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Is this enough for getting into med ?

Is this really enough to gey into med? We had a recent assembly about post-18 choices where the lead speaker was really negative about applying for med, with a 'If your not good enough they wont take you, they have plenty of other candidates they'd want over you'.
GCSE:
Grade 8 in - Bio,chem,physics, english lit, geography, business
Grade 7 in -Maths, Spanish]
Grade 6 in - english lang

In my school we have to sit formal AS exams which are happening in a few weeks, with the grade we achieve in these being the grade sent off to our unis as 'predicted'. In my mocks i got ABCD (with my mocks being a week after I got back from 2 weeks in America so no revision), and having my EPQ second draft due in on the date they started so all of my energy was put into that. Since then ive been working really hard and believe I could Achieve an A in business, A in biology, B in chem, and A/B in geography (droppin at the start of year 13 anyway). From this, I think i could be able to be predicted A*(biz), A(bio), and hopefully an A in chem but could only be a B.

Along side this I have also completed my EPQ on a medicine topic (robots / ai in medicine), in which I achieved an A* (full marks). I have also started emailing places about work experience which i hope to complete throughout the summer.

Is this honestly enough for med ? I know I still have the UCAT in the summer, however is there anything else I could do alongisde all of this to aid my medical application ? Within school I hjave completed many biology and chemistry competitions, got a lifeguarding qualification, and aidijng with societies such as medic society and current affairs.

Reply 1

Hey there, thanks for posting a question in the Medicine forum. :biggrin:

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Reply 2

Original post by JackNolan26
Is this really enough to gey into med? We had a recent assembly about post-18 choices where the lead speaker was really negative about applying for med, with a 'If your not good enough they wont take you, they have plenty of other candidates they'd want over you'.
GCSE:
Grade 8 in - Bio,chem,physics, english lit, geography, business
Grade 7 in -Maths, Spanish]
Grade 6 in - english lang
In my school we have to sit formal AS exams which are happening in a few weeks, with the grade we achieve in these being the grade sent off to our unis as 'predicted'. In my mocks i got ABCD (with my mocks being a week after I got back from 2 weeks in America so no revision), and having my EPQ second draft due in on the date they started so all of my energy was put into that. Since then ive been working really hard and believe I could Achieve an A in business, A in biology, B in chem, and A/B in geography (droppin at the start of year 13 anyway). From this, I think i could be able to be predicted A*(biz), A(bio), and hopefully an A in chem but could only be a B.
Along side this I have also completed my EPQ on a medicine topic (robots / ai in medicine), in which I achieved an A* (full marks). I have also started emailing places about work experience which i hope to complete throughout the summer.
Is this honestly enough for med ? I know I still have the UCAT in the summer, however is there anything else I could do alongisde all of this to aid my medical application ? Within school I hjave completed many biology and chemistry competitions, got a lifeguarding qualification, and aidijng with societies such as medic society and current affairs.

I'll be back to write more but I suggest you just prioritize your AS exams because that will be a huge factor for your predicted grades (need at least an AAA). Your GCSEs look fine but don't apply to schools which particularly look into it/score your GCSEs for eg: Cardiff, Leicester. Which exam board are you sitting for chem (might be able to give you some tips)? Can you not drop geography now so you don't have to sit that exam? Takes some pressure away I think. Make sure to mention your EPQ in your personal statement. Good that you have emailed for work experiences: remember quality over quantity + note down your experiences. Volunteering/shadowing are both good options. I think your stats should be fine and yeah focus on the UCAT. You are lucky to have EPQ out of the way. Remember that you can only write so much in your personal statement so show your best qualities that would make you a good doctor but that is also expected of you as a med student/future doctor. Remember you still have to get through interviews too.
(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 3

Original post by Tulipbloom
I'll be back to write more but I suggest you just prioritize your AS exams because that will be a huge factor for your predicted grades (need at least an AAA). Your GCSEs look fine but don't apply to schools which particularly look into it/score your GCSEs for eg: Cardiff, Leicester. Which exam board are you sitting for chem (might be able to give you some tips)? Can you not drop geography now so you don't have to sit that exam? Takes some pressure away I think. Make sure to mention your EPQ in your personal statement. Good that you have emailed for work experiences: remember quality over quantity + note down your experiences. Volunteering/shadowing are both good options. I think your stats should be fine and yeah focus on the UCAT. You are lucky to have EPQ out of the way. Remember that you can only write so much in your personal statement so show your best qualities that would make you a good doctor but that is also expected of you as a med student/future doctor. Remember you still have to get through interviews too.

Thank you! I really am putting the effort in now with revision for AS levels and it seems to be paying off for biology. I do edexcel for chem which has been a bit of a change from aqa at my old school, and both of my teachers are SHOCKING (like the one teavhing the organic side of the spec just doesnt teach), ive complaing to the head of chem, and my head of sixth form with both of them 'recognising how difficult this must be' although there is 'nothing I can do'. I feel as though ill get an A in business and geog, and then a B / POSSIBLE A in bio, and then hopefully a high B in chem. Hopefully this will lead to A*AA predicted, with an A* in my EPQ. At the moment I'm, just grinding out as many past papers / preducted papers as possible, with relearning the weak parts of the chem spec where needed.

I fee that the worst case would be predicted A*BB (WORST), however I feel that it is much more likely to be A*AB. If this is the case I will still apply, however could end up needing to take a gap year and reapply the following year, and put plenty of energy into my actual A-levels and apply with them grades.

Reply 4

Original post by JackNolan26
Thank you! I really am putting the effort in now with revision for AS levels and it seems to be paying off for biology. I do edexcel for chem which has been a bit of a change from aqa at my old school, and both of my teachers are SHOCKING (like the one teavhing the organic side of the spec just doesnt teach), ive complaing to the head of chem, and my head of sixth form with both of them 'recognising how difficult this must be' although there is 'nothing I can do'. I feel as though ill get an A in business and geog, and then a B / POSSIBLE A in bio, and then hopefully a high B in chem. Hopefully this will lead to A*AA predicted, with an A* in my EPQ. At the moment I'm, just grinding out as many past papers / preducted papers as possible, with relearning the weak parts of the chem spec where needed.
I fee that the worst case would be predicted A*BB (WORST), however I feel that it is much more likely to be A*AB. If this is the case I will still apply, however could end up needing to take a gap year and reapply the following year, and put plenty of energy into my actual A-levels and apply with them grades.

Not a bad idea and good on you honestly. Hope it all works out. I too did Edexcel Chem and some resources (if you need any) I used were chemrevise for notes (with it I just added mark scheme answers) and allery chemistry on YT for extra support. Good luck for AS!

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