A Levels. Help please!!!!!

[scout]

Hey everyone,

I graduated a few years ago with a BSc in Sports Science. I really want to get into medicine and i figured i would probably stand a better chance if i did my A Levels again (my first lot were in the arts). Anyway, my question is does anyone know of any good distance learning A Levels? I notice that for a lot of chemistry A Levels you need to do a practical assessment. How is this done if you are studying via distance learning? Has anyone else re done their A Levels and if so where did you do them? I live in Wolverhampton (nr Birmingham) and i'm not sure where would be best for me to study A Levels. Any help you guys could give me would be much appreciated.

[L100LUU]

Hi

I would look at the Access to Medicine courses as opposed to spending 2 years doing more A levels. Make sure you have a look at the entrance requirements for the unis you think you may like to study medicine at as some are quite picky as to which Access to Med courses they will accept. I found that the ones universally accepted were Sussex-Downs and Kings Lynn. Manchester (MANCAT) was also mentioned a few times but a couple of places I spoke to said they were going to be increasing the entry score from MANCAT to 80% - the others are 70% I think.

The other option is to look for courses that have a medical foundation year making it a 6 year degree, year 1 being foundation. These are specifically for folks who have not studied science A levels. I know Manchester does a 6 year and so does Dundee but there are others.

I'd also recommend getting as much experience in a clinical setting as possible through volunteer work/care assistant/nursing auxiliary type roles.

On your UCAS form you will need to state why you did Sport Science not Medicine initially (be reflective - what learnt? what has changed? etc) and why you want to do medicine now.

Unrelated but out of interest where did you do your BSc and did you get a 2:1 or above?

Good Luck

[scout]

I guess i'm going to have to do a bit of research into each individual institute to see what the specific entry requirements are. Ideally, i need to get a place on a 4 year graduate course to help me out financially. I got a 2.1 at university, but unfortunately the degree was from Wolverhampton University- not one of the most highly regarded universities! Do you think this would affect my application? I know that some say that it doesnt matter where you do your degree, but i'm sure some places might be a bit funny about it.

[L100LUU]

I shouldn't think it matters that you went to Wolverhampton Uni - I know some great people who went there.

Research is key - can take a fair bit of time but worth it. I did quite a bit, especially before my interview and it seems to have paid off. In interview I was asked some very basic stuff about the course structure which I could have very easily tripped up on had I not done the reading.

You've got the 2:1 which is great, now you need to build on any experience you have and do a great personal statement which is very clear, structured and reflective. What makes you stand out and be different from everyone else applying with a 2:1?