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Should i still apply to Edinburgh?

Ok i just did my UKCAT and got 600, which i am really worried about. I loved Edinburgh, but i dont know whether i should apply, do i still have a chance?

I found a thread which describes Edinburgh pointing system (below)

"I'll give you an example of a university's method of handing out offers.

This is from Edinburgh, one of the top in the country and I was told this by a member of staff during their open day in 2006.

It's a points system. The top slice (wasn't told the %) are given offers to do medicine. Here's how the points break down:

3 - School's predictions and reference
3 - UKCAT score
3 x 3 - Each section of your personal statement (e.g. the bit about what you do for leisure)
3 - Past results e.g. GCSEs etc.

Candidates are given 0-3 points on how well they score in each section. The bottom 25% of candidates get 0 while the top 25% get 3 (those in between get 1 or 2 obv). Next what happens is that the score from the above is doubled to give a total of 36.

Still with me? Great. There is one last final point available to something like 10% of applicants who do some really special work like win a big nationwide science competition, make daddy donate loads to the medical school or convince mummy to seduce the guy who hands out offers.

Therefore, the max you could get is 37, but I think I pushed the guy to tell me that the usual threshold is aroud 32/33 though it does change."

So im thinking i am going to get the max. 1 point for my UKCAT score, coz the majority of peeps applying will have a higher score. So my max total is now 32------ and its unlikely i am going to get full points in the other sections.

So what does everyone think? Even better anyone at Edinburgh who got a similar UKCAT score? Thanks

Reply 1

iheartvet

5

Why don't you apply there because you really want to go there and then have a couple of back-up choices that maybe are 'easier' to get into?

Reply 2

Alex D

8

I don't want to put a downer on your application but I'm not convinced that 600 on the UKCAT will be sufficient to get you an offer regardless of the rest of your application. When I looked around Edinburgh last year, the admissions officer said that usually a UKCAT of around 700 is just enough to push the 'lower few' (at Edinburgh this is probably people with 8A*'s and 4A's at AS) into the 'offer' bracket. I really hate having said that because it sounds like I'm shooting you down and I bloody hate doing that. I just don't want you to waste a choice. But as iheartvet says, if you feel you'd really like Edinburgh, apply, otherwise you may look back with regret not having applied and got a definitive answer from them, in the form of an offer or rejection. Good luck :smile:

Reply 3

czr1234

OP

Thanks for responses.

To Alex D
Its just annoying as i think i do generally have a good academic background (im not trying to sound big-headed :s-smilie:

but it props comes across like that!). But i got 8 A*s and 4 As for GCSEs and am predicted AAAAB. But as you sed i dont want to lower my chances as its just so competitive to get even 1 offfer!

Reply 4

jenifaar

when i spoke to the admissions guy at the end of the talk at this year's open day, he said UKCAT scores are put into quartiles, and points are awarded accordingly. and he said the greatest percentage of offers went to those with UKCAT scores in the top quartile, and the smallest percentage to those in the bottom quartile. but he emphasised that some in the bottom quartile did still get offers.

obviously, we don't know where the boundary lines for each quartile are. but all im trying to say is, since 600 is the average score, if the rest of your app. is strong, don't let this put you off.

he also said a good UKCAT score can boost someone up into being in range of an offer, but if the rest of their application is strong, the impact of this will be less, if that makes sense. ooh, and also, near the end of the selection process, im sure they mentioned they rank the borderline applicants by UKCAT score, and use this to decide.

sorry about the essay, this may be no help whatsoever but it's just some things that might be useful to take into account. but if you loved edinburgh, and know the rest of your application is good (as your GCSE results seem to be) then there's no reason why you shouldn't go for it! good luck whatever you do.

Reply 5

Isometrix

11

Alex D

When I looked around Edinburgh last year, the admissions officer said that usually a UKCAT of around 700 is just enough to push the 'lower few' :smile:

700 is a joke! but it makes sense because they don't interview...

also the "3 x personal statement" thing, what exactly are the 3 sections in the personal statement they mark?

Reply 6

Alex D

8

Isometrix

700 is a joke! but it makes sense because they don't interview...

also the "3 x personal statement" thing, what exactly are the 3 sections in the personal statement they mark?

Yeh I agree, it's a ridiculous test to start with but to ask for something so high that has no real benefit, is, I think, a bit of a joke. As for the three sections I guess it could be something like, insight, extra-curricular and something else.

Reply 7

curiouslyorange1989

lol edinburgh were really funny with me saying that they would shoot me down because i didnt have a foreign language gcse. was lyk "WTF i got 8A* 2A and a distinction at gcse, i just never took it!" but they said "no you havnt demonstrated the academic prowess". Anyway i applied saying that i was taking spanish gcse in a year whilst at 6th form thinkin they would make it part of me conditional, but they send back an offer which didnt include it and when i asked they said it didnt matter.

Reply 8

davidthegreat

1

Does the fact that they don't interview not worry you? How do they weed out the psychopaths?

Example 1 - Sane
"So, why do you want to be a Doctor?"
"Because i want to help people/ interested in sciences/ bland and generic response"

Emample 2 - Not sane
"So, why do you want to be a Doctor?"
"Because I want to cut people"

Reply 9

yosrush

12

davidthegreat

Does the fact that they don't interview not worry you? How do they weed out the psychopaths?

Example 1 - Sane
"So, why do you want to be a Doctor?"
"Because i want to help people/ interested in sciences/ bland and generic response"

Emample 2 - Not sane
"So, why do you want to be a Doctor?"
"Because I want to cut people"

What's wrong with the thrill of surgery? I think I might apply to edinburgh, just to see if I can get in (more interested in dentistry :yep:

), something tells me that a UKCAT of 637.5, 5 Higher As and a dentistry work exp/PS is going to be rejected :p:

Reply 10

* Dain Bramaged *

9

are there ny edinbugh student son here? if so what ukcat ddi ya get?

Reply 11

davidthegreat

1

yosrush

What's wrong with the thrill of surgery?

Depends what type of 'thrill' you get I suppose :s-smilie:

Reply 12

* Dain Bramaged *

9

i emailed edinburgh and they said that for them the ukcat was worth 8% of the application points possible, so it is fairly important, though outstanding results/ps etc may still scrape ya a place.

Reply 13

michaela_banana

9

I applied before UKCAT so can't say too much about it only to comment that if 3 marks are available for UKCAT (or 8% or whatever) that's really not that much. If you've got ace gcses/alevels and much more importantly an outstanding ps - loads of w/e, loads of sport/music/drama/DoE etc extra currics, and most importantly demonstrate and understanding of what it's like to be a doctor it's definitely worth applying for.

As far as no weeding out the crazies, we've got a really low drop out rate and an international postgraduate reputation, for starters. About 5 years ago they did a big study and they proved that with or without interviews they still chose the same people, and thus decided to use the small fortune they would have spent interviewing on actually teaching the course. They do of course interview graduates and those applying through the local LEAPS programme.

Should i still apply to Edinburgh?

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