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Medicine 2017 entry

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Original post by Moodicrus
Ok I might get some stick because this is a bit early but there's no harm right? The sooner we start the more prepared we are. :smile:

GCSE
6 A*s Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Further Maths, French, Music.
6 As Biology, History, Economics, English Lang, English Lit, RE.

AS
Biology A
Chemsitry A
Economics A
Maths A
Average UMS: 94
EPQ A* (on Precision Medicine/ Oncogenomics)

Work Experience
1 year Volunteer at King's
1 week with a cardiothoracic surgeon
1 week GP
1 week Anaesthetics
1 day Paediatrics, Psychiatry, Obstetrics, MaxFacS

Potential Universities
Cambridge
UCL
Newcastle
Nottingham
Exeter (for Medical Sciences/Human Genomics BSc)

Wider reading
DNA: The Secret of Life
Oncogenomics: Molecular Approaches to Cancer
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine

UKCAT
Verbal Reasoning: 640
Quantitative Reasoning: 770
Abstract Reasoning: 800
Situational Judgement: Band 1
Average: 737

Discuss anything related to applying to study Medicine at University, and good luck! :biggrin:


which maths did you take at a level?
Original post by anoushka221
which maths did you take at a level?


OCR MEI C1 C2 M1 for AS. And this year for A2 im taking C3 C4 S1
(edited 7 years ago)
Can I have some opinions on my UKCAT as I don't know how to feel about the marks.

Biomedical grad (2:1) with decent medical background (HCA worker), so that's all there.

VR - 640
QR - 890
AR - 700
SJ - Band 1

I just don't know if that'll be good enough to apply anywhere or if VR has dragged me down too much.

Thanks guys!


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Original post by Gogregg
Your profile is amazing!
That said, I think that ICL want 2 weeks of clinical experience, so it may be risky to apply there, but I'm not completely certain...
Your other choices sound very good, though, although you'll want a good UKCAT for Exeter :h:

If i were you I'd drop a subject. There's no point carrying on all four, and if you have a topic you'd genuinely like to research in some depth, an EPQ would be a good idea :u:



Probably.


Thanks. Contacted Oxford as I thought they're the most likely to object to me not doing Physics and will ask my teachers when I go back to school.
In terms of work experience I am possibly able to get a weekly role at the local hospital but this isn't certain yet.
And yes, there are a lot of things I'm interested in so would love to do an EPQ :wink:
Original post by aRandomGuy
I am!!! I'm applying to universities that don't particularly focus on AS grades as much so unis like Cardiff, Sheffield, Newcastle, HYMS, UEA and Exeter are all possibilities...

I got 8A*s 2As at GCSE but ABBB at AS (looking back now, I probably should have revised :colondollar:) but I will (hopefully) be predicted AAA, meaning I can apply this year and hope my AS grades don't hold me back.

Taking UKCAT on the 10th of September :-) (No BMAT)

What other unis are you thinking of applying to?


I happen to have come off the phone from Exeter Med School and seems like they're Alevel heavy this year. She could tell me the first thing they look at is AS grades and then your Alevel predictions. Band 1 is A*A*A*
Band 2 A*A*A
Band 3 A*AA etc..
She then tood me that the point they would use the UKCAT would be if for example, "Joe and Tom" had the same AS' and Predictions they'd differenciate using it. So if you feel that your AS' are weak maybe Exeter isn't a great choice. But there are a load of other unis that will hardly pay attention to your actual AS grades such as Newcastle who don't even look at them and only your predictions so I've heard. Tip for Exeter is that they love to see good predictions at A-level!! DEFINITELY CONSIDER CARDIFF for your application, you have excellent GCSEs! Good luck bro!
Original post by Moodicrus
Ok I might get some stick because this is a bit early but there's no harm right? The sooner we start the more prepared we are. :smile:

GCSE
6 A*s Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Further Maths, French, Music.
6 As Biology, History, Economics, English Lang, English Lit, RE.

AS
Biology A
Chemsitry A
Economics A
Maths A (UMS: 98/97/86 in C1/C2/M1)
EPQ A* (on Precision Medicine/ Oncogenomics)

Work Experience
1 year Volunteer at King's
1 week with a cardiothoracic surgeon
1 week GP
1 week Anaesthetics
1 day Paediatrics, Psychiatry, Obstetrics, MaxFacS

Potential Universities
Cambridge
UCL
Newcastle
Nottingham
Exeter (for Medical Sciences/Human Genomics BSc)

Wider reading
DNA: The Secret of Life
Oncogenomics: Molecular Approaches to Cancer
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine

UKCAT
Verbal Reasoning: 640
Quantitative Reasoning: 770
Abstract Reasoning: 800
Situational Judgement: Band 1
Average: 737

Discuss anything related to applying to study Medicine at University, and good luck! :biggrin:


Hello! Your university choices are quite similar to mine! I am thinking, Cambridge, Nottingham (or Birmingham), a London uni depending on my UKCAT and hopefully y Edinburgh! You have really good stats and congrats on the maths UMS! I only got 90 average but hoping this will not disadvantage me too much with Cambridge aha. Should really get around to finishing emperor of all maladies (tried to read it in year 10, did not finish hahaha). Are you going to do 3 or 4 A2s? Might read the rest of the books you have read! I have read all of Atul Gawandes books (they are really really good), The man who mistook his wife for a hat, Born on a blue day, Bedside stories, and Enjoy every sandwich if you want any reccomendations. Also heard that the selfish gene is good! Also, Oxford and BBC 5 have some great medical pod casts :smile:

What college you thinking of for cambridge?
Original post by IIA7867
Ah, brilliant, thank you so much! Yeah, I figured as much but seeing all the brilliant grades everyone's been getting on here (congrats all, btw) made me slightly anxious. I'll be working even harder this year than I did last; to be fair I revised a ton, but I think (and again, I know this is no excuse) Physics was just a crap exam for me. Thanks again!


Hi,
I am in the exact same situation as you I got 7 A* and 5 A and B in english language at GCSE and for AS levels i got BBCD for chem,maths,physics and biology.
I was so shocked with my biology results as i was the top of the class throughout the year and i used to get A in all of my class test and in the mock. I am doing my UKCAT in October and i think it's so hard. What uni do you think is should apply to? I dropped physics and my biology teacher said he will predict me an A so do you think i will be fine with this?
Original post by lovelyqueen
Hi,
I am in the exact same situation as you I got 7 A* and 5 A and B in english language at GCSE and for AS levels i got BBCD for chem,maths,physics and biology.
I was so shocked with my biology results as i was the top of the class throughout the year and i used to get A in all of my class test and in the mock. I am doing my UKCAT in October and i think it's so hard. What uni do you think is should apply to? I dropped physics and my biology teacher said he will predict me an A so do you think i will be fine with this?


A prediction of an A from a D is unlikely to be taken seriously by a university, it will look to them like grade inflation, so be aware of that before you go into the process and maybe get teachers to explain how well you have been doing all year in class through the reference as it could help show them it is a one off.

your GCSE grades are great and providing you work really hard you should be fine.
Original post by isabella1999
Hello! Your university choices are quite similar to mine! I am thinking, Cambridge, Nottingham (or Birmingham), a London uni depending on my UKCAT and hopefully y Edinburgh! You have really good stats and congrats on the maths UMS! I only got 90 average but hoping this will not disadvantage me too much with Cambridge aha. Should really get around to finishing emperor of all maladies (tried to read it in year 10, did not finish hahaha). Are you going to do 3 or 4 A2s? Might read the rest of the books you have read! I have read all of Atul Gawandes books (they are really really good), The man who mistook his wife for a hat, Born on a blue day, Bedside stories, and Enjoy every sandwich if you want any reccomendations. Also heard that the selfish gene is good! Also, Oxford and BBC 5 have some great medical pod casts :smile:

What college you thinking of for cambridge?


Hi thanks! Yeah, I always find it hard to set aside time to read, all year round I said 'oh its fine, ill just read it in summer' and I havent finished a single one! Yeah I'm gonna aim to finish the emperor of all maladies by next monday. And I'm deffo dropping economics, I loved the subject but I hated the course, and bc I've got so much going on outside of my subjects i think bio chem maths will keep me plenty busy! wbu?
My full reading list is:
The Emperor of all Maladies - Siddhartha Mukherjee
Oncogenomics - Charles Brenner (et al.)
A very brief Introduction to Medical Ethics - Tony Hope
Do No Harm - Henry Marsh
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat - Oliver Sacks
How We Live - Sherwin Nuland
When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
Dna the Secret of Life - James Watson
The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine - James Le Fanu

But 1 that would've taken up too much space and 2 my EPQ gave me my special interest in cancer treatment and oncology, specifically using fluorescence activated cell sorting to target metastatic cells as a method to overcome intratumor heterogeneity so I don't think I'm gonna read the books that aren't cancer focused just bc I'm too lazy tbh :tongue: and also, some of them ( the man who mistook his wife for a hat) are a bit too cliche. But ill deffo check out those podcasts thanks!

As for Cambridge Colleges I'm really not sure! I'm still yet to visit it again ( though ive been in year 10) but I don't really have people to go with since there arent any fellow applicants from my school and i dotn wanna go by myself XD. Having said that I did like the look of St Johns, Clare's, Gonville and Caius, Downing, Girton and Robinson, but again, i need to see to choose properly, wbu? Also how are you choosing your college?
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Moodicrus
Hi thanks! Yeah, I always find it hard to set aside time to read, all year round I said 'oh its fine, ill just read it in summer' and I havent finished a single one! Yeah I'm gonna aim to finish the emperor of all maladies by next monday. And I'm deffo dropping economics, I loved the subject but I hated the course, and bc I've got so much going on outside of my subjects i think bio chem maths will keep me plenty busy! wbu?
My full reading list is:
The Emperor of all Maladies - Siddhartha Mukherjee
Oncogenomics - Charles Brenner (et al.)
A very brief Introduction to Medical Ethics - Tony Hope
Do No Harm - Henry Marsh
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat - Oliver Sacks
How We Live - Sherwin Nuland
When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
Dna the Secret of Life - James Watson
The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine - James Le Fanu

But 1 that would've taken up too much space and 2 my EPQ gave me my special interest in cancer treatment and oncology, specifically using fluorescence activated cell sorting to target metastatic cells as a method to overcome intratumor heterogeneity so I don't think I'm gonna read the books that aren't cancer focused just bc I'm too lazy tbh :tongue: and also, some of them ( the man who mistook his wife for a hat) are a bit too cliche. But ill deffo check out those podcasts thanks!

As for Cambridge Colleges I'm really not sure! I'm still yet to visit it again ( though ive been in year 10) but I don't really have people to go with since there arent any fellow applicants from my school and i dotn wanna go by myself XD. Having said that I did like the look of St Johns, Clare's, Gonville and Caius, Downing, Girton and Robinson, but again, i need to see to choose properly, wbu? Also how are you choosing your college?

Hey, from your reading list which books do you think was not too complicated to read? Thanks

EDIT: Oops I didn't fully read your post that you haven't finished a single book :colondollar:
(edited 7 years ago)
A quick question - do extra curriculars matter much? It's not that I don't have any, it's just that I've reached the damn UCAS word limit and I can't really think of anything viable to cut out to make way for a few lines of ECs.
Original post by GradeA*UnderA
A quick question - do extra curriculars matter much? It's not that I don't have any, it's just that I've reached the damn UCAS word limit and I can't really think of anything viable to cut out to make way for a few lines of ECs.


Yeah, a lot of med schools want to see that you have a life outside of stidying-just add it in and then get a teacher to read it and tell them something must be cut out. You'll find a way.

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Original post by Natalierm2707
A prediction of an A from a D is unlikely to be taken seriously by a university, it will look to them like grade inflation, so be aware of that before you go into the process and maybe get teachers to explain how well you have been doing all year in class through the reference as it could help show them it is a one off.

your GCSE grades are great and providing you work really hard you should be fine.


Thank you for your advice and as ours is a linear course the uni don' look at our AS grades so this not true then. If I got a reference then they would defenitely have my focus on the D grade wouldn't they?
Original post by Moodicrus
Hi thanks! Yeah, I always find it hard to set aside time to read, all year round I said 'oh its fine, ill just read it in summer' and I havent finished a single one! Yeah I'm gonna aim to finish the emperor of all maladies by next monday. And I'm deffo dropping economics, I loved the subject but I hated the course, and bc I've got so much going on outside of my subjects i think bio chem maths will keep me plenty busy! wbu?
My full reading list is:
The Emperor of all Maladies - Siddhartha Mukherjee
Oncogenomics - Charles Brenner (et al.)
A very brief Introduction to Medical Ethics - Tony Hope
Do No Harm - Henry Marsh
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for A Hat - Oliver Sacks
How We Live - Sherwin Nuland
When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
Dna the Secret of Life - James Watson
The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine - James Le Fanu

But 1 that would've taken up too much space and 2 my EPQ gave me my special interest in cancer treatment and oncology, specifically using fluorescence activated cell sorting to target metastatic cells as a method to overcome intratumor heterogeneity so I don't think I'm gonna read the books that aren't cancer focused just bc I'm too lazy tbh :tongue: and also, some of them ( the man who mistook his wife for a hat) are a bit too cliche. But ill deffo check out those podcasts thanks!

