colondollar:))

I'll also be doing DofE Gold (Hopefully :u:)

I'm currently hoping to apply to Keele, but I'm still not really sure, and haven't done enough research on the universities...

END OF YEAR 12:

Okay, so now that I've got everything else that matters for application, here's what I got:
AS Levels - AAAA In Maths, Further Maths, Biology and Chemistry (Dropped Physics at Christmas - found it dull and I thought it would drag my grades down, since I was not motivated to revise it at all)
Predicted A Levels - A*A*A* (I think, lol) I've dropped Further Maths as, even though I really enjoy it, there was no point in continuing it on :redface:
UKCAT - 2360 Band 1 (787 average)
Work experience:

A day at Salford Royal Hospital, speaking to a consultant and getting shown around, getting an idea of what being in a hospital is like. Wasn't formal work experience, since I didn't actually take part in anything, I was just shown around, etc.

Not really work experience per se, but I did a few shifts on the hospital ward when I went to Lourdes over summer.

I work at a bar.

Volunteer Work:

at the time of application, I will have had 2.5 years at a charity shop (CRUK) working on the till.

at the time of application, I will have had 6 months at a care home.

NCS

I decided against DofE :smile:I'm thinking that I'm going to apply to Plymouth, Newcastle, UEA and BSMS, but I'm going to look at some of the Scottish universities next week, so we'll see what I think of them, and I've also been considering Barts and the London.

TIME OF APPLICATION:

So, I'm predicted A*A*A*A*A* to include EPQ (medicine related) and General studies :biggrin:
And I've sent off my application on 12/10/16 to UEA, Barts and The London, Dundee and Newcastle.

I now have had 2 days with an ophthalmologist at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital which was absolutely amazing, but other than that, my application hasn't changed much :h:

Really hope I get even one offer, so fingers crossed, and good luck to everyone!
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 4
Thanks. I'm still going to apply and be hopeful but probably only 3 out of my 5 will be medicine. The other two could be biomed? I'm not entirely sure yet but work experience wise I think I'm good. It's everything else :s-smilie:
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 5
Original post by Gogregg
I was wondering where a medicine applicants 2017 thread would be :colondollar:

My GCSE's aren't ideal (damn English grades!) but they are good, so I'm happy about that, but it means I can't apply to some universities...

I don't have any work experience (as of yet) but I find it amazing that some universities ask for at least 2 weeks of it (Do all of them ask that, or just some, because it is so difficult, especially for people born in summer like me...), and also, what counts as work experience?


Pfft your grades are beautiful, its a really high A*:A ratio. I think the only one you cant apply to is Birmingham ( i think?) cos they like to have A* in Eng but there are stil loadds of others. Have you considered cambridge? I think they ask for A*A*A for A2 now.

And i feel your paiin!!!!! i was born in late august but luckily my mum is a medic :tongue:
Reply 6
Original post by SahraHB
Thanks. I'm still going to apply and be hopeful but probably only 3 out of my 5 will be medicine. The other two could be biomed? I'm not entirely sure yet but work experience wise I think I'm good. It's everything else :s-smilie:


Don't worry, just apply smart. Have you thought of any unis you wanna apply to?
I'm looking to apply for medicine too :smile:

GCSE's: 7A*'s, 1A and 3B's (Hopefully what people say about GCSE's not mattering all that much is true considering the number of B's I got... xD)
I'm aiming for at 2A*'s and 1A at A-Level but who knows? :dontknow:

I'm volunteering about 6 hours every weekend at a charity shop- but plan to cut it down to about 2/3 hours a week since it's consuming a bit too much of my revision time :tongue:
I've also shadowed: an optician, speech therapist, and developmental paediatrician; hoping to get some GP work experience soon.

Applying to:

UCL- It's been the dream since about Year 10, so I'm going to apply to that c:
KCL
No idea
No idea

I do some scheduled fitness activities once a week and go jogging, but I intend on doing some other activities too.
I'm also going to do a scheme at a university involving healthcare over the next 2 years to help me to get into one of my choices! ^^

Good luck everyone!
3A* (English Lang., French, History), 8A, 1B (Human Health and Physiology) at GCSE. Currently all my AS targets are As and I'm doing Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, History and EPQ.

As for work experience, I've just finished a week at a care home which was a fantastic experience, well worth spending my half term there. I'm also doing 5 hours every Saturday on the till at CRUK and I've done NCS 2015 too. For my hobbies I'm going to do the TOPIK test in Korean next April, hopefully getting level 2, and I've got level 7 in NISA SkateUK ice skating.

I'm thinking about St. George's, Bristol and King's at the moment.
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 9
How is everyone finding A levels?? Apparently the entry requirements for unis may change due to the new syllabi. And am I the only one struggling to study, do extracurricular activities and have a social life?? :frown: Maybe it'll get better as the year progresses
Original post by Moodicrus
Pfft your grades are beautiful, its a really high A*:A ratio. I think the only one you cant apply to is Birmingham ( i think?) cos they like to have A* in Eng but there are stil loadds of others. Have you considered cambridge? I think they ask for A*A*A for A2 now.

And i feel your paiin!!!!! i was born in late august but luckily my mum is a medic :tongue:


Thanks! And your so lucky! I have basically no medical contacts so I'm struggling to find relevant experiences, although in December I'm going to a lecture on the heart (i think :colondollar:) at Manchester university, so I'm looking forward to that!

Also, I've never really considered Cambridge due to the low clinical exposure and traditional teaching style, and out just seems like I'll be doing an intensive degree in the first place, and doing it at Cambridge would just make it so much harder

Another problem that i have is that I have no hobbies ;-;(unless you count walking my dog?) But hopefully DofE will change that
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Moodicrus
How is everyone finding A levels?? Apparently the entry requirements for unis may change due to the new syllabi. And am I the only one struggling to study, do extracurricular activities and have a social life?? :frown: Maybe it'll get better as the year progresses


what extracurriculars are you doing, I haven't even started:frown:
Original post by Moodicrus
Ok I might get some stick because this is a bit early but there's no harm right? The sooner we start the more prepared we are. :smile:

GCSEs - 6 A*s Chemistry Physics Maths Further Maths French Music
6 As Biology History Economics English Lang English Lit RE

AS - Biology Chemistry Maths Economics

Work Experience - Volunteer at King's, 1 week with a cardiothoracic surgeon, 1 week GP, 1 week shadowing a doctor.

Potential unis - Cambridge (if my AS modules are good enough, maybe...)
King's
UCL
(haven chosen a 3rd/4th yet)

Further reading - I recommend A brief introduction to medical ethics, really useful book for interviews apparently and not too long.
The man who mistook his wife for a hat

Hobbys - PIANOO (Liszt FTW), tennis and dance

Discuss anything related to applying to study Medicine at University. What did you guys get at GCSE/aiming for at A Level?


GCSE- 5A* 3A 1B
AS-Biology Chemistry Maths and Physics
work experience- 1 week endocrinology 1 week cardiology 1 week gp 1 week paediatrics.
Reply 13
Original post by Gogregg
Thanks! And your so lucky! I have basically no medical contacts so I'm struggling to find relevant experiences, although in December I'm going to a lecture on the heart (i think :colondollar:) at Manchester university, so I'm looking forward to that!

Also, I've never really considered Cambridge due to the low clinical exposure and traditional teaching style, and out just seems like I'll be doing an intensive degree in the first place, and doing it at Cambridge would just make it so much harder

Another problem that i have is that I have no hobbies ;-;(unless you count walking my dog?) But hopefully DofE will change that


Most unis say that they don't really care about extracurricular activities unless its relevant to medicine so don't worry about that :tongue:
Original post by Moodicrus
Most unis say that they don't really care about extracurricular activities unless its relevant to medicine so don't worry about that :tongue:


That's a relief! I'm really worried about sounding like a balanced applicant, and also actually getting the grades :s-smilie:
Reply 15
Original post by medicapplicant
what extracurriculars are you doing, I haven't even started:frown:


So I volunteer at king's weekly but its not too late for you! Just find somewher to volunteer, preferably in healthcare e.g.Hostpitals/ care homes/ school for the disabled. You dont need to do much, just a couple hours a week but it shows commitment and experience
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 16
Original post by Gogregg
That's a relief! I'm really worried about sounding like a balanced applicant, and also actually getting the grades :s-smilie:


TBH the unis arent really gonna care if you get the grades bc for a lot of unis its still a science degree basically(at least thats what ive been told from past medics), but some, i think UCL like you to take a non related subject for a 3rd option at A2 and require a language at GCSE
Reply 17
If anyone is interested, Kings' College London hold regular lectures (cardiology, paediatrics etc) each wednesday designed for KS5 pupils aiming for medicine http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm/study/outreach/ks5/index.aspx
Anybody applying to Irish Med schools?
Reply 19
Is there any change of getting accepted into medicine with bad GCSEs grades ( 5a* 1a 3bs) .I got my results and I was so disappointed with them. I'm Predicted AAAA at AS and hopefully a stars at A2 with a good ukcat and personal statement would I have a chance?

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