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MEDICINE - *RESULTS DAY 2014* - Help, I missed my medical school offer!

Firstly, whilst it may feel like it right now, this is not the end of the world. You're not the only one in this situation and there are still plenty of options available to you.

How
The first thing to think about is how much you missed your grades by. Every year medical schools will take a (very) small amount of people who miss their grades.

Has your UCAS track changed?

In some cases, it may have changed to 'Unconditional' despite the missed grades - if so, congratulations!

If it's changed to 'Unsuccessful' then you might want to consider ringing the university to ask if they’ll still be willing to give you a place. This may work if you have only just missed your grades though this is extremely unlikely.

If it still says "Conditional", ring your university immediately - they haven't yet made a decision on you so anything you say or do now could sway that in your favour.



If you’ve missed your grade by only a few marks you should consider putting in a request for a priority remark. Discuss this with your teachers and remember that remarks can put your grade down as well as up. Inform your university immediately if you are requesting remarks. The university should, though are not compelled to, hold your place open for you whilst your exam is remarked, provided the results come back to satisfy the conditions of your offer by August 31st. Make sure you clarify the situation about how long they will hold your offer for when you speak to them.

Clearing for medicine
It is extremely unlikely that any spaces will be available for medicine in Clearing as most medical schools run their own official/unofficial waiting lists throughout the cycle through which they fill any vacancies, usually with people whom they have already interviewed. If you are willing to risk the wrath of admissions tutors who are inundated with phone calls, you may like to try ringing all of the medical schools to ask if there are any spaces - no harm in trying! There are a very small handful of cases where this has worked in the past.


If
You may like to try ringing up various medical schools asking if they’re willing to consider you. Although this is a very very long shot (similar to Clearing) this has worked for a very select few in the past.

If you don’t manage to get a place for this year you need to decide what your next steps will be. Your options are:

Take a gap year and reapply. This gives you the opportunity to improve the weak spots in your application, and also work and/or travel if you so wish. If you have the right grades for medicine, this is your best chance of success at getting into medical school.

Go to university this year. If you put your 5th choice as your Insurance and met the offer for this, you just need to check your AS12 letter to see how they want you to confirm this place, and organise accommodation if you haven't done so already. If you didn't have a 5th choice or didn't make it your Insurance, you can try to gain a place through Clearing. Many high calibre universities are expected to be in Clearing this year, so consider where you would like to study and what subject - whilst biomedical sciences is the most common option, consider what you would be most happy studying for the next three years. Physiology, biochemistry, biology, and medical engineering are all possible alternatives, and the Clearing lists will have even more options for you to consider. Eligibility for grad entry to medicine is usually achieved with any science degree (and also with non-science degrees, though this would limit your options later on), though check this before entering a Clearing choice onto Track.

Start another degree with the view to transferring to medicine after year 1. This route is achieved by very few people and competition is stiff, so consider whether you would be happy staying on the course for the full three years if you don't manage to transfer. A small number of courses offer this option (Bradford Clinical Sciences, St Georges Biomed, Newcastle Biomed, to name a few).

Start another degree with the view to reapplying for medicine during year 1. Again, consider whether you would be happy to remain on the course if you are unsuccessful at reapplication. The views of medical schools on reapplying whilst on another course can be seen here.




If
In most circumstances, you will not get into a medical degree course in the UK with grades less than AAA. Exceptions include people with mitigating circumstances or those applying through specific special access courses.

You have to decide whether you still want to do medicine or not.

Decided you don't want to do medicine?

You can either take a gap year whilst deciding what to do, or apply for a different course through clearing. Some excellent resources on clearing can be found here or in the Clearing, Applications and UCAS forum where dedicated Clearing Advisors are around and willing to help.

Still want to do medicine?

Your options are either resit your A Levels to achieve AAA/A*AA or apply for another course (such as biomedicine with the aim of transferring after first year or a course leading to taking medicine as a graduate). All of these options have their disadvantages.

Few medical schools will accept resit students unless they have extenuating circumstances so you would be limited in where you can apply. You should carefully look at the resit policies of each medical school before making a decision.

Graduate entry medicine is very competitive and can be a rather expensive and competitive route. Graduates on 4 year programs receive both maintenance and tuition fee loans, and this set up is guaranteed until 2015. Bear in mind that you ideally would need a 2:1 or 1st to get a place, which can be difficult, especially if you’re doing a subject that you don’t enjoy.

