Which academic profile is stronger

For most medical schools including Cambridge med, out of curiosity, which academic profile would be stronger?

Person A
GCSE: 88888888887 ( no resits )
A level: A* A* A*
UCAT: 3420

Person B
GCSE: 999999988777 ( 4 resits )
A level: A* A* A* A*
UCAT: 3420

Reply 1

bibachu

Original post by Anonymous

For most medical schools including Cambridge med, out of curiosity, which academic profile would be stronger?
Person A
GCSE: 88888888887 ( no resits )
A level: A* A* A*
UCAT: 3420
Person B
GCSE: 999999988777 ( 4 resits )
A level: A* A* A* A*
UCAT: 3420

You can't just base it on stats alone. Medical schools will consider lots of other factors including your personal statement, interview and any circumstances that may have impacted your studies. Your grade in your fourth A level is also irrelevant, because universities only require three A levels. Some medical schools care about resits and some don't. Some don't even score your GCSEs. Ultimately, these profiles are very similar.

Reply 2

Applewood_

Original post by Anonymous

For most medical schools including Cambridge med, out of curiosity, which academic profile would be stronger?
Person A
GCSE: 88888888887 ( no resits )
A level: A* A* A*
UCAT: 3420
Person B
GCSE: 999999988777 ( 4 resits )
A level: A* A* A* A*
UCAT: 3420

For Medicine some universities do not accept A-Level resits, therefore that is an important factor to consider.

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

As above, A-level resits can be a major factor for some medical schools and may well rule an A-level resit applicant out of consideration.

I believe most medical schools still score 8 and 9 grades the same if they score GCSEs at all, and so the second profile would potnetially be weaker in fact because it trades some 8/9 grades for 7s to get more 9s...for potentially no benefit. Also, medical schools that score GCSEs may care about GCSE resits, whereas the ones that don't care about GCSE resits probably don't score GCSEs extensively and may just have minimum GCSE grades.

As always I think resitting GCSEs for any purpose other than getting a passing grade in English or Maths is a colossal waste of time.

Get the passes in English and maths, hopefully do well enough in other things, then carry on with A-levels and just apply to medical schools based on your strengths (whether at GCSE or at A-level).

Reply 4

Muttley79

Original post by Anonymous

For most medical schools including Cambridge med, out of curiosity, which academic profile would be stronger?
Person A
GCSE: 88888888887 ( no resits )
A level: A* A* A*
UCAT: 3420
Person B
GCSE: 999999988777 ( 4 resits )
A level: A* A* A* A*
UCAT: 3420

The first - no resits

Reply 5

mnot

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Anonymous

For most medical schools including Cambridge med, out of curiosity, which academic profile would be stronger?
Person A
GCSE: 88888888887 ( no resits )
A level: A* A* A*
UCAT: 3420
Person B
GCSE: 999999988777 ( 4 resits )
A level: A* A* A* A*
UCAT: 3420

Depends on the rest of the story. Pragmatically if one of these students is from a middle class + background and go to a grammar/private school and the other came from a local comprehensive & a bottom 25% socioeconomic background, id be far more impressed with the latter profile (the reality is school achievement is largely driven by resources, culture & environment so imo would be the bigger determining factor here).

Assuming equitable: socioeconomics, school, home environment (which is never equal), then id say you were splitting hairs and they are basically the same attainment, different university admissions have different processes for assessing applicants particularly regarding resists so it is in the applicants interest to go to open days, look at the stats, do the research & choose unis accordingly.

Reply 6

paniconvinyl

Original post by Anonymous

For most medical schools including Cambridge med, out of curiosity, which academic profile would be stronger?
Person A
GCSE: 88888888887 ( no resits )
A level: A* A* A*
UCAT: 3420
Person B
GCSE: 999999988777 ( 4 resits )
A level: A* A* A* A*
UCAT: 3420

The first profile is stronger for Medicine - some unis do not accept resits, this is important to check when applying. That being said, an extra A level often does not pose any real advantage when applying to med schools - an offer will be based on your ucat and interview performance mostly.

Reply 7

Pabs8

Original post by artful_lounger

As above, A-level resits can be a major factor for some medical schools and may well rule an A-level resit applicant out of consideration.
I believe most medical schools still score 8 and 9 grades the same if they score GCSEs at all, and so the second profile would potnetially be weaker in fact because it trades some 8/9 grades for 7s to get more 9s...for potentially no benefit. Also, medical schools that score GCSEs may care about GCSE resits, whereas the ones that don't care about GCSE resits probably don't score GCSEs extensively and may just have minimum GCSE grades.
As always I think resitting GCSEs for any purpose other than getting a passing grade in English or Maths is a colossal waste of time.
Get the passes in English and maths, hopefully do well enough in other things, then carry on with A-levels and just apply to medical schools based on your strengths (whether at GCSE or at A-level).

Which unis don’t look at GCSEs for med/dent??

Reply 8

Anonymous #2

Original post by artful_lounger

As above, A-level resits can be a major factor for some medical schools and may well rule an A-level resit applicant out of consideration.
I believe most medical schools still score 8 and 9 grades the same if they score GCSEs at all, and so the second profile would potnetially be weaker in fact because it trades some 8/9 grades for 7s to get more 9s...for potentially no benefit. Also, medical schools that score GCSEs may care about GCSE resits, whereas the ones that don't care about GCSE resits probably don't score GCSEs extensively and may just have minimum GCSE grades.
As always I think resitting GCSEs for any purpose other than getting a passing grade in English or Maths is a colossal waste of time.
Get the passes in English and maths, hopefully do well enough in other things, then carry on with A-levels and just apply to medical schools based on your strengths (whether at GCSE or at A-level).