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Original post by Whatisizekiah
Is anyone on here applying on a gap year? Is there a gap year medicine thread at all?

There will be plenty on here in the same boat for a variety of reasons. There’s not a separate thread as the process is the same as school leavers (as opposed to GEM).
Original post by Tintubmum
Sadly, he doesn’t hold any offers as yet. We were hoping to get his grades out of the way and reapply this year but even if he sat his exams in august, the results won’t be declared until December,by which time many medical schools will have shortlisted or even interviewed students.

sorry to burst your bubble but if your son was not offered a place in med school first time round then he will probably not get any offers second time round - regardless of his resit result. He did not do enough whilst in the lower sixth (and before) to convince 4 med schools that he had what it takes to become a doctor. I am guessing he was too focused on his studies in the upper sixth to do some work shadowing or voluntary work so his CV will not have improved.
Original post by mike23mike
sorry to burst your bubble but if your son was not offered a place in med school first time round then he will probably not get any offers second time round - regardless of his resit result. He did not do enough whilst in the lower sixth (and before) to convince 4 med schools that he had what it takes to become a doctor. I am guessing he was too focused on his studies in the upper sixth to do some work shadowing or voluntary work so his CV will not have improved.

I think that's a bit harsh, lots of people don't get into medicine first time round. He will have time to gain more relevant experience and improve his personal statement etc
Original post by harrysbar
I think that's a bit harsh, lots of people don't get into medicine first time round. He will have time to gain more relevant experience and improve his personal statement etc

What relevant experience? The student will need to focus on the resit in Oct and not have time to work-shadow a doctor or work in an old-people's home before applications close. Unless the child has been volunteering during the Covid crisis and living in a rest home taking care of the old and infirm, their personal statement will not be any better than last year - and they did not get any offers.

This has not been a 'normal' year. There will be lots of students who actually got offers from med schools for 2020 entry and who missed out because of the A level grading system this year. The med schools will be inundated with not only the natural 2021 applicants but also the hundreds who will be in the OP's child's position and re-applying. I am struggling to see how the OP's child's application will stand out.
Original post by mike23mike
sorry to burst your bubble but if your son was not offered a place in med school first time round then he will probably not get any offers second time round - regardless of his resit result. He did not do enough whilst in the lower sixth (and before) to convince 4 med schools that he had what it takes to become a doctor. I am guessing he was too focused on his studies in the upper sixth to do some work shadowing or voluntary work so his CV will not have improved.


This is so insanely ridiculous.
Do you know how hard it is to get into medicine the first time around.
I know a lot of people who have been rejected by all 4 the first time around and the next year have have had all 4 offers.
Original post by mike23mike
What relevant experience? The student will need to focus on the resit in Oct and not have time to work-shadow a doctor or work in an old-people's home before applications close. Unless the child has been volunteering during the Covid crisis and living in a rest home taking care of the old and infirm, their personal statement will not be any better than last year - and they did not get any offers.

This has not been a 'normal' year. There will be lots of students who actually got offers from med schools for 2020 entry and who missed out because of the A level grading system this year. The med schools will be inundated with not only the natural 2021 applicants but also the hundreds who will be in the OP's child's position and re-applying. I am struggling to see how the OP's child's application will stand out.


Exactly this isn’t a normal year. Lots of kids won’t have had the opp to do work exp or long-term volunteering for that and obv unis will be understanding about that.

If he sits 2020 autumn exams he can tweak his ps to reflect any exp in covid (any independent reading etc).
[quote=:)Esss[excludedFace]smile[/excludedFace];90431988]Exactly this isn’t a normal year. Lots of kids won’t have had the opp to do work exp or long-term volunteering for that and obv unis will be understanding about that.

If he sits 2020 autumn exams he can tweak his ps to reflect any exp in covid (any independent reading etc).
You are correct, I am wrong. I am sure the OP's child will get an offer from a med school next year. My apologies.
Original post by mike23mike
What relevant experience? The student will need to focus on the resit in Oct and not have time to work-shadow a doctor or work in an old-people's home before applications close. Unless the child has been volunteering during the Covid crisis and living in a rest home taking care of the old and infirm, their personal statement will not be any better than last year - and they did not get any offers.

This has not been a 'normal' year. There will be lots of students who actually got offers from med schools for 2020 entry and who missed out because of the A level grading system this year. The med schools will be inundated with not only the natural 2021 applicants but also the hundreds who will be in the OP's child's position and re-applying. I am struggling to see how the OP's child's application will stand out.

A job or voluntary experience in the NHS - my son is currently working for an NHS hospital via their bank for temporary staff so it is possible even now, and he gets to pick what shifts he wants to work (zero hours contract) so it would be possible to do that alongside revising for resits.

We don't know anything about this boy or what he might have been doing during lockdown or what he might be planning to do now so there's no reason to assume he will be doing nothing to enhance his application.
(edited 3 years ago)
Reply 28
Original post by mike23mike
sorry to burst your bubble but if your son was not offered a place in med school first time round then he will probably not get any offers second time round - regardless of his resit result. He did not do enough whilst in the lower sixth (and before) to convince 4 med schools that he had what it takes to become a doctor. I am guessing he was too focused on his studies in the upper sixth to do some work shadowing or voluntary work so his CV will not have improved.

What you've said isn't true at all. There are loads of students at Med School who didn't get in at first attempt, and a few who have taken more than 2 attempts (the most i have seen is success at 6th attempt). Amongst my daughter's close friends at Med School more than half weren't successful first time around and I personally know of 2 med students who received 4 rejections at first attempt and received 4 offers the following year.
Original post by harrysbar
A job or voluntary experience in the NHS - my son is currently working for an NHS hospital via their bank for temporary staff so it is possible even now, and he gets to pick what shifts he wants to work (zero hours contract) so it would be possible to do that alongside revising for resits.

