A-levels for medicine

[7sisters]

My friend's daughter is currently doing her GCSEs. She would like to study medicine at university and specialise in neuroscience. Her choice of A-levels are:

biology, chemistry, spanish and religious studies or english.

She has asked for my advice on whether these are a good choice as I am the only she knows who went to university but I actually don't know as this is not my area. Would she need maths? Where would be a good university to apply to?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

@7sisters. Our DS studied Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Computer Science. Your friend’s daughter needs Biology and Chemistry, the third subject doesn’t really matter. No medical school asks for four subjects either. Maths isn’t necessary unless she is planning on applying to Oxbridge. I am not quite sure about their requirements and someone else will be more qualified to comment on that.

Requirements for each medical school:
www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/making-an-application/entry-requirements?type=standard-entry-medicine

@7sisters does not need maths. Needs 3 good grades. So choose the A level that she will enjoy the most - usually leads to better grade.

However is she wants to do neuroscience why not study that ? It's a degree in its own right. Medicine makes you a doctor and you don't specialise for 7 years.

Thank you so much for your replies, really helpful and much appreciated

If she is clear on the sort of medicine she is interested in, it is worth looking one step ahead and considering whether she might want to intercalate, as this is a good way to gain experience in a chosen career.

Here is a list of possible courses:

www.intercalate.co.uk/

Some, for example imaging science, which I assume could be useful for Neuroscience, will have specific requirements. Some medical schools have limited intercalation options. Not all allow you to intercalate externally.

My daughter found A level maths very useful during her first year, and those with it found themselves supporting those without, some of whom were struggling. Maths has been even more useful for her intercalation. But maths is one of those subjects that can be either relatively easy or can be a lot harder than other A levels, depending on aptitude. If it won't be much of a stretch achieving an A* or A, I would take it. It can be a lot less time consuming than, say, a language.

FWIW though only three A levels were required, taking more has been of real benefit. Education rarely goes to waste. DD did not take computer science but this would be an example of something that would have been valuable. Her intercalation seems to involve a lot of coding.

Somewhere like Cambridge (only mentioned because my DH has an intercalated degree in Neuroscience - "professional" degree was vet) allows lots of intercalation options. Chemistry is essential, Biology surprisingly isn't essential at all med schools. Maths and Physics can be helpful in terms of useful / overlapping content once you're there (and during A-Levels) rather than needed to get in. Statistics is a big thing in a lot of science degrees, including psychology, and very important for evaluating papers.

I would probably expect to put some kind of time into studying maths whether or not it is an A-Level - my school had maths for scientists, DH's didn't but he needed maths tutoring to help with some of the science equations.

I certainly wouldn't do 4 not including maths!

Spanish (if it's an easy subject for her) will have a generally lighter workload than essay subjects.

What are her back up plans?

Thanks so much, I'll pass this on. Much appreciated