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Is there any chance for Medicine?

Hi everyone.

My education has gone down a pretty messy route since the start of my A-Levels, and at the moment I'm trying to really figure out what to do.

In my GCSEs, I achieved 4A*s, 5As, and 2Bs.

I then started my AS Levels, and achieved ACDD. I then moved onto Year 13, and, while resitting some AS Levels at the same time as my A2s, came out with ADE in Psychology, Chemistry and Maths respectively.

These grades are pretty horrendous but there were some extremely significant extenuating circumstances throughout all my A-Levels (obviously I'd rather not go into detail).

In clearing I somehow managed to get onto a Mechanical Engineering course. I didn't have a clear direction, and was thrilled I'd gotten onto anything at all, so went for it.

It wasn't for me at all, and I dropped out. I returned home around February time and decided to resit my full A-Levels in Chemistry and Maths. In hindsight this was a bad idea as I had very little time to cover the material. I'm not particularly optimistic about how my results will turn out. The previously mentioned circumstances also had a lasting effect.

However, now I'm in a much better place, and am really trying to consider all my options going forward. Frankly, I feel that I'm just as intelligent as the people in my year who went onto Medicine; we got similar grades until my A-Level collapse.

I know nobody can say for certain, but does anyone have an idea of if there is a chance of being accepted for UG or Graduate Medicine? (Guessing I'd have to get my A-Levels up to scratch, and I have no doubt I can do it now that these circumstances have subsided). Does anyone have experience in similar situations? If so, what is the best way to go about it?

Thanks.
(edited 6 years ago)

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Original post by BarryAllen
Hi everyone.

My education has gone down a pretty messy route since the start of my A-Levels, and at the moment I'm trying to really figure out what to do.

In my GCSEs, I achieved 4A*s, 5As, and 2Bs.

I then started my AS Levels, and achieved ACDD. I then moved onto Year 13, and, while resitting some AS Levels at the same time as my A2s, came out with ADE in Psychology, Chemistry and Maths respectively.

These grades are pretty horrendous but there were some extremely significant extenuating circumstances throughout all my A-Levels (obviously I'd rather not go into detail).

In clearing I somehow managed to get onto a Mechanical Engineering course. I didn't have a clear direction, and was thrilled I'd gotten onto anything at all, so went for it.

It wasn't for me at all, and I dropped out. I returned home around February time and decided to resit my full A-Levels in Chemistry and Maths. In hindsight this was a bad idea as I had very little time to cover the material. I'm not particularly optimistic about how my results will turn out. The previously mentioned circumstances also had a lasting effect.

However, now I'm in a much better place, and am really trying to consider all my options going forward. Frankly, I feel that I'm just as intelligent as the people in my year who went onto Medicine; we got similar grades until my A-Level collapse.

I know nobody can say for certain, but does anyone have an idea of if there is a chance of being accepted for UG or Graduate Medicine? (Guessing I'd have to get my A-Levels up to scratch, and I have no doubt I can do it now that these circumstances have subsided). Does anyone have experience in similar situations? If so, what is the best way to go about it?

Thanks.

Most medical schools don't like A level resits that was not the best move I would've at least sat your first examinations in engineering and tried to get a decent enough grade in your first year and applied for medicine so they would've seen your commitment given that also student finance fund your course length plus one year....

So say you did a 5 year medical degree you would get 5 years funding +1 year additionally and if it were a 6 years course you'd get 7 years etc..... that extra year you could've used to your advantage


Medicine isn't impossible but it's going to be extremely tough especially as your now an A level resit..... even with extenuating circumstances it will be tough as your up against those who did well first time around

This is not in anyway deterring you but I would've said do a year in biomedicine or something then apply again but unless you have £9000 hanging around that's not going to happen....

There are medical schools out there WHO WILL TAKE RESITS given extentuatong circumstances but that's gonna take a lot of leg work

Bristol will take them as will Lancaster I believe though it's been a while since I looked.... they are more lenient with gcse resits than A levels

Your other bet is to go in as a post graduate after a degree and aim to get a great grade however funding available I believe is £10,000 for the entire course so you may be needing to find best part of £30k though I'm not an expert as I haven't been down this path.... maybe someone else might be able to advise you



I would suggest calling around schools and asking them.... before you do anything else
Original post by vickie89uk
Most medical schools don't like A level resits that was not the best move I would've at least sat your first examinations in engineering and tried to get a decent enough grade in your first year and applied for medicine so they would've seen your commitment given that also student finance fund your course length plus one year....

So say you did a 5 year medical degree you would get 5 years funding +1 year additionally and if it were a 6 years course you'd get 7 years etc..... that extra year you could've used to your advantage


Medicine isn't impossible but it's going to be extremely tough especially as your now an A level resit..... even with extenuating circumstances it will be tough as your up against those who did well first time around

This is not in anyway deterring you but I would've said do a year in biomedicine or something then apply again but unless you have £9000 hanging around that's not going to happen....

There are medical schools out there WHO WILL TAKE RESITS given extentuatong circumstances but that's gonna take a lot of leg work

Bristol will take them as will Lancaster I believe though it's been a while since I looked.... they are more lenient with gcse resits than A levels

Your other bet is to go in as a post graduate after a degree and aim to get a great grade however funding available I believe is £10,000 for the entire course so you may be needing to find best part of £30k though I'm not an expert as I haven't been down this path.... maybe someone else might be able to advise you



I would suggest calling around schools and asking them.... before you do anything else


What are you talking about?
Original post by BarryAllen
Hi everyone.

My education has gone down a pretty messy route since the start of my A-Levels, and at the moment I'm trying to really figure out what to do.

In my GCSEs, I achieved 4A*s, 5As, and 2Bs.

I then started my AS Levels, and achieved ACDD. I then moved onto Year 13, and, while resitting some AS Levels at the same time as my A2s, came out with ADE in Psychology, Chemistry and Maths respectively.

These grades are pretty horrendous but there were some extremely significant extenuating circumstances throughout all my A-Levels (obviously I'd rather not go into detail).

In clearing I somehow managed to get onto a Mechanical Engineering course. I didn't have a clear direction, and was thrilled I'd gotten onto anything at all, so went for it.

It wasn't for me at all, and I dropped out. I returned home around February time and decided to resit my full A-Levels in Chemistry and Maths. In hindsight this was a bad idea as I had very little time to cover the material. I'm not particularly optimistic about how my results will turn out. The previously mentioned circumstances also had a lasting effect.

However, now I'm in a much better place, and am really trying to consider all my options going forward. Frankly, I feel that I'm just as intelligent as the people in my year who went onto Medicine; we got similar grades until my A-Level collapse.

I know nobody can say for certain, but does anyone have an idea of if there is a chance of being accepted for UG or Graduate Medicine? (Guessing I'd have to get my A-Levels up to scratch, and I have no doubt I can do it now that these circumstances have subsided). Does anyone have experience in similar situations? If so, what is the best way to go about it?

Thanks.


Hey, Hope your well. Sorry to hear about your circumstances.

I am going to be as honest as possible because I dont believe beating around the bush here will help you.

with regards to your Alevels, your grades are not of the sort of standard for medicine unfortunately, the one the med schools will look at the most is chemistry and with a D (which is 3 grades below the average entry grade for medicine) you may be totally ruled out by most medical schools.

With that being said, your extenuating circumstances do play a role here, so what I would suggest is that you call/email medical schools and put your circumstances and grades to them, ask them if you would have a chance applying to their medical school and heed their advice. Its not worth you applying pointlessly.

You will have to apply for A100 as you did not complete your other degree.

Most medical schools will frown upon A-level resits, but considering you have extenuating circumstances that may work in your favour here to allow your resits to be considered, but they would need to be of the AAA standard unfortunately.

I hope this helps, good luck for your future studies.
Reply 4
Original post by BarryAllen
Hi everyone.

My education has gone down a pretty messy route since the start of my A-Levels, and at the moment I'm trying to really figure out what to do.

In my GCSEs, I achieved 4A*s, 5As, and 2Bs.

I then started my AS Levels, and achieved ACDD. I then moved onto Year 13, and, while resitting some AS Levels at the same time as my A2s, came out with ADE in Psychology, Chemistry and Maths respectively.

These grades are pretty horrendous but there were some extremely significant extenuating circumstances throughout all my A-Levels (obviously I'd rather not go into detail).

In clearing I somehow managed to get onto a Mechanical Engineering course. I didn't have a clear direction, and was thrilled I'd gotten onto anything at all, so went for it.

It wasn't for me at all, and I dropped out. I returned home around February time and decided to resit my full A-Levels in Chemistry and Maths. In hindsight this was a bad idea as I had very little time to cover the material. I'm not particularly optimistic about how my results will turn out. The previously mentioned circumstances also had a lasting effect.

However, now I'm in a much better place, and am really trying to consider all my options going forward. Frankly, I feel that I'm just as intelligent as the people in my year who went onto Medicine; we got similar grades until my A-Level collapse.

I know nobody can say for certain, but does anyone have an idea of if there is a chance of being accepted for UG or Graduate Medicine? (Guessing I'd have to get my A-Levels up to scratch, and I have no doubt I can do it now that these circumstances have subsided). Does anyone have experience in similar situations? If so, what is the best way to go about it?

Thanks.



Have you ever considered Studying Medicine abroad? The course is recognized by the GMC which means you don't have to take any exams when you come back to the UK in order to practice! I'm sure if you pass the entrance test with high enough grades then you'll receive an offer. I study abroad too and it was probably the best decision I've ever made. I applied through Tutelage and they literally took care of the whole application process and even flew out with me to settle me in and get accommodation. Hope i helped!
Hi.
Sorry to hear what you've been through, but it's encouraging to see you're still passionate about medicine. Whilst undegrad medicine doesn't seem feasible, GEM is entirely possible. If you can manage to get onto a biology/chemistry related degree and achieve a solid 1st / 2:1, your application will be as strong as other applicants. Only few graduate medical schools ask for an A level in chemistry and biology, so stear clear of those universities. I wish you the best of luck with your endeavours, keep up the good work and motivation
Reply 6
Original post by Sacred Ground
Hi.
Sorry to hear what you've been through, but it's encouraging to see you're still passionate about medicine. Whilst undegrad medicine doesn't seem feasible, GEM is entirely possible. If you can manage to get onto a biology/chemistry related degree and achieve a solid 1st / 2:1, your application will be as strong as other applicants. Only few graduate medical schools ask for an A level in chemistry and biology, so stear clear of those universities. I wish you the best of luck with your endeavours, keep up the good work and motivation


Thanks for the reply. I'm potentially looking at doing a Chemistry degree starting in September, is this considered a strong choice for GEM? I also understand GEM is very competitive, do you have any tips on what separates the successful applications from the others? Thanks very much for your help.
Reply 7
Original post by med2478
Have you ever considered Studying Medicine abroad? The course is recognized by the GMC which means you don't have to take any exams when you come back to the UK in order to practice! I'm sure if you pass the entrance test with high enough grades then you'll receive an offer. I study abroad too and it was probably the best decision I've ever made. I applied through Tutelage and they literally took care of the whole application process and even flew out with me to settle me in and get accommodation. Hope i helped!


Thanks for the reply.
Whereabouts abroad are you studying?
My main worry would be finances, is studying abroad significantly more expensive?
Reply 8
Original post by Natalierm2707
Hey, Hope your well. Sorry to hear about your circumstances.

I am going to be as honest as possible because I dont believe beating around the bush here will help you.

with regards to your Alevels, your grades are not of the sort of standard for medicine unfortunately, the one the med schools will look at the most is chemistry and with a D (which is 3 grades below the average entry grade for medicine) you may be totally ruled out by most medical schools.

With that being said, your extenuating circumstances do play a role here, so what I would suggest is that you call/email medical schools and put your circumstances and grades to them, ask them if you would have a chance applying to their medical school and heed their advice. Its not worth you applying pointlessly.

You will have to apply for A100 as you did not complete your other degree.

Most medical schools will frown upon A-level resits, but considering you have extenuating circumstances that may work in your favour here to allow your resits to be considered, but they would need to be of the AAA standard unfortunately.

I hope this helps, good luck for your future studies.


Thanks for the reply. I would be considering doing a degree and applying as a graduate. I know it is far more competitive but I doubt doing A-Levels again would get me far as it would be yet another resit, and many of the Universities have criteria against this. Would you recommend perhaps resitting a few modules each year so that by the time I applied as a graduate, I also had strong A-Levels?
Original post by BarryAllen
Thanks for the reply. I would be considering doing a degree and applying as a graduate. I know it is far more competitive but I doubt doing A-Levels again would get me far as it would be yet another resit, and many of the Universities have criteria against this. Would you recommend perhaps resitting a few modules each year so that by the time I applied as a graduate, I also had strong A-Levels?


Usually when applying as a graduate your Alevels are not as important, so its not worth it just focus on getting a strong degree.
Reply 10
Original post by Moonstruck16
What are you talking about?


Did she say something untrue?
Reply 11
Original post by Natalierm2707
Usually when applying as a graduate your Alevels are not as important, so its not worth it just focus on getting a strong degree.


Okay thanks.
Finally, do you know if a 2:1 in Chemistry would likely be preferred to a First in English Language & Literature for GEM?
These are my 2 options. I find English easier so will perhaps get higher marks, although I do understand Sciences are preferable.
Reply 12
Original post by vickie89uk
Most medical schools don't like A level resits that was not the best move I would've at least sat your first examinations in engineering and tried to get a decent enough grade in your first year and applied for medicine so they would've seen your commitment given that also student finance fund your course length plus one year....

So say you did a 5 year medical degree you would get 5 years funding +1 year additionally and if it were a 6 years course you'd get 7 years etc..... that extra year you could've used to your advantage


Medicine isn't impossible but it's going to be extremely tough especially as your now an A level resit..... even with extenuating circumstances it will be tough as your up against those who did well first time around

This is not in anyway deterring you but I would've said do a year in biomedicine or something then apply again but unless you have £9000 hanging around that's not going to happen....

