Oxbridge Medicine with 6A*& 4A-For GCSEs, Is it still possible?

[zara77]

Really after some advice. My DD got 6A and 4A for her GCSEs and need to know if she can still apply for Oxbridge? I just read on another thread, someone worrying that their child didn't get 7A-so may have ruined Oxbridge chances.
My DD wants to study Medicine but didn't get straight As. I did not realise that you needed at least 7A.
My DD has her heart set on Oxbridge even though i've tried to advice her against it.
I do stress we are happy with her results but just need to figure through the next step for her.

No direct advice re Oxbridge medicine but recent Oxbridge experience with eldest and her mates.

Generally if applying to Oxbridge resilience is the biggest biggest key to surviving the proscess happily. Don't make it your only ever plan you bank on - even just secretly - have a second route you have also researched and love.all dd1 mates are high fliers- As at AS being the norm. Many not even interviewed, dd fell at interview (found out a few days before Xmas) but aced her A levels ( 3 A* 1A). A couple had offers and missed grades 1 chap awaiting re Mark (2ums under) but no guarantee they'll have him even if this is ok.....

Dd happy to be off to Nottingham and was resilient enough to be able to still have a great Xmas but several mates were devastated and gad no real " bsvk up" plan as they were so focussed on Oxbridge.

Me? I'd look widely at medical courses and think what she wants from medicine - academia or early patient contact and clinically relevant learning and skills ASAP - know which route I chose many years ago when it was radical and new, and I know which route I'd choose again.

beanlet that's pretty immature. If you set yourself up as a high quality source of info then at least get it right. And if you don't, then at least have the grace not to insult either me just because I queried what you said or the achievements of very clever, hardworking, super-nice kids that you don't know. All the kids I'm talking about were state educated, so yeah, maybe an apology?

Quite amusing though since OP's DD is privately educated so are you implying she's below average? Clearly you are. Well that definitely wouldn't work for Oxbridge. Mixed messages there.

OP, the current Oxford system feeds the GSCE grades into a computer, adjusts them according to school, adds in the BMAT score and sends out a list of invites for interview. With cases on the cusp an actual human being looks at their form to see if there are any outstanding features which would warrant an interview.

Cambridge does it differently. beanlet's advice is fine for Cambridge but not for Oxford and it is useful to distinguish the two universities when the procedure can make a real difference as it might well do for your DD.

beanlet, in case you haven't yet fucked right off, you're also talking bullshit about how many kids get 11A's. If every above average kid going to private school got 11A then the national figures would look very different. Check them out and do the maths before you do down every private school kid with less than 11 A*'s. You can't generalise from SPGS or similar because each and every kid at schools like that are way, way above average to begin with.

I hope that you're not a tutor yourself because you seem pretty unopen to challenge.

And beanlet the plural of louse is lice (not lices).

Agree strongly with Theas on the need for applicants have a good Plan B and to be able to reconcile themselves to that swiftly if things don't work out.

Very sorry to hijack, OP, but beanlet - your dismissive, patronising comment about private school children is ignorant, ill-informed and unbelievably offensive.

Do hope you have 'fucked right off' - don't let the door hit you on the arse on the way out.

Yellowstone, I didn't read medicine there. Just interviewing at the same time so remember the medicine candidates horror!

beanlet even the best private school could not turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. And plenty of very bright and hardworking children get straight A* at state school you know.

I think A only ever go to people who are very bright, AND very hardworking. The combination of elements needed to gain A w

whoops, sorry!

Anyway .....

needed to gain A* would mean that someone bright but very lazy would be pretty unlikely to get them.

beanlet it would show a lot more grace to apologise for what you said than to ask for your insults aimed indiscriminately at private school kids to be deleted. That's just cowardly. I'd have expected better from the wife of a Senior Cambridge Tutor.

If you hold yourself out as a reliable source of information then you should get it right, because others, quite reasonably believing you to be well informed, might be misled to their detriment.

She can apply for medicine at st Andrews and if she does well she will have an option to complete her training at Cambridge (after first four years) instead of Manchester whichnis the usual route. It's a great back-up that will still fulfil then dream.

