Any advantage in taking A2 Maths a year early in application to medicine?

For the person who asked about other careers in science and Mary's the futuremoprh website is a great place to start www.futuremorph.org/ and the institute of physics also provides careers information including medical physics which is a good option for would-be medics who don't get in to med school www.physics.org/careers
Good luck!

Pleased to hear it's all going well. I know what you mean about 2 years being all about getting in. Good luck with the course and it will be worth it in the end.

Tressy, it's going well thanks :) Really enjoying it, and ever so glad I chose Medicine, but struggling to get down to revision for first exam (in just over a week)!

I got cold feet after I finished my exams and waited for results, and even colder feet after getting them! After a couple of years of focussing almost entirely on getting into medical school, I was smacked in the face by fear and a big sense of 'oh my god, I'm not even sure I want to do this any more'. I don't think my mum was expecting that, I think she was thinking that it was time to celebrate my results, not be comforting miserable daughter who was talking about dropping and changing to another subject. I knew i had to go and see how it worked out, but it's been another repeat of the A level chemistry thing - after a week, I was completely loving it!

Our maths teaching was fine, but I am just not that good at it, and I also didn't work all that much on it at first. I disliked it, so I wasn't at all motivated to do the homework and go over things till I got it. I would rather read a history book and hope it will go away if i ignore it. It wasn't a clever idea really!

xRavenx. I agree with your views re Maths. DD took it and struggled to get a good grade as AS to the detriment of her other subjects too, as the teaching was below standard and she was focusing on just understanding mechanics.

How is your first year going?

I am in my first year of med school now

If she is set on sciences + maths then great. My only warning is not to take maths just because you want to do medicine. I had bad careers advice and timetabling issues so I took maths at AS, did not enjoy it and got a C grade for AS. That restricted the medical schools I could apply for and I was very upset at the time that I couldn't apply for one particular school. Now i am glad because I got into my other top choice and am loving it. But yeah, don't do anything you aren't really interested in, unless it's chemistry or biology. funnily enough, I hated chemistry at GCSE and only took it at A level because i wanted to do Medicine (yes, I know I just said not to do that with maths, but chemistry is basically a requirement for medicine and maths is not), and from about the second lesson I absolutely loved it and am very glad I took it now

I did History as well as Bio/Chem. My medical school have certain chemistry and biology requirements and didn't count general studies or critical thinking, but apart from that I'm pretty sure you could take any third A level, including PE or Art. Other medical schools might have more restrictions though. I think Music would be absolutely fine for a third A level, unless she wanted to go to Cambridge/Oxford, I think they want 3 science subjects with maths counting as a science. Last year there weren't any other medical schools with that requirement though, to the best of my knowledge

Sorry not 'compulsory' but required sciences.

No to PE and probably Art. Best stick to English, History, Geography or a language in addition to the compulsory science courses.

PE wouldn't be considered suitable for medicine. There are lists on the Cambridge website and the Russell group guide here www.russellgroup.ac.uk/media/informed-choices/InformedChoices-latest.pdf

One thing I forgot to say is that 60% (roughly) of applicants to medical schools get no offers. So applicants do need all the information they can get. Some will look to European medical schools instead, Malta requires a language at AS level.

gigimama there is no reason why she shouldn't do A2 maths a year early if she can do so without putting her grades in other subjects at risk. If she then ends up in the 60% and decides medicine isn't for her she has a lot of other choices.

Ha ha PE is certainly a VIGOROUS subject, not sure it is RIGOROUS though!

Theas Tressy and already thank you very much for your posts. I will tell DD about them tomorrow.

Once again, sorry for the hijack, OP.

IloveJudgeJudy if they like the idea of a caring profession pharmacologist, medical scientist (many and varied jobs - see careers website www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/). If they aren't bothered by that chemical engineering for, say, a large food or household product company, drug development, environmental science, forensic science, meteorologists, science journalist - how many do you want? If they are good at maths all the financial careers pay well.

Chemistry is more or less essential for medicine, A2 biology isn't for all medical schools but widens the choice of medical school, some like Physics or Maths and a few like to see a non-science subject, most will say they take any vigorous A level. A language may provide the option of going to a European medical school and is considered academically vigorous as is history.

You do need to be aware that medical admission departments will encourage applications but at interview stage many applicants offer a lot more than the minimum requirements. Given a choice of music or maths at A2 it might be better to drop music. Maths also offers more career choices if medicine isn't an option.

It is important that applicants have interests outside medicine and have ways of coping with stress. Do check requirements, preferably at open days by talking to the people who actually interview.

I can't see the point in doing a 4th subject at A2 especially are not a dead cert for 3A*s.I would have thought there were better uses of that time.

