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Turning down a place at medical school to try again next year

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Original post by EllyJelly
I've always said from the start that the only sources of authority I have on this supposed 'blacklist' is conversations with my own personal teachers/head of 6th form at school.


That isn't actually true, is it? You only said that after jneil challenged what you had originally posted without mentioning your source.
Original post by Good bloke
That isn't actually true, is it? You only said that after jneil challenged what you had originally posted without mentioning your source.


Original post by EllyJelly
Oh sorry, misunderstood. If you get no other offers but the one place you don't like, and you turn that one down, when you reapply next year there's no way it will affect you applying again to the universities you didn't get into first time around. It only has an effect if you reject a university's offer one year, then apply to them again next year - apparently they blacklist you for doing that. That's what I always got told when I was applying.


That was my second post on this thread, when I was asked to clarify as I'd misunderstood OP's question. In my first post I didn't mention any source at all. I've never claimed this information came from anywhere else but my own experience, but apologies if that's how it sounded originally.
Original post by EllyJelly
I've never claimed this information came from anywhere else but my own experience,


You just said that it came from your teachers. Make your mind up.
Reply 83
Original post by navarre
It's not impossible to apply successfully next year for medicine having turned down an offer. However, it's an exceptionally stupid thing to do, and anyone on the admission team would probably question both your intellect and your commitment to medicine having done so. You're by no means guaranteed to get another place next year, and the 3 that have interviewed you would probably not give you another chance to prove yourself, limiting your options.

There's also the issue of even if you did get in- fees are going up every year, it'd be another year without a salary, you'd be slightly older than others in your cohort etc.


Stupid but possible.
Ignore the social pressures, they probably won't get anyone far.
Look, for goodness sake. I don't want to argue with either of you, and I think it's just filling up this thread when OP is looking for advice. 'Personal experience' meaning conversations that I have had with my teachers, that is what I meant, I haven't changed anything that I've said. I didn't post about this 'blacklist' to terrify anyone, although that seems to be the effect it's had, so apologies for this. That is what we got told when I was at school, OP was looking for advice, that was the advice I gave. It's not come from any official source, I never claimed that it did, and it may well be a load of rubbish, but that is what I was told at school, so that's what I went with when I was applying.

Good luck OP with your choices and let's just hope it doesn't get to the stage where you're left with your 4th choice :smile:
Original post by jneill
It seems UCL might*, but others definitely do not. Cambridge and Oxford, for example, actively encourage re-applicants, "even" for medicine.

*And I'd want more than anecdotal evidence of UCL's alleged attitude viz-a-viz UCAS applications. I'm sure @PQ would be interested too.


Afaik regarding medicine at UCL, they don't want you to reapply after a rejection.
Reply 86
Original post by Cherub012
Afaik regarding medicine at UCL, they don't want you to reapply after a rejection.


Yes. So it seems*. But only if you were rejected after interview.
If you didn't get to interview you can reapply.

*It's on their FAQ.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/medicalschool/undergraduate/mbbs-admissions/faqs/FAQ.pdf

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(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by EllyJelly
Look, for goodness sake. I don't want to argue with either of you, and I think it's just filling up this thread when OP is looking for advice. 'Personal experience' meaning conversations that I have had with my teachers, that is what I meant, I haven't changed anything that I've said. I didn't post about this 'blacklist' to terrify anyone, although that seems to be the effect it's had, so apologies for this. That is what we got told when I was at school, OP was looking for advice, that was the advice I gave. It's not come from any official source, I never claimed that it did, and it may well be a load of rubbish, but that is what I was told at school, so that's what I went with when I was applying.

Good luck OP with your choices and let's just hope it doesn't get to the stage where you're left with your 4th choice :smile:


Tbh, you should never really go with what school says. They tend to make judgement based on hearsay from their students and teachers as opposed to information from admissions and universities. The policy for universities is to accept re-applicants. In fact, places like UCL are really encouraged to see re-applicants as they tend to have more experience which in the long-run will only ever help you.
Original post by romansholiday
Okay, now I understand. Thanks for the response!

This may be another stupid question but could you put Dentistry as your 5th option, or does that come under the Medical 4 choices? Sorry for all these questions, but UCAS has never really been explained to me.


Sorry I have no idea! You'd have to ask someone more knowledgeable than me
Reply 89
Original post by romansholiday
This may be another stupid question but could you put Dentistry as your 5th option, or does that come under the Medical 4 choices? Sorry for all these questions, but UCAS has never really been explained to me.


Medicine/VetMed/Dentistry all count as part of your 4.

https://www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/apply-and-track/filling-your-ucas-undergraduate-application
"For these subjects you can only apply to a maximum of four courses in any one of medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or veterinary science. You can add choices with a different deadline later, but don’t forget you can only have five choices in total."

Also, you only have one personal statement and it needs to be relevant for all 4 (or 5) choices. So applying for, say, 2 medicine and 2 dentistry courses with a "combined" PS is likely to end up with 4 rejections.

The 5th choice can therefore be problematic because the PS ideally should be reasonably relevant. However the PS isn't very important for some courses. For example, I've seen many people getting Maths offers with a Medicine PS.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by paddyx
I applied to four medical schools this year and got interviews at three of them. But since I put my application in I have a bit gone off one of the three schools where I am being interviewed. I had thought that if I got an offer only from the school that I have gone off that I might turn down the offer and try again next year. However, I have been told that if you are offered a place at any medical school in the UK and turn the offer down all other UK medical schools will reject a subsequent application from you. Is this true?


No idea, there are a lot of rumors with these things and they change over time as well. Having said that you need to understand the reasons why you wouldn't want to go to this medical school. If it is the course i.e. Oxford's is very theory based for the first few years and a lot of people don't necessarily find that appealing but go for it anyway as it is Oxford, on the other hand KCL seems to mess its students around a lot so you could see why that would put people off.

My honest opinion is that you are lucky to get in anywhere for medicine so if you want to do medicine you should keep all your applications open, go to the interviews and then do your best and accept any offer you get even if it is to the school you are not keen on. You could always do your first few years at one university and switch to another for finals. I know some Oxford medics who started at Oxford and finished at Imperial. I think you are going to be so busy/ stressed out while studying medicine that you won't really notice the things that are putting you off this particular school that much. The people who do medicine everywhere are really intelligent and motivated and usually fun to be around, so I just think you should go for it and do your best and then it will all work out if medicine is the right course for you.
Reply 91
If you get to the interview stage, apparently you're not allowed to apply again the next year. Email the University is my advice.
Original post by oiseaux_tropic
You could always do your first few years at one university and switch to another for finals. I know some Oxford medics who started at Oxford and finished at Imperial.


You can only choose to do that if you're at Oxford. And only to London schools.
Original post by jneill
Yes. So it seems*. But only if you were rejected after interview.
If you didn't get to interview you can reapply.

*It's on their FAQ.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/medicalschool/undergraduate/mbbs-admissions/faqs/FAQ.pdf

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I think that's were I saw it. PRSOM.
Reply 94
Original post by nexttime
You can only choose to do that if you're at Oxford. And only to London schools.


And Cambridge
Reply 95
Original post by nurani9
And Cambridge


Nope. No longer.
Original post by nurani9
And Cambridge


Nope.
Reply 97
Original post by fennec
What's the problem with being self- confident? :confused: I know I will get in I got the vocation, I'm very ambitious and I have all the academic requirements needed of course I'm gonna enjoy it :cool:

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You aren't the only applicant with vocation, ambition and good academia. Saying you will surely get in is being over confident and you have to prepare yourself for a hard crash with reality.

And Kayne West isn't the best role model for a doctor wannabe
what would people think about accepting a place for medicine at a uni you dont really want to go to, sitting the UKCAT again and then unaccepting the position before the first year began, if UKCAT was strong enough they beelived they could get intot he med school they wanted
It's tough, every new year you'll fight a new batch of students alongside reapplicants. I never knew this was possible, but my friend told me a person in his course (dentistry) applied to med as his 5th choice and got an interview. Think he just did it for the hell of it and was surprised as well. No clue about all this blacklisting thing, but I do know some unis only let you apply so many times eg. Belfast you can only apply twice and has another restriction about having to apply to them first time you apply to med or they'll reject (can't really remember, but I had to email them my UCAS documents from when I applied to medicine as proof I wasn't applying to medicine back then) and Aberdeen only lets you apply 3 times then your application will get blocked. Shouldn't be a problem for OP as it sounds like he's from year 6?

I got an offer from the last uni I wanted to go, was a bit sad since I didn't want to move there but I got in so I was ecstatic. Got another offer but I would take anything they give me. I ruined my application cycle due to having an off day and bombed the UKCAT despite scoring avg/above avg marks. Luckily this cycle was my good day and got a good mark. I hate this damn test, it'll be a gamble that you can acheive the same or a better UKCAT! And you never know how the interview will go and how you feel that day and how aggressive the interviewer may be. I would suggest you try out what people have suggested and visit the uni, try and arrange a tour or something with the uni (some do this!) and go to offer holders day if you still can and speak to people and visit the place. I found leaving home for my undergrad very daunting and tbh my first year went horrible (suffered from some depression) but after getting through first year, I got back on my feet and found it a blast and thoroughly enjoyed my time there! Just remember there are people out there who keep applying and get in after their 5th or more attempts!

I hope my personal input would give you some food for thought in your decision.
(edited 6 years ago)

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