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reapplying after reapplying

has anyone ever applied to medicine at 17, then reapplied and then reapplied again after that. What would be the chances on getting in anywhere after reapplying for the 3rd time. My cousin applied and reapplied and has got 8 rejections so far. He is thinking of reapplying to medicine but is so depressed about the situation and cant bear another gap year and so im wondeing if anyone has done this before. If any current med students reapplield, would you reapply again if you hadn't got in 2nd time round?

Reply 1

Faiza.

gm88

Well I'm going on a gap year after my A2's, so I'll be applying for 2010 instead [deferred entry]. If I get rejected, I definately wouldn't reapply, cos firstly I'm counting on getting in for 2010 [as in hoping I do] and secondly, if I couldn't get in after one gap year, I doubt I'd get in after another. If I get rejected, then tbh, I dunno what I'd do.

Reply 2

Kyalimers

Ima apply at 17 to see if I get any deffered entry offers. If not, I'll take the Gap Year anyway and re-apply. I doubt I'd take 2 gap years.

Reply 3

gm88

His grades were AABb at A Level, 10As at GCSE. He didnt have any interviews first time round and had 1 interview at manchester the 2nd time round. He knew he had ****ed that up int up though. He said the thing that makes him still want to apply was that he got 1 interview at manchester so there must have been something about him that they liked to give him that interview. First time round he applied to places where he didnt meet their requirements (e.g b'ham) because he didnt do his research properly. He spent 6 months of his gap year working and the other 6 travelling so his application seemed good to me

Reply 4

Faiza.

Yeah, I would assume that maybe it was his PS that lacked a bit of something?

Reply 5

cchilstonev1

DrDomDom

How were his UKCAT/ BMAT? 10As isnt that great compared to some peoples GCSEs..maybe that played a part. Theyre not exactly weak though...
Maybe his PS was lacking?

You WHAT? I got A*A*AAABBBBBBCCC... If 10 A's isnt great then what i've got is absolute garbage! I'd better not get rejected again based on GCSE's.
But I seriously doubt that having 10A's would go against anybody's application though, except to places like Birmingham...
But in response to the OP, If I get rejected again I'm doing another gap year... you never know, the universities may think 'Wow, this guy's dedicated!' and it could work in his favour.

Reply 6

gm88

BMAT was 19, ukcat was 585 first time and 640 second time. It must have been the ps then. He said that he was a bit nervous about applying for the 3rd because everyone else would be a bit younger than him and if he got another 4 rejections he would be 21, without a degree and unsure what to do next and people have degrees by the time they're 21. I was just generally thinking would anyone apply to medicine as an undergrad 3 times or woud anyone take 2 gap years.

Reply 7

cchilstonev1

DrDomDom

Well compared to some people, 10As isnt that impressive when you get people with 10+A*s. But like you say, I didnt think that it would be enough to hold you back from getting in to most places.

How did you do in your A-levels? Work exp? BMAT/UKCAT etc?

Suppose you're right. I envy those who tried during their GCSE's. I know it's useless thinking about it but I was capable of at least seven A*... Ah well, least I got the minimum requirements for most Unis. My A-Levels were good, AAAB, but last year's application was a half arsed shambles really, in terms of work exp and personal statament. I didn't know what I was up against. I was rejected four times and rightly so! This year is my year, I've already improved my application 10 fold.

Reply 8

gm88

DrDomDom

I cant see what else it might be: if he got rejected 7/8 times without interview, it must have been the PS?
I wonder what he was writing...

Funnily enough i never saw his first ps although he did say that it was under the 700 word limit by quite a bit. I think he wasnt really prepared the first time round and didnt really know what they were looking for. The 2nd time round he completely changed the ps and i read that one and thought it was ok. I havent applied myself yet but when i was reading the 2nd one some of the stuff was cliche and tbh it wasnt really anythin special. In fact i should probably tell him about tsr and nmm as he hasnt come across any of these websites.

Reply 9

Angelil

I'm Angelil's sister, felt I should reply to this one because I'm a med student at Cardiff, just about to go into my second year. I know someone on a different forum who applied something like 5 times while working and did get in eventually. There's nothing to stop your friend working for this year, doing something like being a healthcare assistant, and applying again, if he REALLY doesn't want do a degree and apply via the graduate route just yet. He shouldn't have the attitude that 'loads of people have degrees by the time they're 21' because there are people on my course who are parents, and let's face it, if he gets into medicine he'll be doing it until he's about 65 anyway. There is so much life left to live, he doesn't need to be worrying about what everyone else is doing.

If he does decide to do another gap year, he should get his PS *properly* scrutinised before he sends it in, and make sure he can get good interview practice in. I have to recommend www.newmediamedicine.com if he doesn't know about it, I can quite honestly say I would have found the medicine application so much harder had I not been an active forum member there (I got 2 offers and 4 interviews). He could no doubt find plenty of people in his situation there.

Truthfully though, if I had been in his situation, I would cut my losses and do a degree and apply as a post-grad. It definitely sounds like he has the determination for it. He needs to be reassured that doing a degree doesn't mean that medicine is cut off to him forever. In fact it can often help you prepare for medicine by doing a degree beforehand (a guy on my course sailed through our biochemistry modules after a getting a first in his biochem degree, as well as getting top marks in a couple of other exams... though admittedly he did purposely apply for the 5 year course instead of the 4 year graduate entry programme).

Wish him the best of luck for me, once again I strongly suggest he visits the forum I mentioned to get further advice if he needs it.

Reply 10

jjkkll

I know someone who go in on the third attempt!
First Time go offers from Mnchester and Shefield for AAB, Ended up with ABB Rejected!
Got AAA after resiting one module,

Reapplyied was put on the waiting list at BSMS, but did not get in!

Third time got offers from PMS and BSMS

Went to PMS

Reply 11

strawberrysunshine

If medicine was still all i wanted to do and couldnt imagine doing anything else then yes i would apply again....work experience and a good ps should do it. he's just been unlucky by the sound of it

Reply 12

arpeggio

Definitely encourage him to look at this forum and NMM, and to use the PS helper on here. It sounds like his PS has been letting him down, but if he's determined enough to keep applying and has the relevant experience and grades there shouldn't be a reason why he doesn't get in the third time, provided he does everything to improve his application. He could use his 5th UCAS choice for another course and if all else fails go there/get something else through Extra or Clearing. Hope it all goes well for him, sounds like he really wants it!

Reply 13

freakaleak

ukcat, gcse, A levels all seem gd for the second attempt. Where did he apply? he must have lacked experience or applied to the wrong places. He should do some more work exp and reapply but make sure he applies to the correct places.

Reply 14

gm88

i think he should still reapply aswell but he's so demotivated at the moment. first time around he applied to liverpool, ucl, nottingham and birmingham. second time manchester, sheffield, keele and leeds

Reply 15

ecokid

If that's all he wants to do then there is no other option! And his age isn't an issue at all, i'd even go as far as to say that it can work in your favour if you've doen useful things in the mean time as old applicants tend to work harder and have developed people skills.

Make sure he's getting decent medical experience - someone mentioned being a health care assistant, which would be invaluable. Lecturers like people who'll clean up someone's ****.

I know someone who was rejected from all her choices except one, and even then she only got in as she was on the waiting list. Now she's one of the highest achieving Med students in her year. Oh, the irony.

Reply 16

Angelil

He should also join St John's Ambulance if he can - my sister's just gone off on her second disabled holiday with them, which gives disabled people a holiday and their carers a little respite. It definitely looks good on applications as well as being rewarding in itself.