Can I go to Oxbridge?

Am I misunderstanding something or have you not applied yet? You know it's way past the deadline for med applications?

Pretty sure Oxford in particular is very GCSE-heavy so I'd avoid them like the plague. I thought I was special with 10 A* until I saw that that was barely above average for Oxbridge med offer holders.

You can easily find out entry criteria for medical schools via Google.


You're right about Cambridge. They look way more at the BMAT before interview.


Avoid Oxbridge med with those AS grades. I had 4 As with a high average mark and I still didn't apply.

Even your otherwise decent GCSEs are below what a large chunk of Oxford medicine offer holders have got.

In GCSEs I got 1A* 1A 5Bs & 2Cs. Then in AS i got 4As in maths, bio, chem and sociology. I'm predicted all A*s for bio chem and maths at A2.
I really want to study medicine at Oxbridge and am worried whether my grades will affect this. I did make a huge turnaround though from GCSEs to A levels.
In fact I took my BMAT and I got an 8.
Is this enough?

In GCSEs I got 1A* 1A 5Bs & 2Cs. Then in AS i got 4As in maths, bio, chem and sociology. I'm predicted all A*s for bio chem and maths at A2.
I really want to study medicine at Oxbridge and am worried whether my grades will affect this. I did make a huge turnaround though from GCSEs to A levels.
In fact I took my BMAT and I got an 8.
Is this enough?

True. But do you think my BMAT can overcompensate

The highest is a 9 though. Most people get around a 5. The really hard working people get around a 7 or 8

This post is very discouraging.

AS grades are important but the predicted are vastly more important - as I know someone currently doing medicine at Oxford who got B's at AS then got amazing A2 grades and predicted grades.

Seriously if somebody wants to apply then what's the harm? Better to give it a shot than assume they're already cut of because they didn't get straight A's and A*'s.

There are many things to consider with the application, not just grades.

For those shortlisted who had taken GCSEs, the mean number of A*s at GCSE was 10.3 and the mean proportion of A*s at GCSE was 0.94.

I'm not convinced that you're being genuine. The BMAT has three different sections, with each of the scores reported separately (and only two of the sections are marked on a 1 - 9 scale), not an average. There's no such thing as getting an 8 on the BMAT. You could get 8.0, 8.0, 5A, but you couldn't get a simple 8.

This post is very discouraging.
AS grades are important but the predicted are vastly more important - as I know someone currently doing medicine at Oxford who got B's at AS then got amazing A2 grades and predicted grades.
Seriously if somebody wants to apply then what's the harm? Better to give it a shot than assume they're already cut of because they didn't get straight A's and A*'s.
There are many things to consider with the application, not just grades.

My average was an 8.0 on the two sections and quality of content was 5

This post is very discouraging.
AS grades are important but the predicted are vastly more important - as I know someone currently doing medicine at Oxford who got B's at AS then got amazing A2 grades and predicted grades.
Seriously if somebody wants to apply then what's the harm? Better to give it a shot than assume they're already cut of because they didn't get straight A's and A*'s.
There are many things to consider with the application, not just grades.

The post was honest and realistic. There is no point offering people unrealistic hope when the truth of the matter is that medicine is unbelievably competitive and you have to apply strategically. Applying to Oxford with those GCSEs (without massive extenuating circumstances) would mean automatic rejection. Unfortunately with medicine you have to apply to places you stand a chance of getting an interview at, rather than 'dream' schools.

And as for whats the harm? 60% of medicine applicants get no offers at all. I'd wager that a lot of that is because they apply to places they like the look of rather than where they have a good shot of getting an interview. Its why reapplicants are often succesful, they've learned their lesson and apply to places where they will get an interview (i.e. taking advantage of a high UKCAT and applying to UKCAT heavy schools, or avoid them if they do badly).

My average was an 8.0 on the two sections and quality of content was 5

My average was an 8.0 on the two sections and quality of content was 5

In GCSEs I got 1A* 1A 5Bs & 2Cs. Then in AS i got 4As in maths, bio, chem and sociology. I'm predicted all A*s for bio chem and maths at A2.
I really want to study medicine at Oxbridge and am worried whether my grades will affect this. I did make a huge turnaround though from GCSEs to A levels.
In fact I took my BMAT and I got an 8.
Is this enough?

Then why didn't you say it like that in the first place? I'm not trying to be mean, but this is rather suspicious.

Not Oxford.

You could have a go at Cambridge.

I don't understand how you've done the bmat when you haven't yet applied though? And what do you mean by a score of 8?

Definitely go for it, your AS and A2 grades are very strong.
However be aware that doing medicine anywhere is amazing so don't only put your hopes onto Oxbridge.

Old practise papers