Is it too late to begin a new A-Level?
Hi
We’re currently 2/3 of the way through year 12 but I’ve been considering changing my options for a long time. This is because I’ve been studying Biology, Maths and French but I want to apply for medicine at uni. I found a few medical schools that would potentially accept me without Chemistry but recently I’ve really been considering going to London for uni because I adore the city, it’s an easy enough commute to home and I could go there with my twin, but the majority of the medical schools there all require A-Level Chemistry.
In year 11, I asked my school to study chemistry at A Level but they told me I couldn’t because it clashes on the timetable with maths so I wouldn’t be able to do both, and so I stuck to doing maths instead of chemistry. So thanks to my school, I am unable to do it but if I had the choice, I would have been doing chemistry since the start of the year. So realistically, I would never be able to study both subjects at once so what I would have to do is teach myself chemistry and attend the after school sessions and try to become an A* student without being in lessons. I know I am capable of it, since I carried myself through GCSEs and walked out with all grade 9s but if I were to do this, I would probably have to drop French to manage the balance of the workload and not have 4 A Levels on the go. This would be sad, because I am a true linguist, but for uni, Chemistry is a much more required subject.
If anyone has any advice, I would be very grateful
thank you!
We’re currently 2/3 of the way through year 12 but I’ve been considering changing my options for a long time. This is because I’ve been studying Biology, Maths and French but I want to apply for medicine at uni. I found a few medical schools that would potentially accept me without Chemistry but recently I’ve really been considering going to London for uni because I adore the city, it’s an easy enough commute to home and I could go there with my twin, but the majority of the medical schools there all require A-Level Chemistry.
In year 11, I asked my school to study chemistry at A Level but they told me I couldn’t because it clashes on the timetable with maths so I wouldn’t be able to do both, and so I stuck to doing maths instead of chemistry. So thanks to my school, I am unable to do it but if I had the choice, I would have been doing chemistry since the start of the year. So realistically, I would never be able to study both subjects at once so what I would have to do is teach myself chemistry and attend the after school sessions and try to become an A* student without being in lessons. I know I am capable of it, since I carried myself through GCSEs and walked out with all grade 9s but if I were to do this, I would probably have to drop French to manage the balance of the workload and not have 4 A Levels on the go. This would be sad, because I am a true linguist, but for uni, Chemistry is a much more required subject.
If anyone has any advice, I would be very grateful
thank you!(edited 1 year ago)
There is no such thing as a "good" medical school because equally there are no such things as "bad" medical schools. All medical schools are accredited by the GMC to rigorous standards, and thus the NHS which is the only provider of postgraduate medical training posts in the UK considers them all equal. Which medical school you go to will not make a difference in the long run. Getting into any medical school should be your goal first and foremost, if medicine is your aim.
Secondly, you should be choosing which medical schools to apply to based on their shortlisting methodologies and how well you score against those to maximise your chances of interviews and hence potentially offers. Applying arbitrarily based on location, especially when you don't even meet the requirements now and would need to go through some harebrained scheme to try and meet them, is a surefire way to guarantee yourself a set of four rejections.
Medicine is about applying smart, not applying "hard". You need to be smarter in how you are approaching this, which is to focus on those medical schools you do meet the subject requirements for (there are 14, incidentally) and finding which you present the best profile for, and picking 4 of those based on other factors (which may include location). If you are then unsuccessful you could consider taking A-level Chemistry in the gap year to give yourself more options perhaps.
You are putting the horse before the cart, to put it politely. You should start by reading this thread: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5611422
Secondly, you should be choosing which medical schools to apply to based on their shortlisting methodologies and how well you score against those to maximise your chances of interviews and hence potentially offers. Applying arbitrarily based on location, especially when you don't even meet the requirements now and would need to go through some harebrained scheme to try and meet them, is a surefire way to guarantee yourself a set of four rejections.
Medicine is about applying smart, not applying "hard". You need to be smarter in how you are approaching this, which is to focus on those medical schools you do meet the subject requirements for (there are 14, incidentally) and finding which you present the best profile for, and picking 4 of those based on other factors (which may include location). If you are then unsuccessful you could consider taking A-level Chemistry in the gap year to give yourself more options perhaps.
You are putting the horse before the cart, to put it politely. You should start by reading this thread: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5611422
Original post by igobackto505
Hi
We’re currently 2/3 of the way through year 12 but I’ve been considering changing my options for a long time. This is because I’ve been studying Biology, Maths and French but I want to apply for medicine at uni. I found a few medical schools that would potentially accept me without Chemistry but recently I’ve really been considering going to London for uni because I adore the city, it’s an easy enough commute to home and I could go there with my twin, but the majority of the medical schools there all require A-Level Chemistry.
In year 11, I asked my school to study chemistry at A Level but they told me I couldn’t because it clashes on the timetable with maths so I wouldn’t be able to do both, and so I stuck to doing maths instead of chemistry. So thanks to my school, I am unable to do it but if I had the choice, I would have been doing chemistry since the start of the year. So realistically, I would never be able to study both subjects at once so what I would have to do is teach myself chemistry and attend the after school sessions and try to become an A* student without being in lessons. I know I am capable of it, since I carried myself through GCSEs and walked out with all grade 9s but if I were to do this, I would probably have to drop French to manage the balance of the workload and not have 4 A Levels on the go. This would be sad, because I am a true linguist, but for uni, Chemistry is a much more required subject.
If anyone has any advice, I would be very grateful thank you!
We’re currently 2/3 of the way through year 12 but I’ve been considering changing my options for a long time. This is because I’ve been studying Biology, Maths and French but I want to apply for medicine at uni. I found a few medical schools that would potentially accept me without Chemistry but recently I’ve really been considering going to London for uni because I adore the city, it’s an easy enough commute to home and I could go there with my twin, but the majority of the medical schools there all require A-Level Chemistry.
In year 11, I asked my school to study chemistry at A Level but they told me I couldn’t because it clashes on the timetable with maths so I wouldn’t be able to do both, and so I stuck to doing maths instead of chemistry. So thanks to my school, I am unable to do it but if I had the choice, I would have been doing chemistry since the start of the year. So realistically, I would never be able to study both subjects at once so what I would have to do is teach myself chemistry and attend the after school sessions and try to become an A* student without being in lessons. I know I am capable of it, since I carried myself through GCSEs and walked out with all grade 9s but if I were to do this, I would probably have to drop French to manage the balance of the workload and not have 4 A Levels on the go. This would be sad, because I am a true linguist, but for uni, Chemistry is a much more required subject.
If anyone has any advice, I would be very grateful
thank you!I have a friend who decided to choose further maths halfway through the year but dropped it within a week because he said he couldnt hack 4 subjects. Most likely if your teachers allow you to take chemistry they are going to make you take a test and if you get a high enough grade, you can take Chem. There is somebody in my year right now who is in the same position as you but they want to do Maths, they need to get a C in the next test otherwise they cant take the subject.
Original post by igobackto505
Hi
We’re currently 2/3 of the way through year 12 but I’ve been considering changing my options for a long time. This is because I’ve been studying Biology, Maths and French but I want to apply for medicine at uni. I found a few medical schools that would potentially accept me without Chemistry but recently I’ve really been considering going to London for uni because I adore the city, it’s an easy enough commute to home and I could go there with my twin, but the majority of the medical schools there all require A-Level Chemistry.
In year 11, I asked my school to study chemistry at A Level but they told me I couldn’t because it clashes on the timetable with maths so I wouldn’t be able to do both, and so I stuck to doing maths instead of chemistry. So thanks to my school, I am unable to do it but if I had the choice, I would have been doing chemistry since the start of the year. So realistically, I would never be able to study both subjects at once so what I would have to do is teach myself chemistry and attend the after school sessions and try to become an A* student without being in lessons. I know I am capable of it, since I carried myself through GCSEs and walked out with all grade 9s but if I were to do this, I would probably have to drop French to manage the balance of the workload and not have 4 A Levels on the go. This would be sad, because I am a true linguist, but for uni, Chemistry is a much more required subject.
If anyone has any advice, I would be very grateful thank you!
We’re currently 2/3 of the way through year 12 but I’ve been considering changing my options for a long time. This is because I’ve been studying Biology, Maths and French but I want to apply for medicine at uni. I found a few medical schools that would potentially accept me without Chemistry but recently I’ve really been considering going to London for uni because I adore the city, it’s an easy enough commute to home and I could go there with my twin, but the majority of the medical schools there all require A-Level Chemistry.
In year 11, I asked my school to study chemistry at A Level but they told me I couldn’t because it clashes on the timetable with maths so I wouldn’t be able to do both, and so I stuck to doing maths instead of chemistry. So thanks to my school, I am unable to do it but if I had the choice, I would have been doing chemistry since the start of the year. So realistically, I would never be able to study both subjects at once so what I would have to do is teach myself chemistry and attend the after school sessions and try to become an A* student without being in lessons. I know I am capable of it, since I carried myself through GCSEs and walked out with all grade 9s but if I were to do this, I would probably have to drop French to manage the balance of the workload and not have 4 A Levels on the go. This would be sad, because I am a true linguist, but for uni, Chemistry is a much more required subject.
If anyone has any advice, I would be very grateful
thank you!Heya!
I would recommend talking to your teacher now and seeing what your options are. They'll be able to advise you better when you explain your full situation. You could also take a gap year and do chemistry then
If it helps, here is a medical comparison tool that goes over all entry requirements of all medical schools.I hope this helps!
Milena
UCL PFE
Study Mind
Quick Reply
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