Mine did Chem, Bio, Hist at A2 and Maths at AS. She got into medicine with these subjects.

Ilovejj. You need to read the requirements carefully from each med school. Don't rely on forum info. ( I'm not saying anyone here doesn't kmow their stuff but it changes and varies from place to place).

In my understanding a language /history/biology/chemistry at AS, moving to biology/chem plus one of the others at A2 would be fine and even desirable, as long as the grades are excellent. Unless she is a native/ bilingual speaker of the mfl then they ar all academically rigorous subjects - which is what they want.

(ds is looking to apply based on biol/ chem/Maths/music at AS dropping the Maths for a2 )

already taken (sorry for hijack, OP) could I ask you to give some example of other science careers, please?

Also, DD loves science, but also interested in history. She's in Y11 and was wondering whether to do Chemistry, Biology, a language and maybe history instead of maths. Is that a bad idea?

As a mother with 2 DC currently studying Medicine I have to say it is more important to ensure your DC can show interests outside Science/Maths; ability in that field is assumed. DD spent her interviews talking about her involvement in the Jubilee Sailing Trust which helps all young people, including the disabled, enjoy sailing. DS was mainly asked about the impact of his father's death and how he had been inspired to follow in his father's footsteps(he was a GP). However it was all about their life experiences and I think their maturity was the telling factor. I get the impression that they are looking for the extra qualities needed to show you can deal with the profession. I would encourage community service. DD2 works in an Nursing Home Sat and Sun mornings and it has given her a real insight into other peoples lives.I would focus less on subjects and more the personal qualities she can demonstrate in an interview.

Something in the summer holidays might be hard to find at her age. I was thinking more in terms of the long term volunteering with the disabled or in a nursing home/ hospice that demonstrates long term commitment. If her school does DofE it will also count for that.

There are many other scientific careers that offer less disrupted lives and sometimes better pay, do make sure she really thinks about why it has to be medicine. She'll probably find if she makes it to work experience that at least some consultants will try to put her off.

If she looks at dropping a science subject don't let her drop Chemistry.

You need to look at the actual University Entry requirements as there is a lot of misconceptions about. Particularly with regards to Medicine. The entry requirements change yearly and the only correct informationis that found in each uni's admissions policy.
For example some Uni's such as liverpool or Barts do not accept Maths and Further Maths as two seperate A'levels.
Also, you should be aware that taking a 4th or 5th A'Level may lead to those A'levels being included in your offer. See here for an example.
Some Unis give you NO advantage for having studied more than 3 A'levels for example Leeds

All (I'm 99% sure ) Medical schools want 3 A'levels to be taken at one sitting.

Your DD could start next year with the intention of taking her Maths in one year plus her 3 science AS's and can see how it goes. It is not a problem to drop back to doing maths in two years if she changes her mind soon enough and she doesn't have to worry about what subjects to carry on until A2 until after she has her AS results. You have got ages In the meantime you can both carry on researching what type of course she wants to do and the exact entrance requirements.

I know that some universities want 3 A levels taken in year 13 and possibly an AS level taken in year 12 and Further Maths wouldn't be counted. Your DD will need to research the entry requirements for the ones she is interested in now before she starts her A levels.

Hope it goes well.

Be very very wary- as friend of mine took some A levels early and didn't quite get the grades he wanted for medicine- he retook them in the upper VIth- got great grades but was not accepted for medical school as they were retakes even though the original ones had been taken a year early.

He decided to do an anatomy degree and then mangaed to get into medical school after that, meaning that it took him 8 years to qualify as a doctor as opposed to the usual 5.

For medicine there is no great advantage to 4 A levels and no real advantage in having further maths. However she will have to be sure of 3 As at A2 and some will look for at least one A*. Nothing she does should put that at risk.

Medical schools do like to be sure applicants can cope with the workload. therefore they want 3 good A2 grades in one sitting. Some will also expect to see a good grade at AS for a fourth subject, that is less important if doing 3 science A levels.

She would probably be fine with A2 Maths taken a year early and Chemistry, Biology and Physics at A2 in one year, although as schools often change their ideas you should always check with admissions at each school she is considering.

She also needs work experience and volunteering. Start planning that now.

Everywhere accepts Maths and Further Maths as separate A'levels. The issue is; some places will only offer on the A'levels obtained in Upper Sixth. So if your daughter got A in Maths in lower sixth, they will ignore that and their offer will still require her to get A or A on Maths in upper sixth.

This is why my DCs school doesn't sit a whole A'level in Maths in lower sixth, they sit most of the Units for Maths A'level and one Further Maths Unit, then in Upper sixth they finish the Maths units and do the rest of the further Maths. Local independents who do still do all of Maths A'level in lower sixth warn their students about this (but expect all pupils to get A/A* anyway).