Would I be right in saying that while Oxford and Cambridge (and other top universities) have been keen to stress recently that they're not that interested in extra-curricular stuff, for medicine all medical schools, including Oxbridge, are looking for some relevant work/volunteer experience? And evidence of leadership ability?

eshermum it's interesting that you say St. A? Is there a particular nexus between Cambridge and St. A?

To be honest, I'm not really sure (it's been some years since I attended!!)...however, I had quite a few medic friends and a few of them opted to do a four year honours course instead of the usual three and then complete the remainder of the training at Cambridge......something to do with the research links (they share quite a few professors) and also being part of the 1994 group of universities.... If this still applies it might be a good back up for your daughter.

That's interesting, thanks.

Forget to mention - you can't do the hospital part of your medical training at st Andrews as there is no teaching hospital there, hence the peculiar setup (which the majority of medics completing in Manchester). I can definitely recommend st. Andrews as a fab place to spend four years!!!

Despite strong family links with St. A, DS1 has been put off applying there by the rumour that they don't like English applicants (he's got a lot of Scots blood but no accent and wouldn't be great in an interview hamming it up). Any views?

Sorry OP for the hijack.

Last time I visited St Andrew's most of the students had English accents.

The advice on here is a great starting point and i will be following up on the varying Uni requirements.
I don't really want to be drawn on the Private School issue but will say that I attended a good State School.
Just wondering if anyone has practical advice about the BMAT?

I have read this thread with interest. I am a secondary Biology teacher and have supported a number of students trying to get into medicine. The interesting part has been reading about it from the university perspective.

IME, relevant work experience in a medical field and showing commitment e.g. volunteering over a long period in a care home is a plus, consistent academic excellence is essential so 6+ As and the rest As DO matter. Birmingham specify at least 7 As, I think. They are interested in high performance at GCSE as it shows an ability to work consistently well when meeting many simultaneous coursework deadlines and doing lots of exams at a time. Being an all rounder, I guess. High scores on BMAT/UKCAT are essential - ignore what the websites about them say - do LOTS of practice, buy a book or two and speed is the key to answering the questions and you can improve this!

However, Oxbridge seems to have its own rules. I had a pupil with 10 A*s, excellent AS results, all the right work experience and passion but did not get into Cambridge. Had offers from his other 3 med schools and is now about to start his second year at Birmingham after a very successful first year. We spent hours on the Cambridge plan - BMAT, interview etc. but could never quite figure it out. Seems to be "if your face fits".

I would encourage your DD to work very hard through her AS year, do as much relevant voluntary work (you have to be VERY pushy and pull as many strings as you can!) and research and think very carefully about where to apply this time next year. Good luck!

Medical admissions can be a bit wierd though. A young friend of my DD got offers at cambridge and ucl but not even an interview at Keele!!!!

Suggestion on BMAT apart from revision of gcse level chem, physics, biol and maths, get plenty of practice on essay writing within a set time. Most science sixth formers do not write essays.

I am in the process of namechanging, but the reason I'm back on this thread IS to apologise for being offensive. I'm afraid your post really riled me Yellowstone, and being half awake I went off half cocked. I realised I'd been a twit immediately and asked to have both posts removed literally a minute after I'd posted - I don't know why it took all day to do.

Definitely apologies to any hard working children who thoroughly deserve their 11 A*s. I'm right about Cambridge's requirements though.

(and lices was OBVIOUSLY a typo for lives )

beanlet thanks for the apology.

Of course you're right about the Cambridge requirements, my point from the start was that you were wrong and misleading to give out information as though it applied to Oxford too when it doesn't and when it could potentially cause a real problem for the OP who was seeking accurate advice. These different procedures can be decisive to an applicant when they are relatively strong at GCSE and weak at AS or vice-versa. Nothing else matters if you don't make the interview. And you obviously have a particular responsibilty to get it right when you give the advice qua wife of a Senior Oxbridge Tutor. We were clearly both trying to help but there's nothing ultimately helpful about wrong advice, even if you didn't want to out yourself by saying it was Cambridge specific.

Er, yes, the lice thing was a 'joke'. I did of course spot the mistake but in the context of what you said about private schoolers/ your place in academia, I indulged myself by affecting to correct your grammar on quite a beautifully apposite typo. Little things and little minds and all that.

leosdad that's actually quite standard for very, very well qualified applicants. I guess the less competitive unis just don't want to waste an offer which another deserving applicant may well need as their firm.