Studying biomedicine with a view to transfer to medicine is also extremely competitive and you should be willing to continue on the degree if you are not able to transfer, bearing in mind that this is the more likely outcome.



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Reply 1
Bump
Hi, sorry if this is a bit long but...

I applied to Medicine and received an AAA offer from Cardiff however, this morning after checking track - I received a bit of a shock with my results which seemed significantly lower than what I imagined in the worst case scenario at BBB with all my subjects only being a few UMS off an A.

This meant I also failed to meet my insurance which was neuroscience at King's.

getting BBB has definitely been really unexpected and I am devastated and have no idea what I'm supposed to do.

I'm not really interested in going into a career outside of Medicine and have been thinking of what I have to do.

I've been considering applying for Medical Schools outside the UK in places like Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Russia where they offer full English courses in Medicine - however, my parents have decided not to allow me to do this and I also won't be able to afford it unfortunately (except for Italy where as far as I'm aware they offer full student funding)

My second option is to do graduate entry Medicine and I've heard that it's incredibly tough securing a place in graduate medicine with people doing masters and PhDs and some unis having up to 60 applicants per place for it! Has anyone heard of Medipathways? It really seems like my only option but I'm worried about not getting into medicine afterwards.

I just wanted to know what is the best thing to do? My parents say that I have to be in uni by September and are putting so much pressure on me right now - it's unbearable.

I have no idea what I have to do! Is there any way that I can get into Medicine again!
Maybe do optom and then try - i just got accepted into optom but wanted to be a medic - was also devasted but optom is a good fall back option and you will stand out from the other 60!
Not much help i suppose!
Original post by miladghodsi
Snip


Have you considered getting a re-mark? If you're so close to the grade boundary you might get bumped up.

If your grades remain unchanged and you're still dead set on medicine, personally I'd go for graduate entry.

Is it competitive? Yes

Do you need a PhD/MSc? Definitely not

Is it still doable if you play the game right? Absolutely

The problem with going abroad is that you'll need to get to a level of proficiency in the native language of the country you're going to pretty sharpish because you'll be using it to communicate with the patients. And yes, it's often expensive so you'll need to figure out how to fund it. One thing I would say is that if you're going to go abroad, at least stick to countries which are comparable to the UK in terms of health infrastructure i.e. not Romania and Russia for god's sake!

Also, Medipathways looks like a biomed degree from the University of Buckingham, in which case, why would it be your only option? You can still enter Clearing right?

Original post by Singha12345
Maybe do optom and then try - i just got accepted into optom but wanted to be a medic - was also devasted but optom is a good fall back option and you will stand out from the other 60!
Not much help i suppose!


Yeah, sure :wink:
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 5
Original post by miladghodsi
Hi, sorry if this is a bit long but...

I applied to Medicine and received an AAA offer from Cardiff however, this morning after checking track - I received a bit of a shock with my results which seemed significantly lower than what I imagined in the worst case scenario at BBB with all my subjects only being a few UMS off an A.

This meant I also failed to meet my insurance which was neuroscience at King's.

getting BBB has definitely been really unexpected and I am devastated and have no idea what I'm supposed to do.

I'm not really interested in going into a career outside of Medicine and have been thinking of what I have to do.

I've been considering applying for Medical Schools outside the UK in places like Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Russia where they offer full English courses in Medicine - however, my parents have decided not to allow me to do this and I also won't be able to afford it unfortunately (except for Italy where as far as I'm aware they offer full student funding)

My second option is to do graduate entry Medicine and I've heard that it's incredibly tough securing a place in graduate medicine with people doing masters and PhDs and some unis having up to 60 applicants per place for it! Has anyone heard of Medipathways? It really seems like my only option but I'm worried about not getting into medicine afterwards.

I just wanted to know what is the best thing to do? My parents say that I have to be in uni by September and are putting so much pressure on me right now - it's unbearable.

I have no idea what I have to do! Is there any way that I can get into Medicine again!


Have you spoken to Cardiff and tried to ask them to reconsider based on missing by a couple of UMS in each one? (Or maybe re-marks)

Failing that you try and get a place in biomed and apply for a transfer? (I know Newcastle offer this)

Graduate entry is highly competitive, it also really aimed at people who had no intention of going into medicine and only made that choice later in life (That doesn't stop other people getting in, but it's generally what there looking for) Not to mention higher UKCAT requirements and going up against people with alot of interview experience in many cases.

There are also things like access to medicine, but again, it's really aimed at people who have had a change of direction later in life, and quite a few medical schools don't take access students with science A-levels below A.

Personally I would have thought a gap year, getting a biomed place and working your pants off for a transfer is your best bet (Keep in mind that biomed in transfer places is often about 90% people with the same idea) - It's relevant to the field (obviously) and if you don't get a transfer you can use it for grad entry.

Failing all that... :confused:

But it ain't over yet!
Original post by miladghodsi
Hi, sorry if this is a bit long but...

I applied to Medicine and received an AAA offer from Cardiff however, this morning after checking track - I received a bit of a shock with my results which seemed significantly lower than what I imagined in the worst case scenario at BBB with all my subjects only being a few UMS off an A.

This meant I also failed to meet my insurance which was neuroscience at King's.

getting BBB has definitely been really unexpected and I am devastated and have no idea what I'm supposed to do.

I'm not really interested in going into a career outside of Medicine and have been thinking of what I have to do.

I've been considering applying for Medical Schools outside the UK in places like Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Russia where they offer full English courses in Medicine - however, my parents have decided not to allow me to do this and I also won't be able to afford it unfortunately (except for Italy where as far as I'm aware they offer full student funding)

My second option is to do graduate entry Medicine and I've heard that it's incredibly tough securing a place in graduate medicine with people doing masters and PhDs and some unis having up to 60 applicants per place for it! Has anyone heard of Medipathways? It really seems like my only option but I'm worried about not getting into medicine afterwards.

I just wanted to know what is the best thing to do? My parents say that I have to be in uni by September and are putting so much pressure on me right now - it's unbearable.

I have no idea what I have to do! Is there any way that I can get into Medicine again!



If you're close phone cardiff and ask them to hold your place (they're not obligated to but they should) and then ask for a PRIORITY remark which should be back by the end of August.
Reply 7
Gcses 5A*s 5As and a B
AS- Maths 3 sciences and ICT- 5As
A2- Maths A Bio A Chem B ICT B
Current UKCAT- 740

I failed to get the grade requirements for both my firm and insurance (AAA) and am now looking at taking a gap year. Any advice on whether to resit chem or whether to apply to AAB unis would be appreciated as i know many unis don't like resit students... thanks :biggrin:
Original post by Singha12345
Maybe do optom and then try - i just got accepted into optom but wanted to be a medic - was also devasted but optom is a good fall back option and you will stand out from the other 60!
Not much help i suppose!


Thanks! I couldn't find many optom courses but I got in biomedical sciences for graduate entry.

I wish you the best of luck for graduate medicine then :biggrin:
Original post by miladghodsi
Thanks! I couldn't find many optom courses but I got in biomedical sciences for graduate entry.

I wish you the best of luck for graduate medicine then :biggrin:


Ahh thats really good to hear!
Good luck to you too!!
Original post by Democracy
Have you considered getting a re-mark? If you're so close to the grade boundary you might get bumped up.

If your grades remain unchanged and you're still dead set on medicine, personally I'd go for graduate entry.

Is it competitive? Yes

Do you need a PhD/MSc? Definitely not

Is it still doable if you play the game right? Absolutely

The problem with going abroad is that you'll need to get to a level of proficiency in the native language of the country you're going to pretty sharpish because you'll be using it to communicate with the patients. And yes, it's often expensive so you'll need to figure out how to fund it. One thing I would say is that if you're going to go abroad, at least stick to countries which are comparable to the UK in terms of health infrastructure i.e. not Romania and Russia for god's sake!

Also, Medipathways looks like a biomed degree from the University of Buckingham, in which case, why would it be your only option? You can still enter Clearing right?



Yeah, sure :wink:


Thank you very much for your help democracy! BTW - I've seen you around on the TSR threads, are you iranian? I am :biggrin:

I've secured a place for biomedical sciences through clearing now so hopefully like you said - try and get into Medicine like that!

Yeah - I agree with you on the language barriers and gaining a proficiency in the language. Also for me there is definitely no way to fund graduate entry Medicine so graduate medicine is the best option.

