[MoTheMedic]

2011 Entry

Year of Entry: 2011
Deferred?: No
GCSEs: 5A* & 5A
AS Grades: AAAB (Biology, Chemistry, Maths and History)
A2 Results: A*AA (Maths, Chemistry and Biology)
UKCAT (if applicable): 650 (720, 730, 550, 600)
Work Experience: 1 week at local hospital with various department, including Neurology, Orthopaedics, watched a few Renal operations.
Voluntary work:
One year in a geriatric rest home
Six weeks on a hospital ward
Three months in a charity shop
Extra Curricular:
Open University Course
New Scientist Club
MD of School's Young Enterprise group
Universities applied to and decisions:
Leicester- Rejected without interview (1 mark off an interview)
Nottingham- Rejected without interview
UEA- Rejected without interview
Aberdeen- Rejected without interview

Year of Entry: 2012 (Re-applicant)

Deferred?: No

GCSEs: 5A* 5A
AS Grades: AAAB (Biology, Chemistry, Maths and History)
A2 Results: A*AA (Maths, Chemistry and Biology)

UKCAT (if applicable): 640 (580, 650, 650, 680)
BMAT (if applicable): 2.9 5.2 3.5B

Work Experience:
One week at a hospital shadowing various doctors (ward rounds, surgery, out-patients)
One week at a hospital shadowing a radiologist
Gap year: working as a HCA in a pharmacy
Volunteering:
Two years in a geriatric rest home
Six weeks on a hospital ward
Three months in a charity shop
Five weeks in a home for children in Peru

Extra Curricular:
Open University Course
New Scientist Club
MD of School's Young Enterprise group

Universities applied to and decisions:
UCL- Rejected without interview (BMAT Section 1 score was too low)
HYMS- Rejected after interview
Lancaster- Unconditional Offer
Liverpool- Unconditional Offer (CRB and health checks)- Firm

Advice

Admission tests:
UKCAT- Prepare for it as much as possible; use many different books available( I bought the 600 Questions book and borrowed various others), practice GCSE Maths for the Quantitative Reasoning section, do psychometric tests.

Don't panic if you don't get a great result, all it does is narrow your options, apply to universities which don't use it all or is only a factor when making interview decisions e.g. Liverpool, Bristol and Birmingham.

BMAT- My advice would be to take a full practice test prior to applying to a BMAT university, personally I found Section 1 difficult throughout which showed by my awful score. Had I tried a paper I would have realised I find the questions very difficult and I'm going to avoid BMAT universities.

Section 2: Revise GCSE science and maths

Section 3: Do plenty of practice essays, there are many examples on the BMAT website and you can make up your own questions by discussing ethical issues i.e. should euthanasia be legal etc. Ask a teacher to mark them, being on a gap year I found this difficult so I would post my essays on here and there are always people willing to help.

Personal Statement:
The personal statement was extremely important to my application, spend hours pouring over it and finding ways to improve it. Ask as many people as you can to have a look at it but don't allow anyone to change your content, it's personal.

For every experience you've had always explain; how it's helped you realise you want to be a doctor/ what you've learnt/ important skills you have gained or observed.

Ensure your reasons to study medicine are convincing, they don't have to be unique and won't ever be, but your experiences can make them more personal.

Interviews:
Prepare, prepare, prepare. Use the 150+ questions book, but don't memorise answers from it as everyone else in the waiting room will probably have a copy. Don't think too much about abstract questions and make sure you're ready to answer any basic question fully and confidently.

Ask teachers, friends or parents to do mock interviews with you to get an idea of answering questions under pressure and being cool. Being on a gap year meant I didn't have easy access to teachers so I relied heavily on one medical student friend to do mock interviews with me.

General Advice:
Receiving four rejections first time round is not the end of the world. Obtain feedback, if possible, and reflect on it. First time round, my personal statement wasn't good enough so this time I gave it greater attention. Do as much as you can to improve your application i.e. additional work experience, volunteering and extra curricular activities.

