Just finished my UKCAT, which uni?

UKCAT subtest scores:
VR: 570
QR: 770
AR: 870
but...SJT: band 3

academic scores:
GCSE: 5A*, 3A, B
AS: AAAAB
predict grade is probably going to be A*A*A*A

Which uni should I go for with this UKCAT result? I'm quite worried that the band 3 SJT is just going to drag me down... If you guys have any suggestion that would be great :smile:

P.S. I'm international fee status applicant

Reply 1

Wired_1800

Original post by lyujim

P.S. I'm international fee status applicant

I am not knowledgeable on medicine courses. From a high level view, I think the following will be decent to try:

1. Oxford
2. Cambridge
3. UCL
4. Imperial
5. Manchester
6. Edinburgh

Good luck.

Reply 2

YesMED

Original post by lyujim

P.S. I'm international fee status applicant

Your UKCAT average of 737 and all of your academics stack up nicely, so, with a well written personal statement there are a lot of medical schools to choose from.

Many universities do not consider SJT, and applying to some of these universities should enhance your chances significantly.

One example of a university that doesn't consider SJT is University of East Anglia (UEA). St George's (SGUL) didn't use SJT for 2016 entry, so it may be worth emailing them to see if this is still the case. Also, Keele mention on their website that they only use SJT to eliminate any applicants with Band 4, so that would be another option without any SJT-associated risk. Are you also sitting the BMAT? As most of the universities mentioned in the above comment require the BMAT instead of the UKCAT.

Good luck

Team YesMED

Reply 3

Lewishier

Original post by Wired_1800

I am not knowledgeable on medicine courses. From a high level view, I think the following will be decent to try:

1. Oxford
2. Cambridge
3. UCL
4. Imperial
5. Manchester
6. Edinburgh

Good luck.

Oxford, Cambridge, UCL and Imperial are all BMAT universities so your UKCAT doesn't matter. I would avoid Edinburgh completely with a band 3. Manchester is good though. Have you looked at Cardiff? They don't really look at UKCAT scores?

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Reply 4

Wired_1800

Original post by Lewishier

Thanks for the response. I am not knowledgeable on entry requirements for medicine. I was just listing Universities that seem to have a decent medical programmes.

Like you said, UCL, Imperial, Oxbridge and Manchester have decent programmes, but why do you advise the OP to avoid Edinburgh?

Reply 5

emem2011

Original post by Lewishier

Unfortunately Cardiff and Oxford like lots of A*s at GCSE so the OP may be at a disadvantage to other applicants. Cardiff use a scoring system where they score your top 9 GCSEs including English language, maths and your three sciences. Your four other best scoring subjects are then included and you are given 3 points for an A*, 2 points for an A and 1 for a B. I'm pretty sure the cut off last year was 26/27 and it usually is around that mark so I think the OP would be taking a risk.
Oxford also like high GCSE grades and again the average applicant has around 10A*s so that would be very risky.

Potentially Bristol may be a good option. With Birmingham I don't think they strongly use the SJT (last year it was only with borderline cases), UEA doesn't use SJT, Hull and Keele only discount people with band 4 SJT so you should be fine. I'm also pretty sure St George's don't use SJT.

You appear to have quite a high average so applying to universities that like the UKCAT may not necessarily be a bad thing, it just means you have to be careful with your SJT score. If you're thinking of doing the BMAT I'd apply to one (two maximum) BMAT universities (perhaps UCL as they take a holistic look at applications) as the BMAT is very risky. It's a difficult test as I can tell you from experience and when you have a good UKCAT score it seems pointless to risk applying to many BMAT universities.

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Kings college

Original post by Wired_1800

Edinburgh care a lot about the SJT. It accounts for 15% of your application. It's almost not worth applying without a Band 1 because it would often mean a rejection. Of course, you could make up for it potentially but it's a risk.