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GCSEs obstacle or not?

Hi,
I was wondering if having mid GCSEs but excellent A level ( A* in bio chem physics and history) will make it impossible for me to study medicine at Cambridge?
GCSEs I got around 6 A* and the rest As with two B which isn’t good as average in my school is 6A* and the rest all A. My Bs are in Numeracy ( Welsh GCSE thing not which is similar to maths but it is NOT maths , that is separate ) and religious studies .

A* is : bio, chem , physics, history, eng lit, and my native language. Also a 8 in psychology.

Should I not waste time applying to top unis?
I did a series of super curriculars and Olympiad/competitions.
Please be honest and give me a reality check.

Reply 1

nikiiiiiii

Original post

by Sun_Flower0700

Hi,
I was wondering if having mid GCSEs but excellent A level ( A* in bio chem physics and history) will make it impossible for me to study medicine at Cambridge?
GCSEs I got around 6 A* and the rest As with two B which isn’t good as average in my school is 6A* and the rest all A. My Bs are in Numeracy ( Welsh GCSE thing not which is similar to maths but it is NOT maths , that is separate ) and religious studies .
A* is : bio, chem , physics, history, eng lit, and my native language. Also a 8 in psychology.
Should I not waste time applying to top unis?
I did a series of super curriculars and Olympiad/competitions.
Please be honest and give me a reality check.

Those are definitely good GCSE grades - I wouldn't call them mid- and applying is not a waste of time even if you don't get in. I don't do medicine so I don't know how competitive it is but I think you should absolutely try applying if that's what you want.

Reply 2

escalating-kidna

Original post

by Sun_Flower0700

Hi,
I was wondering if having mid GCSEs but excellent A level ( A* in bio chem physics and history) will make it impossible for me to study medicine at Cambridge?
GCSEs I got around 6 A* and the rest As with two B which isn’t good as average in my school is 6A* and the rest all A. My Bs are in Numeracy ( Welsh GCSE thing not which is similar to maths but it is NOT maths , that is separate ) and religious studies .
A* is : bio, chem , physics, history, eng lit, and my native language. Also a 8 in psychology.
Should I not waste time applying to top unis?
I did a series of super curriculars and Olympiad/competitions.
Please be honest and give me a reality check.

I think it is definitely worth a shot. All things considered those GCSE results are quite good and although it may not be the level of a usual Cambridge applicant, your ALevel predictions are phenomenal so I think you have a good chance. Although they do look at GCSEs, they won’t be weighted at high as predicted grades and the application is holistic taking into account entrance exams (/UKAT - I don’t do medicine so unsure what requirements are sorry), personal statement, interview performance etc.
So yes, I think you can still make a competitive Cambridge application with those results. :smile:

Reply 3

Reality Check

Original post

by Sun_Flower0700

Please be honest and give me a reality check.

Ok then.

I'm not quite sure where you've got the idea that 6A* and A*A*A* at A level would preclude you from making a competitive application to Cambridge? What do you think they want? For you to provide a small piece of the Turin Shroud along with your application?

The academics are fine: you now need to move on to making a competitive application in other ways, such as doing well on the UCAT

Reply 4

username7712210

Original post

by Reality Check

Ok then.
I'm not quite sure where you've got the idea that 6A* and A*A*A* at A level would preclude you from making a competitive application to Cambridge? What do you think they want? For you to provide a small piece of the Turin Shroud along with your application?
The academics are fine: you now need to move on to making a competitive application in other ways, such as doing well on the UCAT

My teacher said we need all A*s in GCSE and like overseas volunteering etc 😭

Reply 5

artful_lounger

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

Original post

by Reality Check

For you to provide a small piece of the Turin Shroud along with your application?

PRSOM

Original post

by Sun_Flower0700

My teacher said we need all A*s in GCSE and like overseas volunteering etc 😭

Well they are incorrect. Your GCSEs are excellent already, and provided you do well in A-levels there's no reason you don't meet the academic requirements to be competitive as above.

They absolutely don't require "overseas volunteering" since aside from the fact it's irrelevant for most academic courses they offer, they are extremely aware not all students have the means or connections to participate in such activities and the ones who most likely cannot participate in such things are also those students most likely to be underrepresented in higher education to begin with. And they certainly don't want to be discriminating against those students as a result of such a policy.

Not to mention such voluntourism is ethically dubious at best and perhaps actively harmful at worst: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/sep/13/the-business-of-voluntourism-do-western-do-gooders-actually-do-harm

Reply 6

Reality Check

Original post

by Sun_Flower0700

My teacher said we need all A*s in GCSE and like overseas volunteering etc 😭

As @artful_lounger puts it, your teachers are chatting **** (he wasn't so coarse as that, to be fair). It's highly irresponsible of them to be saying things like that, frankly - if they don't know the requirements, then they should keep schtum. There is absolutely no requirement for such unrelated and irrelevant activities such as 'overseas volunteering'; neither is there a need for all A*s at GCSE.