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What am I doing with my life

I was not in a good state of mind when entering Y12, with a lot of family arguments and turmoil which led to me getting depression. This severely impacted my grades, from being nearly top of the class to reaching BCD for my mock grades. At first I didn't think this would have been a big issue, it was only a mock of the real exam but it turned out that it was crucial in UCAS applications. I decided to do a gap year and hope for better results as I thought Y13 would have been much different compared to Y12. I was very much wrong. With a lot of drama and news that would have torn the family apart I was forced to bundle my feelings in the middle of my exam period only adding to the stress. Thankfully it is over but as I am waiting for my exam results for Biology, Chemistry and Psychology I can almost guarantee I have flopped chemistry at best. As someone who really wants to go into medicine and is taking a gap year and is redoing his A-Levels I feel like I don't stand a chance in applying for good universities that can really challenge me. I'm stuck with a year and I don't know what to do. Currently I am doing my UCAT so I have pretty high hopes with 6 weeks to prepare, but I still feel so lost and behind compared to everyone else that was in my year. Someone please help me.
(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 1

Original post
by AzraelAli
I was not in a good state of mind when entering Y12, with a lot of family arguments and turmoil which led to me getting depression. This severely impacted my grades, from being nearly top of the class to reaching BCD for my mock grades. At first I didn't think this would have been a big issue, it was only a mock of the real exam but it turned out that it was crucial in UCAS applications. I decided to do a gap year and hope for better results as I thought Y13 would have been much different compared to Y12. I was very much wrong. With a lot of drama and news that would have torn the family apart I was forced to bundle my feelings in the middle of my exam period only adding to the stress. Thankfully it is over but as I am waiting for my exam results for Biology, Chemistry and Psychology I can almost guarantee I have flopped chemistry at best. As someone who really wants to go into medicine and is taking a gap year and is redoing his A-Levels I feel like I don't stand a chance in applying for good universities that can really challenge me. I'm stuck with a year and I don't know what to do. Currently I am doing my UCAT so I have pretty high hopes with 6 weeks to prepare, but I still feel so lost and behind compared to everyone else that was in my year. Someone please help me.

Saying you want “a good university that can really challenge me” when you’re struggling with A-level grades is a bit naïve. If you’re aiming for medicine one of, if not the most demanding undergraduate degrees out there every single medical school will challenge you to your limits. If grades are already an issue, your priority shouldn’t be chasing “top” universities, but focusing on getting into any medical school at all.

Every applicant you’ll compete against is academically strong, often stronger, and admissions teams know this that’s why the course is notoriously intense. No one coasts through medicine, and certainly no one spends their days partying while breezing through lectures. If you think that’s possible, you’ve badly misunderstood what you’re signing up for.

Very best of luck in your results and ucat all the same.

Reply 2

Original post
by stilllearning123
Saying you want “a good university that can really challenge me” when you’re struggling with A-level grades is a bit naïve. If you’re aiming for medicine one of, if not the most demanding undergraduate degrees out there every single medical school will challenge you to your limits. If grades are already an issue, your priority shouldn’t be chasing “top” universities, but focusing on getting into any medical school at all.
Every applicant you’ll compete against is academically strong, often stronger, and admissions teams know this that’s why the course is notoriously intense. No one coasts through medicine, and certainly no one spends their days partying while breezing through lectures. If you think that’s possible, you’ve badly misunderstood what you’re signing up for.
Very best of luck in your results and ucat all the same.


I know it will be incredibly hard to work towards medicine and there will be little time to rest. Luckily because I am essentially estranged from the rest of my family I don’t need to worry about them anymore and really start to focus on my education, finance for university and work experience that may benefit my university application.

Thank you for the wake up call.
Original post
by AzraelAli
I was not in a good state of mind when entering Y12, with a lot of family arguments and turmoil which led to me getting depression. This severely impacted my grades, from being nearly top of the class to reaching BCD for my mock grades. At first I didn't think this would have been a big issue, it was only a mock of the real exam but it turned out that it was crucial in UCAS applications. I decided to do a gap year and hope for better results as I thought Y13 would have been much different compared to Y12. I was very much wrong. With a lot of drama and news that would have torn the family apart I was forced to bundle my feelings in the middle of my exam period only adding to the stress. Thankfully it is over but as I am waiting for my exam results for Biology, Chemistry and Psychology I can almost guarantee I have flopped chemistry at best. As someone who really wants to go into medicine and is taking a gap year and is redoing his A-Levels I feel like I don't stand a chance in applying for good universities that can really challenge me. I'm stuck with a year and I don't know what to do. Currently I am doing my UCAT so I have pretty high hopes with 6 weeks to prepare, but I still feel so lost and behind compared to everyone else that was in my year. Someone please help me.
Hi @AzraelAli. I am very sorry to hear about your personal challenges with your family that you had to face both year 12 and 13.We are all here to help and I will try give my best advice today. I can see its affected your mental capacity in terms of your performance. If I were you then I would explain these circumstances in your personal statement. I would also apply to Med schools that have lower grade requirements. Moreover, I would look in to gateway courses that would eventually lead in to medicine if you don't meet the requirements. I really hope this helped and good luck!😃


Kiran

Reply 4

Thank you for the advice and support! I will make sure to add this under circumstances to my personal statement.

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