How to make the best medicine uni choices

Hi,

I would like some advice on the best way of choosing my 4 medicine universities. I will be reapplying for 2013 entry, as I have ended up with 4 rejections this year. I feel like that when I had my choices the first time round, I had based it on if I liked the university on the open day, and if I enjoyed talking to the students that studied there, and basically did some research on those unis. I had originally applied for: Cambridge, UCL, King's College, Barts and the London.

I would like to be more tactful and think through my choices more carefully when choosing universities for next year's entry. I have 4 A's at AS, and an A*A*A prediction for A2 (Bio, Chem, Maths). I was thinking of looking up League Tables and applying to the lowest ranked universities for Medicine, but league tables are really unreliable, so are there any better methods?

Wait to see what your grades are what what you score in the UKCAT next year. When you have these you can think about applying to ones that do/don't place emphasis on GCSEs or A-levels etc, those that place emphasis on the interview, UKCAT, etc. All depends on your circumstances.

For me I tried to apply tactically based on the universities that don't use the "once at interview stage everyone has a clean slate" as I'm not great at interview. HYMS state on their website they consider everything, St Andrews place only 20% emphasis on the interview but a whooping 50% on grades (which goes in my favour), Cambridge well I wanted a shot at it, and Barts I heard they like reapplicants.

Don't base it on league tables as quite often lower ones are still very popular. There's not a correlation between league table ranking (which apparently means nothing) and competition.

looking at your sig, good luck with that interview at barts today mate.

Thanks I had it - was at 9. I was surprisingly nervous and don't think it went well, but we shall see.

Hi,

I would like some advice on the best way of choosing my 4 medicine universities. I will be reapplying for 2013 entry, as I have ended up with 4 rejections this year. I feel like that when I had my choices the first time round, I had based it on if I liked the university on the open day, and if I enjoyed talking to the students that studied there, and basically did some research on those unis. I had originally applied for: Cambridge, UCL, King's College, Barts and the London.

I would like to be more tactful and think through my choices more carefully when choosing universities for next year's entry. I have 4 A's at AS, and an A*A*A prediction for A2 (Bio, Chem, Maths). I was thinking of looking up League Tables and applying to the lowest ranked universities for Medicine, but league tables are really unreliable, so are there any better methods?

Hi,

I would like some advice on the best way of choosing my 4 medicine universities. I will be reapplying for 2013 entry, as I have ended up with 4 rejections this year. I feel like that when I had my choices the first time round, I had based it on if I liked the university on the open day, and if I enjoyed talking to the students that studied there, and basically did some research on those unis. I had originally applied for: Cambridge, UCL, King's College, Barts and the London.

I would like to be more tactful and think through my choices more carefully when choosing universities for next year's entry. I have 4 A's at AS, and an A*A*A prediction for A2 (Bio, Chem, Maths). I was thinking of looking up League Tables and applying to the lowest ranked universities for Medicine, but league tables are really unreliable, so are there any better methods?

NEVER EVER underestimate a med schools league table position... sometimes its makes them MORE competitive.

I would say only 1 bmat uni (if any) and also apply to places according to your strengths. Are you more academic or extra-curricular/sporty.
Also, actually look up the admissions process, not just the general requirements. This will help you see how far you will get in the process. Some places have a cut-off, others don't. Some rank and select the top 25%, others have a fixed figure.
Really quizz the unis, and dont be afraid to ring them/contact them to ask their opinion about you

Surely thats the point though - you can't tell anything about teh admissions of a medical school from its league table position?

Apart from anything else, they completely change between different tables and different years. I remember one (I think it was Brighton) that I was looking at. In one league table, it was 10th, and in another, it was right at the bottom. Means nothing.

NEVER EVER underestimate a med schools league table position... sometimes its makes them MORE competitive.

I would say only 1 bmat uni (if any) and also apply to places according to your strengths. Are you more academic or extra-curricular/sporty.
Also, actually look up the admissions process, not just the general requirements. This will help you see how far you will get in the process. Some places have a cut-off, others don't. Some rank and select the top 25%, others have a fixed figure.
Really quizz the unis, and dont be afraid to ring them/contact them to ask their opinion about you