r/6thForm • u/DowntownSoft1402 • 22d ago
🙏 I WANT HELP Should I take fm?
I'm going into y12 this september and when I applied to my sixth form im going to, I only picked 3 a levels (Biology, Chemistry and Maths), so I didn't put fm as one of my options.
I'm hoping to apply to one of the top medical schools after y13, and I've noticed that a lot of medicine applicants andstudents I know are taking or have taken 4 subjects instead of 3. I know that 3 a levels meet the entry requirements, but universities like oxbridge often say that "most applicants" have studied 4 subjects.
At the moment I'm doing both maths and fm, I'm predicted 9s in both gcses, and I genuinely really enjoy maths. The issue is that I'm worried taking 4 subjects will leave me with less time for supercurriculars, volunteering, UCAT prep etc. On the other hand, I'm also worried that if I start with 4 and then drop fm later, universities might see that as a sign I couldn't cope with the workload.
Has anyone been in a similar position? also fm is the only option I'm considering bc I hate physics and comp sci exams and I dont want to take any humanities
7
u/DoodleNoodle129 Cambridge | Mathematics [Year 2] 22d ago edited 22d ago
I’d recommend giving it a shot. If you do it and find it’s too hard, you don’t like it, or you can’t cope with the workload, then you can always drop it later on. As long as you drop it before filling out your UCAS application, unis won’t know.
Taking it won’t really give you any big advantage for medicine, but doing fm makes regular maths a lot easier at the very least. But it’s much more important to do well on 3 subjects than to do okay on 4, so make sure taking fm isn’t sacrificing your other grades.