Even though I’m only in yr 11 I need uni advice

Im only in yr 11 but my parents r pushing me to look at unis cuz they’ve kinda been planing for me to go to med school. I’ve been looking at acceptance rates for med schools and the ones I’m considering have a MUCH lower acceptance rate than I was expecting. The good ones are all below 15 which is below the average oxbridge acceptance rates. Im a decent student and around top 15-10 percent of my year. Is there anyone who can give my any advice on this.
Thanks!

Reply 1

Muttley79

20

Original post by pkeray

Im only in yr 11 but my parents r pushing me to look at unis cuz they’ve kinda been planing for me to go to med school. I’ve been looking at acceptance rates for med schools and the ones I’m considering have a MUCH lower acceptance rate than I was expecting. The good ones are all below 15 which is below the average oxbridge acceptance rates. Im a decent student and around top 15-10 percent of my year. Is there anyone who can give my any advice on this.
Thanks!

Why are they planning your future? Do YOU want to be a doctor?

It's far too early to look at unis for Medicine as you need to wait for GCSE results which some use. Then consider your academic profile and entrance tests e.g. BMAT. Have you looked at the different ways unis select students?

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by pkeray

Im only in yr 11 but my parents r pushing me to look at unis cuz they’ve kinda been planing for me to go to med school. I’ve been looking at acceptance rates for med schools and the ones I’m considering have a MUCH lower acceptance rate than I was expecting. The good ones are all below 15 which is below the average oxbridge acceptance rates. Im a decent student and around top 15-10 percent of my year. Is there anyone who can give my any advice on this.
Thanks!

There is no such thing as a "good" medical school because that implies there are "bad" medical schools, which is now how it works in the UK. All medical schools are accredited by the GMC requiring very stringent criteria to be met. Moreover, the NHS is the only provider of medical training posts once you graduate, and they view all medical schools as equal in line with the GMC view and accreditation. The NHS goes so far as to blind recruiters for specialty training posts to which medical school you went to, in order to ensure they cannot be biased by your medical school.

Therefore the best medical school is the one that accepts you, and you should choose the 4 medical schools you can apply to tactically to maximise your chance of getting an interview and hence offer. Applying on the basis of prestige or any other such nonsense is just an easy way to get 4 rejections out of hand because you didn't do your research and use the evidence base available to you in order to guide your decision making.

Reply 3

Cheekymeerkat

10

Original post by pkeray

Im only in yr 11 but my parents r pushing me to look at unis cuz they’ve kinda been planing for me to go to med school. I’ve been looking at acceptance rates for med schools and the ones I’m considering have a MUCH lower acceptance rate than I was expecting. The good ones are all below 15 which is below the average oxbridge acceptance rates. Im a decent student and around top 15-10 percent of my year. Is there anyone who can give my any advice on this.
Thanks!

Yr 11 just focus on GCSEs. The only useful thing you can do before year 12 is do work experience over summer after GCSEs if ur considering doing med. It will save u stress in year 12 and 13 with everyone scrambling for work exp. Try get care home, charity shop, pharmacy any related to medicine in any way. Try read some books that can be put on personal statement. Transition work is always useless don’t waste ur summer on it. Just apply to the med schools you like don’t bother with acceptance rates or what other people tell you to apply to. Also you won’t make it through med school if it’s something u don’t actually want to do but if you still follow through then you’ll find out the hard way. Ensure it’s something you’re at least interested about or it’ll be unbearable. Good luck 👌👌

Reply 4

Aohqnaoaja

3

Original post by pkeray

Im only in yr 11 but my parents r pushing me to look at unis cuz they’ve kinda been planing for me to go to med school. I’ve been looking at acceptance rates for med schools and the ones I’m considering have a MUCH lower acceptance rate than I was expecting. The good ones are all below 15 which is below the average oxbridge acceptance rates. Im a decent student and around top 15-10 percent of my year. Is there anyone who can give my any advice on this.
Thanks!

Hello friend ^^ I know it’s quite late but I just want to emphasise the importance of not giving into parental pressure when it comes to university and your future in general, I experienced the same thing with my parents pushing me to do medicine, which made me really question whether I actually wanted it for myself (this really affected my mental health in year 12 but after getting counselling and talking to my parents about it I’m much better now). In the end I’ve decided that I really am passionate about medicine, but I know too many people who aren’t and still go into it anyway because their parents want them to or smth like that, and once they get to uni they’re miserable. I wouldn’t want you to end up like that. And plus, you can’t be a good doctor if you aren’t passionate about your job, so if aren’t interested in medicine to begin with, how can you go on to have a good career?
If you really do want to do medicine (because it’s what YOU want for your future and it’ll make YOURSELF happy, not just you parents), then that’s great! My advice would be to start preparing early for everything involved in the application process (eg UCAT and/or BMAT exams, personal statement, super curriculars, etc etc) because if your application is strong then you can really apply anywhere and stand a good chance. As for unis, don’t worry about ranking or prestige and apply to the places you think you’ll enjoy the most (because if you get in you’ll be staying there for a VERY long time, 5-6 years, so make sure you like it). Of course check entry requirements and course structure as well, but in the end it’s your choice so choose according to your own standards.
If you feel that medicine isn’t for you, that’s also great! Your parents understanding of the world may be very different to how it actually is, (which isn’t a bad thing!) so they may not be aware of all the other opportunities available to you that allow you to still have a very successful and fulfilling future. I’d really encourage you to choose a course that you’re passionate about and genuinely interested in, and whether it’s medicine or not, you will be just fine my friend ☺️ Sorry for the essay, I don’t mean to lecture you or anything and ofc feel free to ignore this very long reply lol but regardless I wish you luck and success in whatever you decide to do in the future ^^ You can do it!

Even though I’m only in yr 11 I need uni advice

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