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Am I on the right track for Oxford medicine?

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Reply 20

Original post
by jacksmith23
agreed, but burnout is a concern aswell with regards to non academic things the person has done.


yeah I get your point- with gcses coming up it might be better for OP to not do as much, at least for that time period

Reply 21

Original post
by jacksmith23
agreed, but burnout is a concern aswell with regards to non academic things the person has done.
Yeah ur right I went though the most insane burnout from November until just now which explains my recent mock grades, but I’ve been revising 1.5-2.5 hours a day but I’ve put my extracurriculars on hold such as work and volunteering as they also agree I need to prioritise my gcses :smile:

Reply 22

Original post
by ELEPHANTRAT
yeah I get your point- with gcses coming up it might be better for OP to not do as much, at least for that time period
Yeah I’ve put it all on hold and I’m stopping work in the Easter so I can be fully focused on my gcses and half of the stuff is things that I’m going to do over the summer/ beginning of year twelve :smile:

Reply 23

Original post
by jacksmith23
https://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/pre-clinical/statistics/text-equivalent-of-the-bar-charts-on-the-shortlisting-process-and-admissions-statistics-webpage
you can check the stats yourself, do it after gcse;s tho. you also have an entrance exam which they give a weigh in, and the predicted grades
Thank you! I’ve been trying to find it, so helpful

Reply 24

Original post
by ELEPHANTRAT
I'd say that those gcses look fantastic, probably better to get a 9 in biology but you have time dw. You also have a lot of supercurriculars which are good. Honestly you're doing great, I think you definitely have a chance at Oxford if you keep up the a level grades at the same standard. You will also need to ace the med exam, but dw about that for now. Look at admission stats if you're too worried, but if you continue at your pace you'll do magnificently!
Thank u sm this reassured me ngl I felt a bit worried all that’s been on my mind is gcses and oxford right now

Reply 25

Original post
by Username123ab
I go to Oxford (but do law not medicine) and I didn’t do anything in year 11 other than revise/try to get the best GCSEs possible. I wouldn’t worry too much about super curriculars until at least year 12
Ok thank you, also do you mind me asking what grades u got for gcses? Thanks

Reply 26

Original post
by Leannelireau
Ok thank you, also do you mind me asking what grades u got for gcses? Thanks
I got 9 grade 9s and one grade 8 but I would’ve done my GCSEs in 2020 so they were predicted grades :smile:

Reply 27

Original post
by Username123ab
I got 9 grade 9s and one grade 8 but I would’ve done my GCSEs in 2020 so they were predicted grades :smile:
That’s amazing! Hopefully my gcses steer that way :smile:

Reply 28

Original post
by Leannelireau
Hi guys, I wanted to know if I’m doing enough right now to even be considered a candidate for Oxford medicine. I’m only in year eleven but my gcse mock grades are:
Religious studies 9
Business 9
English Literature 9
English Language 9
Chemistry 9
Biology 8
Geography 8
Maths 7
French 7
Physics 6 (I was very ill that day but I wanted to get it over with, last time I got an 8)
I also volunteer at the stroke unit at the hospital 3hours per week, I plan to do another full week at a disabled children school during the summer, I also work at an 11+ tutoring centre as a class assistant and at kumon. I hope my grades won’t let me down, I’ve only started revising for my gcses now, and I think I’ll define out improve in all of them. I am also giving a TEDX talk this September which will be uploaded, I also started and set up the medicine club for younger years and i am planning be set up and act as editor for a new STEM section in the school newsletter. My school also introduced an academic journal which is published biannually, so I hope to publish two medicine related articles in y12. For a levels I chose biology chemistry psychology. Any advice or responses will be so appreciated or am I cooked
Your grades are good so far but you really want to try pull up those Science grades into the 9s tbh especially Biology, Maths and Physics. Oxford tend to scrutines GCSEs more than Cambridge but obviously the average candidate applying will have an exceptional academic background that goes without saying.

Reply 29

I have just received by GCSE results back I managed to get 7 9s and 4 8s in English lit, language, Spanish and Further maths. Should I even consider applying to do medicine at Cambridge or even Oxford if they are so GCSE heavy? For A level I am planning to do maths, biology, chemistry and history, but I might drop history depending on how it goes. Any tips for my A levels and the overall application process?

Reply 30

Original post
by ganime_15
I have just received by GCSE results back I managed to get 7 9s and 4 8s in English lit, language, Spanish and Further maths. Should I even consider applying to do medicine at Cambridge or even Oxford if they are so GCSE heavy? For A level I am planning to do maths, biology, chemistry and history, but I might drop history depending on how it goes. Any tips for my A levels and the overall application process?

No, don't worry - that's 11 A* equivalents and 100% proportion of A*s so that should be fine! Oxford consider 8s and 9s to be the same thing (though you might want to double check that on their website)

Reply 31

Original post
by ganime_15
I have just received by GCSE results back I managed to get 7 9s and 4 8s in English lit, language, Spanish and Further maths. Should I even consider applying to do medicine at Cambridge or even Oxford if they are so GCSE heavy? For A level I am planning to do maths, biology, chemistry and history, but I might drop history depending on how it goes. Any tips for my A levels and the overall application process?

Is it al right for you to share how you revised for sciences and english literature?

Reply 32

Original post
by shonow033m
Is it al right for you to share how you revised for sciences and english literature?


English - watch Mr Salles, but his English language tips are not the best so I would recommend Mr Everything English

Chemistry - I would recommend going through tons of questions and memorise the formatting of the answers (e.g. key phrases that get you the marks such as stronger electrostatic forces of attraction = more energy). When you get answers wrong after doing a past paper, put them on flashcards and review.

Biology - same with chemistry, but highlight the key information especially the longer blurbed questions because chances are the key to you answering the question is in that paragraph.

Physics - try to explain concepts using the equations (e.g. mass cancels out and then show how the gravitational potential energy and Kinetics energy equations show this when equated)

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