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Applying to Medicine with unusual circumstances

(edited 7 years ago)

Dont waste your time doing another degree first - a) it'll take you 8+ years to get a Medicine degree and b) you'll have to fund most of the 5 year Medicine degree yourself, so not a good idea. If you REALLY want to do Medicine, dont settle for anything less.

Whilst most Med Schools have a 'no retakes' rule (ie. they want people who dont need a second run up) they usually will take circumstances like this into consideration. If you genuinely couldn't do the right subjects in one 2 year period at your school, then email some Unis and ask if they will still consider you. An attached letter from your school confirming your story will help.

Reply 2

MonteCristo

Agreed - I would contact individual admissions tutors at the medical schools you are interested in applying to. Explain that, although you took three years, this was because you were pursuing the wrong subjects and passed everything at the first attempt, i.e. no resits. You are so enthusiastic to study medicine that you invested an extra year to ensure that you meet their institution's requirements and hope they can reassure you that you won't be caught out by the "two years" rule.

You'll probably find that two will reply "don't worry" and two won't give an answer or will reiterate that you have to complete A-levels within two years. Just drop any that do the latter and contact different medical schools instead.

Reply 3

stomatal7

Thanks both of you. As long as I can be sure I'd be a competitive candidate for the course I would think about taking a year out. I will have to look for something to do for the year though but I'll figure something out. Before taking a year out I'd make sure to try and get a good UKCAT score and some more work experience planned to maximise my chances of getting in as I see it as a risk.