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Question to Oxford and Cambridge Medicine students

Hi everyone! I am a student in year 11 in a not private but very good school with ties to russel group universities. My options for GCSE are Triple Science, Psychology, History and Persian. I got ( A* in all my sciences so far (45%)and an A in English )
I want to study Medicine in Oxford or Cambridge ( ideally Oxford )
Anyways I had some questions please:

1: what extra curricular activities did you do in year 11? What extra curriculars do Oxford be impressed by?

2: is it worth doing Biology, Chemistry, two other subjects and an EPQ and Persian for A levels? ( 4 subjects as EPQ doesn’t count and Persian is easy for me as I am native speaker) or should I just do three subjects? What subjects?

3: is it as impossible to get into Oxford as people make it sound? Is it like winning the jackpot in lottery? Or with dedication it is possible?

4: any other less heard tips that can land me a place in Oxford? Any tips would be appreciated.

5: does my background ( ethnicity) and status matter??

Thank you very much!

Reply 1

Original post
by Anonymous
Hi everyone! I am a student in year 11 in a not private but very good school with ties to russel group universities. My options for GCSE are Triple Science, Psychology, History and Persian. I got ( A* in all my sciences so far (45%)and an A in English )
I want to study Medicine in Oxford or Cambridge ( ideally Oxford )
Anyways I had some questions please:
1: what extra curricular activities did you do in year 11? What extra curriculars do Oxford be impressed by?
2: is it worth doing Biology, Chemistry, two other subjects and an EPQ and Persian for A levels? ( 4 subjects as EPQ doesn’t count and Persian is easy for me as I am native speaker) or should I just do three subjects? What subjects?
3: is it as impossible to get into Oxford as people make it sound? Is it like winning the jackpot in lottery? Or with dedication it is possible?
4: any other less heard tips that can land me a place in Oxford? Any tips would be appreciated.
5: does my background ( ethnicity) and status matter??
Thank you very much!

Cambridge student here, non medic, but I have medic friends.

For 1: everyone seems to have done the same kinds of generic medicine activities of work experience, volunteering in care homes etc, and so forth. I'm not sure of the details.

For 2: do bio, chemistry, maths as your A levels (it's the classic medicine combo for a reason), and do a fourth if you really love it. I know people who have done all sorts, but basically all did that combo.

For 3: it's perfectly possible to get in, and thousands of people get in every year to both of them.

For 4: love your subject and do the extra reading / go into depth. Cambridge med at least is fairly theoretical and has a pre-clinical/clinical split.

For 5: it might for admissions context (e.g. if you're from an area with low university progression / first gen student), but nobody will really care about your ethnicity/background, especially when you're there - med is one of the most diverse courses.

Reply 2

Original post
by Anonymous
Cambridge student here, non medic, but I have medic friends.
For 1: everyone seems to have done the same kinds of generic medicine activities of work experience, volunteering in care homes etc, and so forth. I'm not sure of the details.
For 2: do bio, chemistry, maths as your A levels (it's the classic medicine combo for a reason), and do a fourth if you really love it. I know people who have done all sorts, but basically all did that combo.
For 3: it's perfectly possible to get in, and thousands of people get in every year to both of them.
For 4: love your subject and do the extra reading / go into depth. Cambridge med at least is fairly theoretical and has a pre-clinical/clinical split.
For 5: it might for admissions context (e.g. if you're from an area with low university progression / first gen student), but nobody will really care about your ethnicity/background, especially when you're there - med is one of the most diverse courses.


Tysm!👍🏻👍🏻

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