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Cambridge med journey 🎓☕️📚

I will probably resit gcse maths, computing and spanish ( depending on results day) and am aiming for 9s.
I am also aiming for all A* in a levels bio, chem, physics and maths
And I am also aiming for an extremely high UCAT to make up for my resits (3400-3600)
I will most likely have to do this while staying in the same sixth form with no friends as all my friends will probably move to a better sixth form.
I’m not trying to seem like that ‘typical’ tsr post bc I haven’t even achieved it yet.
Ultimately my goal is Cambridge medicine and I know I shouldn’t solely focus on one uni, but it is my goal and will remain my goal.
I know it seems very difficult but I am willing to work hard to achieve it.
So I will be posting the amount of revision I do every day and hopefully it will motivate others ♥️

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Original post by Anonymous
I will probably resit gcse maths, computing and spanish ( depending on results day) and am aiming for 9s.
I am also aiming for all A* in a levels bio, chem, physics and maths
And I am also aiming for an extremely high UCAT to make up for my resits (3400-3600)
I will most likely have to do this while staying in the same sixth form with no friends as all my friends will probably move to a better sixth form.
I’m not trying to seem like that ‘typical’ tsr post bc I haven’t even achieved it yet.
Ultimately my goal is Cambridge medicine and I know I shouldn’t solely focus on one uni, but it is my goal and will remain my goal.
I know it seems very difficult but I am willing to work hard to achieve it.
So I will be posting the amount of revision I do every day and hopefully it will motivate others ♥️

There's no point in retaking GCSEs as you have to declare all results. You need to focus on A levels.

Why Cambridge btw?
Reply 2
Original post by Muttley79
There's no point in retaking GCSEs as you have to declare all results. You need to focus on A levels.
Why Cambridge btw?

There's no point in retaking GCSEs
Cambridge consider the best grade achieved wether it’s in resits nor not. So ultimately 9s in resits are stronger than 7s original.
You need to focus on A levels
Who says I’m not focusing on a levels? I’ve started studying for them now :smile:
Why Cambridge btw?
I like Cambridge.
Original post by Anonymous
There's no point in retaking GCSEs
Cambridge consider the best grade achieved wether it’s in resits nor not. So ultimately 9s in resits are stronger than 7s original.
You need to focus on A levels
Who says I’m not focusing on a levels? I’ve started studying for them now :smile:
Why Cambridge btw?
I like Cambridge.

No, you are wrong about resits. It's pointless.
Reply 4
Original post by Anonymous
I will probably resit gcse maths, computing and spanish ( depending on results day) and am aiming for 9s.
I am also aiming for all A* in a levels bio, chem, physics and maths
And I am also aiming for an extremely high UCAT to make up for my resits (3400-3600)
I will most likely have to do this while staying in the same sixth form with no friends as all my friends will probably move to a better sixth form.
I’m not trying to seem like that ‘typical’ tsr post bc I haven’t even achieved it yet.
Ultimately my goal is Cambridge medicine and I know I shouldn’t solely focus on one uni, but it is my goal and will remain my goal.
I know it seems very difficult but I am willing to work hard to achieve it.
So I will be posting the amount of revision I do every day and hopefully it will motivate others ♥️

You don't need to study for your A levels now - it's summer. If anything, this should be the time you are focusing on researching degrees and universities, looking at what you will be studying (but not actually learning the content) and completing any bridging work you've been set. You're going to burn yourself out before A levels even start.

Cambridge only look at your GCSEs as an indicator of your academic performance. You do not need straight 9s to get in and the odd few grade 7s are not going to hinder your chances. At most, resit maths if you must, but don't focus on irrelevant subjects.

What specifically do you like about Cambridge? Is it the course? The teaching and assessment style? The student life? Why medicine and why medicine at Cambridge? These are questions you'll be expected to answer in your interview if you get one, so preparing an answer early on is probably a good idea.

This is not to discourage you, but I strongly advise against focusing on one university, especially Oxbridge. Medicine is one of the most competitive courses and Cambridge is one of the most competitive universities. Statistically, you are more likely to get rejected than accepted and if you make Cambridge your dream, you may find yourself very disappointed in the end. What other universities are you considering and why?

For reference, I'm going into Year 13 studying politics, psychology and philosophy (predicted A*AA) and will be applying to study law at Cambridge. If you want to do well in your A levels, maybe drop one of the subjects you have, as you only need three. This will allow you to focus on getting good grades in all of them. No university will consider the grade you get in your fourth A level anyway, so it's pointless (unless you are doing further maths and this is only for certain courses). While I admire your ambition, I wouldn't put so much pressure on yourself. A levels are hard, especially the ones you've picked. Many people with straight 9s will start out with below average grades and that's okay. What matters most is your progression.
Reply 5
Original post by bibachu
You don't need to study for your A levels now - it's summer. If anything, this should be the time you are focusing on researching degrees and universities, looking at what you will be studying (but not actually learning the content) and completing any bridging work you've been set. You're going to burn yourself out before A levels even start.
Cambridge only look at your GCSEs as an indicator of your academic performance. You do not need straight 9s to get in and the odd few grade 7s are not going to hinder your chances. At most, resit maths if you must, but don't focus on irrelevant subjects.
What specifically do you like about Cambridge? Is it the course? The teaching and assessment style? The student life? Why medicine and why medicine at Cambridge? These are questions you'll be expected to answer in your interview if you get one, so preparing an answer early on is probably a good idea.
This is not to discourage you, but I strongly advise against focusing on one university, especially Oxbridge. Medicine is one of the most competitive courses and Cambridge is one of the most competitive universities. Statistically, you are more likely to get rejected than accepted and if you make Cambridge your dream, you may find yourself very disappointed in the end. What other universities are you considering and why?
For reference, I'm going into Year 13 studying politics, psychology and philosophy (predicted A*AA) and will be applying to study law at Cambridge. If you want to do well in your A levels, maybe drop one of the subjects you have, as you only need three. This will allow you to focus on getting good grades in all of them. No university will consider the grade you get in your fourth A level anyway, so it's pointless (unless you are doing further maths and this is only for certain courses). While I admire your ambition, I wouldn't put so much pressure on yourself. A levels are hard, especially the ones you've picked. Many people with straight 9s will start out with below average grades and that's okay. What matters most is your progression.

Thank you, I will try to not put too much pressure on myself. Cambridge is a uni I rlly want to go to but I also really like UCL. Unfortunately I don’t think I will an ‘odd few grade 7s. I think I will get about 6 grade 7s so I want to resit 3 of them to get 3 more 9s so I would have about 6/7 9s in total and 9 A* in total.
Reply 6
Original post by Anonymous
Thank you, I will try to not put too much pressure on myself. Cambridge is a uni I rlly want to go to but I also really like UCL. Unfortunately I don’t think I will an ‘odd few grade 7s. I think I will get about 6 grade 7s so I want to resit 3 of them to get 3 more 9s so I would have about 6/7 9s in total and 9 A* in total.

There are people with all grade 9s who get rejected each year. There are people with no grade 9s who get accepted each year. You haven’t even gotten your results yet. Resitting is unnecessary and it will distract you from your A levels. As someone who has resat a GCSE (maths), one of the main reasons I ended up getting the same grade is because I was balancing the work of my A levels and it is more important to do well in those assessments than a GCSE resit. Not to mention, for the subjects you want to resit, only one of them can be done in November. The rest have to be done in the summer and by then, you will be sitting your end of year mocks, which will determine your UCAS predicted grade. You don’t need 9 A*s to get into Cambridge - in fact you don’t need any, because there are no grade requirements. Both UCL and Cambridge don’t use GCSEs to shortlist people for interviews anyway. I would understand if you were applying to universities that actually score GCSEs, but neither of these universities do.

Why Cambridge specifically? Why UCL specifically? What about do you like about these universities? Why medicine and why at these universities? In an interview, they might not even prompt you like this. They’ll expect you to be able to give an answer that answers these questions anyway.

Having 7s isn’t the end of the world nor is not getting into Cambridge or UCL or any medical school for that matter. Don’t make plans prematurely. Resitting also costs a lot of money, even if you do it internally. Different schools have different fees and they vary for each subject. I was lucky enough to book my resit through my old secondary school and they charged me £50. If you resit privately, you could be looking at anywhere between £150 - £450 per subject.
you seem fixated on the journey and not the final objective. first resits in most unis don't count. getting good results first time does. your a levels are very important. however you dont mention the work experience. you need to be very determined to get in and qualify. now you claim a ucas of 3400-3600 i honestly think your being very ambitious. to be very clear the highest score ever by 1 incredibly intelligent person was 3599. be happy if you get over 2500-3000. they ae good to very good scores. your competing against some of the brightest students out there. you should concentrate on getting very good a levels invest in doing that get experience of the care sector. this is so important. at the interview they are looking at you not your results they are simply used to weed the applicants. they want to see you have a sound understanding of the career you want to enter. my daughter is 22 she did not do enough a levels to go straight in after a few years she chose to do medicine. she did a access course that it passed with a decent ucas score and a passed interview would be guaranteed a place. so she starts in aberdeen this year. be flexible look at all the medical schools go on visits. dont tie yourself to one place. remember your goal is to be a doctor not a student. and try and relax and have some fun. its a lot of hard work ahead as others have said dont burn out. and note your personnel statement is altering.
hii! i am also going to year 12 and Cambridge is my dream uni! i wish you all the best 😀 if you work hard and be passionate, i am sure you will achieve it 🙂
Reply 9
Original post by paul.barlow08
you seem fixated on the journey and not the final objective. first resits in most unis don't count. getting good results first time does. your a levels are very important. however you dont mention the work experience. you need to be very determined to get in and qualify. now you claim a ucas of 3400-3600 i honestly think your being very ambitious. to be very clear the highest score ever by 1 incredibly intelligent person was 3599. be happy if you get over 2500-3000. they ae good to very good scores. your competing against some of the brightest students out there. you should concentrate on getting very good a levels invest in doing that get experience of the care sector. this is so important. at the interview they are looking at you not your results they are simply used to weed the applicants. they want to see you have a sound understanding of the career you want to enter. my daughter is 22 she did not do enough a levels to go straight in after a few years she chose to do medicine. she did a access course that it passed with a decent ucas score and a passed interview would be guaranteed a place. so she starts in aberdeen this year. be flexible look at all the medical schools go on visits. dont tie yourself to one place. remember your goal is to be a doctor not a student. and try and relax and have some fun. its a lot of hard work ahead as others have said dont burn out. and note your personnel statement is altering.

Most unis, including Cambridge, consider the highest grade achieved whether that’s through resits or not. Personally im not to bothered wether I’m too ambitious- I will try my hardest and if it doesn’t work out that’s okay.
Original post by idkwhatXD_lol
hii! i am also going to year 12 and Cambridge is my dream uni! i wish you all the best 😀 if you work hard and be passionate, i am sure you will achieve it 🙂

Thank you! Good luck! I’m sure you can do it
Original post by Anonymous
Most unis, including Cambridge, consider the highest grade achieved whether that’s through resits or not. Personally im not to bothered wether I’m too ambitious- I will try my hardest and if it doesn’t work out that’s okay.

Evidence of that statement? Please post links that prove what you are saying.
Original post by Muttley79
Evidence of that statement? Please post links that prove what you are saying.

If a student retakes a GCSE and achieves a higher or lower grade, the student can use whichever GCSE grade is higher.
Many websites state similar to this.
Original post by Anonymous
If a student retakes a GCSE and achieves a higher or lower grade, the student can use whichever GCSE grade is higher.
Many websites state similar to this.

