Nottingham Medicine 2017 Entry

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Hey guys, I'm having a tough time choosing between Exeter and Nottingham for my final uni choice. I applied to Nott last year but got rejected (640 avg UKCAT). These are my current stats:
IGCSEs- 6 A* and 2 A
AS Levels- 4 A
A Levels- 4 A*
UKCAT- 743 avg
2 week clinical placement, variety of community service through school and experience in a caring setting.

I'm an overseas student.

I've chosen Newcastle, Leicester and Sheffield but I can't decide on my fourth choice. Exeter seems like a safe bet but I can't find any reviews on their med school since the split from peninsula med schools, even though exeter is quite well ranked in league tables. I prefer Nott but I'm afraid I'll get rejected like last time and my other choices seem risky too.

Does anybody have any advice? I'll be really grateful to hear it :smile:

Reply 41

meddad

Original post by Nikita Verma

Your stronger UKCAT score will definitely help compared with last year, but I probably need slightly more information to give an opinion. The IGCSEs which are counted in the marking system are Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Physics, English Language and your best three others. Are all those subjects covered in the A* and A grades you mentioned?

What is the breakdown of your UKCAT sections - each section attracts a different score in the marking scheme. And what was your SJT grade because that also attracts up to 3 marks?

Reply 42

meddad

Original post by xxxsbxxx

what PS score do you think I would roughly need for an interview if I have 44/46 for academic+ukcat? bit worried as PS is so subjective

Last year's Home/EU score to get to the second sift where they examine your PS was 46/55. Assuming the lower end cut off included an average UKCAT score in the range 601-700, then this year's equivalent would be 39/46 because UKCAT has one less marked component.

Last year's Home/EU score to get to interview after PS assessment was 56/71. Assuming the lower end cut off included an average UKCAT score in the range 601-700, then this year's equivalent would be 49/62 because UKCAT has one less marked component.

If the above assumptions are true you would need to score at least 5/16 on your PS. That sounds achievable for most people if it's well written, although a couple of academically high scoring applicants last year reported on TSR that they missed out an interview with scores of 3 and 4 on their PS - nothing is guaranteed in this game.

Reply 43

meddad

Original post by xxxsbxxx

what PS score do you think I would roughly need for an interview if I have 44/46 for academic+ukcat? bit worried as PS is so subjective

Just to add - you've probably seen the Nottingham scoring for the PS:

A maximum of 16 points are awarded for the personal statement. The reference is read in conjunction with the personal statement.The following attributes are considered:

•

An understanding of the challenges of a medical career

•

Motivation

•

Commitment

•

Voluntary experience

•

Extracurricular activities

•

School/College contribution

•

Supporting evidence in reference

..... so roughly 2 marks for each point with one or two more heavily weighted.

Usual sort of advice on the PS:

- make sure every single point your Uni's are looking for are covered
- don't just list things... it's more important to demonstrate what you have learned from your experiences. For example you may score better on demonstrating how you have been motivated towards caring and/or medicine by helping an elderly neighbour, rather than spending a week with a senior consultant if you have no learning points to put forward.
- make sure your enthusiasm and personality shine through in the PS. You need to convince the people assessing it that you're the sort of person they want studying medicine at their Uni. Ask friends/relatives/teachers... do you recognise me from this PS? Does the real "me" shine through?

Now just go away and smash it!

Reply 44

Nikita Verma

Original post by meddad

Thanks a lot for replying! :smile:

My school allowed us to take only 8 IGCSEs and these were my subjects:
A* in Physics, Biology, Chemistry, English as First Language, Environmental Management and Mathematics. A in French as foreign language and ICT.
So my academic score is 14/16.

UKCAT- VR: 700, QR:830, AR: 700 and SJT Band 1. So my UKCAT score is 26/30.
That gives a total of 40/46.

For my PS, it is very difficult to find work and voluntary experience in my locality as is also stated in my reference. But I have spoken to almost all kinds of people who work in a hospital about their profession...so i do fulfill most PS criteria but not as much as other applicants seem to have done.

Reply 45

meddad

Original post by Nikita Verma

Thanks a lot for replying! :smile:

I can see your problem - there's no easy answer to your earlier question. For Nottingham you will probably get through to the PS sift but most likely need to score around 9 out of 16 on your PS to get an interview. It will need to be exceptionally well written if you have had limited opportunities (it's still possible to do that though).

On the Exeter criteria (just looking at their website) it sounds very likely you will get an interview. I would say you're likely to get interviews at Leicester and Newcastle too (my daughter applied to both these and Nottingham last year but had a pretty strong PS for Notts). I know less about Sheffield Med school entry, but I've read a lot about you needing a strong PS there too.

If you want to maximise your interviews then you probably include Exeter and drop Sheffield or Nottingham. Alternatively you take other factors into account about the location etc. I live in Sheffield and have also lived in Exeter, my wife's family live in Leicester and we go there a lot, my niece is at Nottingham Uni, and I've been to Newcastle a few times - just send me a separate message if you want to know anything about any of these.

Reply 46

aRandomGuy

Original post by unknownone

My overall experience has been good.
It's difficult to say how it compares to other medical schools, ofcourse, but I enjoy it and I believe others in my year do too.

Something I will mention is that I've been struggling to concentrate in lectures. But rather than that being a fault of the staff, I think it's more me being a bit useless at learning through lectures haha. Luckily most lectures are recorded and put online, along with the slides etc so I've actually been doing a lot of my learning over the last year without attending all lectures.

The vast majority of students I know have found the experience of lectures fine though! So don't let me discourage you.

I loved the full body dissection, being so hands on and seeing everything as it is in the human body really helped my understanding and learning. Anatomy involves a huge volume of things to remember and I'd definitely say the full body dissection really helped.

The facilities overall are fairly decent. I can't really compare to any other medical school because I didn't look round many haha.

Student experience is great. Lots of societies to join, both medsoc societies and general uni societies are great.

Feel free to ask me any specific questions, a lot easier to answer when they're specific :P

Original post by Zedna

Hi,
What has your experience at Nottingham been like? Do you think the teaching, facilities, student experience etc has been good?
Thanks!

Posted from TSR Mobile

Original post by isabella1999

Okay woo my final score is 43, UKCAT over and done with :smile:

Hey guys :-)

For my fourth uni medicine application, I'm considering Nottingham / UEA / Birmingham / HYMS. Specifically Nottingham, I score 36/48 (16/16 for GCSEs but only 22/30 for my UKCAT). I understand I'm very much borderline, but any advice on whether I should take the risk?

Thanks, and good luck everyone :-)

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 47

meddad

Original post by aRandomGuy

As per my post above, based on last year the cut-off to get to the stage where they mark the PS is likely to be around 39 if last year is any indication. You would then need a great PS score (maybe 10/16) to get an interview. Your stats look good for Leicester, if that's of any interest.

Reply 48

L7416

Hi guys! Quick question, is it risky applying to Notts with a Band 1 687 in the UKCAT?

Reply 49

Zedna

Original post by L7416

Hi guys! Quick question, is it risky applying to Notts with a Band 1 687 in the UKCAT?

What are your GCSEs and individual sub-section scores? :smile:

Reply 50

Eggymully

I have been very interested in applying to Nottingham as well and after reading this thread i had temporarily decided not to apply as people were making out we would need at least 39.

I rang up nottingham admissions and they said it has dropped to a mark as low as 34 (equivalent to this years scoring system) before and could drop even lower this year. I am therefore still applying. I suggest you give it a go as it is possible and nottingham is an amazing university

Reply 51

mediocreman

I have 41 points. But my sjt is band 3- does that affect my chances? or do they just look at the number as a whole?

Reply 52

lidzi_

Original post by Eggymully

Thank you so much for this! Nottingham has been one of my top choices until I got a 633 average on UKCAT today...
I score 38 before PS, do you think I stand a chance?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 53

Eggymully

Original post by mediocreman

I have 41 points. But my sjt is band 3- does that affect my chances? or do they just look at the number as a whole?

they look at your number as a whole!

Reply 54

Eggymully

Original post by lidiaislam13

Thank you so much for this! Nottingham has been one of my top choices until I got a 633 average on UKCAT today...
I score 38 before PS, do you think I stand a chance?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Id definitely apply if i was you! its worth a shot

Reply 55

stressed16

Just to check: I've got 15/16 for my GCSES and got 570,800,820 band 2 for ukcat (average 730)
so would my total score be 40? Seems low compared to everyone else on here :colondollar:

Reply 56

pandaronium

does anyone know how many people Nottingham interview and how many are accepted into the medical school?

Reply 57

Docjones1

Original post by pandaronium

does anyone know how many people Nottingham interview and how many are accepted into the medical school?

"Approximately 2500 applications each year. We will interview around 700 applicants and make approximately 450 HEU offers and 40 international offers."

Reply 58

Kwaku

Guysss please help:
4 A's at As
Predicted 2A*s and an A
6A*s and 3A's
620 Average Ukcat and Band 1 SJT
Personal statement reads really well aswell.
I have a score of 38/46. Please be honest do you guys think that this score will just get me past the academic cutoff???????????????????????

Reply 59

username2845206

Original post by Kwaku

If you're really confident in your personal statement then I would say risk it. Your academics and ukcat are very much borderline but a strong personal statement could help push you through.