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.

zara77 I've got no personal experience of Oxbridge medicine to offer. However I do know someone studying medicine elsewhere and she counted herself lucky (with excellent grades and relevant experience) to get 2 offers from her choices. She has since won scholarships for excellence.

I'm told 60% of applicants to medical school get no offers at all. I realise that is because some people apply who frankly haven't much hope. However there are a lot of apparently well qualified young people who can't get offers. Medical schools differ on what they look for and on how they teach, Your daughter would stand no hope at Birmingham, for example, where GSCEs matter a lot. She needs to read up about the schools and tailor her applications to ones that fit. Some use BMAT, some UKCAT, some neither.

If considering Oxbridge the best advice is to visit colleges, speak to tutors and take it from there. If considering medicine it helps to show evidence of long-term commitment so she should start some volunteering soon. Care homes and hospices are good. Sport only matters to show stamina and a way of relaxing from the pressure. Oxbridge may not be the best fit for your child. Oxbridge is quite academic and some schools do problem based learning, that involves much earlier contact with patients. Encourage her to look at how she will be taught not where and make sure her A levels choices are appropriate.

This article was very interesting and highly relevant:

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8695030/Why-rejection-from-university-was-the-best-medicine.html

The author speaks of both revision course for the aptitude test and also of the usefulness of work experience.

DD is at med school.

It's a matter of strategy and it's not too soon to do the spadework.

Look at how the course is taught. Oxford is very theoretical in the first 3 years whereas others ensure patient contact early on.

The BMAT score is crucial but you don't know the score for that until after the application is submitted so there is a risk of wasting one or more of the 4 med school choices.

A piece of advice I was given was that a doctor is a doctor wherever he/she studied. They are all validated by the same body. Bearing this in mind, concentrate on getting her into a med school. It might not necessarily be Oxford so choose the 4 carefully, based on how much credit they give to candidates for stellar GCSE's, UKCAT scores and extra-curriculars - and whether BMAT is a requirement.
Chemistry is essential.

Also unis that don't require BMAT or UKCAT are looking for vast numbers of A*s at GCSE. Avoid those.

DD had 6 A*s and 5 A's at GCSE. This was 3 years ago. She checked out the requirements and found she probably didn't stand a chance at Birmingham and Bristol - and they have raised the bar still further since then.
She did get a very good UKCAT score so she chose two which gave weight to that and she applied to 2 which required BMAT - which was risky but it paid off. She got three offers and is at her first choice BMAT med school. Oxford was her second choice - she didn't like the course structure but rather fancied Oxford itself.

B'ham chooses very early based on GCSE scores. That way it picks up a lot of candidates who have applied to Oxbridge and don't get in. It also means that many candidates rock up at an Oxbridge interview with the added confidence of already having an offer from Birmingham.

Many people fail to get into med school first time round but make it the following year when they have got the hang of strategy. If GCSE's are comparatively weak (!) then apply to the ones which choose using other criteria.