While Cambridge might consider your highest grade they will still see that you’ve resat some of your qualifications, because UCAS requires you to submit every qualification sat. They will still see the grade from your original sitting. Fixating on resitting for Cambridge and UCL will not benefit you, as neither of these universities score GCSEs. If you are that fixated on resitting at least apply to universities that care about your GCSEs heavily. Also, not all universities will accept GCSE resits for medicine, so check this before applying. You haven’t even received the results yet.
Original post by Anonymous
If a student retakes a GCSE and achieves a higher or lower grade, the student can use whichever GCSE grade is higher.
Many websites state similar to this.

Where is the link to this?

You have to put ALL GCSEs grades on UCAS you can't omit any of them so this is clearly untrue.
Hi, I just found your gyg, and I'm also taking bio, chem and maths. I would like to aim for Cambridge medicine even though I know that realistically, I won't get in, but I find your motivation really inspiring :smile:) so I hope we can support each other through this tough medical journey. Good luck :smile:
Reply 16
as a year 12 (going into year 13) who is also an aspiring medic planning to apply to cambridge if i get a decent ucat
please listen to what other people here are saying. i feel like you're focusing too much on the goal.
work hard for a-levels (as i'm sure you will), get at least A*A*A predicted, then work hard for UCAT and do well in that. once you have all your stats, and you're sure you can/want to apply to cambridge, because things do change, then dream big, aim high and go for it.
i feel like at this point in time you're subconsciously too fixed on the goal of cambridge/ucl. it's great to aspire for that and i feel like its motivating you to do well. but don't overfixate on it.
also i agree with the others that there isn't much point in resitting those three gcses for all the reasons mentioned by them, but in the end that's up to you

good luck with year 12 and i hope things go well for you
I have now realised that you all are totally right. And I have realised I might not even want to be a doctor, I want to be either a doctor or a dentist. And if I decide to be a doctor it should not be bc I want to go to Cambridge, and realistically I probably won’t get in and tbf I might not even apply, and that’s fine. I’m still going to grind and probably resit 3 GCSEs but I will only do it for self satisfaction, bc I want to improve as a person. I will grind until I reach my goals which probably won’t be Cambridge and that’s absolutely fine. Thank you guys for helping me realise this (this sounds so cringy lol) so I will now change this to ‘My Academic Journey’ :smile:)
Original post by Anonymous
I have now realised that you all are totally right. And I have realised I might not even want to be a doctor, I want to be either a doctor or a dentist. And if I decide to be a doctor it should not be bc I want to go to Cambridge, and realistically I probably won’t get in and tbf I might not even apply, and that’s fine. I’m still going to grind and probably resit 3 GCSEs but I will only do it for self satisfaction, bc I want to improve as a person. I will grind until I reach my goals which probably won’t be Cambridge and that’s absolutely fine. Thank you guys for helping me realise this (this sounds so cringy lol) so I will now change this to ‘My Academic Journey’ :smile:)

Realised I can’t change it 😭 ignore this then and thank you
Original post by Anonymous
I will probably resit gcse maths, computing and spanish ( depending on results day) and am aiming for 9s.
I am also aiming for all A* in a levels bio, chem, physics and maths
And I am also aiming for an extremely high UCAT to make up for my resits (3400-3600)
I will most likely have to do this while staying in the same sixth form with no friends as all my friends will probably move to a better sixth form.
I’m not trying to seem like that ‘typical’ tsr post bc I haven’t even achieved it yet.
Ultimately my goal is Cambridge medicine and I know I shouldn’t solely focus on one uni, but it is my goal and will remain my goal.
I know it seems very difficult but I am willing to work hard to achieve it.
So I will be posting the amount of revision I do every day and hopefully it will motivate others ♥️

let me know when you get 3.6k on ur ucat hahahahahahha talk about delusion looool

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