The most difficult part of the application process?

It's no secret that applying for medicine is no easy ride and can be daunting emotionally, having been through the process myself I felt quite anxious throughout the various stages of the process bearing in mind that I had experienced rejections in the past. I was just wondering which part of the process did you feel was most difficult/daunting? ----- a) Taking the entrance exams (UKCAT, BMAT, GAMSAT)

b) deciding on which universities to apply to

c) writing the personal statement

d) the interview

e) waiting to hear of the decision (post/pre-interview)

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Scroll to see replies

e)The waiting

d) The Interview - I just found it rather stressful because I had interviews for 3 of my unis in 3 consecutive days so I was travelling from one city to the next which was stressful enough, let alone adding the stress of the actual interviews and making sure I'm prepared for them and can actually manage to find where I was meant to be going :tongue:

Reply 3

groovyangel2008

Yeah for me it was definitely the interview! The interview preparation for me was just so stressful and tiresome but practice makes perfect and it's all worth the stress when your UCAS changes to unconditional :smile:

Reply 4

doctork2

For me personally, e)... waiting up at 5;00 am every morning to check my email to see if I got anything :tongue:

It gives you an instantaneous burst of antcipation!

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5

Ergo

The most difficult part was definitely after the interview for me. You can't help but to rewind to what you have said during your interview and dwell on things that could have been done better. Also had mini heart attacks every moment I received an email from UCAS/universities that does not pertain to medical applications. Friends applying to other courses have also received all their offers but you're still constantly waiting...urgh

Reply 6

MJHERBZ

I'm gonna go with:

f) Realising you'd better take a gap year and reapply :tongue:

As for your list I'd say the interview stage is highly stressful given the pressure you're under but not particularly difficult. Normally you've got like roughly 50%-66% chance of getting an offer so you don't have to exactly dazzle your interviewers :smile:

However, afterwards you will constantly replay the interview in your head and think about how much better you could've done and you will be constantly on edge whilst you wait to hear back. So I'd say the worst bit is waiting!

Reply 7

areyouthere?

e) waiting to hear of the decision (post/pre-interview)

Reply 8

carcinoma

f) Getting an interview.

Reply 9

Caponester

The post interview wait to hear back was just... unspeakably stressful.

Reply 10

Democracy

E, drove me damn near insane. Exactly three weeks of pure hell on earth before sweet relief.

The constant UCAS emails for various ****ty promotions did not help either, everytime I saw Inbox(1) I felt like I'd have a heart attack. True story.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 11

doctork2

Original post by Democracy

Agreed. That dreadful "Inbox (1)" on my gmail...

The worst of those emails is those "Happy Holidays" from the universities. My stomach sank whenever I saw an email that was titled: "To Applicant _____ from University of ______".

Crapping bricks would be a huge understatement.

Reply 12

Beska

Original post by carcinoma

f) Getting an interview.

Yup ^

Reply 13

divina commedia

--deleted

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 14

maherro

Interview by a bloody mile

Reply 15

pi=3

When you spend ages preparing for an interview, and then, at the interview, you realize the interviewer is a tool.

Reply 16

Chiringuito

I think I found each stage stressful for very different reasons!

a) I think the morning before sitting the UKCAT was probably the most intense period of stress of the entire process because I didn't have ideal grades so I was aware of how important my score was going to be!

b) This bit wasn't particularly stressful...I knew I was going to apply to Scottish unis (no fees lol) and there are only 5 medical schools here so it was just a case of ruling one out.

c) I somehow managed to leave this quite late so it all happened in a bit of a blur. I remember it being very very stressfully waiting for my teacher to look at it and I got very anxious when I read all the personal statements on TSR and other sites which all seemed so much better than mine! It was also a nightmare trying to get it under the character limit! I was so paranoid that I was missing out importanta things!

d) I found each interview to be very different. My first was St Andrews (my first choice, and where I'm starting in September :biggrin:

) and I actually didn't find it too bad. All the other applicants were really nice to me when we were waiting and I also ended up chatting to some current medical students when I was sitting waitin to be called in who really put me at ease. The interviewers were also very friendly so the whole process wasn't particularly stressful. My next interview was at Glasgow and was a significantly more stressful experience. *When I arrived in the medical school I couldn't find where to go so I had to wander round frantically asking people, none of whom seemed to know either. *Eventually a student who I had spoken to at an open day showed me the way, luckily. *When I got to the reception desk the lady was very grumpy and sent me somewhere else which I also couldn't find (although this may be more to do with my lack of geographical ability than anything haha) so had to ask again. *I then found the library (where the interviews were held, in a little side room) but it needed a swipe card thing to get in and I hadn't been given one so I had to go back and ask again! *When I finally sat down to wait to be called in, the other boy waiting was quite rude and full of himself. *When he was called in, some medical students stood and laughed at me for a while before leaving. *The actually interview wasn't TOO bad but they weren't overly friendly and actually made a couple of snide comments about the town I live in!! :O. Dundee was my last interview and I actually found it rather fun instead of stressful. *They do MMI which I think is a very good way of doing it!

e). Waiting was very stressful indeed! *Especially seeing as all my friends already had offers and had chosen their firms and insurances by the time I heard back!! *Edinburgh was the first to get back to me, and up until then my heart rate literally increased every single time I got a new email! *Once I got an unconditional from there it was a lot less stressful, but obviously I was still anxious to hear back from St Andrews because it was my first choice, and they didn't give me and offer until after Glasgow and Dundee!

But yeah, I suppose looking back on it the most stressful section was probably*c...I just couldn't get it under the character limit!

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 17

ViceVersa

Everything was kinda really bad tbh :erm:

UKCAT, BMAT, fear, waiting, interview, waiting again were all really bad. The PS was probably not as bad as those. *shudders* Now results...*shudders even more* I never thought about how hard it'll be after getting an offer, but the stress with that, and then the exams and more waiting and more fear is horrid :tongue:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 18

je t'aime

A levels hands down.

And actually getting hold of volunteering and work experience - I was underage and could not get any hospital work experience until after my application had gone in.

The best part is getting the offers so i didn't mind the waiting as long as it was worthwhile- seeing Ucas change to something good is amazing!

Reply 19

Chiringuito

Original post by je t'aime

You applied when you were 15?! :O Or by underage do you mean under 18? I was still 16 when I applied and I agree it was a nightmare finding stuff that I could do, but luckily for a lot of things you had to be 16, rather than 18 :smile: