A-level results & alternative routes into med

[MJ4602]

Hi,
I am on to my second year of A-level now and i am studying Biology, Chemsitry and Sociology. My GCSE grades were not that good as i went to a really crap private secondary school (newly opened). I do not have an As subject, however my A-level predicted grades are fairly good.
I was wondering, do universities consider As level?
..also since i have very low chances of getting into a medical school, is it worth applying for biomedical sciences in a good uni and then considering medicine? if so, what are the chances of getting in with a degree in biomedical sciences? Is the competition still high?
I have also been told that.. i could repeat my whole A-level and then apply for medicine (BM5), but i personally think there no point.

I am really puzzled..Can some one please help?

Thanx in advance!

[giella]

Having your A-levels under your belt is always an advantage. You could defer application until after you receive your results and do something constructive with a year out. Alternatively you could ask for deferred entry when applying this year and state your intentions for a constructive gap year. There's no harm in trying this year. What they will consider are your work experience to date, UKCAT and predicted grades. UKCAT and GCSEs are a good way of trimming off excess applicants though.

You could also take the graduate route. Just remember though, this is a tough course, and an extra three years onto your life. And then you have to go through the whole process of UCAS again.
Ask yourself if you really want to do a degree in Biochemistry or Chemistry etc. It's not a passport to medicine and you may end up in a science career instead of medicine. Do you really like science that much?
If you like helping people and working in the community, then it's probably better to build up your skills base in this area.
What a degree teaches you is a body of knowledge, and a set of skills. Graduate skills, such as time management, planning, research, independence etc and acquaints you with academic formalities and structures. An undergraduate programme in medicine teaches you these anyway and a graduate programme expects you to have them already. Effectively, that's all your Bachelor's degree is worth when applying to medicine.
The other set of qualities that you need when applying to medicine are communication skills, empathy and a proven record of work in the community. There are only one or two degrees which teach you this, and those are nursing and medicine. You get these skills from life.
You're in a pretty advantageous situation if you decide to defer application for one year and take a gap year, you get to have your A-levels under your belt and get all of these experiences, and come across as a very impressive 19-year-old, and much more attractive than the 17 year old who tagged after a GP during half term.

[MJ4602]

Thanx for that information that really helped. The problem is that i am predicted ABC at the moment and i can not apply with these grades, as the requirment is AAB and they probably consider an As which i don't have, apart from that i do have work experience. I don't mind the extra three years as long as i get where i want to be. I am pretty determined to study science. After doing a degree in biomedical science (which i think is pretty cool aswell)...would i be able get into medical school? (4 years)
Could you please explain more about the deferred entry?

[giella]

Like I said, a bachelor's degree is not a passport to medicine. It will enable you to apply as a graduate to either 4 or 5 year programmes.
Deferred entry is just a statement of your intentions to do a gap year on your UCAS form. Applying but asking for your entry to be deferred until the the next year. If you were applying this year, your entry would be deferred until 2010.
However, if you are predicted ABC, the graduate route may be one you want to consider. However, those are just predicted grades and are by no means an assurance of what you might actually get. If you end up amazing everyone [yourself included] and get a handful of As, then you can think about applying to medicine as an undergraduate again when you already have your results, and do a year out getting experience or whatever.
A biochemistry or chemistry degree or whatever you think you want to do is probably a good idea though, considering your predicted grades. It will open up a career path for you, one which you say you are open to following. Apply to a good university, York, Manchester or Bristol etc. I would recommend York, as a graduate from there myself. As a history student, I can proudly say that my fees kept the Chemistry department afloat!
Anything can happen in life though. I did a history degree, I'm currently teaching English as a foreign language, trying to get experience in a Slovak hospital, and I'm going on to do Access to Medicine next year at Kings Lynn. I thought I closed the door to medicine when I decided not to do Chemistry at GCSE. As you can see, there are loads of options available to you, and your life doesn't have to be decided at 18.

[MJ4602]

Wow, thats amazing..your going to do medicine..I guess there are many ways, so now that i am going through the UCAS process i should apply to biomedical science, since i have the grades for it and if i do come out with AAB (hopefully) i should take a year out and apply directly to medicine.
Thank you very much for your help and good luck to you

[giella]

No shoulds! I'm using this as a disclaimer! Good luck to you though.

[GreyFox7]

hey do i have any chance at any med school with this?

GCSE B in maths two As in double science and two Cs in english i went to one of the worse secondary less than 50% the people there get A*-C

A levels Biology A Chem A Physics A(i hoping to get A* since its been introduced) . As Critical Thinking A
doing voluntary work a hospital and medical clinic for 2 years
work out at Gym
Do extra curricular sports activity i.e. hockey
After school and lunch time music classes

[magicsam3]

yeah I think you've got a fair chance due to ur A level grades and extra curricular stuff

the C in english language is not very good though - can't you resit it

im only sayning this coz most of the universities i've looked at require at least a B in both GCSE maths and English

[GreyFox7]

yeh i should resit my english lan

how many medical unis can you apply to?

and does getting references from people make a difference becasue me and my friend are getting a reference from some member of parliment.

[magicsam3]

IAN????????????

Anywho, if you're asking what I think you're asking, then I think you should do a bit more research (I don't mean this in a bad or mean way btw)

You can only appy to a maximum of four med schools and use the last option for something else.

Also - aren't you in Year 13??? If yeah them why aren't you letting your form tutor/ careers advisor do your refence

Surely if ur getting a reference from a member of parliament then you've gone through UCAS as an individual rather than through your school

But as I say, I can't say anything coz the UCAS system was very confusing when I first met it. Im sure you can get answers to most of your questions on this forum, if not I'll be happy to help/ answer any questions you have -just PM me!!!