Cardiff Medical School Applicants 2014

One of the things cardiff look for in the Personal Statement is 'study skills' what does that mean?

Also they look for social awareness and responsibility, is that just showing you can communicate with people and your leadership skills respectively?

I'm a prospective international student who just finished his Alevels in the UAE.

My school only allowed me to do 6 GCSEs, I have 5 A*s and 1 B.

I have 4 AS all at A grade, Chemistry Biology Maths & Arabic.

I took Chemistry, Maths and Arabic into A2 level and got A*A*A.

So overall I have A*A*Aa.

In my UKCAT I got 640 with Band 2 in SJT, think I could get invited for an interview if I apply? I'm worried because I only have 6 GCSEs and I don't have that high of a grade in my UKCAT.

How does the GCSE point scoring system work?

Thanks

Hi.I want to apply here amongst others but wondered what my chances are with GCSEs 6A*,5A and AABB at AS (History,Biology,Chemistry and Maths respectively)(I am planning to drop Maths for A2) and should get AAA predicted at A2 for the others.I got a UKCAT of 710.
What are my chances??

I still haven't found an answer to your question but the admin lady has told me she'll let me know if she finds out.

I have 7a*s and 4as, so a score of 25/27 altogether
Would this be sufficient to get me an interview, or would it be risky?
AABB at AS and predicted A*A*A

That should be enough to pass the academic selection criteria. Your non-academic qualities will also be assessed to determine whether or not you get an interview.

Hiya.

By 'study skills' I think they are referring to how you manage your time efficiently. This can include things like how you balance your work with your extra-curricular activities, how you would deal with stress, and getting used to a different method of teaching (more independent learning etc).

As for social awareness, I think this is about acknowledging the fact that medicine is more than just prescribing drugs. For example, we have an aging population, which has an affect on the healthcare we deliver. Poor knowledge about the health services available affect how people deal with their conditions. Factors such as poverty, smoking and obesity have an impact on the type of conditions you will see as a doctor.

I guess you could also discuss the solutions for these problems (education etc), and perhaps look into primary and secondary care, emphasizing the idea that medicine involves working with people in the community as well as in hospitals.

Hello Angury, I am a fresher and I am very, very nervous about starting Medical School. I don't know much about the freshers week; basically what happens during the freshers week? I don't drink alcohol and so I don't want to go out on these parties and stuff. What are the first few days like; I am not a very social person, I am OK with meeting other people and stuff but I don't want to go crazy with the socializing element. In the first week (Freshers week), do we have any classes at all? How much explaining will we be given in the first few day because I don;t know much about uni life at all. Is there anything I can read to be more informed? What paperwork do I need to bring in?

Hello.

Firstly, where will you be living? If it's in student residences, then everyone else will be in the same position, and very friendly and easy to talk to.
I didn't drink alcohol at all during freshers week, nor am I a fan of the screaming and shouting that tends to happen. People will normally have pre-drinks in someones flat, which I'd recommend going to. I never drank at any of those, but it's a great way to meet new people. I'm not a very social person myself, and tend to freeze up in these sort of situations, but people will be coming up to chat to you, so it's not too hard to initiate a conversation.

Here's a list of events for Freshers:

http://www.cardiffstudents.com/whatson/freshers/

I would recommend going to the Societies Fair, so you can get an idea of what there is out there (plus we had free pizza at ours!). There is also an Official Facebook page for 2013 Cardiff Medics:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/197992660349668/?fref=ts

I used it last year before starting uni, and it kinda helps you to relax a bit, chatting to other students and helping you feel that you're not completely alone. You may also be able to find other people who aren't into the whole partying lifestyle - a couple of people in my residences didn't go out a lot, and we had a great time staying in eating pizza and just chatting.

One thing that I ended up doing which you should definitely not do is stay in my room all evening. Yeah, some drunk people can be annoying, especially the ones who have no control over their drink, but people during Freshers week are very chatty. It's unlikely you'll be standing around by yourself, people just come up to you, and you end up with your own little groups.

I can't remember much of Freshers week, so I'm sure someone can correct me.. but I think we had a few introductory lectures during that week. It was mainly by the Dean and Head of first year, and they showed us a diagram of what assessments and coursework you will have throughout the year, as well as all your panels. It should be particularly interesting for your year, since it's a new curriculum. You will also meet your medic parents, who should help you to fit in and guide you around the buildings and your lecture theatres. The main thing that helped me to meet people, since I'm not a party person, is the introductory lecture. Just sit anywhere in the lecture theatre, and start talking to the person sitting beside you - normally they'll just invite you into the conversation. It's very easy to get talking, and I eventually spent most of my freshers week (and indeed the year) with those people. There's loads of stuff to talk about, everyone's excited and nervous, and it's a fun atmosphere.

Again, my memory is poor (I'm gonna be a brilliant Dr), but once I moved into residences we were asked to register with a GP - they gave us the form to fill in, so it was pretty easy. Again though, I'm not sure where you're staying or whether you'll be living at home. I also brought my drivers license with me (any other ID is fine) to get my freshers wristband from the Box Office in the SU, but I think that's about it.

From what I can remember, you're given your login details for Blackboard (website where they upload information on lectures etc), and on there you can check out your timetable for the rest of the year. Everything is explained pretty clearly in the introductory lectures though, and if you are a bit unsure, there will be 300 other first year medical students with you who you can get lost with. This is probably very useful:

http://medicine.cf.ac.uk/medical-education/undergraduate/september-2013-enrolment-information-i/timetable/

Feel free to PM me, or indeed any of the helpful Cardiff medical students here (Elwyn is sexy), if you've got any more questions/worries. Like I said, I'm not a big party person, but it's very easy to make "acquaintances" during freshers week, and you definitely don't need alcohol. Believe me, there are people out there who don't drink, or at least know how to drink sensibly, and they're not too hard to find. There was a group of my friends in Solus during the first freshers event, none of whom drink, all huddled in a corner - and they all got along. You just need to find that little huddle.

Hello Angury, thank you for all this advice. Honestly, thanks! I was very worried about starting uni life but I feel a bit more comfortable after reading this reply from you. Please, can I ask some more questions, are you busy now?

So my non-academic qualities would be assessed by my personal statement. How heavy is the weighting on PS for Cardiff?

(Elwyn is sexy)

Hello Angury, thank you for all this advice. Honestly, thanks! I was very worried about starting uni life but I feel a bit more comfortable after reading this reply from you. Please, can I ask some more questions, are you busy now?

Haven't heard back from them yet though