I don&#x27;t want anything else

Original post by ImABigOldTurd

I want to do medicine when I leave school. I went to the Oxford open day and absolutely fell in love with the place and the university, namely St John's/Wadham (St John's I prefer I think). I also wanted a pre-clin/clin split.
I sort of feel now that everywhere else is going to be second place to oxford (I went to cambridge open day and didn't really like it) and that it's the only place I want to go.

Would it therefore be unwise to forget about UKCAT and just do BMAT? I reckon even if I were to do UKCAT and get 3 offers and oxford rejection I wouldn't go to university; instead I'd wait till the next year.

I'm thinking of putting in 4 BMAT applications, even though I'm not interested in the other 3 places.

The two big gambles are going to be whether or not AS results are good enough. I think my exams went really well overall so this isn't a massive concern. The other gamble is making an application before I get the BMAT result.

Could anyone offer any advice or arguments I haven't made?
Cheers x

You really need to reconsider your perspective on this. Getting into medicine is hard enough, let alone aiming for one school only (especially Oxford). Everyone initially wants their 'dream' school at first but in medicine you have to apply to you strengths. Have you read the replicants thread to see exactly how many people don't get in anywhere first time round to anywhere and how they wish they had applied strategically.

Do you realistically meet Oxford's gcse requirements? Have you looked at the ratio of applicants to places?

How many other open days have you been too? There are plenty of schools that still have a more traditional divide.

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Reply 2

Plus why Oxford? Why that college? Are you sure you won't find these elements anywhere else?

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Reply 3

OP

Original post by Amyk89

Plus why Oxford? Why that college? Are you sure you won't find these elements anywhere else?

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At GCSE I got 2A 10A*.

I want pre-clin/clin split. Not london unis because the city's too expensive. not cambridge because I don't like the place.

oxford because I fell in love with it, as i said. St John's because i fell in love with it, as i said. It's right next to the medical sciences teaching centre also. It has a really sick powerlifting style gym. The accommodation wasn't too expensive but it was spacious and a nice style.

What you said about elements in other places. I did quite like Emma at cambridge but it didn't have the same atmosphere.

Oxford had a really nice atmosphere and the students doing tours were all consistently really friendly and sociable. the ones at cambridge were all weird.

surely i don't need more reason than that. please don't be so negative

Reply 4

well in the dark

Original post by ImABigOldTurd

I want to do medicine when I leave school. I went to the Oxford open day and absolutely fell in love with the place and the university, namely St John's/Wadham (St John's I prefer I think). I also wanted a pre-clin/clin split.
I sort of feel now that everywhere else is going to be second place to oxford (I went to cambridge open day and didn't really like it) and that it's the only place I want to go.

Would it therefore be unwise to forget about UKCAT and just do BMAT? I reckon even if I were to do UKCAT and get 3 offers and oxford rejection I wouldn't go to university; instead I'd wait till the next year.

I'm thinking of putting in 4 BMAT applications, even though I'm not interested in the other 3 places.

The two big gambles are going to be whether or not AS results are good enough. I think my exams went really well overall so this isn't a massive concern. The other gamble is making an application before I get the BMAT result.

Could anyone offer any advice or arguments I haven't made?
Cheers x

Basically, that's not the right approach to medical studies. Are you going to study Medicine and become a doctor? Or what?
From what you're saying you don't like the looks of Oxford because you think studying there will make you a better doctor but because you 'fell in love with the place'. That's silly, and hardly what a would-be doctor should be thinking like.
Anyway, that's how I started off thinking when I applied for 2014 entry. I thought I'd either go to Cambridge or nowhere else and I thought I had a pretty decent chance because of my high UMS. Didn't do the UKCAT, only the BMAT, and basically horribly bombed it.
So, don't be a fool (or in your case a turd).

Reply 5

Original post by ImABigOldTurd

At GCSE I got 2A 10A*.

I want pre-clin/clin split. Not london unis because the city's too expensive. not cambridge because I don't like the place.

oxford because I fell in love with it, as i said. St John's because i fell in love with it, as i said. It's right next to the medical sciences teaching centre also. It has a really sick powerlifting style gym. The accommodation wasn't too expensive but it was spacious and a nice style.

What you said about elements in other places. I did quite like Emma at cambridge but it didn't have the same atmosphere.

Oxford had a really nice atmosphere and the students doing tours were all consistently really friendly and sociable. the ones at cambridge were all weird.

surely i don't need more reason than that. please don't be so negative

I am not being negative. I am being realistic. And trying to help, you did ask for advice and for things you hadn't thought about. If you truly want to do Medicine, like I said, you need to apply to your strengths and pick 4 choices you realistically have a shot at. I'm not saying you don't stand any chance at Oxford, but you also need to be realistic about your chances of actually getting in.

Seriously, have a look at the re applicants thread for this year. See how much people realised it is less about your dream school and more about medicine as the dream. Do you want to study medicine or is it more important to go to Oxford? Because at the moment it sounds more like you care about what Oxford has to offer generally.

Reply 6

OP

Original post by well in the dark

Basically, that's not the right approach to medical studies. Are you going to study Medicine and become a doctor? Or what?
From what you're saying you don't like the looks of Oxford because you think studying there will make you a better doctor but because you 'fell in love with the place'. That's silly, and hardly what a would-be doctor should be thinking like.
Anyway, that's how I started off thinking when I applied for 2014 entry. I thought I'd either go to Cambridge or nowhere else and I thought I had a pretty decent chance because of my high UMS. Didn't do the UKCAT, only the BMAT, and basically horribly bombed it.
So, don't be a fool (or in your case a turd).

Was it wrong of me to assume that it goes unsaid that Oxford will make you a better doctor?
Don't imply I'll **** up just because you did.

Reply 7

Original post by ImABigOldTurd

Was it wrong of me to assume that it goes unsaid that Oxford will make you a better doctor?
Don't imply I'll **** up just because you did.

All medical schools legally have to be the same standard and this is monitored by the GMC. When medical students apply for their first FY1 post all the applications are 'blind', so the employers don't see which medical school they went to. They're not allowed to and physically cannot choose applicants based on which university they went to. Going to Oxford does not make somebody a better doctor; there are world class consultants who went to Southampton, Plymouth, Brighton, Manchester, etc. A doctor who succeeds in their FY1, FY2 and subsequent years who didn't go to Oxford will be in the same position as someone who did.

If you actually want to be a doctor, it shouldn't matter where you go. Anywhere you'll still be helping patients and being involved in complex cases, and will get paid the same and will have the same opportunities as any medical student who went anywhere else for their medical training.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 8

Original post by ImABigOldTurd

Was it wrong of me to assume that it goes unsaid that Oxford will make you a better doctor?
Don't imply I'll **** up just because you did.

Wow!! I'm either smelling troll or someone who needs to leave their arrogance behind. Please grow up.

Reply 9

OP

Original post by Pectorac

All medical schools legally have to be the same standard and this is monitored by the GMC. When medical students apply for their first FY1 post all the applications are 'blind', so the employers don't see which medical school they went to. They're not allowed to and physically cannot choose applicants based on which university they went to. Going to Oxford does not make somebody a better doctor; there are world class consultants who went to Southampton, Plymouth, Brighton, Manchester, etc. A doctor who succeeds in their FY1, FY2 and subsequent years who didn't go to Oxford will be in the same position as someone who did.

If you actually want to be a doctor, it shouldn't matter where you go. Anywhere you'll still be helping patients and being involved in complex cases, and will get paid the same and will have the same opportunities as any medical student who went anywhere else for their medical training.

Of course at any university's open day they're going to blow their own trumpet, but at Oxford they said generally their graduates are more knowledgeable than ones from other unis. They listed some test score comparisons to support this.

Reply 10

Original post by ImABigOldTurd

Of course at any university's open day they're going to blow their own trumpet, but at Oxford they said generally their graduates are more knowledgeable than ones from other unis. They listed some test score comparisons to support this.

Again, in the real world nobody cares which medical school you went to. Test scores mean nothing at all; you either pass or fail a medical degree, no classification is awarded. All the pass rates are strictly monitored by the GMC for each university, so it's not easier to pass at one than another.

Universities see how many other universities you apply to; they don't see which ones but they see the number. If Oxford see you have only applied to them, they will reject you because obviously they will see that you lack commitment because you won't study medicine anywhere else. Somebody who actually wants to be a doctor, who wants to help patients and who wants to be treated with respect in the adult world, would not have the same mindset as you. There are pages and pages of websites which list top-class consultants in this country who didn't go to Oxford and who sit on executive medical boards, head surgical departments, etc.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 11

OP

Original post by Pectorac

Again, in the real world nobody cares which medical school you went to. Test scores mean nothing at all; you either pass or fail a medical degree, no classification is awarded. All the pass rates are strictly monitored by the GMC for each university, so it's not easier to pass at one than another.

Universities see how many other universities you apply to; they don't see which ones but they see the number. If Oxford see you have only applied to them, they will reject you because obviously they will see that you lack commitment because you won't study medicine anywhere else.

So I'll put in 3 other applications... not an issue

Reply 12

Original post by ImABigOldTurd

So I'll put in 3 other applications... not an issue

They'll also see if you don't take the UKCAT.

Reply 13

OP

Original post by Pectorac

They'll also see if you don't take the UKCAT.

Would that really be a significant point of consideration?

Reply 14

Original post by ImABigOldTurd

Would that really be a significant point of consideration?

Yes, because if they see you haven't taken it, they'll know you deliberately didn't take it so you'd be automatically rejected by your other three choices. This shows you only want to go there for the sake of the name, rather than growing up and going somewhere else because you really want to be a doctor.

If by some miracle you did get into Oxford and in your first week in your FY1 year you are told what to do by a CT1, registrar or consultant who didn't go to Oxford, what would you do? Ignore them and think you know better because you went to Oxford and they didn't, despite their equal medical university training and many years of practical medical experience? Go against them and do something to the patient they told you not to do?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 15

well in the dark

Original post by ImABigOldTurd

Was it wrong of me to assume that it goes unsaid that Oxford will make you a better doctor?
Don't imply I'll **** up just because you did.

Oo, feisty, are we? Well, I'm not going to be insulted. I'll only pity you for your idiocy.
As it happens, I never implied that you would **** up as I did. All I did was point out the absurdity of your stance (or non-stance).
You very obviously consider Oxford's old-fashioned prestige very much over its effectiveness in producing good doctors, as you did not even mention that point originally and only fawned over Oxford and how lovely you think it is. Heck, you even named the colleges you thought looked best to you on the day. Apparently you didn't like the looks of Cambridge as much as Oxford, and arguably neither produces better doctors than the other. All that smacks of unreasonable infatuation. The aesthetic appeal of the old buildings in understandable, but not something to build an argument for application on.
Understandably you're confident of your application, and there's nothing wrong with that. But there is something very wrong with your approach to your application, namely that you'll only go to Oxford, Oxford, and Oxford only. That's wrong, and you asked for opinions, so there you go.

Reply 16

OP

Original post by Pectorac

Yes, because if they see you haven't taken it, they'll know you deliberately didn't take it so you'd be automatically rejected by your other three choices. This shows you only want to go there for the sake of the name, rather than growing up and going somewhere else because you really want to be a doctor.

If by some miracle you did get into Oxford and in your first week in your FY1 year you are told what to do by a CT1, registrar or consultant who didn't go to Oxford, what would you do? Ignore them and think you know better because you went to Oxford and they didn't, despite their equal medical university training and many years of practical medical experience? Go against them and do something to the patient they told you not to do?

the other 3 applications would be BMAT so would not necessarily incur in 3 rejections.

You seem to have imagined up some weird impression of me. I'm not desperate to go to oxford because of any perceived prestige you think I may have. I don't want to go because I don't respect other places, I want to go because I like this place more than any other.

"go against them and do something to the patient they told you not to do" I don't know what kind of person you think you're talking to, but I'm certainly not it.

Reply 17

1drowssap

17

Original post by ImABigOldTurd

I want to do medicine when I leave school. I went to the Oxford open day and absolutely fell in love with the place and the university, namely St John's/Wadham (St John's I prefer I think). I also wanted a pre-clin/clin split.
I sort of feel now that everywhere else is going to be second place to oxford (I went to cambridge open day and didn't really like it) and that it's the only place I want to go.

Would it therefore be unwise to forget about UKCAT and just do BMAT? I reckon even if I were to do UKCAT and get 3 offers and oxford rejection I wouldn't go to university; instead I'd wait till the next year.

I'm thinking of putting in 4 BMAT applications, even though I'm not interested in the other 3 places.

The two big gambles are going to be whether or not AS results are good enough. I think my exams went really well overall so this isn't a massive concern. The other gamble is making an application before I get the BMAT result.

Could anyone offer any advice or arguments I haven't made?
Cheers x

It seems to me that you want to study at Oxford more than you want to study medicine. In that case, you have one of two options: either put Oxford medicine as your only choice, or put different courses on your UCAS form related to medicine which are offered at Oxford alongside medicine if you do not mind not doing medicine. I'm not saying that this is the best thing to do, and most people do not do this, but I am a strong believer in doing things that you want to do. If I only want to be at Oxford, and nothing would change my mind, then that is what I would do.

Reply 18

teen1234

Original post by ImABigOldTurd

Was it wrong of me to assume that it goes unsaid that Oxford will make you a better doctor?
Don't imply I'll **** up just because you did.

Lmfao.

Reply 19