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GSCE enquiry - To all who have offers!

OP

JonnyW451

Hey sorry to hear about ur rejections and gud luck for Edinburgh - like other people have said I fink unfortunately gettin a medicine offer is just a matter of luck these days!!!
I got 9 A*s for GCSE and 5 As as AS in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History and Critical Thinking
I did loadz of work experience -2 years worth!! but so did my friend who has exactly the same grades as me and did work experience for the same amount of time even at the same place and she has 3 rejections without interview at the moment - makes me feel really guilty coz I fink she really deserves a place -shes such a nice person and I fink she'd make a great doctor!! - I'm sure some of the admissions tutors just get sick of lookin through applications and just pick a random pile to reject - theres no other explanation as to why good candidates such as urself who meet all of the supposed "Selection Criteria" are being rejected without interview!!

neway my advice - dont give up!!

thankyou everyone for your advice
bad news
edinburgh rejected me this morning :frown:

I knew it was going to happen so I dont know why I feel so sad!

o well....next year eh!?

xxxxxxx

Reply 21

michaela_banana

9

So sorry to hear that. It's such a shame that they kept you waiting this long for that response. Roll on next year. The reapplicants on this forum and msg seem to be having a better than average time of it anyway! Plus you have an excuse to do pretty much whatever you want to do for a year.

Reply 22

z.r.e.

so sorry to hear bout ur rejections :frown:

dont give up & apply nxt yr. try and find out why u got rejected though 'cause you dont want it to happen next year, perhaps it was your reference...my friend got 4 rejections last yr and when she read her reference she knew why.
Personally i dont understand the system esp leeds, every1 i know, including myself, has been rejected w/o intvw and apparantly none of us "have enought points":eviltongu

Reply 23

parag

10

I got just the one offer (and one rejection) and got 8A*s, 2As at GCSE and 6As at AS (Maths, Bio, Chem, Physics, German, General Studies) although General Studies doesn't really count :biggrin:

. I'd taught myself physics and went on about it in my PS and my reference talked about it too, but then one of the biggest PBL unis, Manchester, rejected me because I didn't score highly enough on 'Commitment to a career in Medicine' and 'Leadership qualities', which is fair enough as I did more work experience than voluntary caring and neither was I a prefect nor did I do DofE. In fact, from according to the letter I got when I asked why I'd been rejected, 'Intelectual Potential' carried just as much weight as 'Commitment to a career in Medicine'. So even if you don't get in this year, there's always next year and if you've done something worthwhile in your gap year then it'd probably make your application even stronger :smile:

Reply 24

nuclear_pavlova

OP

2

z.r.e.

so sorry to hear bout ur rejections :frown:

dont give up & apply nxt yr. try and find out why u got rejected though 'cause you dont want it to happen next year, perhaps it was your reference...my friend got 4 rejections last yr and when she read her reference she knew why.
Personally i dont understand the system esp leeds, every1 i know, including myself, has been rejected w/o intvw and apparantly none of us "have enought points":eviltongu

yeah im trying not to get too upset...there are many in my position so Im not alone! Leeds are bering very weird with interviews and rejections...I have no idea who has got in!!!
and that was my security choice!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway....am looking forward to my gap year..lots of things planned...and now I get to see where my boyfriend ends up to do history (because we are planning on staying together) spend some time with him and look at universities around there....which is the york/midlands area...so lots of choice!!! But I just want to get in somewhere really!

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Reply 25

samie

1

every1 who has posted here has a string of A*'s and offers... :eek:

Reply 26

lionsden

Best of luck with Edinburgh nuclear_pavlova. Would you mind writing here your GCSE grades and A-levels? You have loads of work experience so the only other thing I can think of is that maybe you got a couple of Bs or something......
I got 9* and 3 As. 5 As at AS and predicted 6 for A level.
So far only one offer though from Cambridge uni and was rejected from Manchester without interview.

Medical schools are just too over-subscribed and really a bit of a lottery. Don't give up though - you seem really passionate and if Edinburgh say no then go through ucas extra and clearing - last year Newcastle med school went through UCAS clearing apprently - there's always hope :smile:

Reply 27

Madprof

12

samie

every1 who has posted here has a string of A*'s and offers... :eek:

Bear in mind that not many people would be as happy to post if they had a string of D's ...

Reply 28

samie

1

Madprof

Bear in mind that not many people would be as happy to post if they had a string of D's ...

thought i can talk myself as i got 3c's and 6a*s......... :p:

Reply 29

Lecter

12

samie

......................... :p:

pufffffft navy sailor........ja mein bratwurst ist sehr lange in eine schloss in uber strass!

Reply 30

rhythm_bandit

11

My grades arent as good as everyone elses :frown:

(see sig) but I didnt get any rejections without interview so I'm happy.
What grades did you get in your gcse's nuclear_pavlova?

Reply 31

FruitcakeLiz

1

samie

every1 who has posted here has a string of A*'s and offers... :eek:

Err no- read my post!

Reply 32

shinyhappy

14

I'm not a prospective medic, but two of my best friends are.
One got 12 A*s at GCSE, 5 As at AS. They've been rejected from Oxford, Nottingham and Manchester without interview. (Did a BMAT, didn't do particularly well, hence the Oxford rejection, god knows why for the others.)
The other got 3As at GCSE, the rest Bs and a couple of Cs, AS grades were BBCD, although they've resat to get ABC. They've had an offer from Barts, and interviews at Leeds and Liverpool (rejected from Kings without interview.)
Both have reasonable amounts of work exp.

So, don't take it too badly, it obviously varies from uni to uni, and grades aren't everything!

Reply 33

oneeyedandgreen

1

i got 6A*s, 3A and a B. AABB at AS. Last year I got 2 rejections with interview, 2 without. I reapplied with AA at A level and retaking a C in history. i now have 2 offers, 1 interview and 1 rejection without interview.
I believe theres an element of luck, but work experience is so important. my grades have not changed but my work experience is much better this year.

Reply 34

nuclear_pavlova

OP

2

lionsden

Best of luck with Edinburgh nuclear_pavlova. Would you mind writing here your GCSE grades and A-levels? You have loads of work experience so the only other thing I can think of is that maybe you got a couple of Bs or something......
I got 9* and 3 As. 5 As at AS and predicted 6 for A level.
So far only one offer though from Cambridge uni and was rejected from Manchester without interview.

Medical schools are just too over-subscribed and really a bit of a lottery. Don't give up though - you seem really passionate and if Edinburgh say no then go through ucas extra and clearing - last year Newcastle med school went through UCAS clearing apprently - there's always hope :smile:

Hey...... GCSE I got jsjfeawuovcnowqr nsiop240u964
Predicted at A level AAA
BMAT 19?!? bit rubbish! but none of my unis asked for it
Extra curric-Grade 8 on piano and violin +sport!!! debating etc
Work exp.....4+ years worth

WHAT'S WRONG WITH MEE!!!!!!!!!!!!????????? I must know or i'll crack!! Am I wasting my time?

Thats my reply to all who asked what I got!!

Reply 35

Madprof

12

10 As is fine, really. Yes, lots of people will have A*s which may give them the edge over you (Birmingham apparently rejected most people with less than 6 A* this year!) but your grades aren't going to worry admissions tutors either. Excellent AS and A-level grades/predictions, make sure you achieve them incase the worst happens and you have to reapply.

What kind of work experience did you do? What's your personal statement like? As I said before, ask for feedback, but remember there is a degree of luck in the whole process and every year fantastic people get rejected.

Nowhere you applied to will even know your BMAT, though 19 is a good score and something to be proud of - enough for a guarenteed interview at UCL. A friend who's off to Cambridge grades permitting got less than you.

Good luck with Edinburgh - I'm tempted to march up there and egg the place till they let us know. Show off my maturity, patience, and all...

Reply 36

nuclear_pavlova

OP

2

Madprof

10 As is fine, really. Yes, lots of people will have A*s which may give them the edge over you (Birmingham apparently rejected most people with less than 6 A* this year!) but your grades aren't going to worry admissions tutors either. Excellent AS and A-level grades/predictions, make sure you achieve them incase the worst happens and you have to reapply.

What kind of work experience did you do? What's your personal statement like? As I said before, ask for feedback, but remember there is a degree of luck in the whole process and every year fantastic people get rejected.

Nowhere you applied to will even know your BMAT, though 19 is a good score and something to be proud of - enough for a guarenteed interview at UCL. A friend who's off to Cambridge grades permitting got less than you.

Good luck with Edinburgh - I'm tempted to march up there and egg the place till they let us know. Show off my maturity, patience, and all...

Thanks for all those lovely words of encouragement! Sadly, if you see in some earlier posts I made yesterday, I said that edinburgh rejected me yesterday morning :frown:

very annoying and a massive kick in the behind! Still do the egg march...sounds fun and Im tempted to join you to release my anger and sadness!
But again thanks for your help and kind comments...they do help me so much because Im so sad but I kind of feel that although I havent got any A*s and im obviously missing something....its nice to know Im not completely the wrong person to apply.

To answer your other questions, one teacher who usually helps people out with personal statements, described mine as the best he's ever read....which was a lovely thing to say! I generally balanced it out with extra curric and my work experience although thinned out my extra curric ie....mentioning them but not blabbering too much about them... I mainly just said what I did and how it helped my character etc.

In terms of work experience...where do I start!!
When I was very young (about 5), my grandad took me to the hospital where he worked and ran....(he's a gynacologist-however you spell that!) and he took me to meet his patients on all different wards and I was instantly influenced and stunned by everything I saw. It sounds silly but true. I visited once every 2 years and my opinion didnt change. When I turned 9,

my mum who is also a doc, started an acupuncture clinic in which I was allowed to observe and talk to her patients and do little jobs... I did that for a good 6 years. Also from a young age I went with her and my dad to work once a week, which developed into several times a week and I got to see what they did, people they treated (although this excluded surgery for I wasnt 18 obviously!)

For the last four years I have done lots of work in a retirement home and shadowing various doctors on so many different wards and recently after the tsunami, I went to some badly hurt places and helped out there at local hospitals etc... Amongst this I have done other stuff although Im probably boring you now!!

NB.... I didnt not mention that ANYONE in my family were doctors in my personal statement. Just for the record!

So thats that....Im not going to consider everything I have done as a waste, because I have met such great people over the last few years. But I don't know what else I can do...

I did email Medicin Sans Frontier and they emailed back with some useful information, so I'll just see what happens!

It really does suck though :frown:

!!!

Reply 37

Madprof

12

Ow, really sorry to hear about Edinburgh, I should have read the whole of the thread. It's their loss, it really is. I will search out the oldest, smelliest eggs I can...

Wow, you have loads of work experience!! I am really impressed! I honestly am not sure why you were rejected, as you sound like a really strong candidate. Good idea about contacting MSF, sounds exciting, hopefully you can get a great gap year planned and get offers next year.

Best of luck

Reply 38

glance

17

nuclear_pavlova

My friend who got AAAA at AS in all sciences had interviews at Cambridge and Imperial and got rejected, hull-york and cardiff rejected him without interview....

Well that's one possible reason.