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will i get a place in dentistry or should i take a gap year/ change my course?

will i be able to get into a dental university if i get a* a c with the a* in geography, a in biology and c in chemistry. im getting around this and unless i get amazing in my mocks, my predicted grades aren't looking too good for chemistry. should i consider taking a gap year and focus on my actual a level exams then apply to uni?

also these are the most relevant work experiences i have done
- given a talk at a primary school about dental hygeine
- founded my schools first dental discovery newsletter
- multiple charity events eg managing stalls at morocco earthquake fundraiser
- private tutoring
- springpod online dental work experience
- self taught henna artist - manual dexterity, communication with customers to get the deisng they want
Reply 1
Original post by user1234512345
will i be able to get into a dental university if i get a* a c with the a* in geography, a in biology and c in chemistry. im getting around this and unless i get amazing in my mocks, my predicted grades aren't looking too good for chemistry. should i consider taking a gap year and focus on my actual a level exams then apply to uni?
also these are the most relevant work experiences i have done
- given a talk at a primary school about dental hygeine
- founded my schools first dental discovery newsletter
- multiple charity events eg managing stalls at morocco earthquake fundraiser
- private tutoring
- springpod online dental work experience
- self taught henna artist - manual dexterity, communication with customers to get the deisng they want


Normally the expectation is for A*-A but depending on contextual offers or not or widening participation it can be lowered but all circumstances will be taken into account. However the normal offers are for those
There are a few dental unis that don't look at all at your predicted grades e.g. Manchester (they still expect you to get AAA in a levels) - email the to see if possible also ask teachers to bump up your grades
Original post by Gbains
Normally the expectation is for A*-A but depending on contextual offers or not or widening participation it can be lowered but all circumstances will be taken into account. However the normal offers are for those
thank you x
Original post by toothysmile
There are a few dental unis that don't look at all at your predicted grades e.g. Manchester (they still expect you to get AAA in a levels) - email the to see if possible also ask teachers to bump up your grades
ok thank you x what does manchester look at if they dont look at the predicted grades then? just the personal statement?
Original post by user1234512345
ok thank you x what does manchester look at if they dont look at the predicted grades then? just the personal statement?
Just the UCAT also check out NCL or Bristol they might have a similar policy
Reply 6
Original post by user1234512345
ok thank you x what does manchester look at if they dont look at the predicted grades then? just the personal statement?
Manchester do have an additional form
Called
Non academic form
Which you get sent out to complete and send back
Reply 7
Original post by user1234512345
will i be able to get into a dental university if i get a* a c with the a* in geography, a in biology and c in chemistry. im getting around this and unless i get amazing in my mocks, my predicted grades aren't looking too good for chemistry. should i consider taking a gap year and focus on my actual a level exams then apply to uni?
also these are the most relevant work experiences i have done
- given a talk at a primary school about dental hygeine
- founded my schools first dental discovery newsletter
- multiple charity events eg managing stalls at morocco earthquake fundraiser
- private tutoring
- springpod online dental work experience
- self taught henna artist - manual dexterity, communication with customers to get the deisng they want
Personally, if i was in your position, I would focus entirely on getting A*-A in all 3 A levels and take a gap year because you already have solid experience and you can use the summer after your A levels to focus on UCAT and your application.
As you will have high A levels when you apply you will have a greater chance of securing a place in any university you wish to go to and would not have to compromise. Hope this helped
Reply 8
Original post by user1234512345
will i be able to get into a dental university if i get a* a c with the a* in geography, a in biology and c in chemistry. im getting around this and unless i get amazing in my mocks, my predicted grades aren't looking too good for chemistry. should i consider taking a gap year and focus on my actual a level exams then apply to uni?
also these are the most relevant work experiences i have done
- given a talk at a primary school about dental hygeine
- founded my schools first dental discovery newsletter
- multiple charity events eg managing stalls at morocco earthquake fundraiser
- private tutoring
- springpod online dental work experience
- self taught henna artist - manual dexterity, communication with customers to get the deisng they want

I assume you are lower sixth i.e year 12? If so, just focus on your mocks for now and getting the best grades possible. It's far too early to think about taking a gap year due to grades not being good enough. You might for example get a B in your Chemistry mock, and you then get predicted an A, which is common practice in many schools. Let them know that you need that predicted A minimum for dentistry, as that might persuade them if you end up getting a borderline mark.
Original post by lalexm
I assume you are lower sixth i.e year 12? If so, just focus on your mocks for now and getting the best grades possible. It's far too early to think about taking a gap year due to grades not being good enough. You might for example get a B in your Chemistry mock, and you then get predicted an A, which is common practice in many schools. Let them know that you need that predicted A minimum for dentistry, as that might persuade them if you end up getting a borderline mark.

thank you sm! my school is sometimes really strict and doesn't change people's predicted grades even if they need one grade higher for their course so i've just been really stressed out as my mocks are in 2 weeks time and i got a chem test back the other day which i did quite bad in - it was mostly silly mistakes which i can defo fix but the thing is the test was only 34 marks for a very big range of topics so it was very easy to go down a whole grade if i get one question wrong. there was a big 7 marker just on a colorimetry calculation which i got 1 in so my grade went down from a B to a D 💔 i just hope i can fix this in time for the mock exam
Original post by Harigowre
Personally, if i was in your position, I would focus entirely on getting A*-A in all 3 A levels and take a gap year because you already have solid experience and you can use the summer after your A levels to focus on UCAT and your application.
As you will have high A levels when you apply you will have a greater chance of securing a place in any university you wish to go to and would not have to compromise. Hope this helped

thank you - i will defo take this into consideration!
Original post by Gbains
Manchester do have an additional form
Called
Non academic form
Which you get sent out to complete and send back

thank you i'll take a look at this

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