Edinburgh Medical school Applicants 2014

Yeah, you're definitely still in with a chance - especially if those extra-currics are now as small a part of the application as you seem to suggest. They were only worth 6/37 points before, and now it's worth an even smaller fraction. We don't even know if they'll be considering them this admissions cycle since the criteria might have totally changed!

Remember it's not just extra-curricular achievement they're looking for; extra-curriculars themselves count, too. Just to show "hey, I have a life outside of A-levels." Edinburgh are big on this "well-rounded applicant" idea.



That's insane.
I've just e-mailed admissions myself for some more information.

Did admissions ever get back to you about the SJT weighting?

I have 2 questions - I got AAAB at AS, with the B in music. Would someone with AAAA have an advantage over me purely because of an A in the 4th AS??

Secondly, regarding the EU/UK thing, how many places are there for UK students? Is it the same as Scottish students or is it representative of how many from each country apply?

Thanks!!

Remember that I e-mailed them on a Friday evening; admissions is closed on the weekend. They'll definitely get back to me, but you guys have got to be patient. I'll be updating you all when I get answers.



You would be disadvantaged compared to someone with AAAA at AS, but only by 1 points' from the selectors worth on your application - you can easily make that up from other parts of your applications, like a good SJT score or UKCAT!
The above information is based on how things were for the previous admissions cycle, they've changed things recently, so I can't guarantee that admissions will be using the same criteria as last year.

Applicants from Scotland and the EU get one set of places, applicants from England, Wales and Northern Ireland get another set of places, and international applicants get a third set of places.

For 2013 entry, there were 107 places for applicants from Scotland and the EU, 83 places for applicants from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 17 places for international applicants. It'll likely be slightly different from 2014, but roughly the same ratio.

Does this mean Edinburgh are looking at AS Levels now?

Is Edinburgh really competitive for English students
I have:
GCSE: 9A*s 2A
AS Level: AAAAA IN biology, chemistry, maths , further maths and french
A2 predictions (respectively): AA*A*A*A*
UKCAT: 827.5

Is my application competitive enough? (I mucked up a module and got a B but overall still got an A for biology)



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Remember that I e-mailed them on a Friday evening; admissions is closed on the weekend. They'll definitely get back to me, but you guys have got to be patient. I'll be updating you all when I get answers.



You would be disadvantaged compared to someone with AAAA at AS, but only by 1 points' from the selectors worth on your application - you can easily make that up from other parts of your applications, like a good SJT score or UKCAT!
The above information is based on how things were for the previous admissions cycle, they've changed things recently, so I can't guarantee that admissions will be using the same criteria as last year.

Applicants from Scotland and the EU get one set of places, applicants from England, Wales and Northern Ireland get another set of places, and international applicants get a third set of places.

For 2013 entry, there were 107 places for applicants from Scotland and the EU, 83 places for applicants from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 17 places for international applicants. It'll likely be slightly different from 2014, but roughly the same ratio.

Ah ok, thanks! I got 712.5 and band 1 for my UKCAT so would this make up for it? Also how much do GCSEs come into the process, I have 10A*s

Aha, the rest of your application is perfect. I don't think you have anything to worry about.
GCSEs used to make up half of your academic score - I'm not sure what weighting they'll be given now.

Remember the importance of that PS!

Thankyou!! You have been so helpful!! Now I need to persuade my dad to drive/ let me go on the train all the way to Edinburgh for the open day!

Did admissions ever get back to you about the SJT weighting?

This is the email I got from them:
Dear me

Thank you for your email.

The breakdown of our selection weightings for applications received by 15th October 2013 is as follows:

50% - academic

30% - non academic (half of which is based on the situational judgement section of the UKCAT test).

20% - UKCAT (excluding situational judgement test).

I hope this has answered your questions. If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,


but then I saw someone on another thread say they rang up and they said SJT won't be scored, just be considered alongside PS/Reference, so I don't really know.

but then I saw someone on another thread say they rang up and they said SJT won't be scored, just be considered alongside PS/Reference, so I don't really know.

The email I got said exactly the same thing (it also said that academics is 50% A-levels and 50% GCSE's)

Probably a misunderstanding. The university have already published that the SJT score won't be considered, but banding will.
http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/medicine-vet-medicine/undergraduate/medicine/applying/2014changes

So something along the lines of 3 points for band 1, 2 points for band 2 etc., like the UKCAT quartiles?

It's concerning me seeing the number of people posting with 10 A*s, 790 UKCAT, band 1 etc; if all applicants have these stats then it seems like the PS/Reference will essentially be the deciding factors for who gets offers.

We don't know yet, that's part of the information I've requested.
All applicants don't have those stats. TSR just has a lot of high quality applicants - our userbase provides an extremely biased sample. Don't worry about it!

Hey, if you don't mind me asking how did you prepare for the UKCAT?

I did little bits of practice everyday for like a month. I did all the mocks I could (2 from Kaplan, UKCAT official and 3from Medify) 2 hours is a long exam and don't underestimate how tired your brain gets in that time just staring at a screen
The best thing to do is identify your weakest and strongest section. I knew my worst was AR and best was QR So I barely did any QR because the practice would've made my score improve by about 10 points whereas the AR practice could improve me by like 200.
Practice in small chunks like 1hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon.
Personally I think Medify is better than the 600 Q book because a) the real exam is on computer like Medify b) 600Q makes you overestimate the AR patterns when the pattern is much simpler
Try not to panic in the exam and skip ones you can't do
For QR practice with the computer calculator.
VR was my worst section in the real thing... I just panicked which is what not to do

GOOD LUCK - ask if you need any more help


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