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)

yes i agree activate....thankfully he has had quite alot of work experience,initially in veterinary as he was unsure of what he wanted to do when he was 16. Now he has work experience in an EMI alzeihmers nursing home as he is sure about medicine now.. charity work for NSPCC, some further weeks planned with a consultant and a GP. He is also a county badminton player and a keen sports man so i am hoping he is well rounded.He has done voluntary work in an animal rescue centre too.

Sounds like you and DS are going about it all the right way - best of wishes!

I don't think (top) universities give very much credit to non-relevent extra curricular activities. They are basically looking for passion for the subject and good grades.

If a student wants to earn some brownie points for sporting activities, then they have to demonstrate how these deliver transferable skills such as teamwork, committment and leadership. Just mentioning the membership of a team is wasted words out of the UCAS limit.

iskra, maybe your tutor's 'crash and burn' prediction was the wake up call you needed to change your ways. Perhaps if they had patted you on the head and said 'well, well', you would not have gone on to such great achievements.

i had a friend with 12 GCSE's.... something like 10A* and 2A if i remember correctly

she was predicted (and got) 4 A's at A Level...

she had LOADS of experiane working in doctors and hospitals, Dad, GP, Mum consultant.

she did not apply to oxbridge but did to cardiff, southampton bristol and somewhere else and got rejected from all of them

medicine is VERY competative, even with straight A's at GCSE and A Level and work experiance which to be fair is what most medic applicants have anyway

the teacher is being realistic.... your son is in the real world and even with those (very good ) grades is by no means garanteed even an offer for medical school.

Don't discount Peninsula, it is lovely down here and I have met many lovely med students and know lots of tutors. Take a look!

I heard recently that last year there were 17 applicants for every place for medicine in the UK - thought that sounds very high, it puts your son's plight into perspective.

nanny, perhaps your friend fell down on the UKCAT - an intelligence test for medical school applicants?

Some students can learn to pass exams with ease, but may still be lacking in certain thinking skills which are essential to medics.

The results of raw intelligence tests is heavily weighted at all levels of the educational system, often over actual academic achievement.

Rejection from uni's doesn't mean you are a bad person :D Often the choice is made far in advance - in fact I am currently attending a university that is still interviewing having filled their spaces for the next academic year.

I highly reccomend your son take a year out after AS Levels and get some work experience to pad out his life skills, as well as his CV. I was rejected from all of my university choices the first time round, took a year out, re-applied and was given unconditional offers the second time round. Not only that, I received a phone call from Bristol asking "are you sure you don't want to come here?" :D

Universities like to see lots to a child. I wouldn't worry about your son's teacher's comments. He sounds like a great student.

Glad that it is getting sorted out for you.

However, the first thing that sprang to my mind, was similar to other posters - did the teacher say that your son should apply to 'universities with lower acceptance results for medicine' as well as those with requirements for higher grades, or instead of? To me, this is a crucial difference, but easily misunderstood!

The sensible option for students is to apply to a few unis with their top predicted grades (so straight 'A's), a few unis with slighter lower requirements (AAB for example) and then a couple of even lower ones (ABB etc). This gives your son the best chance of getting a place at uni. If you son does well, and gets in to the AAA place, great but if nerves do indeed get the better of him again, then he has got all bases covered and has a place lined up if things do not go as well.

Really, there is little point him applying to 9 universities all with straight AAA requirements - because all he has to do is get 1B and he is screwed. The sensible option is to place his bets. If your son's head of year was suggesting that he applied to some lower requirement universities, in addition to the higher requirement ones, then I'd think that is very sensible advice.

Was going to post something very similar to Helokitty. Any student applying for uni would be taking a big chance if they didn't apply for at least one place with fairly 'low' requirements. You never know what could happen in the next year that might affect your son's results. No harm in putting down a 'last chance' option, in the hope that it won't be needed.

I think with medicine you are only allowed to apply to four Unis and have to choose another course (non-medicine) as your fifth choice Uni.

I wish him luck.

My daughter has a place to read medicine in September (if she gets the grades) and though it's horrible..the fact is that medicine is absurdly competitive and some uni's discount applications on GCSEs alone regardless of predicted A level grades. My daughter found that one of her preferred uni's wasn't an option because she didn't have 9 A* at GCSE...

He needs..and you need.. to be realistic AND forget the league tables as they change from one moment to the next. For example I know that Peninsula is the newest med school in the uk... hence lower rating..BUT its results and rep are already excellent. Southampton don't interview..and hence have a mad number of applications..

In the end all the A* and predicted grades in the world won't help unless the personal Statement reflects someone who is right for medicine. Lots of work experience helps (but nearly all applicants bust a gut doing that) life experience also helps... and in the end.. giving an honest interview from the heart.

My daughter was amongst a handful from her school who applied for medicine and I would say she isn't the most academic of them by a long shot.. but she knew she wanted to be a doctor at 4 years old, and has never wavered from that and it showed.. (along with a vast experience of growing up with a disabled sibling)..and she got offers where the others didn't..

the info seems to change daily but your son just needs to be determined and if it's the right choice ..go for it

Awww, good on your dd Macforme!

Aly Another bit of advice for your DS would be to take out a subscription to a scientific magazine. I got New Scientist in the run up to going through the medicine interview process, but there are others that are more medical. It sounds like his CV is already fairly well rounded, but it's a good idea to have a headstart on all the other candidates

hellokitty I wish he could apply to 9 universities but unfortunately with medicine you can only apply to 4 unis and one non medical (possibly a back door type of entry into medicine like biomedical sciences in case all else fails)

marking place for ds

Aly - I don't do UCAS for medicine (obviously), but in that case, I think it it makes it more imperative that your DS hedges his bets and applies to some lower requirement universities. Personally, I'd go two high favourites, one middle, one lower.

thanks SaorAlba.....we thought the same and are getting the PJ from a friendly pharmacist where i work.But the New scientist would be a good idea too.

Macforme ...glad your DD got in.DS is determined and wants this so much,he doesnt want a gap year,he just wants to get straight in and get going.We arent looking at their rakings ,alot of it is based on how the course is taught ,whether it is problem based or lecture based.

Just got to add as a proud mum tonight..his bro has just heard that he has got a 2.1 in pharmacy.

thanks giddy...the uni did not ask mine or his name but i agree with your comments. It was one of those things that i wanted to sort out and DS was at school so i just phoned anonymously.I am all for my son doing things himself as he is very independent.

Thankfully head of year is being very helpful now after his apology about his manner. He has upset alot of my sons friends too and all of them have been very demotivated after all their hard work.

DS has decided to go for one top uni,one middle and 2 safety nets with a fifth of pharmacology as we have a family history in pharmacy and a genuine interest in medicines,ailments etc.