We don't know anything about this boy or what he might have been doing during lockdown or what he might be planning to do now so there's no reason to assume he will be doing nothing to enhance his application.

You are correct, the OP's child can gain work experience whilst studying for the resit in Oct. They already have AA so will be offered a place at med school with the demand for an A on the resit.
Original post by meddad
What you've said isn't true at all. There are loads of students at Med School who didn't get in at first attempt, and a few who have taken more than 2 attempts (the most i have seen is success at 6th attempt). Amongst my daughter's close friends at Med School more than half weren't successful first time around and I personally know of 2 med students who received 4 rejections at first attempt and received 4 offers the following year.

Hi, you are right. It is possible on the 2nd attempt or even the 6th.
Original post by Tintubmum
. Thank you. So if he did resit the exam in summer 2021, will he be applying to September 2022 intake?


No. He still apply in October this year - the timescale is just like students who are not resitting:

UCAT Summer 2020
UCAS before 15th October 2020
(BMAT if applicable November 2020)
Interviews Winter-Spring 2020/21
Offers Winter-Spring 2020/21
(Resit) Exams May / June 2021
Results Day August 2021
Start med school September 2021

That's unless he wanted to take another gap year.


Post originally created by ecolier.
Original post by Ensoetre
I am


Oh cool!

what are ur plans for this year? and how are u finding reapplying :smile:
Original post by Whatisizekiah
Oh cool!

what are ur plans for this year? and how are u finding reapplying :smile:

Well a low UCAT score is the main reason I didn’t get any offers last year so I plan to get a high score in that this time round
Wbu
Are all universities considering summer exams a resit? it make no sense as students didn't "sit" an exam. I am hoping the stance will change.
Thank you for your reply.that is very helpful
Original post by harrysbar
A job or voluntary experience in the NHS - my son is currently working for an NHS hospital via their bank for temporary staff so it is possible even now, and he gets to pick what shifts he wants to work (zero hours contract) so it would be possible to do that alongside revising for resits.

We don't know anything about this boy or what he might have been doing during lockdown or what he might be planning to do now so there's no reason to assume he will be doing nothing to enhance his application.

That sounds very sensible.
Original post by mike23mike
sorry to burst your bubble but if your son was not offered a place in med school first time round then he will probably not get any offers second time round - regardless of his resit result. He did not do enough whilst in the lower sixth (and before) to convince 4 med schools that he had what it takes to become a doctor. I am guessing he was too focused on his studies in the upper sixth to do some work shadowing or voluntary work so his CV will not have improved.

If he gave his exam in Autumn,it would not be a resit,would it? He did have work experience and was interviewed in 2 places and was on the reserve for 1. I know the situation is not ideal this time around with a lot of competition,and hence looking for suggestions to improve his C.V.
Original post by Tintubmum
Please help! My son applied to medicine for sept 2020 intake but was rejected. Although his predicted grades were A*AA last year ,his mocks were A*AB in jan 2020 but his results are now AAC. The plan was for him to retake UCAT this year but with the low grade C in physics, it appears as if he has to sit his exam in Autumn. The results don’t come until December but the UCAS deadline is 15th October. What should he write in his UCAS now? Previously predicted levels,or mock grades,or grades from August 13th. Although I am 99% certain he can upgrade from C to A,I feel he may be treated unfairly because he may not even be shortlisted by universities because they see the C. Is there anything we can do?

The plan was for him to retake UCAT .. Yes he will need to redo this before application deadline October 2020 regardless don't waste time thinking of this. Just get it done

Don't worry about results being issued Dec... as he will either get a conditional or unconditional offer

More clarification will be realised with regards predicated grades for UCAS (predicted grades were A*AA last year) but at the moment deal with what you can do..

UCAT / Work Experience maybe BMAT Check what Mock grade he obtained during 2020 the school can tell you this.

He can appeal his C in Physics and this will be overturned if his mock was higher so he will be applying with AAMock and if the As are in Biology and or Chemistry is his pretty much there..

Do not worry he will be get a place next cycle.. again UCAT must be sat

3 August 2020

Testing begins

17 September 2020 (midday)

Registration closes

Web booking closes

Access Arrangements / UCATSEN application deadline

30 September 2020 (midday)

Final booking deadline (for registered candidates)

1 October 2020

Last testing date

Bursary application deadline (4pm)

15 October 2020

UCAS application deadline

Early November 2020

Results delivered to universities
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by ukheman
The plan was for him to retake UCAT .. Yes he will need to redo this before application deadline October 2020 regardless don't waste time thinking of this. Just get it done

Don't worry about results being issued Dec... as he will either get a conditional or unconditional offer

More clarification will be realised with regards predicated grades for UCAS (predicted grades were A*AA last year) but at the moment deal with what you can do..

UCAT / Work Experience maybe BMAT Check what Mock grade he obtained during 2020 the school can tell you this.

He can appeal his C in Physics and this will be overturned if his mock was higher so he will be applying with AAMock and if the As are in Biology and or Chemistry is his pretty much there..

Do not worry he will be get a place next cycle.. again UCAT must be sat

3 August 2020

Testing begins

17 September 2020 (midday)

Registration closes

Web booking closes

Access Arrangements / UCATSEN application deadline

30 September 2020 (midday)

Final booking deadline (for registered candidates)

1 October 2020

Last testing date

Bursary application deadline (4pm)

15 October 2020

UCAS application deadline

Early November 2020

ResultsDelivered to universities
thank you.he is preparing hard for UCAT now and we will look for paid Nhs experience,as others suggested- no one wants volunteers currently.