Medify vs 6med

If it helps, my son has just started third year of Oxford medicine.

He recommends you use medify for ucat and bmat ninja for bmat

Tell him those were the very choices I was going to make and please thank him so much for confirming my choices!! Could you please further ask:

1) whether he took online crash course for the BMAT from 6med?

2) whether he had any tutoring for UCAT/BMAT?

3) How many weeks did he spend preparing for each exam?

4) What were the 3 other universities that he applied to?

5) what resources did he use for interviews and personal statement? Or did he have a tutor to aid him?

6) why medicine?

Also tell him he's really a role model of mine, being a halfway medical graduate from Oxford, congratulations! I'm so sorry for bombarding you with so many questions but it'd really help!! Ofc if I had to pick between long story or short, I'd go with the former as I need as much insight as possible!

Hi @S Aliya. Please do not be sorry, and please do not think you are "bombarding" me with questions. Most people who do approach me do so with trepidation and think they are bothering me. This could not be further from the truth.

It is my stated aim to help TSRians to get into Oxford, particularly state school pupils, who message me to say they have no idea how to go about applying. I have even written a book called Oxford Demystified, which is not available in book shops, but is being blogged on TSR for free. Yesterday I published the main chapter, "Making your application to Oxford". I will tag you in when I publicise it later today. I wrote a chapter about how my son got into Oxford med school from my point of view, including all the resources he used, etc, and how I felt during the process. My son has also written a chapter about his journey from A level student to Oxford, including why he chose medicine and what the course is really like. Also how he coped with the pressure. Please see the two links below:

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6019726

My chapter

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6044384

My son's chapter.

To address the other questions you have (not answered in the book)

No, he did not have a tutor.

He went on a Medic Portal course for UCAT and BMAT, but felt they were not necessary. If you are not going on a course, you need a BMAT practice book. Then as soon as you have finished the book, you need to practice every day using Medify (UCAT) and BMAT Ninja (BMAT).

I think my son bought a month's worth of questions before he took both exams. Or maybe spilled over into two months, can't remember. This is how long he spent preparing.

Don't forget your school work during the time you are practising for UCAT/BMAT.

The three other med schools he applied to were

Edinburgh (rejected)
Kings College London (offer)
Sheffield (offer)

He prefers Oxford though, because he is very academic and loves researching. He does not know how he feels about clinical work (as Oxford medics are not on the wards until year 4) but is looking forward to it.

Oh my goodness thank you so much! You're truly such a blessing! I'll get to reading them asap, but before I do so, I quickly just want to ask your opinion on how to split my time whilst practicing. So, focus entirely on UCAT, give the exam, then do BMAT? Or prepare for them simultaneously? (I can give UCAT anytime before Oct 2 and haven't started proper preparation yet, and BMAT is on 30 Oct. Again, haven't started preparing) Also, for section two of BMAT, I'll be using the CAIE website as they have all the resources as per the syllabus. And I can prepare for the rest using BMAT ninja and free resources. However if I feel I'm not grasping the entire picture I'll go for the online BMAT crash course (6med) or a BMAT book (which one would you recommend?). Do you think this is optimal, or should do a course first then practice?

Also, I'm being told that statistically, you need about 10A*s in GCSEs to be even considered for Oxford, and those that do have around that many are the ones that get in, comparitively. I've gotten 4A*s and 3As in my IGCSEs. The very reason I'm doing BMAT, spending money and time on preparation is for Oxford. If I won't be considered, then..

Oh my goodness thank you so much! You're truly such a blessing! I'll get to reading them asap, but before I do so, I quickly just want to ask your opinion on how to split my time whilst practicing. So, focus entirely on UCAT, give the exam, then do BMAT? Or prepare for them simultaneously? (I can give UCAT anytime before Oct 2 and haven't started proper preparation yet, and BMAT is on 30 Oct. Again, haven't started preparing) Also, for section two of BMAT, I'll be using the CAIE website as they have all the resources as per the syllabus. And I can prepare for the rest using BMAT ninja and free resources. However if I feel I'm not grasping the entire picture I'll go for the online BMAT crash course (6med) or a BMAT book (which one would you recommend?). Do you think this is optimal, or should do a course first then practice?

Also, I'm being told that statistically, you need about 10A*s in GCSEs to be even considered for Oxford, and those that do have around that many are the ones that get in, comparitively. I've gotten 4A*s and 3As in my IGCSEs. The very reason I'm doing BMAT, spending money and time on preparation is for Oxford. If I won't be considered, then..

I would do the UCAT first so you are not doing it at the same time as the BMAT. Otherwise it will be difficult if you are juggling both tests and your schoolwork at the same time. I do not know about the online crash course, as my son did the Medic Portal course. He did not think it was necessary to pass the BMAT and it can be expensive. The course came with a free book, "mastering the BMAT" and he used this before the BMAT Ninja questions.

Yes, you will see from my medical chapter that the average number for A*s for medicine is 10. I note, however, that IGCSEs are more difficult (my son did German, and it was much harder), so I don't know if an A at IGCSE will be equivalent to an A* at GCSE.

Also, am I correct in assuming that you are an overseas student? If so, places at Oxford medical school for internationals are limited to only 14 per year, out of 150 medical school places (please also see my medical chapter above). This is also an important factor to take into consideration

Yes, correct, I'm indeed an international student. I know, it's a very important consideration. However I don't know the statistics of how many internationals apply per year, how many get interviews, etc. It really is daunting..but I don't want it to scare me away from applying...

This information is all on their website:
366 international fee-status applicants made complete applications.
32 international fee-status applicants were shortlisted.

Yes sorry I made the post before viewing the link! I just did now and have edited my post. 5 of them received offers -- but the spaces for internationals were more than 5, just that they weren't qualified enough for offers I'm assuming?

I got your point about juggling tests and I completely agree, thank you! It's always better to do the UCAT first as I'll have my scores beforehand and if I'm too stressed/need to focus on alternatives like A levels or personal statement or work experience, I may even drop the BMAT.

Hmm I don't think universities differentiate between the IGCSEs and the GCSEs, in terms or difficulty at least. To most people, IGCSEs is just an international version of the same thing.

Yes, correct, I'm indeed an international student. I know, it's a very important consideration.I just saw the 2017 statistics from the post above and it really is daunting..but I don't want it to scare me away from applying...

Sorry, I'll look into your posts soon! (Are we allowed to quote/reply?)