Medicine - Why wasn't I good enough?

41jms

(edited 12 years ago)

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Reply 1

planetconwy1

Do something constructive during your gap year like working in an old peoples home. :smile:

I know you said you didn't want to hear about competition but Keele had a ridiculous amount of applicants this year! Im sure like 50% more than last year.

Reply 2

wabbajack123

I didn't read, but the answer is usually bad luck :frown:

good luck next year!

EDIT: Fine. After reading due to some people being rather pedantic about my response, here are some improvements you can make:

do a **** load of work experience and think about what you got out of it, how it's made you want to become a doctor etc If possible get some sort of job in the health procession (HA) and make sure you get a bit more clinical work experience (not the be-all and end-all if you can't)

take AS biology next year. You have closed far far far too many doors in not doing so.

Next year (with AS biology), apply better. For example you have a very realistic chance at an interview at Cardiff with those GCSE's, and if you continue to do well at the UKCAT: Kings, Newcastle, Durham, Sheffield etc ARE your friends.

And don't be too disheartened about failing to get in this year. Many people take gap years, love them and succeed the next year. Look at Beska for example.

PS I honestly don't see what was wrong with my original response. It sometimes DOES come down to luck with many thousands of suitable applicants being rejected each year. Good luck!

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 3

overtherainbow

i would think your lack of biology would disadvantage you even at unis that say they dont require it- doing a medical course would be extrememly hard without it. did you get any feedback from the unis?

my advice would be to do the fast track biolgy and reapply. if you knew you wanted to be a doctor why didnt you take biology in the first place?

also work experience being hard to organise isnt a good enough excuse- everyone finds it hard and if they want to get in they find it

Reply 4

41jms

what worries me is that there is no guarantee i will get a place next year, then this would mean 2 potentials years of my life wasted! I really would like to get on with education and start earning. I don't understand what i'm doing wrong? :frown:

Reply 5

Ligamentia

Original post by 41jms

I don't want to hear how competitive it is or how a lot of good applicants get rejected etc.. Id rather hear constructive criticism so i get something out of it.

Long story short, i applied for medicine for 2011 entry and im currently in year 13.
My GCSEs : 6A*s, 5As
As-Levels: AAAC (Maths, Chemistry, Physics and French, respectively.)
A2 Predictions: A*AA (In Maths, Chemistry and Physics, respectively.)
UKCAT : 700average. (600,720,720,760)
Work Exp: Shadowing doctors at a hospital, Shadowing Opticians/Optometrists etc. Did try to arrange more work experience but it was really hard/wasnt possible to get. Part time job at hospital pharmacy (2 hours every night)
Voluntary Work: Work once a week in a charity shop, volunteer at an old people's home, tutor maths to younger kids, prefect in school, did a peer support/anti-bullying programme, regular fundraising.
Other: Achieved bronze and silver Duke of Edinburgh.

Applied to: Bristol, Keele, Southampton and Manchester. Only got an interview from manchester - was put on "hold" and now eventually been rejected.

What can I do on my gap year to better my application? I realise I was a bit restricted when it came to options to apply for medical school due to not even having biology to AS. If i did fast track biology (and maybe other alevels) in my gap year would it be possible then to apply to unis that do want biology? Or will this be considered as resitting a levels in 3 years? Because technically i wont be resitting my alevels - i would have completed 3 science a levels in 2 years and hopefully achieving As/A* in all 3, but id just be choosing to do more alevels.. have people done this before? I cant imagine myself getting a 9-5 job, i'd much rather study? So if i did alevels i could fit that in along with a job, more voluntary work etc?

Any thoughts please? :frown:

work as an HCA, its normal to be rejected from medicine (yes due to the competitive nature)

you have decent academics but they will be average in comparison to a regular applicant, hence what will make you stand out is a good performance at an interview. Academics will get you so far, but you really have to perform well at an interview (it wont matter if you achieve 3 A*s at A level, only to fail at the interview stage).

Good luck, do reapply and work in the healthcare if possible

Reply 6

41jms

Original post by overtherainbow

honestly? I havent always wanted to be a doctor. At 14 or whatever, like most kids i had no idea what id like to do for the rest of my life! there was about 8 subjects i wanted to take to As and had to only pick 4, therefore i went for a combination of 4 that i thought id like the most/with good career prospects afterwards aswell as availability at my school. At A2, i wanted to take up As biology - but the only way i could do it would have been to drop A2 chemistry - which obviously i couldn't.

Fair enough, but living where I do - in a small town, it was hard enough to get that hospital placement! (took over a year to sort out health and safety etc) and if i tried to get more they'd say thats the only work experience that can offer.

Reply 7

41jms

Original post by overtherainbow

also, do you think if i did do fast track biology in a gap year, would i be considered by more medical schools? Do you have any ideas which unis accept this?

Reply 8

gildartz

Well not taking Biology AS obviously had an impact as it limited your choices. Had you taken Biology AS then you could have applied to the UKCAT-heavy unis and stood a much better chance. Best thing to do now would be to phone up some of the unis you're interested in and see if they will consider your application if you take Biology AS now.

Reply 9

Reml

I wouldn't want to take a medicine applicant who had a C in anything, sorry; you should also be predicted more A*'s if you want to even get an offer

Reply 10

Thepupil

Most likely it's the way your personal statement was wrote. I was in the same position last year, 4 rejections and had one interview, which went terrible. I looked at what they want at the universities and yes you have all the academics, and you have the experience, but what have you learnt from these? How do you reflect on them?

This is something which had been told becomes a vital skill when becoming a doctor, what have you gained from these experiences a levels, what skills have you gained from this work experience. At the end of the day, I havn't seen your personal statement, but I went over mine with a fine comb, rewrote most of it, and i'm sitting here with an offer , and waiting for an offer/rejection post interview.

In your gap year, try doing a YASS course, volunteer somewhere new, take the challenge of doing a new a level, and though people say taking biology AS would help, it's not that beneficial for most unis, and most just want chemistry. There are loads of things to apply for in terms of going abroad and helping with disadvantaged people :smile:

Just got to start planning your gap year asap!
Hope that helps :smile:

Reply 11

Vanny17

Original post by Reml

I wouldn't want to take a medicine applicant who had a C in anything, sorry; you should also be predicted more A*'s if you want to even get an offer

Oh shut up! People like you annoy me so much. She obviously worked really hard for her A levels :angry:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 12

username227498

Keele rejected you because you don't have A-level Biology.

Another reason may be because you have a C in AS French, although it isn't a good one to cite imo.

Other than that, I'm not sure. Medicine is ridiculously competitive.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 13

Reml

Original post by Vanny17

Oh shut up! People like you annoy me so much. She obviously worked really hard for her A levels :angry:

Im sorry, but ive actually had experience concerning medical applications, so i think i am in a better position to state what universities want, and they will not want a C from a serious applicant

Reply 14

Tangal12

You are scaring me now. lol
Because right now I also want to study medicine. But my grades are not so good at the moment.
But i know that in term 3..I NEED TO WORK REALLY HARD. Because doing medicne, has been my dream since 7th grade. I want to reach that destination. Anyhow!

This wont really help you, But it will help me for sure.
So could you please tell me more about medicine. And then kind of things you have to do in order to achieve that.
Thank you :smile:

Reply 15

Scrubby

The lack of Biology would be the major reason. I'd also say your choices were a little strange. Bristol are known to be very random with their admissions and your UKCAT was good enough that you didn't need to apply there, I'm guessing you were forced to by your lack of Biology. Southampton put alot of weight on their PS so that choice is also a bit iffy as I can't imagine you had a lot to write about without more work experience. As for Keele and Manchester. Bad luck I'm guessing, in addition to the lack of Biology. Again I'd trace it all back to the lack of Biology. You can't go into something so competitive without even an AS Level in Biology. I wouldn't have applied at all. But maybe if you had A Level Biology you'd have a better chance. Phone up some unis to find out their stance on it.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 16

Smelly Ellie

Original post by Reml

Im sorry, but ive actually had experience concerning medical applications, so i think i am in a better position to state what universities want, and they will not want a C from a serious applicant

It won't look mint OP, but the C won't stop you getting a place. My friend got a place with AS levels of AABE at Keele so it's definitely possible to get in to medicine without being a 'straight A student'... Ring the Uni's and ask if they'd consider you with AS/fast track biology, also ask what you could be constructively doing in your gap year to make you a good applicant. If you don't ask you won't know. Good luck, you'll get there eventually :biggrin: