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Medicine with not excellent gcse grades

Hey i'm thinking of medicine and i have started AS level in september. My work ethics since gcse is completely different and i am working much harder now from day one. However if i did manage to get the good grades at A levels how much will gcse grades matter, for gcse i didnt get a long string of A*, however i got 1A* and rest A's and B's. I established the fact that most uni's ask for minimum of B's in science english and maths but realistically do i have a chance?

Reply 1

Pegasus

2

Unregistered

Hey i'm thinking of medicine and i have started AS level in september. My work ethics since gcse is completely different and i am working much harder now from day one. However if i did manage to get the good grades at A levels how much will gcse grades matter, for gcse i didnt get a long string of A*, however i got 1A* and rest A's and B's. I established the fact that most uni's ask for minimum of B's in science english and maths but realistically do i have a chance?

Those are excellent grades, I don't think you have anything to worry about but remember, when applying for medicine, uni's look for a lot more than just grades.

Reply 2

Mr White

7

Pegasus

Those are excellent grades, I don't think you have anything to worry about but remember, when applying for medicine, uni's look for a lot more than just grades.

Yes - make sure that you've never been a convict - they hate that.

Reply 3

elpaw

15

Unregistered

Hey i'm thinking of medicine and i have started AS level in september. My work ethics since gcse is completely different and i am working much harder now from day one. However if i did manage to get the good grades at A levels how much will gcse grades matter, for gcse i didnt get a long string of A*, however i got 1A* and rest A's and B's. I established the fact that most uni's ask for minimum of B's in science english and maths but realistically do i have a chance?

they will look more at your AS, your predicts, and your ref. oh and PersStat

Reply 4

Lucy

You'll definitely have a good chance with those grades. Get some good AS grades under your belt and you'll have a really good chance. Lots of people don't perform as well as expected in GCSEs but they instantly pull their socks up and they are fine when it comes to applying to uni.

Reply 5

Sazzle

1

My friend, (whose father is a doctor, had staright As aat AS, loadsa extra--curricular activities, was deputy head girl the list goes on.... BUT had similar GCSEs to you due to even more extra curricular activities) didn't get any offers last year. However other people with similar stats who applied to at least 1 or 2 'less prestigous' unis got 1 offer.

So yes you should be ok, but pick your unis carefully, I think she applied to Newcastle, Queens, Imperial, Edinburgh. For example this year there was an unofficial rule at the queens admin dept that they would not consider someone with less than 9A grades at GCSE - stupid I know but some unis will do that to filter the numerous applications.

Reply 6

Unregistered

OP

You have to be very careful about where you apply. Some medical schools operate a regional policy and will not make offers to "outsiders".

Reply 7

katoklzmk

You might also want to consider getting into a non-MD field, such as physical therapy; or going for something like a Pharmacology MD, a clinical dietician MD, or geriatrics MD; these are all specialties that will be exploding in terms of need (especially geriatrics) but which have relatively few numbers of students pursueing these areas. Becoming a candidate for one of these fields may make you a more attractive choice to various schools.

Reply 8

Unregistered

OP

Of course you could just apply for Dentistry. Despite what Dentists may tell you it *is* easier to get into. The attention given to GCSE is a lot less, and decent A level predictions *WILL* get you an interview. Speaking to friends about how their Dentistry interviews are conducting, I get the impression a well-trained chimp could get through. Basically, its more of an invitation, than interview, especially when compared with the job interviews you get later on in life!

Although, of course, if you're looking to 'make a difference' in life, and do something worthwhile, stick with Medicine. However, if you want to sit on your arse and make money (without actually doing anything particularly unethical, unlike what you would do in a corporation), then go with Dentistry :wink:

As somebody suggested, if you apply to the very prestigious schools, you could (hopefully you will not, but you cannot take the chance) get 5, perhaps even 6 rejections. I would attempt to stick an insurance in there, perhaps 2. For this, go to the Times (or wherever else they have this), pick out two departments that have the lowest grade averages, and you may want to apply to them as insurance. Remember, that's actual grades obtained, it will give you an average points score, the highest will probably be 30, lowest, maybe even lower than 28 (i.e. less than AAB). I think there are one or two departments that are quite a bit easier to get into (I have a hunch Queen Mary's, although, I could be totally wrong-look at the statistics).

Also, do remember, going to a department that's less 'prestigious' will not make any difference to your position in the job market (as it would say in Law, or Banking). Demand exceeds supply, you *WILL* be have found work well before you leave Med. school.

Best of Luck.
J.S.

Reply 9

Unregistered

OP

You can only apply for up to 4 medical schools anyway, so you will always have 2 insurance offers anyway. I believe you can defer making these 2 choices until the normal UCAS closing date in January.

Reply 10

PQ

Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

The Times league table doesn't include the new medical schools opening up in the last few yrs like peninsular (exeter and plymouth unis), east anglia, brighton (and sussex), nottingham/derby etc etc. These are well worth looking into applying to as they've been set up with thw express purpose of increasing the diversity of students getting onto medical courses...meaning they're less focussed on past achievements and more on potential (so grades are less of an issue than your dedication and will to succeed as a really great doctor).

Reply 11

Unregistered

OP

Thank you a lot guys, just read all the posts and all had lots of useful information (not sure about the convict one though :tongue:

).

Thank you again :smile:

Reply 12

DanMushMan

7

katoklzmk

You might also want to consider getting into a non-MD field, such as physical therapy; or going for something like a Pharmacology MD, a clinical dietician MD, or geriatrics MD; these are all specialties that will be exploding in terms of need (especially geriatrics) but which have relatively few numbers of students pursueing these areas. Becoming a candidate for one of these fields may make you a more attractive choice to various schools.

are you american? You can't get an MD here (which is a postgrad degree) without a primary medical degree in the UK. However, I agree that if you don't get into medicine, then apply for something allied to medicine.

Also, how good are your GCSEs precisely? If you have a lot more As than Bs then you should be fine to most places, as you haven't dropped below a B then the grades vertainly aren't bad, but you'll be competiting against people who usually at least have those grades. Try to bulk up your application with a lot of other extra-c stuff, and work experience.

Look up some of the new medical schools, like Pen, East Anglia etc, who seem to have a slightly different application requirements, some of them are not especially looking for excellent grades, more of the 'rouded person' etc.

Reply 13

bluemonkey

Sazzle

My friend, (whose father is a doctor, had staright As aat AS, loadsa extra--curricular activities, was deputy head girl the list goes on.... BUT had similar GCSEs to you due to even more extra curricular activities) didn't get any offers last year. However other people with similar stats who applied to at least 1 or 2 'less prestigous' unis got 1 offer.

So yes you should be ok, but pick your unis carefully, I think she applied to Newcastle, Queens, Imperial, Edinburgh. For example this year there was an unofficial rule at the queens admin dept that they would not consider someone with less than 9A grades at GCSE - stupid I know but some unis will do that to filter the numerous applications.