My gap year has been a great experience, I spent the beginning of the year preparing for admissions tests, started working, continued volunteering and I'm now making plans for the summer.

Try something new, I tried learning how to play the keyboard, didn't work out but I gave it a shot.

Finally, apply to your strengths, every application will have one strength atleast. Do your research to find out what factors are important to which universities for example GCSEs at Birmingham, AS UMS at Cambridge, Personal Statement at Liverpool, UKCAT at Sheffield etc. However, I believe you should always go for one place where you really want to go, even if you have a slim chance.

[Annora]

Year of Entry: 2012

Deferred?: No

GCSEs: A*A*A*A*AAABBB
A Level Results: AAAa
Previous degree: Physics BSc 2:1

UKCAT: 700
GAMSAT: 62

Work Experience:
1 year as HCA
8 months ward volunteer
3+ years volunteer with visually-impaired children
1+ year Nightline volunteer

Extra Curricular:
Life drawing
Growing vegetables
Playing piano
Yoga
Travelling to Central America and South Africa

Universities applied to and decisions:
Nottingham A101 - Rejected after interview
Warwick A101 - Rejected after interview
SGUL A101 - Rejected after interview
Swansea A101 - Rejected without interview

Advice:
- Know your strengths and weaknesses
- Do practice for the UKCAT
- Shadowing is not as important as hands-on experience. Working as an HCA is incredibly good work experience.
- Practice for interview. I improved a lot in subsequent interviews, but I should have been in that place before my first one knowing how nervous I can get.
- Apply strategically - apply to places that give you a better chance of getting an interview. E.g. I should not have applied to Swansea, as I had good UKCAT and GAMSAT scores so I should have applied to somewhere that bases interview offers strongly on test scores.

[Metastasis]

International from Singapore Took a gap year to apply for Medicine in the UK -- the best decision I ever made.

Year of Entry: 2012
Deferred?: No
GCSEs: Did not take GCSEs due to the Integrated Programme. Students in the programme can skip the O levels (GCSEs equivalent).
AS Grades: AABB equivalent
A2 Prediction/Results: Achieved AAABaa (H2 Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics & Economics, H1 General Paper, Project Work)
UKCAT (if applicable): 732.5 (Can't remember individual subsections but my VR was the lowest at 630 and AR the highest at 820)

Work Experience/Volunteering:

3 days shadowing a Gasteroenterologist
2 weeks volunteering at North Vietnam with my school
2 weeks Ob/Gyn private clinic
3 months Admin staff at an online retail store
3.5 months Admin staff at National Cancer Centre
1 year Instructor at KUMON
2 years Tutoring
a few days volunteering with a hospice

Extra Curricular:

6 years choir member, with 1 year as President and 1 year as Section Leader
2 years photography club

Universities applied to and decisions:

Aberdeen - Interview - Conditional AAA Insurance
Leicester - Interview - Rejection
Newcastle - Interview - Conditional AAA FIRM
Nottingham - Rejection

I also got an International Undergraduate Merit Scholarship from Newcastle

General Advice:

- Do be sure you really, really want Medicine as a career path. That said, taking a gap year may be the best thing you've ever done (as it did for me) because you can find out more about yourself and the reasons for choosing Medicine. Getting the right jobs/attachments would be beneficial as well to sort out your thinking.

- Do give your 100% for every single aspect of the selection process! Firstly, choose the correct school according to your strengths and weaknesses. For example, schools that shortlist for interview purely using UKCAT should be the top of your list if you have a fantastic UKCAT score.

For me, I had to maximise my chances because I can't really afford to take another gap year, but if you have nothing to lose, choose 2 top schools, 1 school that is of your standard and 1 school you think you definitely can get into (although I have no idea how you judge that).

- Be calm and confident during the interview process. For my interview, all of the interviewers only asked about the work at the National Cancer Centre so I guess work experience > volunteering/job shadowing. Also do not be afraid to speak of your hobbies or include them in your UCAS form/PS which is what I did because they like to see all-rounded individuals.


Hope this helps! Feel free to PM me for any help, especially international/Singaporean applicants

[cz100]

Year of Entry: 2012
Deferred?: No
GCSEs: 10.5A* 1A
AS Grades: AAAAAA (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, History, Chinese)
A2 Prediction/Results: A*A*A*A* (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths)/A (Chinese)
UKCAT (if applicable): 762.5
BMAT (if applicable): 7.2 7.7 4.5A

Work Experience/Volunteering:

- 1 week care of the elderly ward
- 4 days GP surgery
- 1 day radiography
- 6 months volunteering in paediatrics ward
- 2 years volunteering in a charity shop

Extra Curricular:

- 6 years St John Ambulance
- Deputy head girl
- Grade 8 piano
- Gold Duke of Edinburgh

Universities applied to and decisions:
- Cambridge - Offer A*AA (Firm)
- Queen's Belfast - Offer AAA (Insurance)
- Southampton - Rejection
- Birmingham - Withdrawn

Any questions, feel free to PM and I'll be glad to help as much as I can.

[Insanity514]

Year of Entry: 2012
Deferred?: No
GCSEs: 9A* 2A
AS Grades: AAAA
A2 Prediction/Results: A*A*A*A
UKCAT (if applicable): 677.5
BMAT (if applicable): Average-ish

Work Experience/Volunteering:

Charity shop
Hospital ward assistant
2 weeks work exp. at doctors' surgery
Work exp at a school
Care home learning mentor

Extra Curricular:

Sports
St John Ambulance
Other minor activities


Universities applied to and decisions:

Leicester Rejection after interview Offer AAA !
Cambridge Rejection after interview
Nottingham Rejection after interview
Birmingham Rejection before interview

Very surprised to be offered a place after my initial rejection.
Do revise for your interviews a lot, I didn't so initially got 4 rejections.

[reggaeinyourjeggae]

Year of Entry: 2011
Deferred?: No
GCSEs: 14A* (maths,chem,bio,physics,music,ar t,DIDA ICT,german,media studies,english literature,english language,RE,history)
AS Grades: AAAAAA (maths,chem,bio,further maths,german,english literature)
A2 Grades: A*A*A*A (maths,chem,bio,english literature)
UKCAT (if applicable): 745
BMAT (if applicable): 5.4,4.9.4.5A

Work Experience/Volunteering:

1.5 yrs in marie curie/st oswalds (there was some overlap)
2 days in a hospital geriatric unit
2 days GP
2 weeks hospital

Extra Curricular:

Music - regional youth orchestra (section leader at one point ), post gr 8 violin, gr 8 theory, gr 8 standard piano (never took the exam... :/)
Sport - kickboxing (quite recreationally :P)
Odd charity collections/events etc
Debating club - did NJDC etc lower down in school

Universities applied to and decisions:

Newcastle - offer AAA (not including chem), insurance
Leeds - withdrew
Oxford - rejection post interview
Edinburgh - offer AAA inc chem, firm

I'm not on TSR much, but any questions feel free to PM me

[medicinemm]

Year of Entry: 2012

Deferred?: No

GCSEs: 7A* 2A 0.5B, and an A in AS Archaeology I took with my GCSEs

AS Grades: AAAAB, biology, physics, maths, critical thinking, chemistry respectively

A2 Predictions: A*A*A biology, physics, chemistry

UKCAT: Average 720

Work Experience/Volunteering: Volunteered with local charity supporting children with metabolic diseases (just admin and putting disease packs together), ward volunteer at local hospital (both about 1.5 years), 2 weeks work experience in India (1 week in hospital shadowing consultant oncologist, 1 week visiting other healthcare centres, e.g. leprosy hospital, hospice)

Extra Curricular: Grade 7 clarinet, played for 8 years in local wind band, section leader for 2 years, done a few competitions as soloist and in group with clarinet and dancing (ballet, tap, modern), Head Girl of high school, maths buddy for year 7s

Universities applied to and decisions:
St Andrews: Interview, then offer AAA - Firm
Aberdeen: Interview, then offer AAA - Insurance
Newcastle: Interview, then rejection
Leicester: Interview, then withdrew

General Advice:
Research medical schools to suit your application, get lots of advice on your personal statement and really put effort into making it stand out a bit, definitely smile in interview - the way you communicate is so important. Think hard about why you really want to go to medical school, and why you in particular are suited to medicine.

[Vulpes]

Year of Entry: 2011

Deferred?: No

GCSEs: 7A*s, 2As, 2Bs

A2 Prediction/Results: AABb

UKCAT (if applicable): 685

International?: Yes

Work Experience/Volunteering:

- 1 month at a centre for children with developmental disorders
- 1 month shadowing a surgeon & working with healthcare professionals
- 2 weeks shadowing a GP


Extra Curricular:

- Captain of school sailing team
- Vice-president of computer society
- Class representative
- Film crew (Director for a few events)
- Swim team
- Teacher of Flash ECA course
- Small web development projects for a private hospital in HK
- Junior national fencing team (2009)

Certificates:
- Certificate of Recognition – Silver Community Service Award (50+ hours)
- Certificate of Appreciation
- Ulrike Schwarzer Memorial Prize
- Helping Hand Certificate of Appreciation
- Flight Experience Winner of Hong Kong Best Pilot Competition
- ABRSM Grade 8 Piano (127/150)
- CUHK Topics in Multimedia – Talented Youth
- Advanced Topics in Multimedia – Talented Youth
- PolyU Creative Robot Programming Camp
- UKMT – Silver Award


Universities applied to and decisions:

Aberdeen (Medicine) : Withdrawn
Glasgow (Medicine) : Offer
Leeds (Medicine) : Withdrawn
Sheffield (Medicine) : Offer
Glasgow (Biomedical Sciences) : Offer (course was then cancelled so I applied to Imperial)
Imperial (Computing) : Offer

Advice to future applicants:

- Apply to your strengths. Don't be afraid to overreach but always make sure that you have a backup option.
- It is more important to let universities know what you have learnt from your experiences than simply listing them out.
- Extra curriculars are good but make sure that your grades aren't neglected as a result.
- Start your interview prep early, even if you haven't received any interview offers yet.
- For international applicants, if you are offered an interview, I would advise you to fly over to the UK instead of doing it in Canada/Malaysia (if you can afford it). It is better to find out a bit more about where you will potentially be studying in for the next 5-6 years than relying on web information. That is the main reason why I chose Sheffield. Loved the city etc



Hope that helps. Good luck!

[why-hello-there]

Year of Entry: 2012
Deferred? No
Standard Grades: 8 1's
Highers: 5 A's
UKCAT: 700

Work Experience/Voluntary Work:
-9 months in hospital gift shop
-3 years with St Andrew's First Aid
-2 weeks of shadowing across several Glasgow hospitals
-1 day at a local GP
-Just started working with Alzheimer's sufferers in care home when personal statement was sent away (only really mentioned at interview)

Extra-Curricular:
-3 years playing bass guitar in 2 school bands
-Helped organise and promote a local annual charity music festival twice (also played at it with my own band)
-Just a general interest in playing sports weekly
-School vice-captain
-Helped a student at lunchtimes who was struggling at Physics in 4th year (wasn't on my personal statement, but was asked in my Glasgow interview if I had ever mentored someone so I assume it's something they look for)

Universities and decisions:
- Glasgow, Conditional BB at Advanced Higher and C at Higher (FIRMED)
- Dundee, Rejection Post-interview
- St Andrew's, Rejection Post-interview
- Edinburgh, Rejection Pre-interview
- Strathclyde (Pharmacy), Unconditional (Declined)

My advice would be to start voluntary work early-you'll be a much more desirable candidate if you show commitment over a long period of time. Try getting into something which heavily involves communication. It doesn't need to be in a care setting (although this would be better), even working in a shop and dealing with the public will boost your application. Also, you can never go wrong with joining a first aid company-being part of one means you're dealing with vulnerable people AND showing you can be competent in pressure situations.

Also, with regards to the personal statement, don't just try and list things you've done. You'll come across much better if you focus in on what you have learned from each activity and what it demonstrates about your character. Make sure you include quite a few hobbies and go into a bit of detail about them as well-admissions are looking for a well-rounded person, not simply an academic.

Glasgow also asked me about any extra-curricular research I've done (possibly because it's a very PBL orientated school?) If you can, try and get that under your belt as well-I know a lot of uni's offer small, cheap(ish) summer courses that you can do some basic research at. Not a necessity though I don't think.

Definitely get work experience as early as possible-send emails, make phone calls, do whatever it takes!

Make sure you prepare well enough for your interviews. Have questions like 'why medicine' and 'why this university' covered (but don't learn every single word of your answer-you might forget it because of nerves or it might come out robotic ). Just get a general idea of answers to those kinds of questions. You can buy some good med school question books or just google 'medical school questions' and you'll find loads (although maybe not with desirable answers). Again, don't rote learn 'good' answers, just get a good idea of them.

Finally, preparefor the UKCAT!

Good luck with your application and feel free to PM me about anything you want.

[Sparkzz]

Year of Entry: 2012
Deferred?: No
GCSEs: 2A* 6A 1C
AS Grades: AAAA (Biology, Chemistry, Maths, History)
A2 Prediction/Results: A*A*A (Biology, Chemistry, Maths)
UKCAT (if applicable): 690

Work Experience/Volunteering:

- 2 weeks shadowing gastroenterologist
- 1 day with general surgeon
- 1 week in local hospital
- 2 weeks charity work abroad with consultant ophthalmologist and team
- regular volunteer at local nursing home
- teaching science and maths in primary school

Extra Curricular:

- playing cricket for school and local team

Universities applied to and decisions:
- St Georges University of London - Offer AAA (Firm)
- Barts and the London - Rejection
- Keele - Rejection
- Leicester - Rejection

If you have any questions please do let me know! I understand how grueling the A100 admissions process can be. Don't be put off by the intense competition, work hard, and apply sensibly! If you truly are determined and you work hard, then it will all pay off. I would definitely recommend investing in some books to help you write your personal statement and for interview practice.

[moonie9995]

Year of Entry:2012

Deferred?:No

GCSEs:9A*s 1A

AS Grades:AAAAA (Biol, Chem, Maths, Physics, History)

A2 Prediction/Results:A*A*A*A* (Dropped History)

UKCAT (if applicable):737.5

BMAT (if applicable):6.6, 6.1, 3.5A

Work Experience/Volunteering:
1 week psychiatry
1 week orthopaedic surgery
2 weeks in PCT
1 week cardiology
1 week GP
6 months volunteering in a care home

Extra Curricular:
Trampolining (10 years)
Lead school pre-med soc
MedLink
Biology subject leader

Universities applied to and decisions:
Oxford (Oriel) - AAA - Firm
Birmingham - AAA - Insurance
Nottingham - AAA
Sheffield - AAA

Hope this helps! Any questions about anything, feel free to PM me =]
Also, if anyone is looking for some good books to read for interviews, I would recommend 'Life at the Extremes: The Science of Survival' by Frances Ashcroft, it gave me loads to talk about in interviews. 'Life Ascending' by Nick Lane is good too.

[Kaylain]

International applicant from Malaysia here, used Australian year 12 to enter uni.

Year of Entry: 2012

Deferred?: No

GCSEs: Malaysian SPM 7A+s, 3As and 1B

Australian ATAR : 99.15

UKCAT (if applicable): 630 average

Work Experience/Volunteering:
Shadowed physiotherapists in hospitals and clinics

Extra Curricular:
Student conductor and principal trombonist of school band
One of the 1st Violinists in state orchestra
Tenor and 2nd cantor in church choir
Cross country runner
Badminton

Universities applied to and decisions:
KCL- rejection without interview
Liverpool - Interview 8/1/12 in Kuala Lumpur-Offer 28/3/12- FIRM
Leeds - rejection
Bristol - Withdrawn after getting Liverpool

[Hoppingbeans]

International applicant from Indonesia here.

Year of Entry: 2012

Deferred?: No

GCSEs: Did not take due to Integrated programme which exempts us from taking its equivalent and straight to A levels.

A2 Results: AAAAab, merit (Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Economics, Project Work, General Paper and Pharmaceutical Chemistry)

UKCAT (if applicable): 567.5 with lowest 480 in DA, highest 610 in QR

BMAT (if applicable): 5.7, 7.3, 3A

Work Experience/Volunteering:
Shadowed a gynaecologist for a week
Shadowed a neurosurgeon for a week

Extra Curricular:
Violinist in Strings Ensemble
Member of the Community Club
Member of Medical Society

Universities applied to and decisions:
Aberdeen - Pre-interview rejection
Imperial - Offer of AAAC (FIRM)
Leeds - Pre-interview rejection
UCL - Pre-interview rejection

[emmie12343]

Year of Entry: 2012

Deferred?: No

GCSEs: 6.5 A* 6 A

AS Grades: 4 A 1 B

A2 Prediction/Results: 4 A

UKCAT (if applicable): 695


Work Experience/Volunteering:
2 week various wards at local hospitals
2 weeks in St Lucia in various wards
1 year volunteering in a surgical ward
2 years teaching swimming to various abilities
3 months working as a beach lifeguard
1 year volunteering with a stroke victim
3 years working with chlidren as a babysitter and a brownie leader.

Extra Curricular: Deputy head girl, school prefect, captain of 1st XI hockey team, swam and played badminton at national level in school, play the harp

Universities applied to and decisions:
Manchester: Offer - declined
Liverpool: Rejected
Newcastle: Offer - Insurance (AAA)
Bristol: Offer - Firm (AAA with chem and bio, A*AB with A in chem)

Any questions pm me

[madsmad]

Year of Entry: 2013
Deferred?: Yes
GCSEs: 8A*s, 2As and A in FSMQ
AS Grades: AAAAA (Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Geography, General Studies)
A2 Predictions: A*A*A*A (Maths, Biology, Geography, Chemistry) + Distinction in AQA Baccaleureate
UKCAT (if applicable): 785

Work Experience/Volunteering:
9 months in a hospital A&E department
2 days of clinical skills training at a children's hospital
Medlink (didn't really mention)
2 years as a Guides Young Leader

Extra Curricular:
Grade 8 piano
Grade 6 cello
Lots of accompanying and playing in various bands
Horse riding
Tennis (plus tennis club committee member)

Universities applied to and decisions:
Edinburgh - Offer (AAAB with A in chem.) - FIRM
East Anglia - Offer (AAAB with A in bio.) - INSURANCE
Peninsula - Offer (AAA) - declined
Bristol - rejection

General Advice:
As people have said before, it really is about quality not quantity and about how well you can talk about your work experience/ volunteering - I've hardly got any, but I talked a lot about the volunteering in my PS.

Do your best in the UKCAT - I'm fairly sure that it was the main reason I got the two interviews

If there's anything about you that makes you stand out, I would definitely put it in your personal statement - for example, I talked about living abroad for a lot of my childhood and being moved up a year, and at the UEA interview they talked about that and I was able to bring it up too.

Overall, don't worry too much - I got really stressed because I'd done so little volunteering and no work experience but by applying tactically (you're pretty much guaranteed an interview at Peninsula if your academics/ UKCAT are good enough) you still have a good chance of getting in.

[ScarlettMelody]

Year of Entry: 2012
Deferred?: No
GCSEs: 10 A*s 4 A's
AS Grades: AAAA (Bio, Chem, English Lit, Physics)
A2 Prediction/Results:A*A*A* (Bio, Chem, English lit)
UKCAT (if applicable): 710
BMAT (if applicable): n/a

Work Experience/Volunteering:
1 x week in hospital shadowing
1/2 day in Gps
3 weeks in Mexico at a Guiding centre working with street children
2 years volunteering at a lovely care home

Extra curricular:
Grade 8 trumpet
County Orchestra
Jazz enembles
Waitressing twice a week
Mentoring at another school
House Captain
Sports leader award

Universities applied to and decisions:
Newcastle - Offer - Firm (AAA)
Sheffield - Offer
Leicester - Offer
Bristol - Offer - Insurance (A*AB)

Advice:
It's been said before but apply to where you know you have a chance of getting in, but also don't apply to places you would be very unhappy at! I took the strategy of chosing two safer choices I liked and two I was less sure of getting into but really really liked because you do have to spend 5 years there. Also don't allow your school/college to pressure you into applying to uni's you wouldn't suit the course (ie. Oxbridge) just because they think you should.

It's all about preparation! For interviews learn EVERYTHING you can about the course, it will make the interviewers take you seriously. Students who do tours are really useful for detail about that uni. And be yourself, I did some silly things in interviews but just laughed them off and the interviewers laughed too.

Finally, be prepared for waiting. I didn't hear anything post interview till March and was convinced it was all over, so keep positive

Pm me if you have any questions about anything at all!

[SilverArch]

Year of Entry: 2012
Deferred?: No
GCSEs: A*A*A*A*A*A*AABB
AS Grades: AABCC
A2 Prediction/Results: AAA (achieving that now doesn't look that likely, but at least I have an insurance offer I am really happy with)
UKCAT (if applicable): 697.5
BMAT: No
Work Experience/Volunteering:
2 days with a hospital pathologist
5 months volunteering in a care home (at time of application, was 7/8 months by interview stage)
Extra Curricular:
Grade 6 Violin, playing in two orchestras including touring. Plus about 10 years in a small string group
School prefect
Planning, filming and editing a video clip to be used in a presentation on autism in schools. Was eventually used I think in a conference presentation by someone in the NAS, and went down well
Chair of fundraising for school trip group
Martial arts training for a couple of years
Universities applied to and decisions:
Leicester - Invitation to interview, withdrew and didn't go
Newcastle - Interview, OFFER AAA
Leeds - Never heard anything, withdrew
also
Leicester for Biological Sciences - offer ABB, insurance
Leeds for Biology - offer AAB, withdrew

It's fully possible to get an offer with less than straight A's at AS. Apply strategically, some places don't care about lower AS grades as long as you are predicted 3 A's at A2. Doing well on the UKCAT had the biggest effect, along with a good interview. You can't research entry requirements enough!

Good luck to all future applicants

Also, don't shrug off major doubts about a choice - I filled out my UCAS with 4 medicine choices, but I realised I wouldn't be happy at choice 4, so I took it off, put another biology course on instead and only applied to 3 medical schools

[Annalouxxxx]

Year of Entry: 2012
Deferred?: No
GCSEs: 4.5 A*'s and 6.5 A's
AS Grades: AAAAAB (Biology, Chemistry, Maths, History, General Studies and Religious Studies)
A2 Prediction/Results: A*A*AA (General Studies, Biology, Chemistry and Maths)
Higher grades (Scottish applicants): N/A
Previous Degree (if applicable): N/A
UKCAT (if applicable): 682.5 average
BMAT (if applicable): N/A
Work Experience/Volunteering:
4 days with respiratory physiologists in a pulmonary function unit
12 months volunteering at an eldery care home
12 month volunteering as a brownie leader
5 days at a cottage hospital
5 days shadowing an oncology registrar at a specialist oncology hospital
4 days shadowing a psychiatric consultant
5 days at a nursery for socially oppressed children in Germany
Helped fill a shipping crate with school supplies for Sierra Leone
Extra Curricular:
Danced for fourteen years
Been part of guiding for twelve years
Reading
Spending time with friends
School ambassador at Secondary School
Paired numeracy
Giving tours at open days
Universities applied to and decisions:
Newcastle - interview - OFFER - AAA - firm
Leicester - interview - OFFER -AAA - insurance
Leeds - rejection without interview
Nottingham - rejection without interview
Advice:
Apply strategically, I don't think I did this very well but in hindsight I think this is what I would do differently. For example, if you are very academic apply for places like oxbridge, if you got good GCSEs apply to places like Edinburgh and Birmingham, if you got a high UKCAT apply to Newcastle, if you got a low UKCAT apply to Liverpool and Bristol etc.

Make sure you mention hobbies in some way on your personal statement. They asked about my hobbies at both of the interviews I had.

For any interviews, really learn ethical issues surrounding things like euthanasia, abortion and organ donation. You will really shine at these questions.

Really think about how teamwork is important for a Doctor before your interview and think about any examples where you personally have worked in a team

Finally, start reading medical news now. Just an article or two a day will be fine I read bbc health news but NHS news is also really good.

I hope that helps I never in my wildest dreams though I would get into medical school, especially not first time so believe in yourself! inbox me with anymore questions xxx

[pi=3]

Year of Entry: 2012
Deferred?: No
GCSEs: 9A*s, 1 A (+ A in FSMQ)
AS Grades: Biology: A, Chemistry: A, Physics: A, Maths: A
A2 Results: A-Levels Completed - Bio: A*, Phy; A*, Chem: A*
Previous Degree (if applicable): N/A
UKCAT: 630(ish) Last year, 742ish this year
BMAT: 2.1, 6.2, 3B Last year. 4.6, 6.4 and 3B this year.
Work Experience/Volunteering:
Acorns Children's Hospital - once a week for several months
Geriatric Ward of a Local hospital (was okay)-once a week for several months
Orthopedics, Endoscopy and Cardiology combined (my favorite!)- 1 week
Community Pediatrics (good - doctors were really nice!!)- 1 week
Pathology (2nd favorite) - 1 week
GP surgery - 2 weeks
Work experience in South Asia - 3 weeks
Extra Curricular: Too few, and minor. Not that anyone was interested
Universities applied to and decisions:
Last year -
Cambridge St.Cat (Interview, Pooled, Rejected)
Bristol (interview, rejected),
Birmingham (interview(!), rejected (!))
Imperial (no interview, rejected)
This year -
Aberdeen (Interview, offer) -
Keele (interview, waiting list, offer) - Unconditional Firmed
Liverpool (interview, rejection)
Cambridge Fitz (interview, pooled, rejected...again!)

[l.a.s]

Year of Entry: 2012
Deferred?: No
GCSEs: 3A*s, 4As & 4Bs
AS Grades: AAAA (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Art)
A2 Prediction: A*A*A (Biology, Physics & Chemistry)
Previous Degree (if applicable):
UKCAT (if applicable): 652.5
BMAT (if applicable):
Work Experience/Volunteering: 1 Week in hospital, several months in care home.
Extra Curricular: Very little, worked at sainsburys (a lot), cycling, art, travel.
Universities applied to and decisions:
Aberdeen - Interview - AAA
Bristol - Interview - Rejected
Nottingham - Rejection
Leeds - Rejection