Alevels for medicine

[worriedcms]

Dd is still a long way off, only starting y10 now but has been determined to do medicine for many years already.

She knows chemistry is mandatory and biology makes most sense, while maths is her strongest subject so seems these will be her chosen alevels.

However, she is also a brilliant linguist and could potentially throw Spanish into the mix.

Do all applicants, or the vast majority, have chemistry, biology and maths?

The vast majority of med school applicants have chemistry but even that is not required by a few med schools. Most have biology, again not essential - but basically medicine is advanced practical biology so if you don't like the subject perhaps you're on the wrong course. If you choose those 2 subjects plus any third (along with all the other prerequisites) you'll find most med schools will accept. Many do maths because they're that kind of people but my recommendation for the third is choose a subject you would enjoy and know you are likely to get a solid A - arts, humanities, languages whatever!
If OTOH you're not 100% set on medicine or want a plan B just in case, maths will open more doors to other stem careers than a language.
Good luck to your ds!

Sorry- your dd 🙂

Thank you! She loves maths and Spanish and is equally good at both, so she has toyed with the idea of doing 4 alevels but I really don't think that's a great idea personally.

MBC is probably the most common combination but some even don't require chemistry now.

More info by university is here:

www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/how-to-apply-to-medical-school-in-the-uk/entry-requirements?type=standard-entry-medicine

Very helpful thank you

The general advice is that 4 A levels is more disadvantage than advantage for med school entry. You don't get extra credit for having 4 rather than 3 As, and doing 4 subjects can 'dilute' the time and attention needed to ace 3 plus doing all the other stuff needed for med school as well (work experience, UCAT etc.). Yr 12 can be incredibly busy with all the stuff going on alongside like socialising, driving lessons, part time jobs etc etc, so 4 A levels can feel overkill.
Another way of looking at it is that a gift for languages can sometimes equally well be pursued outside school (like art, music and sport) and your dd doesn't have to give up her Spanish just because she doesn't do it for A level. Perhaps she could get a summer job in Spain before uni or go travelling in South America.
Anyhow, give her time. She may change her mind and decide to be an archaeologist or something by then 🙂

I completely agree @Haffdonga about only doing 3 alevels and great idea to pursue languages in another way too.

Re archaeology!... haha she's hellbent on medicine; she's even done her first lot of work experience this summer so I think she's pretty committed for now!

IMHO taking spanish on top of all the stuff needed for med is not a great idea.

A levels in Biology, Chemistry and Maths will be perfect. Focus the extra time on things that directly help the med application.

Here are the selection criteria for each Uni, the ones in yellow don't need chemistry. So possible, but limiting.

Best steps :
Get best GCSEs you can (some score them)
Smash UCAT
Get good predicted grades
Apply strategically to Unis where most likely to be selected for interview
Smash interviews
Get offer (you only need one)
Get A levels

Hurdle jumping.

Bio, Chem, Spanish is a fantastic selection. Only ones who care about maths are a few Cambs colleges. Newcastle don’t even need science !

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The other aspect to a level choices is what would they enable if she changes her mind about medicine, or doesn't get an offer. Thinking about what course she'd pick for that non-med 5th ucas choice might help her decide.

Most will take a gap year though if don't get in first time.

Friend’s dc did Biology, Physics, Chemistry and German and went to Imperial for Medicine. She was also a very talented musician so had a music scholarship. They liked the fact she was very well rounded, not just a science person.

@mumsneedwine where did you get this info from please?

@worriedcms I have two DC currently in med school. Totally agree with Haffdonga that it is a really intense Year 13 with interviews and A Levels and UCAT dominating the summer break before and three A levels is plenty. I would also agree to do the A Levels your DD will achieve the grades in and the ones she enjoys most. Mumsneedwine is one of the main experts in med school applications on this forum and she has helped countless DC with med school applications. You may also want to follow the applying for med school threads as they are very useful.

My DS said he felt that students without maths did struggle more with some stuff. That's just an opinion, though.

@worriedcms it's mine. I update it every year. It's part of my job at school to support aspiring high students. But I help on here too.

Oh wow @mumsneedwine you're the fountain of all knowledge! Thank you and apologies in advance for an influx of further questions!

@worriedcms 😂 not all knowledge. But I'm quite good at medic/vet stuff.
Ask away

One of my nieces did 4 A Levels and missed the grade for medicine. She did a biomedical degree and went on to do medicine as a post graduate.

It has been a long slog but there are options.

Graduate medicine is very expensive so not available to all. Funding for 2nd degrees is limited. It's also more competitive - 45 applicants per place rather than 10 for undergraduate.
Better to take a year out and retake.

Any advice for finding a ucat tutor? We've been signposted to medichut so far.