Medicine 2012...(hopeful entrants) !!

Awww, that's fair enough tbh. Have you still been cooking and baking though?

You're such a sweet sister You must be able to cook so many things if you've had to avoid loads of ingredients!

Well tbh "personal" statement is exactly that, and you can't deny that cooking and baking don't give a lot of transferrable skills. Plus it'll make you stand out!

I don't mind! Loads of reasons, one is just because the idea of being free to be on my own in Paris is something I find really romantic and exciting. I want a year away from science where I can go back to the arts a bit... I want to try music things and get back into drama, and where better than Paris for that? Not that I don't love science, but atm I feel a bit stifled by A Level science... I want a career that mixes science + humanities, which is why medicine is good
I also feel way too young to be going to medical school and I've had so many ups and downs with education in general since Sept that I just want to take a year out and learn sans textbooks.
I love French and one of my "things to do before I die" is to be fluent in 5 languages and living in a foreign country for a year will get me fluent. I want to take Spanish lessons when I'm in France as well, hopefully I have time to develop my language skills. I love kids, and getting paid to be a big sister (which is effectively au pairing) seems unbelievably perfect.
Oooh, also, I want to work for MSF when I'm older, and French is useful a) for being a part of MSF and b) for the countries you go to (so many poorer countries speak French). It also means if I don't get in in England, I've got more possibilities for uni if I'm fluent in French.

tl;dr, I feel like it'll open doors for me, medically and personally.

I don't mind! Loads of reasons, one is just because the idea of being free to be on my own in Paris is something I find really romantic and exciting. I want a year away from science where I can go back to the arts a bit... I want to try music things and get back into drama, and where better than Paris for that? Not that I don't love science, but atm I feel a bit stifled by A Level science... I want a career that mixes science + humanities, which is why medicine is good
I also feel way too young to be going to medical school and I've had so many ups and downs with education in general since Sept that I just want to take a year out and learn sans textbooks.
I love French and one of my "things to do before I die" is to be fluent in 5 languages and living in a foreign country for a year will get me fluent. I want to take Spanish lessons when I'm in France as well, hopefully I have time to develop my language skills. I love kids, and getting paid to be a big sister (which is effectively au pairing) seems unbelievably perfect.
Oooh, also, I want to work for MSF when I'm older, and French is useful a) for being a part of MSF and b) for the countries you go to (so many poorer countries speak French). It also means if I don't get in in England, I've got more possibilities for uni if I'm fluent in French.

i don't do it quite as often as i'd like to, but whenever i have the chance, i jump at it

i actually cook/bake more often than my blog shows, but writing it up takes so long i often just skip it because i dont have time

i was just planning a few bits and bobs today for if i found myself in a gap year situation - although i've always planned on getting some sort of healthcare job to keep myself reminded why im doing all of this

ooooohhhh i'd love to work for MSF, just for a bit. just the idea of spending my whole working life in a hospital caring for priviledged people with good equipment seems such a waste of skills - just spending maybe a year or so out somewhere, helping people who actually recognise the value of health care would be awesome

I love all this talk of Paris and general French things

Sounds like an awesome plan!

French. I really want to work in Quebec for a bit! If it was closer I think I'd prefer to go there for my year abroad for their friendliness and mix of cultures... although the accent annoys me a bit

You've applied to unis that let you do language stuff iirc? Does that mean years abroad or good electives or qua?

Oooh, i like all Québécois variants! And Coeur de Pirate is from Quebec which just makes it all amazing haha

Oui, ish, well Manchester has the potential for European Studies (which includes spending a few weeks in your target country and years of learning the language beforehand), King's you can intercalate like anything and do SSCs in languages, UCL just love languages in general, and Oxford, well... i'm sure they have a rather nifty language centre Heheheh

YOU LIKE COEUR DE PIRATE. You are a legend. Heard her new album?





Ah yeah, European Studies. Not being able to apply to Manc was pretty much the only reason I was gutted about getting a bad UKCAT. The city sounded perfect, the course sounded perfect and European Studies.... mais alors, c'est la vie.
But don't they require you to have AS/A2 in the lang? Although I know you're already at that level so you'd ace the interview they gave you.

Looks like you're sorted on the langauge front!

No i haven't! I'm going to have to illegally download it next time i'm on a computer at school!

Awwww well, at least you're going to have some amazing gap year!!!! And i don't think you need the qualification, but you need to be at that level, so fingers-crossed

We can be French doctors

I can't find the album anywhere and buying it is obscenely expensive, pretty much the only way I've been able to get the music is by youtubing.

Hopefully! If I even find a family who I want/who want me. I really hope I like it.

If that's the case you'll be sorted! You even know french local words!

Haha, ouaaaais! That's why I love the idea of med so much, it lets you follow your hobbies... e.g. you could use languages with patients who's first language isn't english and that.

French. I really want to work in Quebec for a bit! If it was closer I think I'd prefer to go there for my year abroad for their friendliness and mix of cultures... although the accent annoys me a bit

You've applied to unis that let you do language stuff iirc? Does that mean years abroad or good electives or qua?

Maybe as exam period gets closer you'll start to do it more often as a form of procrastination.

You should do photography of your food or something! Something to document it forever. Especially if it's something as beautiful as the cake in your most recent post!

Yeah, I think a HCA job would be good and also probably more relevant... it's about what makes you happy during your gap year I guess. Not that you'll be getting 4 rejections! Your applicant profile is really good, I know medical applications are unpredictable but your stats do set you in good stead.

Yeah, that's true. If you follow MSF on facebook they post blogs and stuff of doctors who work for them, and it's crazy! They do 24 hour shifts, doctors do procedures guided by another dr in the UK via mobile phones. Sounds like a massive, massive challenge, but like you said, something really rewarding that you probably would get thanked for.

i do try to do that, i have loads of random pictures on my camera - i've been thinking of buying a new camera/really starting to look into food photography because i think my food could look so much better

you never know what could happen - its so hard seeing people who have way better application profiles than you get 4 rejections

i might just do that another vent for my procrastination!

edit: and speaking of canada, another canadian here well, living in england

Ah ur canadian?

strictly speaking, i'm only very slightly canadian cause my mum only grew up there but i call myself canadian because i <3 canada

nah, u qualify as half-canadian. Canadians are awesome
p.s. ur baking looks so tempting. nice work

it makes for a nice variety: english - japanese - canadian

thanks! do you bake?

ah so multi-cultural. :P
No probs. Only those packaged frozen cookies. Can't bake or cook to save my life.

There are Canadians everywhere! I'm considering changing my nationality to it too

everybody says that, but baking is actually pretty simple - you just need to find the right recipe and you can build from that!

like, i started with a simple vanilla cake recipe, and from that i made:

cupcakes
chocolate cake
marble cake
coffee cake
cherry cake
blueberry cake

you see how if you have the right basic recipe you can make so many things!