[fourdigit]

(Original post by username2012)
hi TSR,
I am in need of your advice.
I missed my offer to study medicine in 2011 by a few UMS marks in chemistry, and so decided to take a gap year, resit in january and apply at the same time. I was limited to which universities I could apply to, it ended up being Peninsula, Liverpool, Lancaster and East Anglia.
I have been rejected by all four, some post and some pre interview.

WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT?! I am medicine crazy and cannot get myself together. I have AAAa now but am planning to resit a few papers gain in June to get A*.

so I have thought about some options:
-take another gap year
-take up my backup (pharmacy) and apply whilst on the course and drop out if if get any offers. (ofcourse that will limit me even more as some universities do not accept applications from students already doing a degree, is there anyway I can do it so they dont find out)
-go abroad ? any medical schools you guys can recommend?
-do GEM entry, (I reallyyy dont want to though )

any help is very much appreciated!!

My best friend got rejected on all 5 offers, he had to take a gap year. He has straight A's and A's in college, the only downside is that he studies too much and lacks extra curriculum activities. Since he can't reapply to the same university, he applied to liverpool and he enjoys it there. In fact, he's loving university. He will graduate this year and become a doctor

So I'm happy for him, don't worry if you rejected. If you wish to continue on medicine, do take a gap year if you want and apply to the universities above. I would not advise to take a pharmacy and leave when offered. It just shows complications and ideally you want to study medicine.

So yeah my friend took a gap year, did volunteering work and worked at a pharmacy and now is a doctor. You don't have to worry about medicine degree because doctors are in very high demand as the population are over billions.

Treat yourself to a gap year, gap year doesn't sound so bad. In his gap year, he was very disappointed, but as a best friend, I encouraged him to stay positive and he managed to get through and he doesn't regret his gap year. You can do alot in a gap year, just figure out a plan.

Medicine is competitive, having only good grades doesn't show much as who you are, in comparison to those who have volunteered, and who has good grades. If that make sense? Yes many people have got good grades and done volunteering work, helping the community.

Now my friend have more character in his personal statement besides work As they say, there's more to life than just work

[Dhill94]

(Original post by a05aafzul)
I really feel for you, its tough as anything out there, as you obviously know;


-take another gap year
This will show a lot of dedication which SOME universities will like... I'd spend your gap year gaining more work experience and/or maybe a full time job in the nhs as opposed to resitting examss...
-take up my backup (pharmacy) and apply whilst on the course and drop out if if get any offers. (ofcourse that will limit me even more as some universities do not accept applications from students already doing a degree, is there anyway I can do it so they dont find out)
That's entirely a choice down to you, but is a lot more hassle (and cost)
-go abroad ? any medical schools you guys can recommend?
Urmm... theres a place in prague? look into it, but good look finidng 13,000 euros fees
-do GEM entry, (I reallyyy dont want to though )
GEM is just (possibly more) competitive! I personally wouldnt recommend it

Bulgaria (Pleven) is 4500GPB per year and Malta is free tuition

[Pick up the pieces]

(Original post by Petro_99)
I`d say try again if you are really passionate

i`m sort of on a gap year- didnt achieve 3A`s last year (and 4 rejections), so am resitting and have managed an offer for medicine

first of all get feedback from all your universities and see where you went wrong, only that way you`ll know how to improve!

my P.S. last year was "too academic" so this year I did alot of non-academic stuff aswell and it worked! but then again it depends on your reasons for rejection.

I wouldnt do your back-up plan just yet, give it another go

hope that helps

Please can you advise what med school(s) you got an offer from. Thanks.

[Petro_99]

(Original post by Pick up the pieces)



Please can you advise what med school(s) you got an offer from. Thanks.

well i only have one offer- but that`s enough!

i have an offer from manchester!! i think you should ring up/email different med schools explaining your grades and whether you have a chance or not? and then focus on catering yourself to that.

you say you got rejected post-interview your interview skills probably need working on! Ive found for that its actually a really good idea to go to places like jobseekers and student services (which help with job interviews) and just basically ask for some interview skills help.

As with medical interviews you are applying for a job really, and sometimes in interviews i think applicants miss out little things that really make a big difference to the image that you present of yourself.

if you have any questions feel free to PM me!

[POWCATTY]

i took 2 gap years, and i finally got an offer this year (on my third application cycle).
id say take another year out to improve your application. phone/email the unis asking for personal feedback and work out where you need to improve. i spent my first year volunteering in a special needs school and my local hospital, as well as getting more work experience and various other things. this year ive got a job, and ive gone back to college to get back into the swing of studying. it seriously made my application stand out and because of all the stuff i was so much more prepared for the applications.
another piece of advice is to really work on the ukcat, i managed to improve my average score by about 90 marks, which i was pretty chuffed with, all because i practiced for about 2 months before hand.
make sure you look at the unis selection process and choose ones that suit you. eg, some use a high ukcat cutoff, others have bmat (which is soooo hard btw!), some take your AS grade into account, some dont let you resit....because i got a D in my AS subject i emailed every single uni my grades and asked them whether id get through their selection criteria. about half emailed back saying no, so it was a good job i asked!
you mentioned that you got interviews, obviously they werent as strong as the other candidates, so all you have to do there is practice interview techniques with loads of people. i found it a bit emarrassing talking to friends/family as if it were an interview so i organised one with the college, and then just practised by myself thinking about all the possible questions and answers. i found it very helpful just talking to family though, about recent issues etc....and hearing their sides (which did surprise me a lot of the time lol). also practising in the mirror was quite helpful....i could see if i was slouching or making a face or something, so could correct it easily. also make sure you know a lot about the uni before you have you interview...i got stumped in a sheffield one when i was asked to give 3 interesting facts about the city, 2 things i liked about the city (had to be different), 2 things i liked about the uni (again, had to be different) and something interesting about the uni. i was like seriously?! so yeah....i didnt have enough facts lol.
the absolute key is you PS though...start proper early and give it to everyone to look at. organise work exp and take a couple of copies with you to ask the juniors/consultants to look at. ask around and youd be surprised at the connections some people have. i got mine emailed off to some people who actually used to look/mark peoples statements, just by talking to some people at the hospital when i was volunteering. i was like 'omg yes!'.
honestly, you should try again. the application process is just a game, all you need to do is figure out the rules, then beat them. i think ive mentioned pretty much everything important....so hopefully itll help if you decide to reapply.
good luck

[yothi5]

Give up? Maybe you are just not good enough for it. Nothing wrong with that.

[Pick up the pieces]

(Original post by Petro_99)
well i only have one offer- but that`s enough!

i have an offer from manchester!! i think you should ring up/email different med schools explaining your grades and whether you have a chance or not? and then focus on catering yourself to that.

you say you got rejected post-interview your interview skills probably need working on! Ive found for that its actually a really good idea to go to places like jobseekers and student services (which help with job interviews) and just basically ask for some interview skills help.

As with medical interviews you are applying for a job really, and sometimes in interviews i think applicants miss out little things that really make a big difference to the image that you present of yourself.

if you have any questions feel free to PM me!

Thanks Petro. Really good advice. Congratulations to you once again on getting into med school. A real achievement!

[halfadoc]

(Original post by Dhill94)
haha :P It's the university of Pleven in Bulgaria. And fortunately it doesn't. You a medical student now?

Yup somehow a fourth year (its gone ridiculously fast!) . Wow fair play, thats amazing then , bulgaria is a lovely country too (or was when I went on holiday there about 10 years ago!)

[Dhill94]

(Original post by halfadoc)
Yup somehow a fourth year (its gone ridiculously fast!) . Wow fair play, thats amazing then , bulgaria is a lovely country too (or was when I went on holiday there about 10 years ago!)

Cheers. This response is quite reassuring as the reviews I have heard have been very mixed! As I've never been there the only thing I have to judge by just now are reviews so a bit anxious. I'll go over and see the place for myself though before deciding to enroll (but It would have to be a disaster for me not to)

[RexyB]

(Original post by Petro_99)
well i only have one offer- but that`s enough!

i have an offer from manchester!! i think you should ring up/email different med schools explaining your grades and whether you have a chance or not? and then focus on catering yourself to that.

you say you got rejected post-interview your interview skills probably need working on! Ive found for that its actually a really good idea to go to places like jobseekers and student services (which help with job interviews) and just basically ask for some interview skills help.

As with medical interviews you are applying for a job really, and sometimes in interviews i think applicants miss out little things that really make a big difference to the image that you present of yourself.

if you have any questions feel free to PM me!

So Manchester accept resit applicants? Please say yes, please say yes...

[hopes]

(Original post by RexyB)
So Manchester accept resit applicants? Please say yes, please say yes...

yep, but you need AAB first time around and then have to achieve an A* in the subject resat.

[hopes]

and OP, refer to my link for some moral support (its my academic profile)
I too applied three times, missed my offer first time, resat and got 4 rejections and finally started a degree and applied again and Im starting medical school in September!

Dont give up!

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/show...3#post36880603

[Petro_99]

(Original post by RexyB)
So Manchester accept resit applicants? Please say yes, please say yes...

(Original post by hopes)
yep, but you need AAB first time around and then have to achieve an A* in the subject resat.

yes they do!

by the way it depends on what youve already achieved. i got a B in chem last year, and for my offer they just want an A for chem.
i was worried it would be an A* but it isnt!!!

[hopes]

(Original post by Petro_99)
yes they do!

by the way it depends on what youve already achieved. i got a B in chem last year, and for my offer they just want an A for chem.
i was worried it would be an A* but it isnt!!!

congratulations

[Petro_99]

(Original post by hopes)
congratulations

thanks!

i guess it just shows if you want it enough, you can do it!!!

oh and congratulations to you too!!