Terrible AS grades - Shall I abandon hope?

[Baki]

Hi,

Well I recently got my AS grades, and it's safe to say that I doubt Cambridge is a viable option anymore. To give you an idea, I did not get a single A grade. Now whether this was down my incompetence or the examiners, is anyones guess.

However what I want to know is, do I still have a shot at getting an interview? I plan on re-taking the AS in January but I know interviews are before that. I was hoping that they shortlisted candidates for interview by BMAT, PS, Referee Statement rather than using AS grades as they could change by January.

I know Oxford only look at the BMAT and GCSE grades (and If I want to be selected for an interview I have to be in the top 20% in the BMAT).

So can anyone tell me what I would need to do to be atleast given a chance to prove myself at the interview? Or if I should just abandon hope and apply to Oxford (and hope for really good BMAT scores). (Even though they only interview 50-75% of applicants)

[Medical Addict]

Medicine is very tough to get into so you need to select your universities very wisely, preferably those which search in particular for the qualites of your strength. I wouldnt advice gamlbing to apply for oxbridge on the odd chance you might get in, because most likley it wont happen. However if you really want to study medicine at oxbridge i would choose cambridge out of the 2 because they interview almost all their applicants and if you get a high bmat mark then your in with a fair chance. But again they do look closely at the ums marks for each module so you will be heavily disadvantaged there.

[Tyraell]

But do keep in mind that Oxford do not really use AS levels in their process for selecting who is interviewed (they use BMAT and GCSE's). Also they do not see your individual module marks.

[Kinkerz]

There's always the option of not applying to Oxbridge! You could apply to places where you have a realistic chance of getting a place, instead of applying to prestige.

Not trying to be nasty, but someone with Bs or less at AS applying to Oxbridge sounds a bit odd to me. They select A grade students - Cambridge want a few modules at around 95%, so I wouldn't advise you apply there with any grade Bs.

There are medical schools that, dare I say it, might actually produce better doctors than Oxbridge...

If you truly love the course offered by Cambridge and really want to go there then i'd suggest you didn't apply this year, got your A2 grades (all As preferably), done lots of productive things in your gap year, and apply again next year when you might have a more realistic chance, but even then it's looking slim with some grade B modules.

[dsn]

Cambridge do look at the UMS - they'll reject people who have mid As, so if you have Bs it's unlikely. You can gamble on BMAT - but do you think you will do well enough? You know best what your chances are, so judge them and remember that, as I said earlier, you want to do medicine not specifically go to Cambridge, so maximise you chances to get in to medicine by applying to schools that don't look at AS/ UMS.

[Tyraell]

There's always the option of not applying to Oxbridge! You could apply to places where you have a realistic chance of getting a place, instead of applying to prestige.

Not trying to be nasty, but someone with Bs or less at AS applying to Oxbridge sounds a bit odd to me. They select A grade students - Cambridge want a few modules at around 95%, so I wouldn't advise you apply there with any grade Bs.

There are medical schools that, dare I say it, might actually produce better doctors than Oxbridge...

If you truly love the course offered by Cambridge and really want to go there then i'd suggest you didn't apply this year, got your A2 grades (all As preferably), done lots of productive things in your gap year, and apply again next year when you might have a more realistic chance, but even then it's looking slim with some grade B modules.

Agreed.

[deedee01]

the the 2nd time this week i find myself saying 'i agree with kinkerz'!!!!
Not being harsh, just being realistic- last year i gt ABBB and i was wondering if ANY uni wuold give me an interview let alone Oxbridge... no matter what uni u apply to over 70% of applicants will have AAA or be predicted AAA if you cant compete with that its best to apply unis that are more lenient and are not as oversubscribed as oxbridge .. i dont want to dash your hopes down but do NOT waste an application if u know ur chances are slim - you'll only hav 3 chances then and pleanty of people get 4 rejections who have got 4A's at AS...as kinkerz has suggested u can always reapply next year after retakin the As's but do you think you cvan get 3A's at A2 - its a LOT harder than As and im sure Oxbridge will accept nothing short of 3A's.. my friend recently got AAB for a really unsubscribed course at Oxford and got rejected.... hope this helps.. sorry if in sound like a cow i just dont wat u to make a mistake you'll regret xx

[dsn]

apply unis that are more lenient and are not as oversubscribed as oxbridge

Actually Oxbridge have some of the lowest competition for med schools, but most people who apply there will have what Oxbridge look for. Retakes might not help as Cambridge will ask if you did a retake and what your original UMS was.

[deedee01]

oh i guess u learn something new everyday!

[mirina]

Both Oxford and Cambridge are likely to reject your application before interview if you are not predicted something close to 3 As. If you got close to 3 As (as in high Bs) and can beg your teachers to give you predicted grades of A, then maybe you could apply, but you have to remember that BMAT is really hard and interviews are tough.

I applied to Cambridge because I love the course (and I didn't really like Oxford when I visited) so you have to question for yourself why you are applying. That will help you to decide whether or not to apply because if you really want to get your hands on patients then there really is no point applying to oxbridge.