Medicine and Genetics

Hi. I want to konw if it is possible to apply for medicine and genetics in the same time. I am thinking to apply for medicine and if it will be a failure I would like to study genetics. Is it possible to make only one personal statement for both?

Reply 1

not you

You can only make one personal statement, and the same personal statement will be sent to both courses. So if you write a personal statement about medicine then the genetics admissions officers will receive the same medicine PS.

If you've only just decided on applying for medicine then I'm afraid you're a bit too late for most medical schools. The UKCAT (a test you must sit for most med schools) final deadline was the 22nd of September, and the BMAT (for Oxbridge, Imperial, UCL, Leeds, BSMS, Lancaster) standard entry deadline was the 1st of October. The final deadline isn't until the 15th of October but you will have to pay £75 and it's generally more risky applying for BMAT universities as you sit the exam after you submit your application.

Reply 2

themedicalgeek

Why assume your medicine application is going to be a failure? Medicine requires commitment and determination to succeed. With ~3000 applications per medical school, any shred of doubt towards medicine as a career could lead to an unsuccessful application.

(Grades, work exp and admissions test results also play a big part - assess these before making final choice)

Reply 3

eshdentist

Your ps will be sent to all the unis including the one for genetics. However a lot of unis allow you send in a separate additional PS direct to them if you contact them.

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Reply 4

troubadour.

Original post by eshdentist

However a lot of unis allow you send in a separate additional PS direct to them if you contact them.

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I somehow doubt that this is true. Most universities I've contacted make it clear that they won't accept any unsolicited materials outside of UCAS and, if I had to guess, I'd think there's a rule against doing this sort of thing because it defeats the point of a central admissions service to start applying to universities individually in that way.

The only instance I know of where you have the opportunity to add something close to a second personal statement in addition to the one on UCAS is the SAQ form that Cambridge applicants have to fill out.

Reply 5

eshdentist

It's at their discretion. And lots of medical/dental applicants do it.

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Reply 6

troubadour.

Original post by eshdentist

It's at their discretion. And lots of medical/dental applicants do it.

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Yes but most medical applicants, as far as I know, apply for similar courses like Biomedical Sciences or, at a stretch, Biochemistry and use the same personal statement for all five options. Anything further out than that is likely to get rejected if you're applying to a course that gets more applications than it has places.

Unless, of course, the OP devotes a significant portion of his/her personal statement to genetics and makes it relevant to both. But there's no way to disguise the fact that he/she is applying for medicine because there's no way on Earth that the OP will get into medical school without mentioning medicine dozens of times in their personal statement.

It's at their discretion in the same way as everything else that's very unlikely to happen -- such as letting people in with lower grades than required -- is at their discretion. Make of that what you will. :wink:

Reply 7

danielg9

Well I am thinking to apply for medicine just at Bristol where I don't need UKCAT or BMAT and because I am applying at only one I was thinking that the others 4 choises to be at genetics or medical genetics which are almost in the same field.
The only reason that i want to aply only for Bristol is that I didn't had time to prepare for UKCAT or BMAT in time and because i don't want to lose this year i was thinking to do what i love if it is possible. Of course my first choise is medicine but very close after is genetics.My last plan is to apply to Bristol at medicine and at 4 genetics/medical genetics courses. Now I just want to know how to do it because the only problem from my point of view is the personal statement because my grades are:A*A*A and I have seen that is really good.
Thank you in advance!

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 8

troubadour.

Original post by danielg9

Well I am thinking to apply for medicine just at Bristol where I don't need UKCAT or BMAT and because I am applying at only one I was thinking that the athors 4 choises to be at genetics or medical genetics which are almost in the same field.
The only reason that i want to aply only for Bristol is that I didn't had time to prepare for UKCAT or BMAT in time and because i don't want to lose this year i was thinking to do what i love if it is possible. Of course my first choise is medicine but very close after is genetics.My last plan is to apply to Bristol at medicine and at 4 genetics/medical genetics courses. Now I just want to know how to do it because the only problem from my point of view is the personal statement because my grades are:A*A*A and I have seen that is really good.
Thank you in advance!

It sounds like a bad idea because Bristol is possibly the most personal statement-heavy university there is when it comes to medicine. If there's any doubt about your commitment to medicine from your personal statement at Bristol, you're likely to be rejected pre-interview. Your A Level grades constitute only 12 percent of the admissions criteria at Bristol (your GCSEs constitute 8 percent, your personal statement and reference together constitute 80 percent).

It's also not advised that you only use one of your five UCAS choices on the subject that is your first choice... You can still register for the BMAT until 15 October as a late entry but it's your call, really.