To ask whether 4 a levels would be too much work?

[donthaveorganiccarrots]

Seen that there is a very similar thread on here at the moment but don’t want to hijack it. Have a dd going into year 12 who would like to study medicine and a few days ago picked her a levels as biology chemistry history and maths to do until AS but is now wondering whether she’d be better off doing all four to A2 as she doesn’t want to drop history and people have told her she needs maths for the best chance of getting offers from med schools. So 3 a levels and an AS in maths or all four full a levels?

not one of our medicine students took four

My DD has just finished her A-Levels and is about to start reading Medicine at KCL this coming September. Initially in year 12 she also had the same problem with very similar subjects: Biology, Chemistry, Maths and English Literature. She was very passionate for English Literature but didn’t want to drop Maths as certain universities (Oxbridge) require Maths at A-Level to study Medicine. The first half of year 12 was torture, along with trying to keep up with volunteering, work experience, UCAT preparation and her Medicine application she had no time to spare. Eventually, after intense research, she decided to drop A-Level Maths for year 13 and picked up the EPQ; the fact is that most universities do not require Maths.
About the 4 options: English Literature, similar to History, is an intensely demanding humanities subject which requires hours and hours of essay practice, reading and coursework preparation - of course if you want to get the top A/A grades, which you need for Medicine. Biology and Chemistry are incredibly demanding in terms of content and difficulty, not even going to start on the amount of content and practice needed for an A/A grade in Maths. In regards to Med School application and getting those required predicted grades for Med School application (only take into consideration 3 grades) perhaps sticking to her 3 favourite would be best. No harm in trialing for the first 2/3 months of Sixth-Form to see how it goes though.

didn’t want to drop Maths as certain universities (Oxbridge) require Maths at A-Level to study Medicine.

No. They don’t.

lavinia93 congratulations to your dd! I can imagine how hard year 12 will be with 4 such intense subjects and volunteering/work experience. How did your dd do in her AS maths (assuming she took it)?

Thank you! At her Sixth-Form the option of taking AS exams was not available. She took end of year examinations that the school had prepared and got 4As, which were then used for university grade predictions. For grade predictions only the Biology, Chemistry and English Literature (also EPQ) were taken into account, so the Maths did not go forward for anything since it wasn’t continued to A-Level. Wasn’t a complete waste of time though as it helped her for calculations in the sciences and the UCAT in year 13.

You don't need for A-levels for medical school.

Maths isn't required either.

Four a-levels is a fair bit of work but doable. I did 5 (and wanted to do another as but school cautioned me against it). I got all As easily (this was before A*s existed)

To add, that 3 top grades (A*) is better than 4 lesser grades, so she should only do 4 if she can easily cope.

As an employer, I'm never impressed by people who do more than three A levels. If they are that academic and have that much time to spare, I am more impressed if they do something like research into an area that interests them, or volunteer or paid work in that field, rather than spending their time following fairly narrow A level courses to accumulate certificates that they don't need.

tonnerre anyone who wants any chance of getting medicine will be doing that as well, this is just an addition. Fwiw, while doing 5 A-levels I was also volunteering 4 days a week, and doing residential volunteering and work experience over the school holidays. It's not an either/or.

It all depend so on the child. Everyone I went to school with did at least 4 A-Levels and I did those 4 in particular. What’s going to make all the difference is whether or not they actually like the Alevels as doing a subject you don’t want to do can make it so much harder! I would say those 4 subjects are definitely manageable though and I’m not even that smart 😂

Also i think the jump from GCSE to the first year of maths was far easier than the first year to second year, that’s just my personal experience though

Our school only allows 4 A levels if one is further maths, there is no other option to 4 and that’s because no university needs 4!

My daughter is doing Medicine and is in her third year, she did Maths up to As, but her A levels were Chemistry, physics and biology.
Her UKCAT was high and she had done a lot of volunteering.
Look at the various uni websites for advice. Please message me if you want any more info. From her year, all six who applied got into med school.

I work in sixth form. I would advise three, aiming for top grades. No universities look for 4 so it is a risk not worth taking imo. History or maths is fine for most universities but perhaps maths preferable for top Russell Group (worth checking on web?).

Also lots of work experience and or volunteering in medical setting would be advisable.

schoolsoutforever dd is interested in top Russel groups that aren’t oxbridge- they don’t state a preference for the third a level but her concern was that it was an unwritten preference

I agree that she should keep history. A friend’s son now going into Yr13 was studying chemistry, biology and English lit. He wanted to go into medicine, but this summer has switched to wanting to go into environmental law. If he hadn’t kept English,, he’d be starting Yr12 over.

Another friends DD wanted to do classics/ancient history, so she took classics, English lit, and on a whim economics. She fell in love with economics during Yr12 and is now off to study the dual masters of Economics and Ancient History at St Andrews.

Since she prefers history, she should keep it as long as possible. She needs options in case she discovers medicine is not what she wants after all.

doomsdaycult I really highly doubt that would happen with dd (although of course there’s always a small chance). She’s wanted to be a doctor for years, loved her work experience at a hospital and is generally a (stubborn) person who doesn’t change her mind once it’s made up

My DD took 4 Alevels English Psychology Modern History and Spanish but dropped Spanish by April in Yr12. Way to much work and spread herself too thin. Also, Uni places are offered based on predicted grades, therefore better to concentrate on 3 and do them well.
She never bothered with EPQ as all of her subjects were essay/ source based so didn't feel necessary to show she knew how to write essays and had a lot of extra curricular going on anyway. She had her place confirmed then took a gap year and was so much less pressure. Got her 1st choice of accommodation a month before results day for everyone else.
A friends DS was applying to do medicine at Cardiff then found out that even if he got 3 A*'s at A levels he wouldn't get in as they took GCSE's into account and he didn't get enough As. Worth checking before making decisions.

Also, DD had an interview with the Head of Latin at Oxbridge and asked about whether she needed a Science/Maths. He said that they preferred students who chose based on what they were passionate about and that went together - not just throwing in a "serious' subject to make it look good for an application.

4 A levels is overkill, trust me I did it. I had no time and missed out on lots of friend time which I regret. Use the spare time awarded when doing 3 A Levels to volunteer/get work experience, much more useful.

I'm not sure about all medicine schools, but when I was at imperial they said that they will only look at 3 alevels and don't care if you even get a U in your fourth one because they only want 3. Maybe check with other med schools but unlike science/maths where they'd be happy to take into consideration your fourth subject, I think some med schools don't care and there's no point doing it if it doesn't matter

Maths is the best A level to have and whilst not necessarily needed for medicine, it will give an advantage. There's actual statistics to back this up - speak to one of the higher up maths teachers
(DP is one so has all the facts)

My BIL and SIL are both young doctors and he did 3 in bio, chem and...ART. They loved that he talked about anatomy and the structure of the body in his interviews.
She did bio, chem and French and was accepted and did a year working in a French hospital.