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The last two courses...

What should I do with the last two courses slots on the UCAS form? Part of me thinks I might as well just leave them blank, cos if i don't get into medicine I'll just re-apply next year. But I can only do that if i get good grades. So maybe it would be best to put down some other courses, as a sort of fallback option in case I don't get any offers this year and don't make the grades this year either. But on the other hand, what courses are going to want me, seeing as my PS is tailored for medicine alone.
Soo, is it best to leave the last 2 slots blank or fill them up with a random sciencey course?

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Reply 1
Hi
I have decided to leave my last two options blank, but my friends who are also going for medicine are applying for biomedical sciences and pharmacology, so in their p.s's they've focused on the science behind medicine( if that makes sense) and less on the patient care aspects.
There is no downside to applying to other courses, so go for it! If things go wrong with your exams you will potentially be stuck resitting which will mess up a whole year at least with not great odds as a reapplicant. Having a backup degree for this eventuality gives you a choice, and you can still go round again for medicine if that's what you truly want.

Many science degrees will not interview and allocate on the basis of predicted grades, which if adequate for medicine will be adequate for any Biomedical Sciences\Pharmacology\etc.. Don't modify your PS - write the best one you can for medicine because it is much more competitive.
Reply 3
u can always go though UCAS EXTRA if you have 4 unsuccessfuls
winghanwu
so in their p.s's they've focused on the science behind medicine( if that makes sense) and less on the patient care aspects.



Don't do that, science admissions tuters shouldnt mind if you have a totally medical personal statement.
Reply 5
My bro applied for medicine and chemistry. His PS was totally med related but he got the 2 chem offers

Im using mine for Biomed at Shefield and South hapton
I got offers from liverpool (anatomy) and leeds very quickly. I don't think they were too bothered, but the grades for liverpool were ABB back when ABB was good enough for medicine so *shrug*
smirf83
But on the other hand, what courses are going to want me, seeing as my PS is tailored for medicine alone.


Don't worry about your PS being medicine-centered. I had the same issue and I ended up using one of my last two options for Computer Animation and ended up getting an offer :p: All you need to do is inform the university that you wish to submit an alternative personal statement and they'll look at that.
Reply 8
Just want to check, if you do get rejected from all 4 med schools but get an offer from the other 2 courses, you don't have to take those other offers do you? You can just decline them, take a gap year and reapply for medicine the following year, right?
they can't force you to study something... you just have to pull out of the ucas system.
Reply 10
You don't have to pull out of UCAS - just don't accept the offers if you don't want to. This means you could still go through clearing and UCAS Extra if you wanted (though for other subjects - it's pretty much impossible to get onto a medical degree this way).

So you might as well choose two other courses - just don't be tempted to adapt your personal statement with them in mind. You need to be 100% geared towards medicine.
Reply 11
OK, so, there's no real obstacles in sticking down something for the last 2? Hehe might have a bit of fun with this, apply for something random like Cheese Appreciation (assuming it exists!) Many thanks all. :smile:

Also, bit OT, but Madprof, the first link in your sig doesn't work. :frown:
do you think if i applied for maths as my 2 extra courses i would have zero chance of getting in?
No. If you applied for Art History and Social Anthropology you wouldnt stand any less chance than someone applying for BioMed. The other two choices are for you to use if you could see yourself studying something else if medicine wasnt your thing, for example, or if you were just curious to see what other subjects were open to you.

I wrote a medically based PS last time I applied, and I'm studying Human Biology at St Andrews. So yeah, dont worry about it!
Reply 14
There's a course called 'Meat'... might apply for that :biggrin:
Reply 15
Well i didn't put down to randomers in the end. :frown: I was trying to finish my UCAS form during lunch and was running out of time, so I had to forego searching for weird courses. The responsibility now must pass to you JoePublic! :wink:
Reply 16
joe who
Reply 17
lol im bored at work
I was tempted to apply to jewish studies and equine science, but then I remembered that I had like 83% in my AS chemistry and an A at A2 was not exactly a dead cert.
Reply 19
It works now Smirf - cheers!

Hmm, tempted by Wine Production or Football Studies, or whatever Data Mining turns out to be (a new twist on the Pot Noodle theme...?).

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