Medipathways is basically a 2 year B.Sc. course for people who want to do Medicine! However, from what I have found out - it's a private institute with no funding and costs £27,000 a year.
Original post by FergieD
Have you spoken to Cardiff and tried to ask them to reconsider based on missing by a couple of UMS in each one? (Or maybe re-marks)

Failing that you try and get a place in biomed and apply for a transfer? (I know Newcastle offer this)

Graduate entry is highly competitive, it also really aimed at people who had no intention of going into medicine and only made that choice later in life (That doesn't stop other people getting in, but it's generally what there looking for) Not to mention higher UKCAT requirements and going up against people with alot of interview experience in many cases.

There are also things like access to medicine, but again, it's really aimed at people who have had a change of direction later in life, and quite a few medical schools don't take access students with science A-levels below A.

Personally I would have thought a gap year, getting a biomed place and working your pants off for a transfer is your best bet (Keep in mind that biomed in transfer places is often about 90% people with the same idea) - It's relevant to the field (obviously) and if you don't get a transfer you can use it for grad entry.

Failing all that... :confused:

But it ain't over yet!


I contacted Cardiff and they said that there's no chance unless I happen to get AAB on the remark and I could be considered. But thanks for your help! I've tried to do that but unfortunately there aren't any spare clearing spots for courses like that and my parents are against me taking a gap year :O!

Original post by Neostigmine
If you're close phone cardiff and ask them to hold your place (they're not obligated to but they should) and then ask for a PRIORITY remark which should be back by the end of August.
Original post by miladghodsi
Thank you very much for your help democracy! BTW - I've seen you around on the TSR threads, are you iranian? I am :biggrin:

I've secured a place for biomedical sciences through clearing now so hopefully like you said - try and get into Medicine like that!

Yeah - I agree with you on the language barriers and gaining a proficiency in the language. Also for me there is definitely no way to fund graduate entry Medicine so graduate medicine is the best option.

Medipathways is basically a 2 year B.Sc. course for people who want to do Medicine! However, from what I have found out - it's a private institute with no funding and costs £27,000 a year.


Hi!

Just want to clear up this slight misconception - as noted on our fees page, it's £27,000 over the course of the two year programme, not per year! We feel this cost is reasonable, as you are saving a year of your life and the associated living costs. Also bear in mind that, whilst there is no Student Finance available for 2014 entry, this may not be wholly a bad thing as you then have no debt when you graduate from our programme! (and the total cost of £27,000 is the same as you'd eventually pay for a 3-year programme in any case)

Hope this helps address your concerns.
Original post by miladghodsi
Thank you very much for your help democracy! BTW - I've seen you around on the TSR threads, are you iranian? I am :biggrin:

I've secured a place for biomedical sciences through clearing now so hopefully like you said - try and get into Medicine like that!

Yeah - I agree with you on the language barriers and gaining a proficiency in the language. Also for me there is definitely no way to fund graduate entry Medicine so graduate medicine is the best option.

Medipathways is basically a 2 year B.Sc. course for people who want to do Medicine! However, from what I have found out - it's a private institute with no funding and costs £27,000 a year.


Yep I am, and I gather you are too from your username :biggrin:

Congrats on securing a place - I myself am a graduate entry medical student having previously done biomed. It's definitely doable :smile:

All the best dude.
Original post by Democracy
Yep I am, and I gather you are too from your username :biggrin:

Congrats on securing a place - I myself am a graduate entry medical student having previously done biomed. It's definitely doable :smile:

All the best dude.


How hard is it to get into post grad med?
Did they look at your a-Levels and what uni?
And do you think an optom student like me has a chance if i get a first or 2:1, with average GCSEs and ABCcdd for ALevel and AS...
So many questions im just wondering if i can be an opthalmolgist if i want rather than optometrist later on in life!
Original post by Singha12345
How hard is it to get into post grad med?


It's pretty competitive yeah, there's no denying it. Obviously you'll need a 2:1 or a 1st and most GEPs have an entrance examination so you'll need to score highly on the UKCAT or GAMSAT. People throw around figures like "xyz GEP has 60 applicants per place" but personally I don't find those sort of statistics particularly helpful. Best you can do is to apply strategically and play to your strengths e.g. if you have a low UKCAT score don't apply to a GEP which has a high cut-off!

Did they look at your a-Levels and what uni?


Depends on the GEP. Some don't e.g. Warwick, Newcastle, Leicester etc. Others will. Check here:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/graduate_entry_medicine_-_a_guide

And do you think an optom student like me has a chance if i get a first or 2:1, with average GCSEs and ABCcdd for ALevel and AS...
So many questions im just wondering if i can be an opthalmolgist if i want rather than optometrist later on in life!


Yeah you're definitely in with a chance, like I say it's all about applying strategically (don't forget the work experience, voluntary work etc too).
Original post by Democracy
It's pretty competitive yeah, there's no denying it. Obviously you'll need a 2:1 or a 1st and most GEPs have an entrance examination so you'll need to score highly on the UKCAT or GAMSAT. People throw around figures like "xyz GEP has 60 applicants per place" but personally I don't find those sort of statistics particularly helpful. Best you can do is to apply strategically and play to your strengths e.g. if you have a low UKCAT score don't apply to a GEP which has a high cut-off!



Depends on the GEP. Some don't e.g. Warwick, Newcastle, Leicester etc. Others will. Check here:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/graduate_entry_medicine_-_a_guide



Yeah you're definitely in with a chance, like I say it's all about applying strategically (don't forget the work experience, voluntary work etc too).


Ahhhh thanks so so much!
Reply 17
Sorry for the long post but I had an offer to medicine at Bristol (AAA) but I got ABB. I'm feeling really down about my grades as I worked so hard and didn't think the exams had gone badly and it feels like it was all for nothing (i did so much work experience and volunteering) :frown: Now I dont know what to do, I have a Biomedical Science offer but I dont know if I should take it as I have no idea if its what I want to and it feels like a rushed decision. I just feel like ive disappointed my parents and my teachers as they were all so excited for me to do medicine and now I just dont know what to do. Does anyon have any advice?
Original post by leahk
Sorry for the long post but I had an offer to medicine at Bristol (AAA) but I got ABB. I'm feeling really down about my grades as I worked so hard and didn't think the exams had gone badly and it feels like it was all for nothing (i did so much work experience and volunteering) :frown: Now I dont know what to do, I have a Biomedical Science offer but I dont know if I should take it as I have no idea if its what I want to and it feels like a rushed decision. I just feel like ive disappointed my parents and my teachers as they were all so excited for me to do medicine and now I just dont know what to do. Does anyon have any advice?


It sounds like you're roughly in the same position as miladghodsi (a few posts above you) - first things first, do you think you're close enough to the grade boundary to merit getting some re-marks? If so, definitely do that first.

If your grades remain unchanged then you need to have a bit of a think about what your options are and what you want to do in life. If you still definitely want to do medicine then either you can go abroad (which has its own pros and cons which I touched upon above) or you can do another degree and go into medicine via the graduate route.

Speaking from personal experience, I do understand where you're coming from about not knowing if biomed is what you want to do. I did a biomed degree before med school but my heart was always in medicine so it did feel pretty forced at times. But there's a lot more to university than that - I met some great people, had an excellent time for the most part, lived in an amazing city etc...and then I applied for graduate entry medicine and I got in. It took a bit longer yes, but it did work out in the end.

Hope that helps - you're definitely not a disappointment to anyone. Take some time to regroup, think about what you want to do and go from there :smile:
Reply 19
Original post by Democracy
It sounds like you're roughly in the same position as miladghodsi (a few posts above you) - first things first, do you think you're close enough to the grade boundary to merit getting some re-marks? If so, definitely do that first.

If your grades remain unchanged then you need to have a bit of a think about what your options are and what you want to do in life. If you still definitely want to do medicine then either you can go abroad (which has its own pros and cons which I touched upon above) or you can do another degree and go into medicine via the graduate route.

Speaking from personal experience, I do understand where you're coming from about not knowing if biomed is what you want to do. I did a biomed degree before med school but my heart was always in medicine so it did feel pretty forced at times. But there's a lot more to university than that - I met some great people, had an excellent time for the most part, lived in an amazing city etc...and then I applied for graduate entry medicine and I got in. It took a bit longer yes, but it did work out in the end.

Hope that helps - you're definitely not a disappointment to anyone. Take some time to regroup, think about what you want to do and go from there :smile:


Thanks for the reply :smile: I am about 30 ums away from an A in both which is quite alot and so its unlikely they will go up :frown: I have though about postgrad medicine but the problem is the cost, I know you cant get a loan for your second degree and there is just no way me or my parents could afford it, so I just dont really think its an option for me. Do you know if there is any other way of funding it? Also how did you find the biomed degree? Was it interesting? Are there a variety of jobs you can go into?

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