As for Cambridge Colleges I'm really not sure! I'm still yet to visit it again ( though ive been in year 10) but I don't really have people to go with since there arent any fellow applicants from my school and i dotn wanna go by myself XD. Having said that I did like the look of St Johns, Clare's, Gonville and Caius, Downing, Girton and Robinson, but again, i need to see to choose properly, wbu? Also how are you choosing your college?


Literally me hahaha :biggrin: ooh okay yeah, I am dropping psychology as its not heavily academic and learning the case studies is just too much effort! Ooo I have read the medical ethics one too forgot about that! Yeah it was cliche haha. You sound so sciency :u: I wrote a bit in my personal statement and about a course on cancer immunotherapy I did and checkpoint blockage therapies (how cancerous immune response mechanisms can be prevented by preventing certain checkpoints being passed in the cell cycle allowing our immune system to recognise them, really cool) so should probably read some book about that aha.

Oh I was in the same situation (except I assumed nobody would be applying didn't ask) so I dragged my parents and then saw some friends on the day and was like :colonhash: haha see if your parents would go along

When I went I LOVED St. John's by far my favourite, though I noticed they have three interviews and not many places so I thought maybe not it's a shame. I also loved trinity but then I read on their website they are really UMS heavy when selecting people to interview whereas others are not as much do probably not. I really like Kings (really nice architecture, friendly but traditional and Alan Turing went there lol) and Emmanuel (again, all about that aesthetic I'm so vain :tongue:) bit yeah go check out the websites
Original post by Selgomez11
Hey, from your reading list which books do you think was not too complicated to read? Thanks

EDIT: Oops I didn't fully read your post that you haven't finished a single book :colondollar:


I am not sure about the others but "The man who mistook his wife for a hat" and "A short introduction to medical ethics" are easy to read and fairly short :tongue:
Original post by Gogregg
The B in English language may be a problem for some universities, but i think you definitely have a chance, and they are only your GCSEs, if you do well on your AS/A levels, they will generally be forgotten somewhat. You might want to look around university websites to see which you can definitely apply for, and I'm sure there will be still a lot of choices which are open to you :h:


Sorry, this has nothing to do with me I was just having a nosey on the thread. I'm applying to do law this year and Manchester have said they want an A at GCSE in English language. After emailing them to tell them my situation (I got a B), they changed their mind and said that they consider all applications provided performance is strong in general. So you stand just as much chance for applying to Manchester I would say and many other universities would be the same, you just need to email them!


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Original post by Gogregg
The B in English language may be a problem for some universities, but i think you definitely have a chance, and they are only your GCSEs, if you do well on your AS/A levels, they will generally be forgotten somewhat. You might want to look around university websites to see which you can definitely apply for, and I'm sure there will be still a lot of choices which are open to you :h:


I've only just noticed this is nearly a year old!! SORRY 😁😂😂


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Original post by GeorgeB16
I've only just noticed this is nearly a year old!! SORRY 😁😂😂
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It's alright :h:

It is a good idea, though, but medicine if so competitive, you would really need amazing academics elsewhere to make up for it, if they would even allow it. Best just to apply to the places which accept a B if I'm honest
Can I have some opinions on my UKCAT as I don't know how to feel about the marks.

Biomedical grad (2:1) with decent medical background (HCA worker), so that's all there.

VR - 640
QR - 890
AR - 700
AJ - Band 1

I just don't know if that'll be good enough to apply anywhere or if VR has dragged me down too much. Thanks guys!
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Selgomez11
Hey, from your reading list which books do you think was not too complicated to read? Thanks

EDIT: Oops I didn't fully read your post that you haven't finished a single book :colondollar:


Haha, its fine, I'm a good way through a few of them. I'd say steer clear of the Oncogenomics book cos its very academic ( i skipped the chapter on microarrays). Also, I wouldn't really recommend reading the Emperor of All Maladies unless you had some prior interest in oncology. But apart from that I think they're all pretty readable. I'd say 'when breath becomes air' and 'do no harm' are probably the easiest to read IMHO. But again they're all quite readable apart from the Oncogenomics one

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