Hi all, well this wont be the most cheeriest thread but i was hoping for some advice as everyone on here is so helpful
well ive been rejected again for medicine after taking a gap year, (3 w/o interview!) and i have an offer for biomedical science at UCL.
Now, some people say you would be crazy to turn down UCL to add another choice on UCAS extra such as optometry .. is it a silly idea? i mean going to UCL is fantastic, but I sincerly do NOT wanna become a biomedical scientist or go into business or anything like that.
2) Applying for optometry through Extra with a medicine personal statement - does anyone know if this has ever worked? surely optometry is pretty specific like med?
3) and sorry (last question!) - I really want to give med another shot, so is it possible to apply for med in the first year of university, say doing optometry or biomed? I really feel like i was barely given a chance this year and i think given the chance, i can nail the iterview.
Im not sure whether you can apply when you're already at uni, but I dont think its wise at that.
Yo do have the option of doing a biomed degree then reapplying either to GEP or to the standard course - and with say, a good degree from UCL, you should be in with a good chance.
Out of curiosity, what were your GCSEs/ UKCAT like - because that might be something to reflect on. Particularly the latter considering you have A-levels.
Grad entry is really not an option for me for various reasons.. but thanks anyway for the advice.
my GCSE's arent as good as many people, i got 2A*'s, 6 A's, 2 B's and ukcat average of 660-700's in 3 sections except for one
and inksplodge- can you actually send another PS? I think it was down to my reference too, my referee is a bit clueless at these things ..
is it possible to apply for med in the first year of university, say doing optometry or biomed?
Most, if not all, med schools will automatically reject anyone already enrolled on another course unless they are in their final year (i.e. applying as a graduate) so that really isn't an option.
You should remember that just because you do a biomedical science degree doesn't mean you have to be a biomedical scientist. There's research (after a PhD) and a whole load of other fields you could go into - I read recently that 50% of graduate jobs don't specify a subject, so it doesn't really matter what you study, as long as you get a good degree from a good university.
There are a few people in my year that did optometry, pharmacy or radiography degrees before doing med. They are having a much easier time of it financially than science grads (like me) on the course, as they can work in their respective professions while studying and get paid pretty well. So a doing a vocational course like optometry would make sense - but if you don't get in to medicine again, would you be happy as an optometrist or would rather work in science...?
Hi all, well this wont be the most cheeriest thread but i was hoping for some advice as everyone on here is so helpful
well ive been rejected again for medicine after taking a gap year, (3 w/o interview!) and i have an offer for biomedical science at UCL.
Now, some people say you would be crazy to turn down UCL to add another choice on UCAS extra such as optometry .. is it a silly idea? i mean going to UCL is fantastic, but I sincerly do NOT wanna become a biomedical scientist or go into business or anything like that.
2) Applying for optometry through Extra with a medicine personal statement - does anyone know if this has ever worked? surely optometry is pretty specific like med?
3) and sorry (last question!) - I really want to give med another shot, so is it possible to apply for med in the first year of university, say doing optometry or biomed? I really feel like i was barely given a chance this year and i think given the chance, i can nail the iterview.
thanks guys for all your help
You realise you can do biomed and convert to Medicine don't you? I think you do 3 years in biomed and then go straight into 2nd year of med.
wrote the above assuming you were planning on applying for med again as a grad - so it probably doesn't help you much!
How come GEP isn't an option for you? Apart from the first year of fees, it really isn't that expensive; much cheaper than being a grad on a 5 year course like me
ashleyT - its extremeley rare to transfer and UCL dont take transfers at all.
and yep it is the debt really, and the time it would take to qualify .. i would be 30 after doing FY1 and 2 and i guess that just scares me
and plus the major factor is its not gauranteed you will actaully get in in the grad route ..
But your advice about earning after doing optometry and then using that is quite a good plan ... hmm never thought of that.
You realise you can do biomed and convert to Medicine don't you? I think you do 3 years in biomed and then go straight into 2nd year of med.
you do realise you're talking rubbish dont you?
only a small handful of universities offer this, you have to be right at the top of your class to be offered a chance, and even then the competition is so fierce that its just as competitive as grad entry. really isnt an option to rely on.
ashleyT - its extremeley rare to transfer and UCL dont take transfers at all.
and yep it is the debt really, and the time it would take to qualify .. i would be 30 after doing FY1 and 2 and i guess that just scares me
and plus the major factor is its not gauranteed you will actaully get in in the grad route ..
But your advice about earning after doing optometry and then using that is quite a good plan ... hmm never thought of that.
My friend is transferring...i think she's going to either Cardiff or Queen marys.
I'd say the options are do a degree and then apply to GEP programmes - there are financial implications to this - or take a second gap year and reapply to medicine. Med schools don't look favourably on people who try and transfer after one year of a degree so I wouldn't try that unless you can get a place on a course where students are allowed to transfer through a pre-existing arrangement (Newcastle biomed - possibility of entry to Newcastle; Bradford clinical sciences- possibility of entry to Leeds; Glamorgan for medical sciences - possibility of entry to Cardiff; Cardiff biomedical sciences - possibility of entry to Cardiff).
ashleyT - its extremeley rare to transfer and UCL dont take transfers at all.
and yep it is the debt really, and the time it would take to qualify .. i would be 30 after doing FY1 and 2 and i guess that just scares me
and plus the major factor is its not gauranteed you will actaully get in in the grad route ..
But your advice about earning after doing optometry and then using that is quite a good plan ... hmm never thought of that.
You'd be five years older than somone who had started med straight from school - that's nothing; the oldest person in my year is 42 and we're only in second year! You really shouldn't worry about age.
Think carefully about optometry. If you do decide to apply for med again after doing a degree, optometry could make it much easier financially.
Someone on this board was unsuccessful on their second attempt and applied for the third time and ended up with three offers this year. I'll go through my PM's and message you the name of the person since it may help you with your decision.
The way I see it - you've got the grades and you are more than capable with the admissions test. Taking another year out to reapply has its risks but it can work to your advantage too. If that's not commitment or determination, I really don't know what is.
What have you done so far in your current gap year?
only a small handful of universities offer this, you have to be right at the top of your class to be offered a chance, and even then the competition is so fierce that its just as competitive as grad entry. really isnt an option to rely on.
Um, wasn't speaking to you and i was only offering information to the OP. Everyone in my chemistry class is going into medicine except me, thus its a frequent topic to discuss...two of them are transferring courses.
I know how fierce competition is for medics. A friend of mine got 6A's at AS level and is predicted 5A's at A levels (maths, further maths, biology, chemistry, physics)...he was declined from Liverpool, Nottingham and Cambridge...he's going to manchester....If you can't get 5A's and get accepted into medicine(he is the only person in our year who did 5 A levels)...wtf can you do?...Its ridiculously competitive.
Um, wasn't speaking to you and i was only offering information to the OP. Everyone in my chemistry class is going into medicine except me, thus its a frequent topic to discuss...two of them are transferring courses.
I know how fierce competition is for medics. A friend of mine got 6A's at AS level and is predicted 5A's at A levels (maths, further maths, biology, chemistry, physics)...he was declined from Liverpool, Nottingham and Cambridge...he's going to manchester....If you can't get 5A's and get accepted into medicine(he is the only person in our year who did 5 A levels)...wtf can you do?...Its ridiculously competitive.
Regardless of who you were speaking to, I very much doubt that I would be confident of switching over to medicine if I were to take a biomed course... My friend wanted to take such a route in Imperial (because he couldn't even qualify for med) only to realise in the end that graduate entry into med was very much harder than undergrad entry. Now, if you can't get 5A's (and not even medical schools demand 5A's- offers are sometimes AAB or AAAB), its really not a problem- you could always take your gap year to do something related to medicine. Yes, it is competitive, but most of the competition comes from people who have taken a gap year to do something worthwhile, such as participate in research (which actually got published in a respectable journal in one case that I know) or volunteer as a HCA. Grades aren't the end-all, and if you are really dedicated to medicine as a career, volunteer work won't be as much of a chore as it may seem over the long term.
Someone on this board was unsuccessful on their second attempt and applied for the third time and ended up with three offers this year. I'll go through my PM's and message you the name of the person since it may help you with your decision.
The way I see it - you've got the grades and you are more than capable with the admissions test. Taking another year out to reapply has its risks but it can work to your advantage too. If that's not commitment or determination, I really don't know what is.
What have you done so far in your current gap year?
Thank you so much it would really help speaking to someone who managed it.
in my current gap year i havent done much tbh- it is INCREDIBLY hard to get a job- i must have applied for a good 30-40 and nothing. dam economic crisis lol. ive applied for about 10 HCA jobs too but nowadays they want people with NVQ's? ..
but i did go to North India to work in a hospital for a month which was amazing and really worth it.
Anyway thank you for your advice i appreciate it
You'd be five years older than somone who had started med straight from school - that's nothing; the oldest person in my year is 42 and we're only in second year! You really shouldn't worry about age.
Think carefully about optometry. If you do decide to apply for med again after doing a degree, optometry could make it much easier financially.
I will definatley .. this does seem like a good option. thanks
and ashleyT- are people really transferring from chemistry? what percentage did they need to get i? what uni?
I will definatley .. this does seem like a good option. thanks
and ashleyT- are people really transferring from chemistry? what percentage did they need to get i? what uni?
Uh, they are transferring from biomed.
It was my chemistry class i was talking to them...generally one person has done excellent and got A's in everything whilst the rest of the class is on B's i think....but in Bio im pretty sure their on A's although done a few retakes.
Uh, they are transferring from biomed.
It was my chemistry class i was talking to them...generally one person has done excellent and got A's in everything whilst the rest of the class is on B's i think....but in Bio im pretty sure their on A's although done a few retakes.
So they haven't even started biomed yet and they already think they're transfering to med..?
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