Too ambitious?

My stats are as below:
GCSE:99999877 (9 in Maths, 7 in English)
A-level: A*A*A* predicted in Bio, Chem and Further Maths & A* already achieved in Maths
UCAT: 2200 b2

I’m planning to apply for Cambridge, UCL, Edinburgh and Queen Mary’s for med. I feel like these choices are too ambitious and risky since my stats are quite mid, especially with my UCAT score but I can’t find any like “safety” uni. Any advice?

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

All medical schools are competitive. You should not be choosing them based on arbitrary reasons of believing them to be more or less "ambitious" (all medical schools are considered equal by the GMC and hence the NHS, who are the only provider of graduate medical training posts in the UK, and blind specialty recruiters from your medical school to ensure no bias). You should be choosing them solely on the basis of which maximise your chance of getting an interview and hence potentially an offer.

Edinburg is generally extraordinarily competitive for RUK students so unless you're Scottish it's normally not recommended. UCL don't score GCSEs at all so your GCSEs are of no benefit there. Cambridge view things holistically and have a lot of attrition due to a) having a higher standard offer of A*A*A and b) necessitating 3 STEM subjects to achieve competitive scores at interview. So on that basis Cambridge is probably a good option if your UCAT seems competitive for it.

I would suggest re-assessing how Edinburgh, UCL, and QMUL score applicants to shortlist to interview and look at other medical schools and be very brutal in deciding which you would maximise your scores for and which you wouldn't. You might find other better options or one or more of those may be the best. Remember that once you're a doctor nobody is going to care what medical school you went to including the people hiring you as a doctor in the NHS - so focus on actually getting into any medical school. They're all equally good.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 2

Jakeclarke

Original post

by oolie

My stats are as below:
GCSE:99999877 (9 in Maths, 7 in English)
A-level: A*A*A* predicted in Bio, Chem and Further Maths & A* already achieved in Maths
UCAT: 2200 b2
I’m planning to apply for Cambridge, UCL, Edinburgh and Queen Mary’s for med. I feel like these choices are too ambitious and risky since my stats are quite mid, especially with my UCAT score but I can’t find any like “safety” uni. Any advice?

That is VERY ambitious, being brutally honest. There's a lot of safety unis you could look into ARU, Plymouth - they're not 'safe' but less competitive. I would be pretty confident getting an interview at Plymouth or ARU if I was you. With the choices you currently have, its unlikely unless your contextual or other factors like personal statement play a part

Reply 3

Muttley79

Original post

by oolie

My stats are as below:
GCSE:99999877 (9 in Maths, 7 in English)
A-level: A*A*A* predicted in Bio, Chem and Further Maths & A* already achieved in Maths
UCAT: 2200 b2
I’m planning to apply for Cambridge, UCL, Edinburgh and Queen Mary’s for med. I feel like these choices are too ambitious and risky since my stats are quite mid, especially with my UCAT score but I can’t find any like “safety” uni. Any advice?

Is that all your GCSEs? It is a lower than most schools offer.

Reply 4

MedicMaam

Edinburgh would required 'perfect' score across the board, so might be risky. You can put either Cambridge or UCL as aspirational choice. And put Queen Mary as a safe option.
Have a read:
https://www.medschools.ac.uk/for-students/applying-to-medical-school/entry-requirements/?course_type=standard-entry-medicine