St. Andrews Medicine Applicants 2011 :D

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Do the interviewers get to see your personal statement before the interview?

'Cus i can't remember what bloody day it is never mind what I wrote on my personal statement

Yes, in mine they had my personal statement in front of them, and it looked like they had underlined things on it that they wanted to ask more about, e.g. work experience and charity work etc.

Reply 701

KCosmo

Original post by ryan118244

True, I forget that sometimes. By the way it's so unfair!! Haha I want free tuition!!! Cardiff is also now going to give free tuition fr the welsh, it seems the English are the only loosing out here!

Well I'm going to Drive to Bristol and then fly up to Edinburgh and then hire a car because we are lazy haha. If we drove, it would take probs about 10/11 hours :/ Yea we are going to stay up there for three days, make a little holiday of it haha and go to Edinburgh as well :smile:

Haha, the benefits of having our own parliament :tongue:

It does seem pretty unfair but I'm sure once we're all back in the money the government will realise the value of free education!

You'll like it in Edinburgh, it's really good! I didn't get to see much of St Andrew's when I was there but it seemed pretty cool - you can definitely tell that it's a student town! :biggrin:

Reply 702

dafloodman

Original post by ukcathater

Free further education it the only benefit scots actually have but it's not a given that we actually get it! Scottish unis take on so many English eu or whatever that there is no real benefit to us. From what I see in the threads most English apply in england and only throw the odd application to Scotland,many not even wanting to take the place. If they get an offer from down south its usually their 1st choice. The other reason for the high application rate is that their is an optoon to return to england Ie manchester after 3 years. And I actually believe scots applications to Scottish unies should be looked at favourably before any other nation as our parents are funding the unies through their taxes.

Interesting. I believe an application should be judged on merit irrespective of background or economic factors.

Reply 703

lola1993

After all this tuition fee talk, I went on the website and saw that non-Scottish medicine students get charged a lot more than students on other courses. Does anyone know if the Scottish government plan to increase the fees for english applicants? Bet the medicine fees would go up by a lot if so...

Reply 704

Shellfish002

Original post by teafil

Mine is at 4;15. Where are you from? :biggrin:

Hey

Mines on the 9th Feb at 4.05 so it looks like I'll see you there fellow St Andrews and Glasgow applicant :wink:

Reply 705

username600675

Original post by ukcathater

If you are talking of background how many successful applicants from poorer backgrounds get into st Andrews? Affluent English seems to be the order of the day this is why so many scots are afraid to actually apply

dude i come from dundee.
have you seen dundee?!

i ain't rich. (or english for that matter :P)

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 706

dafloodman

Original post by ukcathater

I wasn't trying to bring an applicant's background under the spotlight, i was saying that this shouldn't be an issue, and currently background isn't even part of the admissions process so why would poor scots take that into account? :s many scottish and english people are accepted which i feel is good because we live in the UNITED kingdom, united being the key word.

Reply 707

nam2590

^^^^ From my understanding I thought it was the English taxes as well that payed for the Scottish uni system!?!?
And tbh you don't have 4.5 choices, you get all the English choices as well as the free scottish ones, us English get all the choices and NO free ones.
All applicants should be considered the same, just because it's free for you there doesnt mean you should get priority. The Scottish can apply anywhere they want but most stay in Scotland because most sensible they get free education, but it doesn't mean they should have higher chances of getting in, they fact is it's unfair you get it for free when they English have to pay so I think the English of anyone should get higher priority because they pay for the education.

Reply 708

KCosmo

Original post by ukcathater

This is why scots applicants are at a disadvantage because the uni can charge more for non scots applicants ESP English who are often from wealthier backgrounds and can afford to pay. This along with it's "Oxbridge reputation" is what makes it attractive.

I think you are thinking about proposed plans which are yet to come into place. Yes right now English students have to pay to go to a Scottish university out of their own pocket, but universities receive the same amount of money whether the applicant is Scottish or English. The only difference is that the government will pay the tuition fees of a Scottish student, rather than the student paying them, so there is no financial incentive for universities to favour English students.

There are plans (very early stages I think) to make non-Scottish British (english, welsh and northern irish) students pay more so that the government can keep funding the Scottish tuition fees. The reason why they can't raise it for other EU students is because you are not aloud to be prejudice against students from other countries by raising their fees. The only reason that it might be allowed for the english welsh and northern irish is because technically they are from the same country (united kingdom). It's a strange loop-hole indeed! :tongue:

Seems to me like it would be fairer if all non-scottish students pay the same. (Or dare-I-say if tuition fees we scrapped across the UK!)

For the background point, St Andrew's seems in particular to take in proportionally better off students, but maybe the fact that St Andrew's is a quite expensive place to stay has something to do with that.

Haha, totally didn't expect all these comments from just mentioning tuition fees! :tongue:

Should have known :tongue:

Very interesting topic though.

Any more interviews given out? There's still some to be given out I reckon.

Reply 709

KCosmo

Original post by ryan118244

Good point, English students don't get any universities for free. But as I've just said above it's a matter of where the money comes from, rather than the amount that the universities will get, all applicants are considered equally right now.

Reply 710

username600675

Original post by ukcathater

Ok you have an interview well done :smile:

but were you really expecting one? And yes I have seen Dundee but who cares the Dundee course is good so why would any one not want to study there

no i wasn't, i thought i'd get a straight rejection.
EDIT: but that wasn't because of where i live...because that's a stupid reason...it was because i didn't get 5As and my ukcat wasn't great

and that's not the point i was making. my point was, you said that people from poorer backgrounds were put off applying to st andrews, and i'm just saying that it didn't deter me one bit.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 711

Eddie91

Original post by ukcathater

Hey lay off gb man he's done a lot for us over the last few months and shares loads of info with us regarding applications :mad:

Name something specifically that he has 'shared' with you that cannot be directly inferred from the website. From what I can see he seems to enjoy being overly pessimistic about not having an interview (or a rejection), which I'm sure is very beneficial to the other unfortunate applicants who have yet to hear anything. /sarcasm

Reply 712

Eddie91

Original post by ukcathater

And I actually believe scots applications to Scottish unies should be looked at favourably before any other nation as our parents are funding the unies through their taxes...

And your sentence at the end would certainly disadvantage many scots as we are a poorer country so to say English should get priority in Scottish universities purely because they pay for it is balls!

You obviously define the word 'impartial' :rolleyes:

Reply 713

garlicbreadman

Original post by Eddie91

Are you too busy on TSR to do that yourself?

No, I have received a rejection and they havent replied 2 my email I sent them a week ago regarding the cutoff :angry:

Original post by Eddie91

Oi, back off, I don't see what your problem is. I may not have shared anything which u couldnt find out for yourself but forums are for discussion, sharing your thoughts and information! Forum=a public meeting or assembly for open discussion
And how am I being overly-pessimistic? Not everyone can remain as calm as you! At least I'm not "dying"

Original post by Eddie91

'You are now under consideration for an Open Offer from Cambridge'. I didn't even know that existed :/. If I didn't have another interview I think I would be dying from all this Quasi-rejection stuff :s-smilie:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 714

SYK191093

umm so I'm a St. Andrews medical applicant...
I was interviewed on the 24th of november and got my unconditional about a month later...
Only found this thread today cause I was looking for something to do instead of revising for my estimates :P
Does anybody know if St. Andrews like anything in particular in candidates, because I was looking at the grades and stuff of candidates who got unconditionals from the same interview as me, and they completely outclass me academically :s-smilie:

Reply 715

garlicbreadman

Original post by ukcathater

you can't be that bad if you have an unconditional :confused:

Why are you bothered :confused:

lmao. Exactly what I was thinking.

Obviously they saw something in u!
And they have to take some people on and rejected many more.

It's like me asking u "Why didn't u apply to xxxx university instead of St Andrews" :colondollar:

Reply 716

KCosmo

Original post by SofianeKouadria

I think, like all medical schools, they like a well-rounded applicant. I'm not aware of anything in particular that they like apart from the obvious stuff such as good results and enthusiasm for the course :smile:

If the others did a lot better academically then you must have had a brilliant interview :biggrin:

If you don't mind, what are your grades/UKCAT/work experience like? I'm sure others couldn't have been that much better academically, as you got an unconditional and the entry requirements ask for nearly perfect results :tongue:

Oh, and well done for getting the unconditional! To get an unconditional for medicine is pretty rare, they must have really liked you/seen great potential in you! :biggrin:

Reply 717

nam2590

Original post by KCosmo

Thats a good point about funding, i hope everyone does get treated equally :smile:

Original post by ukcathater

True but most scots actually want to stay and work in Scotland. Having looked at every university in England during my ucas application I found it very frustrating as they don't readily adverstise requirements for Scottish higher's,it's all A level stuff. You then have to phone admissions people ( some more helpful than others) to get what they are looking for. And your sentence at the end would certainly disadvantage many scots as we are a poorer country so to say English should get priority in Scottish universities purely because they pay for it is balls!

But why should the fact that most scotts wanting to stay in scotlan give them priority, they could always move bk up to scotland once they have finsihed there degree.

But then i have found that for a lot of the scottish unis as well.

How do you know you are poorer, i do believe that statistically northerners are poorer. Also why do you assume all english are well off, i come from the south which is supposedly more affluent, but i went to state school, come from an average bkground and my parents have an average income. In a way im really bad off because my parents income go over the boundary to get any help from the goverment yet my parents dont have enough money to help me. So im left with the debt completely by myself!! Also if you are poor the goverment will help you, i have a friend at med shcool, she comes from a v poor bkground and the goverment basically pays for her education. So the whole argument of poor vs rich doesnt really work.

Original post by ukcathater

Do you want to study in Scotland over England? Do you want to stay here and work after you qualify? furthermore I didn't suggest scots apply to England ang get preferential treatment (but ryan has said that what should happen with English applicants to Scotland) As they can afford to pay!

Its not a question of whether we can afford to pay, we have to pay.
Also i think everyone should be treated equally!
I feel sorry for internationals!

Original post by garlicbreadman

No, I have received a rejection and they havent replied 2 my email I sent them a week ago regarding the cutoff :angry:

I would phone them and be forceful haha, when i phonned them before the admissions cycle she said the UKCAT would be roughly around 630 ish. What did you get?
I know its crap waiting, i know what it feels like, i think the problem with in medicine is that reapplicants are favoured and so its one big cycle of first time applicants getting rejected because they arent as strong as reapplicants and then they have to reapply them selves and then they out compete the first timers!

Reply 718

nam2590

Original post by KCosmo

If the others did a lot better academically then you must have had a brilliant interview :biggrin:

Oh, and well done for getting the unconditional! To get an unconditional for medicine is pretty rare, they must have really liked you/seen great potential in you! :biggrin:

Dont all scottish applicants get unconditionals??

Reply 719

username600675

Original post by ryan118244

Dont all scottish applicants get unconditionals??

nope, for example if they havent done biology or chemistry but are doing it this year they'll probs get conditionals.

so like, any offers i get (hopefully i get some :tongue:

) will probably all be conditional based on Biology because i didn't do it last year