The Student Room Group

St Georges Medicine Applicants 2012

Scroll to see replies

Reply 60
Original post by Kingbradley6
Don't know if I'm allowed to post these? But it is a year on. Anyway, I applied to St George's last year and on the train journey home I typed out all the questions they asked. So if you want to know interview questions/stations from last year.

Spoiler



Don't know if that is allowed at all as TSR is strict with material universities don't like being made public like interview questions which could compromise performance scores :ninja:

Original post by certainmed
Is there any point in applying if I've gotten two predicted grades just below the requirements, but a kick-ass UKCAT score and personal statement?


Original post by certainmed
And my class is doing the IB for the first year, and the teachers are afraid of boosting my grades because they do not want to make mistakes. Is this something I could tell the admissions?


Probably not :no: From what I recall SGUL don't particularly use the PS in great detail, but even assuming they did, you can't be sure it is great as it is quite a subjective thing with admissions tutors - some will like it, others won't. If you don't meet the point score, then the harsh truth is that it is unlikely they will give you an interview as they of course have other candidates (many, many more than they need) who will meet and exceed the score. :sadnod:

I don't think admissions will care to be honest. I did IB so I know what you mean about teachers being wary of predicting too much as they get into trouble if they are giving out boosted/ unrealistic predictions but that left to the discretion of the teacher and the university will work on the basis of what they are given by the teacher on the assumption that they know how well you've done and potential. So sorry, but its not really an extenuating circumstance that would affect their consideration/ :redface:

That said, I was predicted about 4 points lower than what I actually got at the end of my IB, so with some hard work you can increase your score dramatically and then reapply next year if it doesn't happen this year. :smile:
Original post by Facticity
Don't know if that is allowed at all as TSR is strict with material universities don't like being made public like interview questions which could compromise performance scores :ninja:

Well it was from a previous year but okay. Could you remove it from your post then and I can do that with mine.
Reply 62
Original post by Kingbradley6

Original post by Kingbradley6
Well it was from a previous year but okay. Could you remove it from your post then and I can do that with mine.


I could be wrong, if you want to you can just ask in 'Ask A Moderator' or post on one of the MediMods walls, if you ask they can tell you whether its okay and if its not they can remove it without trouble :smile: I'm sure it would be beneficial to prospective students/interview holders if it is allowed.
Reply 63
Is a UKCAT score of 620 too low, do you think? with an A*AAA A2 prediction, i mean...it's meant to be a 'sliding scale' right?

Thank youu
Does SGUL care about AS grades, i got ABBB (two of the Bs were 1 ums off an A) and have A*A*AA predictions...
Reply 65
Original post by tania<3

Original post by tania<3
Does SGUL care about AS grades, i got ABBB (two of the Bs were 1 ums off an A) and have A*A*AA predictions...


What? :lolwut: All universities care about AS grades. If your AS grades do not match your predictions (normally the allow a +1 grade e.g. so if you got an A at AS then they would accept an A* prediction) then your chances will decrease. Can I ask why you have A*A*AA predictions when you have ABBB at AS? Surely if you can't get an A at AS and A2 is more difficult, it doesn't make sense to predict A/A*? I'm not trying to be harsh, just trying to understand. Do you have any extenuating circumstances? If not, I'm not sure how those predictions match up and I think unis would be a bit wary.
Reply 66
Original post by Megmad

Original post by Megmad
Is a UKCAT score of 620 too low, do you think? with an A*AAA A2 prediction, i mean...it's meant to be a 'sliding scale' right?

Thank youu


Don't know, SGUL will have a cut off this year, there is no way to know what that is. Your predictions are good but its not just about predictions, its also about your AS grades. What are they like?
Reply 67
Original post by Facticity
What? :lolwut: All universities care about AS grades. If your AS grades do not match your predictions (normally the allow a +1 grade e.g. so if you got an A at AS then they would accept an A* prediction) then your chances will decrease. Can I ask why you have A*A*AA predictions when you have ABBB at AS? Surely if you can't get an A at AS and A2 is more difficult, it doesn't make sense to predict A/A*? I'm not trying to be harsh, just trying to understand. Do you have any extenuating circumstances? If not, I'm not sure how those predictions match up and I think unis would be a bit wary.


Well said !
Original post by Facticity
What? :lolwut: All universities care about AS grades. If your AS grades do not match your predictions (normally the allow a +1 grade e.g. so if you got an A at AS then they would accept an A* prediction) then your chances will decrease. Can I ask why you have A*A*AA predictions when you have ABBB at AS? Surely if you can't get an A at AS and A2 is more difficult, it doesn't make sense to predict A/A*? I'm not trying to be harsh, just trying to understand. Do you have any extenuating circumstances? If not, I'm not sure how those predictions match up and I think unis would be a bit wary.


When I meant "do they care" I meant do they use your AS grades as part of the interview criteria... Most unis don't mind as long as your AS grades aren't unrealistic of your predictions.

My A*s are in Biology (that's realistic as I got 91% UMS) and Economics, which I have to admit even I was confused about! It was 1 UMS off an A at AS so really I should have gotten an A prediction but my teacher seems to think I can do it so... :dontknow:

I was also just 1 UMS off an A in Maths so my teachers seem to think I should be ok with an A prediction if I retake C2, and obviously work hard enough. Chem was 6 UMS off, and the one thing that brought down my mark was my practical assessment (42/60 UMS). My teachers told me to retake it as most people who redo them in Year 13 tend to get full marks, so if all goes well I should be able to boost my UMS :smile:
Reply 69
Original post by tania<3

Original post by tania<3
When I meant &quot;do they care&quot; I meant do they use your AS grades as part of the interview criteria... Most unis don't mind as long as your AS grades aren't unrealistic of your predictions.


When I meant 'they do care' I was referring to their consideration of your application as a whole and for reaching the minimum criteria to be able to progress in the application, hence yes; the AS grades are used to decide whether you can get an interview. I don't mean to be rude, and I don't know you so I can't say for sure, but if you only got a B at AS then why are you on A/A* prediction? That is unrealistic, universities will be very aware of the odd jump in your actual AS grades and your A2 predictions. I hope I am wrong, and I'm not saying you couldn't get those grades however, unfortunately, they don't quite match.

My A*s are in Biology (that's realistic as I got 91% UMS) and Economics, which I have to admit even I was confused about! It was 1 UMS off an A at AS so really I should have gotten an A prediction but my teacher seems to think I can do it so... :dontknow:


Hmmm, well I can understand it being close that your teacher would predict you higher but I don't know exactly if your unis will be privy to that information or, even if they were, it would matter. As you can of course appreciate, there are about 65% (I'd say higher) rejections without interview across the board for medicine every year and a lot of these will have high grades at AS and top A2 predictions - so even if you have a good predictions so will many others and that is when your AS grades are compared.

I was also just 1 UMS off an A in Maths so my teachers seem to think I should be ok with an A prediction if I retake C2, and obviously work hard enough. Chem was 6 UMS off, and the one thing that brought down my mark was my practical assessment (42/60 UMS). My teachers told me to retake it as most people who redo them in Year 13 tend to get full marks, so if all goes well I should be able to boost my UMS :smile:


Make sure you check about retakes as some unis do not accept resit candidates. Chemistry is an absolute must to have an A so that may be a bit of a funny one. I really hope you can get the grades but I would be careful about resitting as it can narrow your possible choices and I would say chose your universities carefully and don't be outrageous with choices - as I said there will be many with equally good if not better predictions and even better AS. I'm not trying to be harsh, just truthful as I think you should think about all these factors carefully. Boosting UMS is good but be realistic and study carefully what unis are saying. I hope your application goes well though - if you have any other queries, don't be afraid to ask :smile:
Original post by Facticity
When I meant 'they do care' I was referring to their consideration of your application as a whole and for reaching the minimum criteria to be able to progress in the application, hence yes; the AS grades are used to decide whether you can get an interview. I don't mean to be rude, and I don't know you so I can't say for sure, but if you only got a B at AS then why are you on A/A* prediction? That is unrealistic, universities will be very aware of the odd jump in your actual AS grades and your A2 predictions. I hope I am wrong, and I'm not saying you couldn't get those grades however, unfortunately, they don't quite match.



Hmmm, well I can understand it being close that your teacher would predict you higher but I don't know exactly if your unis will be privy to that information or, even if they were, it would matter. As you can of course appreciate, there are about 65% (I'd say higher) rejections without interview across the board for medicine every year and a lot of these will have high grades at AS and top A2 predictions - so even if you have a good predictions so will many others and that is when your AS grades are compared.



Make sure you check about retakes as some unis do not accept resit candidates. Chemistry is an absolute must to have an A so that may be a bit of a funny one. I really hope you can get the grades but I would be careful about resitting as it can narrow your possible choices and I would say chose your universities carefully and don't be outrageous with choices - as I said there will be many with equally good if not better predictions and even better AS. I'm not trying to be harsh, just truthful as I think you should think about all these factors carefully. Boosting UMS is good but be realistic and study carefully what unis are saying. I hope your application goes well though - if you have any other queries, don't be afraid to ask :smile:


Well I do realise I probably won't get in this year cause of the AS grades... but I thought I'd give it a shot this year anyways. Fingers crossed
Reply 71
Original post by tania<3

Original post by tania<3
Well I do realise I probably won't get in this year cause of the AS grades... but I thought I'd give it a shot this year anyways. Fingers crossed


Don't be put off applying, I wasn't trying to do that. I simply wanted to say that you should be very careful where you apply and research accordingly. Hope it goes well though :yy:
Reply 72
I have A*AA/a , achieved grades. MY UKCAT is 615, with VR 550. Should I apply to St Georges ?
Thanks
Reply 73
:hi:

Just got an acknowledgement from St George's!

I was wondering about the evidence for work experience. I wrote in my PS about a week's work experience I did ages ago and the people at the care home don't remember me so I don't think they'll write a letter for me and St Johns Ambulance made it clear that they won't write letters either. Will this affect my application? I've emailed 2 of my other placements for letters each and I'm pretty confident they will. I'm just concerned that they'll want letters from all my work experience placements. :s-smilie: Any advice?
Reply 74
just wanna get one thing straight will they use your lowest UKCAT score for the cutoff or your overal score???
Reply 75
Original post by cbacba
:hi:

Just got an acknowledgement from St George's!

I was wondering about the evidence for work experience. I wrote in my PS about a week's work experience I did ages ago and the people at the care home don't remember me so I don't think they'll write a letter for me and St Johns Ambulance made it clear that they won't write letters either. Will this affect my application? I've emailed 2 of my other placements for letters each and I'm pretty confident they will. I'm just concerned that they'll want letters from all my work experience placements. :s-smilie: Any advice?


If you mention a particular work experience in your PS or application i.e. on the Work EXP form, then you must have a referee and contact details. They do not accept it if they don't have referee details as they randomly call a bunch of them. I don't know what would happen if you had mentioned the one's that wouldn't give you a reference but suffice to say, the worst that would happen is that you have 2 work experiences which I would say is good enough - as long as they were of a good length and well related to medicine.

Btw, I know EXACTLY what you mean about St. John's ambulance. My leader wouldn't give me a reference and so I had to contact the brigade chief who had never heard of me and was against giving a reference for someone he had never met. But I put forward a good case stating how I had been coming long term, done training, the joining application (which my division chief, who was there when I first joined and left after a bit, lost completely hence why he had never heard of me) and had members to vouch for me and my division supported me (it was small). He then decided to give me be my referee and needless to say, without it, I don't know if I would have made it :tongue: I would say push for it :yes:

How can no one at the care home not remember you? I would really try. Maybe even find evidence you did it. Did you do it with/during school calender? The school may be able to vouch/help you.

Original post by haqh5
just wanna get one thing straight will they use your lowest UKCAT score for the cutoff or your overal score???


No one knows. Most likely the overall score.
Reply 76
Original post by Facticity

Original post by Facticity
If you mention a particular work experience in your PS or application i.e. on the Work EXP form, then you must have a referee and contact details. They do not accept it if they don't have referee details as they randomly call a bunch of them. I don't know what would happen if you had mentioned the one's that wouldn't give you a reference but suffice to say, the worst that would happen is that you have 2 work experiences which I would say is good enough - as long as they were of a good length and well related to medicine.

Btw, I know EXACTLY what you mean about St. John's ambulance. My leader wouldn't give me a reference and so I had to contact the brigade chief who had never heard of me and was against giving a reference for someone he had never met. But I put forward a good case stating how I had been coming long term, done training, the joining application (which my division chief, who was there when I first joined and left after a bit, lost completely hence why he had never heard of me) and had members to vouch for me and my division supported me (it was small). He then decided to give me be my referee and needless to say, without it, I don't know if I would have made it :tongue: I would say push for it :yes:

How can no one at the care home not remember you? I would really try. Maybe even find evidence you did it. Did you do it with/during school calender? The school may be able to vouch/help you.



No one knows. Most likely the overall score.


isnt it like the middle of the night in the UK???
Reply 77
Original post by haqh5

Original post by haqh5
isnt it like the middle of the night in the UK???


Almost 2am yea... and?
Reply 78
does anyone know when the unis get the UKCAT results in November??
Reply 79
Original post by haqh5

Original post by haqh5
does anyone know when the unis get the UKCAT results in November??


They get your results automatically without you doing anything and will be with your application when it is looked at. There is no specific time frame nor is one needed as it wouldn't help you in any way. It will be with your application so it wouldn't hold anything up. The only thing that holds your application up, is the uni itself.

Quick Reply