Is it worth applying to medicine with my abhorrent grades?

1

For context, I am on my gap year and prepping for the UCAT, I got AAA in bio chem maths which I know is just about satisfactory for medicine. The problem is my GCSEs which are 8876666553 (6 maths, 6 English language) I know a few med school only require the 6s in Maths and English but the competition is insane, why would any med school shortlist me over a candidate with majority 9s and A*s. I just feel like I'm putting all this effort into a lost cause. Is there any point in chasing medicine?

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Because some medical schools don't score GCSEs at all and so at no point are they factored in if you meet minimum requirements (e.g. UCL, Imperial).

Medical schools are extremely transparent about their selection criteria and if they something isn't scored, it's because it isn't.

Reply 2

marsaria

13

It’s not all about grades. Yes they’re important, but it’s about your experience and what you write about. The skills you developed in that gap year will aid you tremendously in your interview. If you do well in your UCAT that also puts you apart. Just put schools with lower requirements and you’ll exceed. It’s all about strategy.

Reply 3

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

As above, unis that say they don’t shortlist on GCSE’s genuinely don’t - otherwise they would end up with a field of unsuitable candidates.

Reply 4

pspspsp

13

Original post

by oseed

For context, I am on my gap year and prepping for the UCAT, I got AAA in bio chem maths which I know is just about satisfactory for medicine. The problem is my GCSEs which are 8876666553 (6 maths, 6 English language) I know a few med school only require the 6s in Maths and English but the competition is insane, why would any med school shortlist me over a candidate with majority 9s and A*s. I just feel like I'm putting all this effort into a lost cause. Is there any point in chasing medicine?

no dw you have a really good chance for loads of unis still, some of them use grades as a 'cut off' just to eliminate unserious applicants then they will differentiate u from others by ur ucat score and personal statement. after this msot unis only look at your interview performance, so its liek havign a blank slate at that point. ofc this isn't for every single uni but deffo do some research into which ones this applies to

Is it worth applying to medicine with my abhorrent grades?

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