MEGATHREAD - The GEM "Am I Good Enough?" General Questions & Advice Megathread

Glasgow just wanted to see content rather than grades methinks and Aberdeen need to ensure your degree contains enough Chemistry. I just sent the transcripts to the others as a pre-emptive move as thought they would ask eventually anyway.

good luck.

(edited 12 years ago)

Thanks

OP

Original post by SusanR

Hello,

Looking for some advice regarding whether it is even worth me applying for GEM.

I have a BSc in Nursing Studies that I passed with distinction (however no honours), but I have still left with a degree.

I am an intensive care nurse and I am just finishing a post graduate diploma in critical care.

Is there any point in me applying due to my degree background? I studied in Glasgow where you could do the degree in 3 years and leave, but I think it is different in England where alot of people have honours degree in 3. Hence, the confusion.

I think you should contact the universities you are interested in applying to and ask them about their entry requirements. :smile:

Reply 143

itzme

14

hello! I have volunteered regularly for 3 months at the hospital as a feedıng volunteer but I stopped because I felt I was beıng poıntless. Basıcally, I volunteered for less than 1 hour each week, patıents were eıther sleepıng-beıng seen by a doctor-wıth relatıves,so I could not really chat to them. Very few requıred feedıng (most refused to eıther eat or be fed) so ın the end I just put the trays on theır tables and moved on to the next patıents. I helped clean afterwards.
After 3 months of no volunteerıng , I am plannıng to start agaın regularly as I thınk even ıf I feel useless, ıt ıs better to do somethıng than stop altogether. I do not thınk that the person responsıble knows about my absence. I feel terrıble but I also want to know how bad thıs wıll look on my form?
The scenarıo: I have started volunteerıng at the begınnıng of the year regularly then stopped then plannıng on re-startıng defınıtıvely.
I know I sound unrelaıble but I felt there was not much use for me.

Reply 144

itzme

14

by the way, I am a graduate applıcant predıcted 2.1 ın hıstory and wıth a broad range of short term experıences (a few months each)

Reply 145

GodspeedGehenna

3

Original post by itzme

hello! I have volunteered regularly for 3 months at the hospital as a feedıng volunteer but I stopped because I felt I was beıng poıntless. Basıcally, I volunteered for less than 1 hour each week, patıents were eıther sleepıng-beıng seen by a doctor-wıth relatıves,so I could not really chat to them. Very few requıred feedıng (most refused to eıther eat or be fed)

A large amount of my time as a HCA was spent assisting feeding or encouraging those who refused to eat. I find it hard to believe that you couldn't find patients to help.

Reply 146

itzme

14

Original post by GodspeedGehenna

A large amount of my time as a HCA was spent assisting feeding or encouraging those who refused to eat. I find it hard to believe that you couldn't find patients to help.

well I dıd feed a few tımes but each day we got a lıst of the patıents who had a red tray and needed feedıng (when I went there only 1v or 2 needed help and the nurses ınsısted to do ıt because of the character of the patıent). But then I went on the same day each week so maybe they dıd not have many patıents to feed on these partıcular days?
The ones who refused to eat: I was told to respect theır dıgnıty-autonomy and leave them.

Reply 147

Monco

Is there a list somewhere that tells which uni's accept graduates for undergraduate courses?

For eg. Glasgow doesn't state on their website that they accept graduates, but I've seen that many graduates apply to Glasgow anyway.

Reply 148

sweetchilli

7

Original post by Monco

Is there a list somewhere that tells which uni's accept graduates for undergraduate courses?

For eg. Glasgow doesn't state on their website that they accept graduates, but I've seen that many graduates apply to Glasgow anyway.

here is Glasgow's info...

http://www.gla.ac.uk/faculties/medicine/undergraduatestudy/medicine/mbchbdegreeprogramme/admissions/

http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_168916_en.pdf

most uni's do accept a certain number of grad's on their 5 year course.

start here http://www.medschoolsonline.co.uk/index.php?pageid=12 and then check the actual uni website as this is a wee bit out of date

Reply 149

Monco

Thanks. I was looking at this page http://www.gla.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/medicine/ there was no mention of graduates.

