A-level subjects
We are selecting our A-level subjects for our 6th form. I want to do medicine at Cambridge University, so I am definitely taking Biology, Chemistry, and Maths. If I do 3 a-levels, i will need to do an EPQ. I debating whether to do the 3 a-levels and an EPQ, or do 4 a-levels (the 4th being fm or physics, leaning towards fm right now). I was wondering if i could get anyone's opinion form people that are doing medicine at uni rn. My predicted GCSEs in all these subjects are 9s, so i don't think difficulty will necessarily be an issue, but rather time.
(edited 1 month ago)
Reply 1
Im not a med student but can advise as a family member of mine does med at oxbridge. An EPQ would give you the workload of 4 a levels just for the one year that you do it over, if you do fm a level then you will be doing the workload of 4 a levels across the 2 years on top of doing work experience, volunteering, ucat prep etc. An EPQ is great for learning how to write academically and research thoroughly which is great for any scientific discipline and you can cater it to a topic you enjoy within medicine which is good for wider reading. However, it is far more independent and if essays or big projects aren’t your thing it might not be for you. Fm is a challenging subject but it builds on normal maths so if you do fm then you should hopefully do well in normal maths because youll need to be consistently very confident in nearer maths for fm classes, ofc high grades are needed for Cambridge! Neither will directly benefit your application so id focus more on what you’d enjoy doing more 🙂
Reply 2
Original post
by vrk29We are selecting our A-level subjects for our 6th form. I want to do medicine at Cambridge University, so I am definitely taking Biology, Chemistry, and Maths. If I do 3 a-levels, i will need to do an EPQ. I debating whether to do the 3 a-levels and an EPQ, or do 4 a-levels (the 4th being fm or physics, leaning towards fm right now). I was wondering if i could get anyone's opinion form people that are doing medicine at uni rn. My predicted GCSEs in all these subjects are 9s, so i don't think difficulty will necessarily be an issue, but rather time.
3 is fine - bio chem and maths is the most commonly taken combo so don’t stress taking a fourth as there’s no point. an epq based around something medicine/biology related would strengthen your application but it won’t yield any benefits in terms of receiving a lower offer if you’re applying to cambs as it would at other unis. but regarding you saying difficulty isn’t an issue but more so time - you’re right in thinking that 4 is more time consuming but don’t underestimate the difficulty of a levels just because you’re predicted well at gcse. it’s a massive jump that even the smartest of people struggle with so think wisely before you go picking 3 difficult and complex a levels just because you’re doing well at gcse. maths isn’t essential for medicine so you could consider doing an easier a level to reduce your workload, as the epq may increase your chances of interviews/offers if you don’t have maths.
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