Southampton BM4 2013

Anyone else receive a postcard from Soton today?

Yup I did. A nice "Thank You for applying" card. Now I just need to wait til Mid-March, then I'll get another that says "Thank you for applying, but..."

I was rejected 15th March in the last cycle. It's a long wait...

Did they give you feedback? What have you changed for this cycle?

Soton have a cutoff of bottom 25% of UKCAT scores overall. that's likely to be 555 this year I think.
After you make the cutoff UKCAT doesn't play a part. If you meet the minimum entry criteria, then its basically all personal statement.

Min Criteria:
Degree: An upper second-class honours degree in any subject
A levels: A minimum of grade E in A level chemistry or in chemistry and biology/human biology at AS level.
GCSEs or equivalent: A minimum grade C in mathematics, English and double award science (or equivalent). You may offer qualifications which are equivalent to GCSE.
You will be expected to show evidence of fairly recent study.

Personal Statement:
You will be asked to demonstrate that you:

are self-motivated and have initiative
are literate and articulate
are able to interact successfully with others
have learnt from your experiences of interacting with people in health or social care settings - this may draw on what you have learnt from your own life experiences (e.g. friends and family), or more formalised activity (e.g. paid or voluntary work, or work shadowing)

Ok I meet the UKCAT/academia criterea.....

So could anyone with any idea of how they judge those other criteria give me any sort of insight into how I stand:

You will be asked to demonstrate that you:

are self-motivated and have initiative

I've self taught myself A-Level Chem and Bio in the space of a year and acheieved AB. I've found myself two HCA roles in different aspects of Medicine.

are literate and articulate

I got a 2:1 in my Law degree, and my PS statement was written well....

are able to interact successfully with others

I've worked in health care related employment for the two years since graduating. Obviously this involves successful interaction with others. I've been a member of numerous Sports teams.

have learnt from your experiences of interacting with people in health or social care settings - this may draw on what you have learnt from your own life experiences (e.g. friends and family), or more formalised activity (e.g. paid or voluntary work, or work shadowing)

I've worked as a Support Worker for Adults with learning difficulties and brain injuries. And then as a HCA on firstly an orthopaedic trauma ward, followed by at a specialist Eye Hospital. I think I reflected very well on these roles in my PS.

No offence intended - but you've written pretty much what everyone else will have written....

Well that was my original question. How the **** do they discriminate if UKCAT and academics are disregarded once criteria are met?

And I doubt I've written what most people have written. Most people will be applying straight from their final undergraduate year, with little or limited work experience. Many will be second-time applicants who failed to get in in their first attempt and took up a related degree such as bio-medical sciences. How can they demonstrate initiative, self-motivation and experience with interacting with those in the healthcare sector to same extent I have?

Well they could have themselves, or friends or family been in a situation which required medical care. They could have worked part time as a HCA throughout uni, been a first aider for >10 yrs (St John run a Cadet scheme), spent every summer in a developing country volunteering at a hospital?