There are medical schools out there WHO WILL TAKE RESITS given extentuatong circumstances but that's gonna take a lot of leg work

Bristol will take them as will Lancaster I believe though it's been a while since I looked.... they are more lenient with gcse resits than A levels

Your other bet is to go in as a post graduate after a degree and aim to get a great grade however funding available I believe is £10,000 for the entire course so you may be needing to find best part of £30k though I'm not an expert as I haven't been down this path.... maybe someone else might be able to advise you



I would suggest calling around schools and asking them.... before you do anything else


Okay thanks for the reply.
Original post by BarryAllen
Thanks for the reply. I'm potentially looking at doing a Chemistry degree starting in September, is this considered a strong choice for GEM? I also understand GEM is very competitive, do you have any tips on what separates the successful applications from the others? Thanks very much for your help.


You'll have to check the universities entry requirements, many universities typically like a biology-chemistry related degree (such as biochem, biomed etc.) GEM isn't anymore competitive than undergrad med at many universities, and I imagine it'll be a lot less competitive when you apply the way the NHS is going and the fact more universities are starting to offer GEM. Regarding applications, work experience will enable you to produce a solid personal statement, this accompanied by a strong GAMSAT / UKCAT for undergrad will give you the best shot
Hey Bro, gonna through out some genuine advice.

Doing medicine in the UK can be pretty tough because of the insane grade requirements, but if you're really willing to do Medicine (which is a worth while degree) you might want to think about studying in Europe. There are med schools that you can study at in Europe which offer you a medicine degree which will allow you to work in England (if that's where you want to work).

With regards to studying Medicine in Europe, you would need to pay the tuition fees yourself (which are cheaper than here anyway). So if you weigh up doing a graduate Medicine course and the amount of money you'll owe to the government, compared to studying abroad, it's pretty obvious which is better.

I have similar grades to you, however, I am not studying medicine at the moment. If I could go back, I would study abroad, but I didn't really think it was a viable option at the time. Obviously I don't know that much about this but you should try to reach out to agencies and see how viable this option is for you. There's only one company I know of at the moment and that's MedConnectEurope (medconnecteurope.co.uk). But yeh, see what your options are and ask questions to anyone you can (it doesn't hurt to ask questions).

Anyways, I hope you do go down the medicine route. I am an Engineering student like you (in too deep Looool) and if I could go back, I would do medicine for sure. Let me know if you need any help bro.
Original post by med2478
Have you ever considered Studying Medicine abroad? The course is recognized by the GMC which means you don't have to take any exams when you come back to the UK in order to practice! I'm sure if you pass the entrance test with high enough grades then you'll receive an offer. I study abroad too and it was probably the best decision I've ever made. I applied through Tutelage and they literally took care of the whole application process and even flew out with me to settle me in and get accommodation. Hope i helped!

There's no student loans available for abroad studies so how would anyone afford to do that?! I have looked overseas because I like the idea of visiting a different country but couldn't work out financial aid...
Original post by vickie89uk
There's no student loans available for abroad studies so how would anyone afford to do that?! I have looked overseas because I like the idea of visiting a different country but couldn't work out financial aid...


That's true, but looking back in hindsight to when I finished my A-Levels, I would have much rather taken 2 years out and saved up the money to pay for the degree. Just my opinion though so take it with a little salt :smile:.
Original post by vickie89uk
There's no student loans available for abroad studies so how would anyone afford to do that?! I have looked overseas because I like the idea of visiting a different country but couldn't work out financial aid...


Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but studying in other countries can be cheaper than studying here. Obviously saving/family help would bw needed
Original post by gradmed305
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but studying in other countries can be cheaper than studying here. Obviously saving/family help would bw needed


I dont have family who can help me hence I asked incase I was missing something.. studying abroad is something you can only do if you have a family who are able to pay for your studies or get a bank loan that's gonna cost thousands.... maybe not as much as the UK but you need to pay and eat and have a roof and that's expensive non the less
it's great you have that.... thank you for your reply
Original post by Flexemus
That's true, but looking back in hindsight to when I finished my A-Levels, I would have much rather taken 2 years out and saved up the money to pay for the degree. Just my opinion though so take it with a little salt :smile:.

2 years to save how much exactly not being funny I earn£1600 a month after rent, council tax, TV licence water electric gas broadband phone food my fuel in my car I'm left with barely anything....

Some people are living like this at 16/17 years old not everybody can just work and save and I work 50 hour week job. So you say it like everyone has that opportunity when they don't..... I work supporting people between 16-25 currently who simply don't have this option... so whilst you could've done that many can't that's my point.... hence I asked the question

I'm glad you could've done that and I think anyone who is in a position to do that should because let's face it student loans can cripple you in your junior doctor years...

Thanks

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