Dropping A level after UCAS has been sent

**BrIdGe** · 26-12-2009, 05:54 PM

Hello,

At the moment i'm doing four a levels maths, biology, chemistry and geography and have applied to do medicine as undergraduate. I have had 3 of my interviews.
Originally I was going to drop an AS at the start of Yr 13 but didn't. I would quite like to drop maths now as I also do alot of other stuff outside of and I feel like I'm always busy and I have trouble keeping up with all my homework and stuff. As maths is my least favourite subject and the one I'm not as good at I want to drop it.
Will someone help me please. Can I still drop a subject even after I've sent my UCAS form? Will it effect my application?

Thank you!

Good luck to everyone else who is applying this year.

(eeep it's scary business)

**Rippy** · 26-12-2009, 06:02 PM

You could drop it but you'd have to phone all the universities. Nobody will know if it will have an effect on your application. It might, or it might not. To be honest, IMO, just stick with it for another 6 months.

**magpie7** · 26-12-2009, 06:09 PM

Like the person above me said, no one can tell you for sure how it will effect your application, as different Universities might look at it in different ways.

But at the moment, you've basically said you will have more qualifications than you actually will... Which is similar to just throwing in a few extra GCSEs you don't have. ...Okay, so not quite the same but you get the idea.

You should definitely phone up the Universities and let them know as soon as possible (before they offer you an interview; or it might look like you put an extra qualification down just to get an interview, and then dropped it once you got what you want.)

Universities that specifically state "we do not take into account any more than 3 A-Levels" (Durham for example), you will be fine no matter what you do.

On the other hand, some Universities might look favourably at applicants taking 4 A-Levels... And these are the Universities you definitely need to tell; because it's unlikely they'll be happy when they find out that they give you a false advantage compared to other applicants.

**buchaneyes** · 28-12-2009, 12:23 PM

I think that once you have decisions from all your unis and if none of them specify Maths as part of their offer, you should be fine to drop it.

However it could be March or even April (I have heard of this happening) before you get decisions, and at that point, you will probably have finished/ almost finished the course, and there won't really be much point in dropping it.

Also, medical schools like you to show that you have the "capacity for sustained and intense work", which the 4th A level would help with. (As well as all the mathsy stuff in Chem)

In a nutshell: I would advise you to stick with it, but if you do decide to drop, contact your unis first and see what they think.

and Good Luck, whatever you decide.