Reply 150

smh30

I took my UKCAT yesterday and scored a 730 average. Which 4-year programmes are advisable to apply to with this score (not many I'm sure). I've got an undergraduate degree, masters and D.Phil all from Oxford. Any help would be much appreciated!

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 151

Magician

15

Original post by smh30

I took my UKCAT yesterday and scored a disappointing 630 average. Which 4-year programmes are advisable to apply to with this score (not many I'm sure). I've got an undergraduate degree, masters and D.Phil all from Oxford. Any help would be much appreciated!

Maybe not barts/sheffield/kings/imperial... leicester look at your application as a whole and not just your UKCAT score (providing you have a years worth of clinical experience minimum)

Reply 152

annaroberts20

you could sit the gamsat and use that to apply to gamsat unis? Or you could apply to birmingham, bristol and liverpool which do not use ukcat providing you meet their other requirements.

Reply 153

Princess Bubbles

OP

16

Original post by smh30

I took my UKCAT yesterday and scored a disappointing 630 average. Which 4-year programmes are advisable to apply to with this score (not many I'm sure). I've got an undergraduate degree, masters and D.Phil all from Oxford. Any help would be much appreciated!

To be honest, that is quite a low score on the UKCAT for entry onto a 4 year program. I think you would struggle to get interviews for a 5 year program too. Your best bet will be to look at applying to unis that do not use an entrance exam ( Cambridge or Birmingham) or that use the GAMSAT. It does not matter how qualified you feel you are, the entrance exam plays a very large part in shortlisting for interview and with that UKCAT score I'm sorry to say you will be below the cut off for the majority (if not all) the UKCAT unis. Look at the OP for a list of all the unis that have GEP courses and which entrance exam they use.

Since your UG degree is from Oxford, I assume you have AAA at A-level. If you have A-level chemistry, then Cambridge would be a good uni to apply for although you should check the website for further requirements.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 154

annaroberts20

I understand that if you have a valid GAMSAT score from last year and you retake it again this year to improve, that UCAS will receive the highest score and send that to the universities you've applied to. But what do you have to do to ensure this happens? like what do you have to put on UCAS form or tell ACER so that they know you have two valid scores and that you want the highest one submitting?

subscribed!

i believe you need completed degrees as opposed to predicted results for some uni's. Which ones can you apply to in your 2nd year?

Reply 157

pegler

Hi,

I sat UKCAT on monday and sadly only scored 2395. I'm currently at birmingham doing biological sciences (expecting to get a 2.1) and I will consider 4 or 5 year courses. I'm sitting Gamsat but not holding out too much hope!

So my question is, is anyone aware of universities that place little emphasis on UKCAT scores? Assuming the soton cut-off doesn't go up too much I should be ok there, so will put down both 4 and 5 year courses.

I have Chemistry, Maths and Geography at A level (AAA) and Biology at AS (A).

Any advice would be great

Reply 158

thegodofgod

19

Prepare loads for GAMSAT now (if you have enough time - I'm not familiar with that test)

Good luck :smile:

Or, try and apply to schools which do not use the UKCAT so much, such as Keele.

Reply 159

Beska

21

Original post by pegler

Hi,

I sat UKCAT on monday and sadly only scored 2395. I'm currently at birmingham doing biological sciences (expecting to get a 2.1) and I will consider 4 or 5 year courses. I'm sitting Gamsat but not holding out too much hope!

So my question is, is anyone aware of universities that place little emphasis on UKCAT scores? Assuming the soton cut-off doesn't go up too much I should be ok there, so will put down both 4 and 5 year courses.

I have Chemistry, Maths and Geography at A level (AAA) and Biology at AS (A).

Any advice would be great

That is a very low score especially when certain GEM medical schools place such a large emphasis on the UKCAT, even more so than the equivalent A100 courses. The best you can do is go for GAMSAT medical schools. :smile: