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More A Levels = advantage?

Hi, I was wondering whether having more A Levels (3+) gives you any advantage when applying for Medicine at Oxbridge. I appreciate any comments :smile:

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Reply 1

Garden_Gnome

Offers are only made according to three A-levels. Three A-levels and one AS is all that's needed really (well, plus the AAAa, strong ps, quality work experience, interview etc.). Four may give a negligible advantage. Doing five is not necessary at all.

Reply 2

username130457

Yes, aslong as they're all As.

Reply 3

afc1886

Not really necessary, as you could just take a gap year and do another 2 A levels and thus have 5 or 6. Get 3 A's and you have a chance, albeit slim

Reply 4

Taemon

It could just give you the edge against another equally good candidate with only 3 A levels.

Reply 5

J-OD

hmm.. is AAAB worse than AAA because at least with AAA you get the benefit of the doubt that you have done you best (and cannot possibly do better within the confines of what you have chosen)... or is AAAB better because you work more..

Reply 6

Garden_Gnome

Ramadulla

Yes, aslong as they're all As.

afc1886

Not really necessary, as you could just take a gap year and do another 2 A levels and thus have 5 or 6. Get 3 A's and you have a chance, albeit slim

Not in medicine; you can't.

OP why do you want to go to Oxbrige? If it's because you like the environemnt, or would see it as a personal achievement, then good for you. But don't be brainwashed by the prestige (especially not in medicine when it means nothing).

Reply 7

The_Lonely_Goatherd

For most courses it wouldn't give you an advantage, but seeing as Medicine is so competitive, it might give you a slight edge (just my opinion, not fact at all)...

I think what J-OD says is a very good point. It's more important to get 3 A2s and get AAA than to try four or five and risk losing out on the AAA. Particularly with Cambridge, as they look at UMS marks. So only consider it if you seriously/realistically think you can get AAAA/AAAAA/something similarly high and that it won't affect your individual module marks too much :smile:

Reply 8

The_Lonely_Goatherd

Garden_Gnome

There are loads of factors that come into play, in medical applications especially (UKCAT/BMAT, interview, personal statement, work experience, references). Before they look at how many A-levels a person has done. It would be unlikely that someone was so evenly matched across the board that a person doing four or (especially) five had the edge.

Not in medicine; you can't.

OP why do you want to go to Oxbrige? If it's because you like the environemnt, or would see it as a personal achievement, then good for you. But don't be brainwashed by the prestige (especially not in medicine when it means nothing).

This is extremely good advice. Medical courses vary in how they are taught, etc. and it's important to consider whether you would actual enjoy/benefit from the course. There is no point doing a degree that you won't enjoy, especially when it comes to courses like Medicine, which are longer than the average 3/4 years :smile:

Reply 9

htuck

I love both the cities, and I like the minimal contact in first 3 years. It'll let me learn my stuff first..!

Reply 10

The_Lonely_Goatherd

htuck

I love both the cities, and I like the minimal contact in first 3 years. It'll let me learn my stuff first..!

What about the course content/structure itself? Arrangements for the clinical placements, etc? I guess it's a bit early for you to have considered this, but if you're planning to go for Oxbridge, you may as well do as much research asap :smile:

Structure?

htuck

Structure?

From what I've read/heard, there's some weird, non-medically related bit of the course in the third/fourth year of the Oxford Medicine course... Plus from what I understand, the first three years are pretty much a Biochemistry degree, with no clinical/patient-related stuff.

(Someone correct me if I'm wrong :smile:

)

Reply 13

Elles

The_Lonely_Goatherd

)

Or, radically - people could not post anecdotey stuff if they're not sure whether they have any idea what they're talking about & need to add many caveats to it/rely on someone else to correct them..? :wink:

http://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/courses
http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/medicine/index.html

So corrections.

- The intercalated degree is 3rd year (FHS or Tripos) finishing off the preclinical 3 years.
- It's not really that weird, increasing numbers of medical students across the country do them & it's compulsory at at least 2 other places (UCL & Imperial).
- For most people it is medically related (insofar as basic medical science is relevant to medicine!) at Oxford it's called FHS in Medical Sciences :p:

with Cambridge you can in theory pick up anything in that year but most pick from NatSci Tripos.

- Preclinical medicine does definitely not equal a Biochemistry degree! Add in: Physiology, Pharmacology, Organization of the body (histology, anatomy), Genetics, Sociology; Neuroscience, Pathology, Integrated Physiology, Psychology...
- There is not no 'clinical/patient-related stuff' - both have some sort of introductory course, for Oxford it's the "Patient Doctor Course", Cambridge have another snappy name ? 'Preparing for Practice'. Then in terms of pure preclinical teaching Oxford definitely emphasize the clinical relevance to what you learn (& is one way of achieving high marks in exams...) & lots of the practicals are clinically relevant insofar as being pretty similar to what Pathologists or clinical measurement people do, we also watched a live Op & my college had ward based tutorials.

Reply 14

The_Lonely_Goatherd

Elles

Or, radically - people could just not post stuff if they're not sure whether they have any idea what they're talking about & need to add so many caveats to it & rely on someone else to correct it..? :s-smilie:

http://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/courses
http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/medicine/index.html

Lol, that is true. I was fairly sure that what I was saying was correct but didn't want a Medic to come and blast me later on, so thought I'd just add a cautious note in case :wink:

Reply 15

Boo_2

Depends whether you can handle them or not. For me, taking on 4 A2's was a mistake because I think I'm gonna go from AAAB at AS to AABC at A2 due to the craaazy workload!

Reply 16

Elles

The_Lonely_Goatherd

Lol, that is true. I was fairly sure that what I was saying was correct but didn't want a Medic to come and blast me later on, so thought I'd just add a cautious note in case :wink:

I decided sleep could be procrastinated a little longer & helpfully edited in some blasting to my original post. :biggrin:

To the original Q = they require 3 A levels. There doesn't seem to be a step in the selection process where they look at the number of A levels you're doing and add bonus points.
So 3 is definitely fine.

Inferring from this = there doesn't seem to be the scope for more to be a direct advantage by doing more - i.e. where they might suddenly go, woweee - this person must be awesome because of the number of A levels they do! Because good people get in with 3, some people only get the chance to do 3 at their school etc.

However, here comes the more anecdotey bit - I suspect the average successful student (obvious sample bias from the angle I'm standing at! & small sample - although league table average UCAS point scores suggest the same) does have more than 3. Obviously this doesn't mean you need 3 to get in, or those people got in just because they were doing more etc. But if you think you can handle them & there are more than 3 subjects you'd like to do then I do think there can be less direct advantages to it e.g. being sharper with sciences in the BMAT; having broader background knowledge to use in the interview - especially if one is a contrasting subject (as it seems to be in my sample); having more flexibility with an AAA offer (e.g. I could have failed chemistry & still got in, muahaha).

Reply 17

The_Lonely_Goatherd

Elles

I decided sleep could be procrastinated a little longer & helpfully edited in some blasting to my original post. :biggrin:

Wooh! Cheers for that. I was going on what I'd read on here months ago and stuff from when my sister was applying. Clearly misheard/misread/misremembered things, damn me! :frown:

Reply 18

AnubisX

If you think you can still meet the typical AAA offer, yes it is a good thing to do. If not, then it is not worth it.

Reply 19

J-OD

do if your going for a cambridge course... did one A2 a year early so aready have an A
, and i am doing three more this year... would AAB not be fatal, because it would end up AAAB? or would they not like it?

More A Levels = advantage?

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