830 on UKCAT & Weak GCSE's?????

My cousin just told me she got 830 on her ukcat of which i know to be as exceptionally good but her gcses read A*,A,5B's and 2C's (the C's are in science). She decided not to apply for medicine because she thought her gcse's were too weak. She's predicted A*A*AA. Do you think her gcse's were a big drawback? We're currently having this discussion and she's so adamant that there was no chance with her gcse's, what do you guys think??

Honestly, as long as she chooses universities that state that they don't put a lot of emphasis into GCSEs in their admissions process (like Oxford Medical School etc...) Then she can definitely still have a chance to get interviews and offers to study in a medical school.

With an 830 UKCAT... I think a lot of medical schools who uses the UKCAT as the first step of choosing candidates for interview would definitely offer her an interview...

My cousin just told me she got 830 on her ukcat of which i know to be as exceptionally good but her gcses read A*,A,5B's and 2C's (the C's are in science). She decided not to apply for medicine because she thought her gcse's were too weak. She's predicted A*A*AA. Do you think her gcse's were a big drawback? We're currently having this discussion and she's so adamant that there was no chance with her gcse's, what do you guys think??

Oxford is an extremely GCSE heavy medical school.

But generally the rest of your advice is good. Places like Newcastle only require you to meet their minimum requirements for GCSEs and then its all down to UKCAT. However the Cs in science may be a bit of an issue. The OP's cousin needs to do her research but certainly shouldn't just give up

Oops, what I meant was Oxford was a GCSEs heavy medical school sorry if it wasn't clear

Hey there :-) I'm a little confused as to the timeline of your story... What year is your cousin in and when did she take her UKCAT? If she is planning on applying this year for 2018 entry, she cannot have sat her UKCAT yet as testing begins 3rd July 2017. If she sat her UKCAT last summer and then chose not to apply to medical school then unfortunately her 830 score is now irrelevant because she would have to do the test again this summer to apply again. Or perhaps you are referring to a mark that she got in a mock test??

Or is this just a hypothetical question of what would have happened if she had this past year? If that is the case, I think that her application would have been considerably weakened by Cs in science GCSEs. However, if she applies with strong science A level grades, I think she would stand more of a chance.

Best,

Alex, 4th year UCL medic
6med

Hi. Apologies for not making it clear, she's in year 13 now, she had taken the real UKCAT august 2016. At the time i was in year11 so didn't quite understand her UKCAT mark so hearing it again recently is what had me make this thread. Yes, the question was hypothetical, I just never thought GCSE's would carry so much weight especially as the rest of her application (Predicted grades, work experience, UKCAT and BMAT) were so strong. She's currently not sure about what she wants to do so she's going with her gap year and in her own words "I'll only apply for medicine if i get 4A*'s." She's taking the UKCAT again (July 2017) just incase she does try again for medicine. Do you think she would've had a better chance if she had applied for foundation year med? Asking because there was a lot of mitigating factors which i believe resulted in her low GCSE scores. Sorry, i know this years opportunity for her to do medicine has passed but being so close to applying myself and knowing one of many factors can abolish my entire opportunity really has me stressed out.
Thanks in advance.