Biomed then graduate / Reapply?

I'm not confident about getting good grades and don't want to take a gap year in case I still don't get in and will have nothing.

This year it was mostly my UKCAT that let me down. I picked realistic unis for my predicted grades and have a lot of work experience. But my UKCAT was not very good and that's the feedback I've had from unis.

I don't want to do biomed really, medicine is what I want to do... but I don't want to get bad grades and then not be able to go to uni at all. However, I know that if I accept biomed then I have to do it, right?

It's a really tough decision to make. I can't really afford to do two degrees... but I want to do medicine more than anything.

I agree with some points, but honestly I don't think you will truly understand what you are getting yourself into unless you are actually doing a degree...I used to have the same optimism when I was doing A levels..instead I should have listened to people's advice more.

There are many disadvantages to going through the grad. entry route.

1) Many people who start their course, end up giving up on the idea of apply for graduate medicine within the first year, at least 80%, not because they like the course they are doing now, but because of how hard their current course is.

2) You may not get a 2:1 or a first, then you will be stuck with a degree, in which employment, lets be honest can sometimes be hard to come by..and the pay is not great

3) You have so many more people to compete with and very little places available...therefore the medical schools want the best...ergo you have to work hard for another 3 (or in my case 4) years to get to that standard that they require!

4) Think about the cost of another degree, there is going to an increase in the tuition fees, as the government is going to uncap the fees, therefore you would be likely to be paying £9.000 a year in grad. entry.

5) You may just regret not reapplying for the rest of your life..sorry for being melodramatic but its true

Those are some that I have listed off the top of my head..

So do you want to work hard, for 6 months? Or 3 years...your choice?

Trust me, just get the grades and reapply, if you are worried about getting rejected again, see if you can ask to have a deferred entry for biomed..

I know so many people who have had offers for biomed and other courses, but have got the grades for medicine/dentistry and have reapplied and got in. They also applied for a backup again, and they also got their back-ups..

SO ONLY TAKE BIOMED, IF IT IS YOUR LAST RESORT

I am exactly in the same situation as you are right now. All the feedback that i got from the uni's told me that it was your low medical enterance exams that let me down. So...i am in the same state of confusion as you are!!!

Sorry to hear that you are too.

What are we going to do?

Well my family and friends are suggesting that i go for biomed but as it is a really important decision ...i need to take some time to think...lol.....any more light on this topic!!

It's hard because some people will tell you one thing and other people another.

My other course allows people to transfer to medicine.... but very few so I don't want to rely on that.

It's impossible.

Well you know some people in my college have gone for that ( 2 of them), in mind being able to transfer to medicine after 1 year. But as you said, i doesnt seem possible as they only allow 20 people from that route and i didnt want to risk that. But as somebody previously mentioned, is it possible, while doing biomed degree, that you could transfer to do medicine after 1 year?

There is no actual plan at the moment, its just an option that the government is keeping...and with the current economical climate, do you not think that people should be wary?

here are some examples...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7328318.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6273959.stm

http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/news/Students-debt-campaign-streetsarticle-454168-details/article.html

http://live.cgcu.net/news/907

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/4234497.stm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/3326819/10500-fees-if-Oxford-is-to-stop-the-rot.html

And if i'm completely honest I really do personally regret not taking a gap year.. just so I could travel. I managed to get a snipet of the travelling experience last summer, but it made me wonder what 6 months or so would of been like (probably..AWESOME!!!!!!!!!)

I'm not confident about getting good grades and don't want to take a gap year in case I still don't get in and will have nothing.
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If your last medicine choice doesn't work out then why don't you just accept your biomedical offer and then wait to see what grades you get. If in August you do get the grades you want and you still want to do medicine, then you can withdraw from UCAS (you don't have to go to uni, even if you've accepted the offer) take a gap year and reapply for medicine. If you don't get the grades you want or you've changed your mind about medicine, then you can go off to uni and all will be happy!!

I wasn't sure if that was allowed. Is it?

but won't the competition be even hard next year due to the A* grade in a levels?

Thankfully that doesn't apply to me... but I hear they may be messing with their IB-UCAS tariff conversions so there's a possibility that the grade requirements will become higher for me.