to want to have a very heated discussion with my sons head of year

[alypaly]

My son has passed 9 GCSE's with 4 A* and 5 A's and his head of year has just told him that he should look at universities with lower acceptance results for medicine.
What the hell......he couldnt have done much better. he has come home so confused,angry and disillusioned. It has really knocked his conidence for six. He doesnt want to got to Oxford ,Cambridge or UCL so those werent even in the equation anyway.

I am so glad he didnt say this to him and his friends who have similar results, before their AS levels otherwise i would have bopped him on the nose(well not really)

[scurryfunge]

Congratulations on his results....unfortunately, if he wants to study medicine, then he will need to look at universities that will accept those grades...it's a fact, sorry.

[OnEdge]

WTF ??
Why say that to a kid who has worked his arse off to get such good results?

What else can he do?

Definately go in and have him about this, he should be encouraging kids not upsetting them. Some teachers shouldnt be let near kids

[TheFallenMadonna]

What are his target grades for A level? How do they compare with the typical offers of the places he wants to apply to?

[secunda]

Well...medicine is getting ridiculously competitive. They will have applicants with more GCSEs, all A*. By 'lower acceptance results' maybe he means, still good but not the aces.

[OnEdge]

I think most Universities will accept straight fucking A s

[OnEdge]

Anyway its his A levels isnt it, not even his GCSE results.

[secunda]

GCSE results are important. They will have countless applicants with straight A levels

[TheFallenMadonna]

Which is why I asked about the target grades...

[OnEdge]

Sorry, getting all huffy and not even my son, just think teacher was rotten

[islandofsodor]

I think the head of year was just trying to give good advice.

Medicing is higjhly competitive and candidates for the top universities will have 10 or so A*'s plus straight A's at A Level. Even some of those may not get in.

[alypaly]

his target grades are 3 A* and an A. He was going to drop latin but has decided that it is easy and wants to hang on to it. We have looked at all the entrance results for the good unis ad he is going to be well within that.Also he will have done 11 weeks work experience by then as well.

Secunda...his teacher was telling him to look at Keele and Peninsula which I was told were at the bottom,(B's and C's were acceptable) and he wants to get to Nottingham ,Liverpool,Manchester or Glasgow. They accept 2 A's and a B. I dont understand where this man is coming from at all.

I am really hurt by all this as he has been thrilled with his results and was pleased with his recent AS level exams as he feels he has done well especially in one of the Biology papers. He came home grinning and said he thought he hadnt dropped a mark and not often you feel like that. He was nearly crying tonight and he is not a softie.

[secunda]

Oh no, I was thinking more along the lines of Glasgow, Liverpool etc. as you say. Cardiff is also good. However I do know a boy who was recently rejected from all 4 choices, 2 london ones, Cardiff and Southampton, despite the fact they advertised grades lower than the ones he was predicted. I think even those that offer AAB still get so many straight A's applying. Maybe he could put Keele as his 4th choice and pick his others as he likes

[TheFallenMadonna]

Those are pretty high target grades based on those GCSE results. Assuming they are in the four subjects he got an A* in? Was HOY perhaps thinking about a kind of back-up?

He'll have his AS results by the time he applies, right?

[hatesponge]

Unfortunately there are many teachers whose idea of managing students expectations is basically to tell them not to aim too high

Slightly different but I know when I was going through the UCCA (as it was then) process, none of my teachers encouraged me to apply to Cambridge. One (who as a student had been turned down by Oxford) even told my parents 'HS needs to remember there ARE other universities, and after all she doesn't even have the best GCSE grades in her year' (!) My parents put it down to sour grapes on her part, and told me to ignore her. Which I did, and ended up being the only girl in my year who got a place

I'd like to hope they were more encouraging to subsequent years, but I doubt it. And they wonder why state school pupils are under-represented at certain universities/on certain courses.....

[alypaly]

Thanks OnEdge...i feel the same.....
The schools ethos is to be supportive not destructive....i could understand it if there were a few B's in there but when his predicted grades are 3 A* and an A and several of my other sons friends are doing medicine at Nottingham with 2A's and a B and one A and 2B's.

Island...he had already told his head of year that he didnt want OXford,Cambridge or UCL and that he was going for the middle range ones. He didnt even look at Birmingham as he felt it might be beyond him and they require 3 A stars..which he is predicted to get.

[bruxeur]

A 30-second Google search will tell you that Nottingham require 3 As at A2 to even be considered, and that a fourth A-level does not increase your chances of a place.

So perhaps the head is trying to make up for a lack of correct information at home?

[alypaly]

FallenMadonna....he had a mental block in one of his exams which he felt stopped him getting an A* . I think it was first exam nerves. His work has continued to improve since his GCSE and homework have been way beyond our expectations.His dedication to work experience has ben commendable. Yep he will have his results on August 19th.

Does it all boil down to this 500 word personal statement that they all have to writeand the 15 minute interview.

[scurryfunge]

Pretty much yes, candidates' results are all pretty much of a muchness, I'm afraid.

[alypaly]

sorry bruxeur ...what incorrect info at home....I am just quoting the experience of my other sons friends and their recent entrance to Nottingham. I have got the prospectus right here in front of me....page 190 AAB on the 2011 prospectus in Black and white. we are well aware that a 4th A level does not influence many universities but he still wants to take it.

[bruxeur]

Quite clear here. You may want to clarify.

I'm certainly not aware of any of the schools you mention accepting anything other than straight As.

[alypaly]

Subjects required for Nottingham( quoted directly from prospectus) ...A level Chem and BIOL grade A and a third A level grade B in any other subject except general studies with at least 6 grade a GCSE's...so please dont say he is getting incorrect info from home

[ProfessorLaytonIsMyLoveSlave]

Also, could this all be down to miscommunication? For example, if he said to his HOY that he was going to target the mid-range places then it doesn't seem unreasonable for the HOY to suggest that he shouldn't overlook throwing in one or two places with lower requirements as a backup. Is that what he said, or did he really suggest that your DS shouldn't even bother applying to the mid-range universities at all?

The HOY knows how badly your son wants to study medicine. He has already seen your son slip from a predicted A* to an A in one of his GCSE's through nerves; he (the HOY) has got to at least consider the possibility that nerves could let your son down again, and if he hasn't let himself a backup option he could end up without a place to study medicine at all.

[secunda]

make sure you're checking the full qualifying medical degree, not similar-sounding courses, (I think 'medical sciences' is one which isn't actually medicine).

[alypaly]

so i wonder which is correct then...why are they different? Thankyou for the link...we will follow that up tomorrow as it seems very unfair that the prospectus says one thing and the internet another.

[TheFallenMadonna]

Difference there between the online prospectus and the one you have for Nottingham. Oh dear. Perhaps you could get clarification?