Biomedical science or reapply?

Hi

I'm an international student who just got his four rejections from medical school. I'm currently waiting for my IB results on the 6th of July.

Despite my rejections, I did firm an offer from KCL for biomedical science. The real dilemma is that studying medicine and becoming a doctor is my ultimate dream. The biomedical science degree is really good, and I'm lucky to get an offer from KCL, but I fear that it may come in the way of my primary objective, which is to study medicine. I need advice from people about the options I'm facing:

Gap and reapply: my dad really doesn't want me to do this because he thinks I'll "forget" all the science I learned in high school and will be disadvantaged. He also doesn't want me lazing around the house doing nothing. Work experience is very hard to get in my country and you have to use contacts (family or friends) in order to shadow a doctor or volunteer in a clinic. I used a contact to shadow a rheumatologist in her clinic while I was applying. Any suggestions on how to solve this are welcome. The gap year will only be possible if I get the right IB grades as well. Wouldn't it be worth the wait if I do accepted into med school the next year though?

3 years of biomedical science and apply as a graduate: this is the option my dad wants me to take and it isn't that bad either. I'll be in a good uni, in an amazing city and (sort of) independent. However, I hear that graduate entry medicine is very oversubscribed...more so than undergrad. Additionally, medicine is my dream...wouldn't this option delay my chances of achieving my dream?

I really would appreciate any advice you guys have.

Hi

I'm an international student who just got his four rejections from medical school. I'm currently waiting for my IB results on the 6th of July.

Despite my rejections, I did firm an offer from KCL for biomedical science. The real dilemma is that studying medicine and becoming a doctor is my ultimate dream. The biomedical science degree is really good, and I'm lucky to get an offer from KCL, but I fear that it may come in the way of my primary objective, which is to study medicine. I need advice from people about the options I'm facing:

Gap and reapply: my dad really doesn't want me to do this because he thinks I'll "forget" all the science I learned in high school and will be disadvantaged. He also doesn't want me lazing around the house doing nothing. Work experience is very hard to get in my country and you have to use contacts (family or friends) in order to shadow a doctor or volunteer in a clinic. I used a contact to shadow a rheumatologist in her clinic while I was applying. Any suggestions on how to solve this are welcome. The gap year will only be possible if I get the right IB grades as well. Wouldn't it be worth the wait if I do accepted into med school the next year though?

3 years of biomedical science and apply as a graduate: this is the option my dad wants me to take and it isn't that bad either. I'll be in a good uni, in an amazing city and (sort of) independent. However, I hear that graduate entry medicine is very oversubscribed...more so than undergrad. Additionally, medicine is my dream...wouldn't this option delay my chances of achieving my dream?

I really would appreciate any advice you guys have.

I had the same dilemma last year. I applied for dentistry, got no offers but got an offer for biomedicine. However, this year I have got an offer.
I would always recommend taking a gap year over going for bio medicine. Graduate entry into med/dent is VERY difficult and graduate medicine is very very expensive.

Hi InglisRed, sorry to hear you got 4 rejections. What were your IB predictions like? If you get the IB results good enough to get into med school, I would definitely take a gap year and re-apply. Applying as a graduate is stiff competition, even on undergrad courses. You can really improve your application in your year out by getting some life experience and working on your UKCAT score. I recommend trying to get some "hands on" work experience in a care setting or working as a health care assistant in a hospital/care setting. You also need to demonstrate evidence of the skills of a doctor such as teamwork, leadership, empathy and communication skills. Maybe its worth getting some long term volunteering work to improve your application. Hope this helps!

what do you mean by "applying as a graduate is stiff competition, even on an undergrad course"?

Hmm...may I ask which school gave you the offer?

The GEP courses (that are left) have ridiculous competition ratios, and even if you apply for the "normal" 5/6 year undergradute programs, there are only a certain amount of spaces for graduates. Having a degree and applying to a 5 year course does not give you any advantage over a A level candidate in that respect.

peninsula, I got 3/4 interviews too whereas the year before i only got 1 interview

I had the same dilemma last year. I applied for dentistry, got no offers but got an offer for biomedicine. However, this year I have got an offer.
I would always recommend taking a gap year over going for bio medicine. Graduate entry into med/dent is VERY difficult and graduate medicine is very very expensive.

Well congrats

Did you feel like giving up when you got four rejections?

How come graduate entry is very difficult?

Not really, I was expecting it tbh due to the competition. When I finally got my a levels at a*a*a I was sure my chances of an offer would be very high Applying more than once is VERY common in medicine and dentistry in the UK, not sure about your country

Well everyone I know got into university BUT did not apply for medicine...most of them applied for management, one or two for engineering...everybody who applied for law got into their UK unis...it got me kind of bummed out because there were so many people saying "but how can you not possibly get in?!" I didn't know it was very common for people to reapply in the UK.

Oh my God that's awful. As it is they have international quotas already... Do you have a source that supports this?

Well everyone I know got into university BUT did not apply for medicine...most of them applied for management, one or two for engineering...everybody who applied for law got into their UK unis...it got me kind of bummed out because there were so many people saying "but how can you not possibly get in?!" I didn't know it was very common for people to reapply in the UK.

The GEP courses (that are left) have ridiculous competition ratios, and even if you apply for the "normal" 5/6 year undergradute programs, there are only a certain amount of spaces for graduates. Having a degree and applying to a 5 year course does not give you any advantage over a A level candidate in that respect.

The competition ratios are higher than at undergraduate. The number of bio medical/pharmacy etc students who want to go into medicine/dentistry is VERY high relative to the number of places available.

How come graduate entry is very difficult?

The competition ratios are higher than at undergraduate. The number of bio medical/pharmacy etc students who want to go into medicine/dentistry is VERY high relative to the number of places available.