Who cares about A levels when u can get in via clinical sciences?!

[aimee]

Hey,

Take it from an ex bradford student that its not easy.

In the 1st year there will be people with much better grades, much better work experience - but at the end of the day everyone is there for a reason. No-one can guess who will get across, some of the people with the highest grades last year didn't get in and some of those that only scraped it did. Likewise, some of the nicest people with all the work-exp in the world never got across!! It's about whether you have something that stands out and believe me, even if you got straight As at a-level you would find Bradford hard.

About the foundation year, CDD (i think) is the minimum requirement for people with science a-levels, but this only makes up a small amount of the year. There are postgrads (VERY clever ones at that) & people with non science amazing a-levels.

Just think carefully, its alot of people that thought it would be a walk (both years) that got the shock and many never got across!

Also, do you have a place on clinical sciences yet? Many people are getting turned away for having an attitude like yours! As I said before, everyone is there for a reason - most more than they think its a walk in the park and believe me, they will be able to see through you if thats how you feel!

Hope you manage to sort something out though - just be certain of what you wanna do and make sure you do your research.

Aimee

[yeliab_cram]

just a random point,

dont rely on all you do in medicine/clinical sciences being relavent to motivate yourself. There will be many times when u will think "why the hell am i doing this, when am i possibly going to need to know the names of these random co-recptors" but you just have to look at the bigger pic and get on with it. Same applies for a-levles, they suck, you just have to do them. Many people say a-levels are the hardest thing you do and uni is easy; whilst this may be true, it definately does not apply to medicine! a levels are a walk in the park compared, so if you cant motivate yourself for those you may well find it hard to motivate yourself through the pre-clinical years. Get into good habits now!

[Tahira]

Originally Posted by yeliab_cram

just a random point,

dont rely on all you do in medicine/clinical sciences being relavent to motivate yourself. There will be many times when u will think "why the hell am i doing this, when am i possibly going to need to know the names of these random co-recptors" but you just have to look at the bigger pic and get on with it. Same applies for a-levles, they suck, you just have to do them. Many people say a-levels are the hardest thing you do and uni is easy; whilst this may be true, it definately does not apply to medicine! a levels are a walk in the park compared, so if you cant motivate yourself for those you may well find it hard to motivate yourself through the pre-clinical years. Get into good habits now!

Well said! Clin sci is harder than your a levels. I know people on the course who say they regret doing clin sci and just wish they had re-applied instead. Especially since we might do all that hard work and still not get in.

[WAMS]

Yeah, I remember that people said that if you do A. levels then the degree is easier...

*WRONG*!!!

Degrees are hard. BUT... If you re-phrase it to: "If you get ok passes at A. levels then you are most likely to be able to cope at university". Therefore not saying it's easy as such, but if you managed through the stresses of A. levels, then with a bit more maturity and effort then you can do a degree.

[satty]

Originally Posted by yikess

hey everyone

I feel like failing my A levels. I was predicted AAAB. but feel like getting AABB... well that's not failing, but I feel like absolutely failing my courseworks... not even bothering to do them.... they are such a waste of time! take so much effort! cause me so much stress! and I can never do well in them anyway. and this year, they want us to pay £92 to go on a bio trip to do the coursework

I really think i will be rejected by my 4 medical schools (one of them being leeds) this year... when this happens, I will take up clinical sciences in bradford uni... if i'm going to do that, then i don't need to do well in my A levels.. great!!

There are many advantages to applying to leeds uni via the clinical sciences route.

firstly, I won't be wasting a year.
And it means that instead of spending year 1 in leeds uni, I'll be spending it at bradford uni.... and saving on all the transport costs!! lol!! also will enjoy being at bradford uni!!
And of course, I am allowed to fail my A levels but still be in the same boat as those who passed and got in straight away into leeds uni.
And is it easier to get in this way than the normal route? i imagine it would be.

the down side:
if i don't get into leeds uni, I've wasted a year and all that hard work was a waste! especially as leeds uni expects you to still be doing work experience!

so ermmm is there any reason for me to work hard for my A levels?

If I were you I wouldn't bother wasting your time with a-levels. Other than yourself there no use to anyone!

Also I heard the Bradford clin sci course is super easy, you won’t even have to try should be a breeze, especially for someone of your academic ability.

[Polaris]

mmm reading all this I serious hope that you have indeed changed your mind about giving up... Satty, I hope you're joking ...

You have the ability, please use it. I have a friend who desperately wants to do Medicine, but cannot because his grades were not good enough. He just didn't do very well at the whole A-level thing. He is now doing Biomed Sci at GKT, with the hope of entrance to medicine as a grad.

You clearly have the ability to enter medicine first go, if you couple your abilities with actual hard work. Motivating yourself at A-level is hard, at university level, in ANY degree, it is harder. Coursework is an easy part of an A-level most of the time - you have a lot of control over it. Doing well in it can give you a grade's worth of leeway should your exams not work out! £92 is cheaper than an extra year in uni!

O and btw, sometimes entering by grad route is harder - there are often less spaces, and you spend an extra year (or two in some schools) getting to the same place I will be. You get a degree + MBBS or whatever in the end - I get that too, but on a six year course rather than 3 + 4 years.

Please, please - just work hard this year and get what you deserve for your intellect. You will not regret it once you're there.

[Simon]

hey yikess, in the nicest possible way my friend, you just need to pull your finger out and get on with it if you want to do medicine. there is no easy route in; the easiest route, tho, is getting your a-levels and getting in.

there will be many, MANY lectures full of crappy tiny little neurotransmitter x which binds to stupid, even tinier little receptor y which has something to do with 0.000000001% of the population with a chronic cold...and you need to maintain your motivation thru that to become a doctor. not everything you learn in med school is going to feel 100% relevant to medical practice. you do get chances early on for clinical contact, which is amazing, but you still have physiology practicals and microscopy labs etc etc. not to mention hours of psychsocial stuff which you need to think a lot about as to how it relates to your eventual career.

i know it's hard, really i do. i sat higher chemistry at the same time as doing the finals of my english degree at st andrews last year. you need to cut everything else out until next may. get a good routine: do some sport, relax at the weekends, make sure you have some good friends round you. but i've just finished my first semester medical exams at dundee and i hardly left the library for the last three weeks. the hard work and sacrifices don't stop once you're here. you need to just grit your teeth and get on with it if that's what you want buddy.

you can do it, IF YOU WANT TO.

simon.

[yeliab_cram]

very wise words, Simon, very wise words indeed!

[WAMS]

Originally Posted by satty

If I were you I wouldn't bother wasting your time with a-levels. Other than yourself there no use to anyone!

Also I heard the Bradford clin sci course is super easy, you won’t even have to try should be a breeze, especially for someone of your academic ability.

Erm... I've heard from people that I've spoken to that it's an intense year and the competition to transfer to medicine is very competitive!

[yeliab_cram]

i think she was being sarcy, lol