applying for oxbridge MED

i got 988877665 in my gcses - i got a 6 in chem 😪 i just wanted to know providing a get a high UCAT and high predicteds, would it be worth it applying for oxbridge or will that be a. bad decision .

Reply 1

BugsBunny1940

12

Original post by _unknownx

i got 988877665 in my gcses - i got a 6 in chem 😪 i just wanted to know providing a get a high UCAT and high predicteds, would it be worth it applying for oxbridge or will that be a. bad decision .

I believe you can still do it. Just try to get good predicted A Level grades. Best if luck!!

Reply 2

ash210

12

Oxford-No, Cambridge-Yes

Reply 3

Scotney

20

Original post by _unknownx

i got 988877665 in my gcses - i got a 6 in chem 😪 i just wanted to know providing a get a high UCAT and high predicteds, would it be worth it applying for oxbridge or will that be a. bad decision .

Definitely not Oxford.They want an average of 10 gcse's and have reinstated them into their decision making criteria after the return of normal gcse's in school.

Reply 4

_unknownx

OP

3

Original post by ash210

Oxford-No, Cambridge-Yes

even if i’m not doing maths alevel , because i’ve heard that they choose more people with maths alevel for medicine . i do bio chem and psychology

Reply 5

eagleflight

13

Unfortunately for Oxford your GCSEs aren't high enough to get shortlisted (they look at the number of 9s/8s (A*s) at GCSE and the average successful applicant has over 10 grade 9s or 8s at GCSE.

For Cambridge, you should be doing 3 STEM A Levels. From the admissions stats they had on their website earlier this year I calculated that 3 people out of the cohort (around 270 iirc) had 2 STEM A Levels but I would highly suspect they were either contextual, or at their school/college it was not possible for them to take the 3 STEM subjects due to timetabling or staffing problems.
(I applied to medicine this year, I didn't apply to Cambridge but I considered it. I could never figure out if they favour 3 STEM A Level applicants in the process (considering the application "holistically") or whether having 3 STEM A Levels correlated with better performance at admissions tests and interview and that's why so many successful applicants had 3 STEM A Levels. I suspect it's the former but I can't be sure and I didn't want to take the risk anyway (I do 2 STEM A Levels).)

Reply 6

eagleflight

13

When choosing medical courses to apply to though, you should be looking at factors such as course structure, teaching style, cohort size, placement lengths, when patient contact starts etc. rather than whether it is Oxbridge or not! Oxbridge has a very traditional and scientific course, and to apply, you have to really want to basically undertake a science degree first. You might find other medical schools far better in terms of their course - it all depends on the individual.

Reply 7

MedMama

Universities Forum Helper

13

Original post by eagleflight

When choosing medical courses to apply to though, you should be looking at factors such as course structure, teaching style, cohort size, placement lengths, when patient contact starts etc. rather than whether it is Oxbridge or not! Oxbridge has a very traditional and scientific course, and to apply, you have to really want to basically undertake a science degree first. You might find other medical schools far better in terms of their course - it all depends on the individual.

agree
also, the original poster should be aware that Chemistry is a if not the key A level at Cambridge for medicine
and it would be quite unusual to get a low GCSE grade in Chemistry,
yet then achieve an A* grade at A level in the same subject

Reply 8

_unknownx

OP

3

Original post by MedMama

agree
also, the original poster should be aware that Chemistry is a if not the key A level at Cambridge for medicine
and it would be quite unusual to get a low GCSE grade in Chemistry,
yet then achieve an A* grade at A level in the same subject

OH! well do you have any tips for alevel chemistry because even though i got a grade 6 in GCSE chemistry , im still aiming for A/A* as that’s the standard grade for most medical schools

Reply 9

qu33n of the 3ee

8

Original post by _unknownx

OH! well do you have any tips for alevel chemistry because even though i got a grade 6 in GCSE chemistry , im still aiming for A/A* as that’s the standard grade for most medical schools

As someone whos already done y12 chem and got a high A and is predicted an A* at y13 chem, i cannot emphasize enough how important it is to understand the subject. Lots of students resort to grinding past papers and all the learning they r doing is basically just recall of the marking scheme. Pay attention in class, if u still dont quite get the concept thoroughly watch yt videos such as miss Natalie or for having a more broad understanding crash course or both dont spend too much on these videos though. Read the textbook, then look at the syllabus outline and the learning objectives to make sure yk everything u need to know. Only then solve practice questions for that topic and hopefully ull be more than okay to get am A if not an A*. If there are key concepts u dont quite understand from ur gcses that u will study in y12 try to understand them asap. Ik this question wasnt directed at myself, so im sorry if im intervening into ur convo but i couldn't help not saying anything 😭

Reply 10

_unknownx

OP

3

Original post by qu33n of the 3ee

As someone whos already done y12 chem and got a high A and is predicted an A* at y13 chem, i cannot emphasize enough how important it is to understand the subject. Lots of students resort to grinding past papers and all the learning they r doing is basically just recall of the marking scheme. Pay attention in class, if u still dont quite get the concept thoroughly watch yt videos such as miss Natalie or for having a more broad understanding crash course or both dont spend too much on these videos though. Read the textbook, then look at the syllabus outline and the learning objectives to make sure yk everything u need to know. Only then solve practice questions for that topic and hopefully ull be more than okay to get am A if not an A*. If there are key concepts u dont quite understand from ur gcses that u will study in y12 try to understand them asap. Ik this question wasnt directed at myself, so im sorry if im intervening into ur convo but i couldn't help not saying anything 😭