Medicine 2012...(hopeful entrants) !!

Anyone needing any help, I'm still in the process of applying this year myself, so it's all still stuck in my head, if you want a chat. I'd definately say take advantage of the people you have on here for advice, you'll need to know the ins and outs of this to have the best chance of getting it. Good luck everyone!

was contemplating resitting psychology - wanted to apply to cambridge so 90%+ UMS was a must, and my other UMS were fine, so i would have only resat one, but then i realised i havent got a chance in hell of getting into oxbridge, so i'm not resitting. so happy about the maths though, really thought i'd flunked it!

what exam boards are you on?

i've done work experience at lewisham hospital and the evelina children's hospital, both teach students from King's, plus i have a friend who's at King's, so i'm kinda, already in love with the place will be gutted if i don't get in

ohhh you applied to the two places i like the most!

how has the application process been with kings and nottingham? did they seem unorganised or keep you up to date with what was going on?

i hate being in the background, i like being involved in processes, and knowing what is going on - i think that will be a tough part of applying for me tbh.

how has the application process been with kings and nottingham? did they seem unorganised or keep you up to date with what was going on?

i hate being in the background, i like being involved in processes, and knowing what is going on - i think that will be a tough part of applying for me tbh.

Biology chemistry physics and maths!! St.Andrews, Southampton, Dundee and not sure about last one

i am! UKCAT starts soon guys!!

Hello everyone! Just want to say a massive good luck!!!
I applied for medicine for 2011 entry (Cambridge, UCL, Birmingham & Imperial), and got an offer from Cambridge and Birmingham.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to quote or PM
GOOD LUCK!

Wow congrats! Did UCL say why they rejected you? Also, despite knowing you've taken a BMAT, Birmingham still accepted? I thought that the BMAT was an off put for many uni's that don't require it because they then know you've applied to Oxbridge? .

UCL said that my BMAt was too low (3.8, 5.7, 3A), and apparently i didnt have enough work experience (which is a tad bit confusing , considering i did 6 months at the hospital, a year volunteering at a care home, and a month at an orphanage, + otehr volunteering/medical related stuff). But it was mainly due to BMAT
The other unis have no idea where else you applied (and also have no idea what other test you've taken - i.e. BMAt unis can only see your BMAt score, not UKCAT etc).

Oh ok thanks a lot! Well i'm thinking of applying to UCL, Cambridge, Leicester and Nottingham... do you think that's a good choice in terms of security? I mean they're all fairly competitive unis and i dont want to end up with no offers 8-) Oh i cant believe about your work experience.. because i've not done anything yet!

Haha yeah
Just want to help people because I'm one of the very few people who have applied to medicine from my school in a good few years and they didn't help me at all. I went into the whole process totally blind and I didn't even know what the UKCAT was until my dad happened to find out about it! Managed to learn alot through applying !

I'm not saying you need to do all this but this is what I did, and it worked!

I got unconditionals for Edinburgh and Dundee. And a conditional for Glasgow (BB Advanced Higher, C Higher) and I withdrew from St.Andrew's as it was my last choice.

I got 722 in UKCAT.
6 As at Scottish Higher; Biology, English, Maths, French, Chemistry and Geography.

Advice I'd give would be:
Get in contact with your local NHS Trust or any doctor you know and try to get work experience. I wrote out 50 letters to GPs and hospital departments asking for work experience with my name, my age, why I was looking for work experience, what I hoped to learn etc. Try your best to get experience in at least 2 different environments, although don't worry too much if you don't. Just remember to write and talk about what you learned from the experience (e.g I learned that there was alot more paperwork involved than I thought, but I said that this still would not put me off or I said that I learned that teamwork was absolutely essential in hospital and GP work, and everyone uses their best skill to provide the best possible care for patients.) Don't feel bad if you can't get much experience, just talk about your enthusiasm for what you did do and see and what you learned. The unis know that its difficult to find work experience!

Do voluntary work for as long as possible before you apply in any kind of environment but a nursing home/elderly group/hospice/youth group would be great. I had volunteered at an equestrian centre for four years and although its not medically related it showed dedication and I used it to say I had increased my communication skills in dealing with people and people who have difficulties communicating (I worked with Riding for the Disabled Association). I also mentioned in my personal statement that I had applied to volunteer in a hospice however Disclosure Scotland had not come through. However, at interviews, I spoke about my experience there and how it had helped me learn to cope with my emotions.

Try to apply strategically. Look into which unis put most importance on which factors (UKCAT, work experience, non-academics etc.) look at your strong points and apply accordingly. Applying to medicine is as much strategic as it is luck and grades etc.

Do as much at school as you can. Get involved in any projects, fundraising, head girl etc. And use this in your personal statement to show what you learned. Everything in applying for medicine is what you gained and learned, not what you did! (e.g I was in the yearbook committee, it developed my teamworking skills and helped me to express my opinions more clearly) Also try to make sure you have some hobbies to write about. They like to know that you're a well rounded person!

I'd definitely advise buying the ISC books for the UKCAT test and Medicine Interviews. The Medicine Interviews book gives you lots of questions to look at and you can prepare some things in advance (Why do you want to do Medicine? Why that uni? What do you know about PBL? Modernising Medical Careers? Ethical Questions etc.) They cost quite a bit but definitely worth it! So save up and get them. The UKCAT book questions are so much harder than the actual test but they really prepare you well seen as if you do a selection of the questions, you've done wayy more that is in the test.

Make sure you dress appropriately for any interviews, a smart suit or a pair of nice trousers and a blouse are fine.

Try to do a mock interview with a family member or teacher to be more prepared.

Put BBC Health news (http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/news) as your internet homepage. I'd advise picking a condition (I chose Alzheimers as my gran has it and I wrote about it in my personal statement) and researching it in depth to be able to speak about it in detail at interview. Don't ignore everything else though, look at any news as all interviews asked me if I had looked into the news about medicine.

Keep a notebook and write out anything you think of. (e.g answers to common questions, details or medical news)

Most important! Be yourself, especially at interview! And don't give up! I was lucky enough to get in first time round. But many amazing applicants are rejected and need to re-apply. If it happens, take a gap year, get more work experience, find a job and don't worry, it'll happen!

Good Luck and if you need any more advice, just ask!

Oh ok thanks a lot! Well i'm thinking of applying to UCL, Cambridge, Leicester and Nottingham... do you think that's a good choice in terms of security? I mean they're all fairly competitive unis and i dont want to end up with no offers 8-) Oh i cant believe about your work experience.. because i've not done anything yet!

Be careful about how many Scottish Uni's you apply to, they are REALLY good med schools - but as an English applicant it "can" be a little harder to get in ... they're generally going to have ALL the Scots applying there as well 'cos they Scots don't apply to English Uni's.

St Andrews and Soton are quite far from each other?!

Hey guys I'm doing Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, and applying to Cambridge, Imperial, not sure about the other 2 yet

If you dont get atleast 6A*s at GCSE and 2A*'s at A level your screwed