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EPQ for medicine help

soooo i think im a little late but can i start and finish an epq before the end of this academic year potentially starting in May as i do a level biology chemistry and maths and i want to go into medicine potentially oxbridge will it be worth it as well?

Reply 1

Medic2029

I can't tell you about how quick you can finish an EPQ, but I can tell you that it'll hardly make a large impact towards your Oxbridge medicine application. They don't value the EPQ necessarily more than (maybe not even the equivalent of) other aspects in your application. Frankly the major concern I see is, if you're doing it then you'll likely want to make it good, but if you're rushing into it then it'll be difficult to achieve that. I've seen and helped friends with their EPQs and it definitely took a substantial chunk of their time but they planned ahead. Personally I think your time would be better allocated towards perfecting other parts of you application (that's what I did) and it'll more likely give you an edge in applying than doing an EPQ. Hope that helps!

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by HALEE189

Firstly, which university you study medicine at doesn't matter in terms of your medical career for the most part - your medical school will be blinded on all specialty recruitment applications so it literally cannot bias whether you get a specialty training post or not later (and it's not factored into foundation post placement). So only apply to Oxford or Cambridge for medicine if a) you definitely meet the requirements and are a strong applicant and b) you actually specifically have a reason to prefer that course to another one (noting that both require you to intercalate, and you no longer gain portfolio points from intercalated degrees for any specialty nor for foundation training, so you are essentially doing an additional year of work in the basic sciences for no specific reason as far as working as a doctor goes).

Secondly, the EPQ is usually not considered in medicine admissions so will not influence your chance of getting into medical school (or at least, not positively) in any direct way for the majority of them. Do an EPQ only if you have a specific project you would want to do otherwise that happens to fit into the EPQ rubric. If you're just doing it because you think it'll score you "bonus points" then don't bother - it won't and you'll more than likely cause issues for yourself elsewhere if that's the case.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 3

MedApplicantttt

Original post by HALEE189

hey, medicine offer holder here who did an EPQ! The EPQ helps if you do it on a scientific topic that is beyond A-Levels as it helps with further reading. Also I found it helpful for when preparing for interviews and writing a PS. At uni, you will be doing some dissertations throughout the 5 years and it shows you are capable. Also at uni, you will be experienced to writing research and other medias whereas everyone else will have never done anything like this before! If you're interested, I can give you a brief of what my EPQ was about :smile: