I wanna do medicine and currently taking biology art chemistry for A levels but

I want to do medicine in Oxford and am confident in getting A* in all 3 of my subjects biology art and chemistry but my friends told me I don’t get into Oxford as my third subject is not as competitive as the rest and I did not do an EPQ despite me requesting many times to my teachers that I want to, i am very scared and I was thinking if i should take another subject instead of art as i might loose competitiveness to other people in my college

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

You don't need an EPQ (I don't even think it would be considered other than something to write about in your PS for Oxford) and Oxford have no preference what your third subject is for medicine.

Also for medicine you should really not fixate on a particular medical school - you should be focusing on applying tactically to the 4 medical schools you have the best chance of getting an offer from. If you have very strong GCSEs, this may be Oxford, but it may also be other medical schools.

Ultimately where you study medicine is not a factor in later specialty recruitment as a doctor (as recruiters are blinded to where you studied medicine at in order to ensure no bias) and all medical schools will qualify you as a doctor in the UK.

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 2

relativq

11

an epq doesnt mater. the fact that its art does not matter; med schools see your a levels as a minimum requirement with no weighing (other than exeter afaik, they weigh grades only not subjects). there is no such thing as a "competitive subject" in med applications as long as you have chem+bio.

if you're getting an A* in art keep at it because itll keep you in the safe zone, by reducing the chance of something like an A*A*C (worst case) which can result from replacing art with a subject thats more traditionally "better" but you're worse at

also going to oxford doesnt matter. in 20 years time when youre applying to a consultant job, the hospital isnt going to ask you where you went to med school, and even if they do it doesn't change the fact that youre a doctor on the same level as the oxford graduates. so just apply where (i) you will get in, and (ii) would like to live for 5 years.

Reply 3

stilllearning123

16

Original post by kimmyyappy

I want to do medicine in Oxford and am confident in getting A* in all 3 of my subjects biology art and chemistry but my friends told me I don’t get into Oxford as my third subject is not as competitive as the rest and I did not do an EPQ despite me requesting many times to my teachers that I want to, i am very scared and I was thinking if i should take another subject instead of art as i might loose competitiveness to other people in my college

You won't get into Oxford doing art, but as above, you get the same medical degree at the end of the course at every medicine school in the uk.
You should be more focused on getting into any school first. You should wait to see how well you do in the ucat as that will be the main decider of your options.

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 4

study23!

Study Forum Helper

16

Original post by kimmyyappy

I want to do medicine in Oxford and am confident in getting A* in all 3 of my subjects biology art and chemistry but my friends told me I don’t get into Oxford as my third subject is not as competitive as the rest and I did not do an EPQ despite me requesting many times to my teachers that I want to, i am very scared and I was thinking if i should take another subject instead of art as i might loose competitiveness to other people in my college

That's completely fine. Cambridge you need 3 stem subjects, no where else specifies this. Oxford can't really discriminate against someone who chose art over maths if they say they themselves that they have no preference on the third a level.

As long as you do well in all your a levels, do subject exploration outside of school (oxford loves this), and do really well in ucat, you have a chance! Bare in mind oxford is a gcse heavy med school, so if yours aren't great that might be a risk.

Oxford will shortlist applicants for interview based on GCSEs and admissions tests (statement matters but not loads). Otherwise you just need to meet their minimum offer

I wanna do medicine and currently taking biology art chemistry for A levels but

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