Alida Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Hello, I'm a student wondering about whether I should do A levels or the IB. I want to study medicine at university, and the main thing that attracts me to IB is how highly regarded it is by medical schools, and it would make me stand out I think. However, the college closest to me only offers Maths Studies, and I'm wondering if that's okay for medical schools, and if it makes me look like a bad applicant. If I took IB I would take Bio and Chem HL, as well as either Psych or History, not sure which yet, and French B, English and Maths studies at standard. I'm decent at maths, but I'm worried about what universities may think of maths studies. Anyone who is looking to go into medicine, or anyone who knows otherwise, any thoughts? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nametaken Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 NO to Maths Studies. It doesn't look impressive. Go for IB! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alida Posted February 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 But that's the problem, the college only offers Studies. And I know A levels are kind of dreadful, but I figured if I manage all A*s, along with having much more spare time for study and more importantly, work experience, I can compensate. However I understand medical schools adore IB, so I'm feeling pretty bummed that because it doesn't offer standard, I may not be a good enough applicant. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nametaken Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 Do you have to go to a college which is really close to where you live? I live 45 minutes away from mine...but it's a good college! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alida Posted February 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 When I say close, I mean the only one in the county. I live by the sea, Dorset's pretty ignorant about IB. The college is actually in the top 30 of all IB schools according to The Financial Times. It would already take me an hour to get there, going by bus and then train. So I'm pretty stumped. :/ Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeG Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 To get the clearest opinion on the matter, you can always ask the universities you want to attend. They'll clearly voice their opinion on the matter. Just remember to ask a few from each level. Don't just ask Harvard, Oxford and Yale their opinions on the subject. Try asking some less selective schools what they think too. Just copy-paste an email to all the school, but remember to change the name of the university in the letter lol. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nametaken Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 When I say close, I mean the only one in the county. I live by the sea, Dorset's pretty ignorant about IB. The college is actually in the top 30 of all IB schools according to The Financial Times. It would already take me an hour to get there, going by bus and then train. So I'm pretty stumped. :/Oh sorry. I had no idea that you lived in Dorset. Check with the universities you wish to go to if Studies is ok. I know that's already been mentioned, but that's all the advice I can give you. Btw, sorry for the earlier replies, I know they were very brief but I had to rush off somewhere. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bishup Posted February 26, 2011 Report Share Posted February 26, 2011 A level. Don't waste your time and effort. And if you decide to take the IB doing math studies is not a problem for med school in the UK. The only one's that would not consider you are Cambridge and perhaps UCL and Imperial but the rest are fine with math studies.I am very much pro IB but with a university study as difficult to get into as medicine I would advise against doing the IB simply because with the small workload of the A levels you can think of ticking the boxes of what med schools want in terms of work experience, extra curriculars and other.I know because I applied for med and I'm currently doing the IB, well obviously Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 I would also suggest you do A Levels - there's no real favouritism with IB versus A Levels that I am able to see, and the IB does give you a significantly higher workload. There are some benefits of doing the IB in that if your EE is related to Medicine/science it might give you something to talk about, but overall I'd say there's no real difference. Most Medics will be A Level students still.You can opt to do the IB fine, but what I suppose I think it's important you know is that the IB doesn't make you look better on an application. It gives you a broader education, for sure, and in my opinion it prepares you better for a lot of the work you receive at University level, but Universities do not practice any active discrimination that I've ever been able to detect! So if you pick the IB, pick it for the other reasons, not because you think it'll get you into Uni better. I picked it because we were told that Universities love IB students, but if they do love IB students, it's one of those unspoken loves involving acting like nothing is different...! Mostly I feel slightly lied to by my school, because they told me that the IB was definitely going to brighten up my application. Fact is that if Unis went based on UCAS points, only (relatively successful) IB students would ever get places, and people achieving well at A Level wouldn't... so to my knowledge UCAS points are basically redundant, and because the IB is scored overall much higher than A Levels, it's almost impossible to compare them without underestimating an individual's potential. Unless 2 people do the same course, you can never tell.Maths Studies is fine if it genuinely is the highest level offered. I know some people at UCL who did Maths Studies and are Medics - just to pick up on what Bishup said Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaydon Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 I myself think it's good to do HL Biology, HL Chemistry and Psychology if you can. Don't do Maths Studies, you will have to do a bridging course. Griffith University in Queensland, Australia have a Health Studies Certificate where you can take 3 university topics on, say, Biomedical science and then come out with 7 bonus credits or something crazy like that. You have to do HL Bio, HL Chem and at least SL Psych for it though. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alida Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Thank you all for the replies, I've decided to take A levels as it will give me time to train as a nurse as well, and I'd rather not risk maths studies being hated. I'll take Chemistry Biology Physics History and Psychology to AS, then drop either Physics or Psychology. It's a shame I can't do IB as I have researched it and felt very excited about the challenge, but I'm looking forward to, well, having a life. And not taking french. :') Thanks guys, you really helped. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nametaken Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Thank you all for the replies, I've decided to take A levels as it will give me time to train as a nurse as well, and I'd rather not risk maths studies being hated. I'll take Chemistry Biology Physics History and Psychology to AS, then drop either Physics or Psychology. It's a shame I can't do IB as I have researched it and felt very excited about the challenge, but I'm looking forward to, well, having a life. And not taking french. :') Thanks guys, you really helped.Good luck! (SIGH) You're right about one thing: the amount of free time you'd get doing the IB is quite limited. I've got soooooo much homework. (GROAN) Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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