The Student Room Group

IM STRESSING OUT - help me pleaseeee

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(edited 3 weeks ago)
Reply 1
Original post by Anonymous_Fly
I rlly wanna try aim for highly competitive med schools like UCL and Imperial. But I feel like im being forced to take 4 a levels , but I really don’t wanna do 4. Bc I’ve asked ppl if 4 A*s are more competitive than 3 A*s for med, and they all said yes. And I obviously wanna make myself the most competitive to make up for my poor GCSEs. Is this true ? I feel so stuck, please respond.

No, it is not. A friend of a friend did 5 A-levels (all A*) because he thought it would give him a greater chance of getting into Cambridge. He didn’t get in (it may have been due to the interview). However, you should focus on super-curricular activities for a competitive degree like medicine (e.g., GP work placements, attending lectures, wider reading, etc.). Don’t get bogged down by poor GCSE results, because if you get good A-level results, universities will notice the potential you have.
Original post by d159p
No, it is not. A friend of a friend did 5 A-levels (all A*) because he thought it would give him a greater chance of getting into Cambridge. He didn’t get in (it may have been due to the interview). However, you should focus on super-curricular activities for a competitive degree like medicine (e.g., GP work placements, attending lectures, wider reading, etc.). Don’t get bogged down by poor GCSE results, because if you get good A-level results, universities will notice the potential you have.

Will taking an EPQ help?
Original post by Anonymous_Fly
Will taking an EPQ help?

Depends on what universities you apply to, some like HYMS and Sheffield accept it (or did when I was applying), and they'll accept AAB if you get a certain grade in your EPQ.
Reply 4
Original post by Anonymous_Fly
I rlly wanna try aim for highly competitive med schools like UCL and Imperial. But I feel like im being forced to take 4 a levels , but I really don’t wanna do 4. Bc I’ve asked ppl if 4 A*s are more competitive than 3 A*s for med, and they all said yes. And I obviously wanna make myself the most competitive to make up for my poor GCSEs. Is this true ? I feel so stuck, please respond.

if you want to make yourself competitive, then its a lot of things but 4 a levels. some universities offer lowered grades with a 4th a level (e.g. i think leicester does) but really its not necessary. most med students and applying students have just 3 subjects, and if a 4th a level really was better, there should be a majority of 4 a level med students.

talking to myself here: i dont know who told you 4 a levels is better, but i'd stop listening to them
Original post by Anonymous_Fly
I rlly wanna try aim for highly competitive med schools like UCL and Imperial. But I feel like im being forced to take 4 a levels , but I really don’t wanna do 4. Bc I’ve asked ppl if 4 A*s are more competitive than 3 A*s for med, and they all said yes. And I obviously wanna make myself the most competitive to make up for my poor GCSEs. Is this true ? I feel so stuck, please respond.

Obviously 4 a levels will look great, but that's provided you do well enough in them! Only do 4 if you feel like you're on track to getting good enough grades (at least A*,A,A) for these unis whilst doing 4. Even then don't sacrifice your well being for this extra a level, it sounds like you're not enjoying it and getting majorly stressed over this. It's your choice but, If I were you, and I was you, I would drop to 3. If it helps, all of the ppl I know who got into ucl/oxbridge dropped one and only did three a levels. What gcses did you get btw?
Original post by Anonymous_Fly
I rlly wanna try aim for highly competitive med schools like UCL and Imperial. But I feel like im being forced to take 4 a levels , but I really don’t wanna do 4. Bc I’ve asked ppl if 4 A*s are more competitive than 3 A*s for med, and they all said yes. And I obviously wanna make myself the most competitive to make up for my poor GCSEs. Is this true ? I feel so stuck, please respond.

First thing to do, is relax. Stressing will get you nowhere!

I am just a student so I don't really have experience but I have done a lot of research and from what I can see, most unis disregard fourth A levels. Perhaps it would provide an advantage for universities such as Oxford, but even then, is it worth the extra work load?

If you are worried about needing to do 4 A levels to make up for poor GCSE's, just apply to a university that doesn't score GCSE's that much. Just for example, Southampton university requires 7 GCSE's at grade 6 or higher. Once you meet those requirements, they won't hold your GCSE's against you, so if you have good A levels and a strong UCAT, you have a great chance.

Lastly, in the most polite way possible, I don't think applying to highly competitive medical schools with "poor GCSEs" is a good idea. Realistically, you want to maximise your chances, so maybe think of applying to a less competitive school that doesn't highly score GCSE's, and smash your A levels and UCAT. There isn't really any benefit in going to a prestigious university.

Good luck, you've got this!
Reply 7
Original post by Anonymous_Fly
I rlly wanna try aim for highly competitive med schools like UCL and Imperial. But I feel like im being forced to take 4 a levels , but I really don’t wanna do 4. Bc I’ve asked ppl if 4 A*s are more competitive than 3 A*s for med, and they all said yes. And I obviously wanna make myself the most competitive to make up for my poor GCSEs. Is this true ? I feel so stuck, please respond.


The standard offer for UCL and Imperial is A*AA with the A* being in Chem or Bio. Please don’t ruin your chances of achieving this by taking an extra A-Level. I’m not sure who’s feeding you that information but I promise you as long as you’ve done very well in your UCAT and have got very good GCSEs you’ll be fine with 3 A levels
Original post by School_Student99
First thing to do, is relax. Stressing will get you nowhere!
I am just a student so I don't really have experience but I have done a lot of research and from what I can see, most unis disregard fourth A levels. Perhaps it would provide an advantage for universities such as Oxford, but even then, is it worth the extra work load?
If you are worried about needing to do 4 A levels to make up for poor GCSE's, just apply to a university that doesn't score GCSE's that much. Just for example, Southampton university requires 7 GCSE's at grade 6 or higher. Once you meet those requirements, they won't hold your GCSE's against you, so if you have good A levels and a strong UCAT, you have a great chance.
Lastly, in the most polite way possible, I don't think applying to highly competitive medical schools with "poor GCSEs" is a good idea. Realistically, you want to maximise your chances, so maybe think of applying to a less competitive school that doesn't highly score GCSE's, and smash your A levels and UCAT. There isn't really any benefit in going to a prestigious university.
Good luck, you've got this!

Thanks I’ve decided to do 3. Some highly prestigious med schools don’t score GCSEs btw ( UCL & Imperial )
Original post by jezinho_
The standard offer for UCL and Imperial is A*AA with the A* being in Chem or Bio. Please don’t ruin your chances of achieving this by taking an extra A-Level. I’m not sure who’s feeding you that information but I promise you as long as you’ve done very well in your UCAT and have got very good GCSEs you’ll be fine with 3 A levels

I literally just said I wanna do 4 to make up for my ‘poor GCSEs’ 😭
Reply 10
I understand you're feeling stressed! A great way to ease that pressure could be to take one thing off your plate—like finding affordable medications. Canada Drugs Direct is a certified Canadian pharmacy offering prescription and non-prescription drugs at competitive prices. With a 125% price match guarantee and secure transactions, they make it easy to order medications safely online. Just focus on one step at a time, and let trusted services like this help simplify things
(edited 2 weeks ago)
Original post by collinn
I understand you're feeling stressed! A great way to ease that pressure could be to take one thing off your plate—like finding affordable medications.

BHAHAAHA WHAT - the post was about taking 4 or 3 a levels 😭😭😭🙏😭🙏🔥🔥🔥 LMAO

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