This discussion is now closed.
Check out other Related discussions
- Cambridge GCSEs and A-Levels
- Help
- Should I choose business or further mathematics for alevel?
- forced into a gap year due to low predicted grades
- Reapplying to Cambridge medicine
- Best 4 A Level Combinations for Medicine
- Should I join as regular officer before apply GEM or go straight to medicine ?
- Medicine reject after gap year.
- OFFICIAL A101 Liverpool University Graduate Entry Medicine Thread 2024 Entry
- Official: University of Leicester A199 (foundation year) 2024 entry applicants
- Medicine course advice urgent !!!!
- Medicine Clearing 2023 (Updated 17/08/23 at 15:56)
- feeling depressed, got 3/4 medical school rejections
- i got a low ucat what do i do
- Access to HE/Medicine
- *MEGATHREAD* Medicine A-Level subjects queries UPDATED for 2022 entry
- GAMSAT 2024 / 2025 entry discussions megathread
- *MEGATHREAD* - The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread Mark 5
- Is EPQ Essential For Medicine ?
- FutureDoc Scam???
Applied to medicine 3 times - when should I give up!
Scroll to see replies
To me, it seems as if your UKCAT is FAR too low to be considered for the grad entry programmes. You should be looking at getting scores of about 700+ which would give you a very good chance of getting interviews. This is also enhanced by your low GAMSAT score- you have 51, the cut off tends to be around 64 overall, the lowest I have heard for the overall cutoff is 59 and most GAMSAT unis require minimum scores in the subsections.
To not get interviews signifies that something is going wrong in your paper app and off course this problem is your entrance exam scores. I truly believe that if you can sort this out you should be able to get more interviews and from the interview, it is based on you as a person. I've also noticed that you have not got many replies from grad medics/grad applicants and as you know, grad entry is in a whole different ballpark to applying during alevels. It is not uncommon for grads to have to apply 3 times to get offers. (if you had applied 3x with alevels, then yes it would be a huge problem, but grad entry is so much more difficult to get into and the candidates are MUCH more stronger).
You are also not applying tactically and to highlight this, kings and brighton would require significantly higher ukcats (even in 2007) than what you had. In 2011 your gamsat was way too low and leicester require a year of paid healthcare experience to be able to apply to their gem - you were a hca but did you have this at the time. leicester get a lot of apps from the allied health professions - pharmacy, optom, podiatry, physio, paramedics who are all fully qualified healthcare professions at the time of the app and have already worked at least 1 year. 2012, again it should have appeared to you that if you got that sort of gamsat score and were rejected after interview the previous year, why the hell did you apply to swansea again? you were lucky to even get an interview at swansea with that gamsat, it's just too low so that was a wasted slot right there. even with gamsat of 61, it is doubtful whether you would have got a look in at all the other gamsat ones tbh. AAlthough your academics are good, they are not enough for cambridge - they often get people with straight As at gcse and a2, 1.1 degrees, Masters, PhDs etc and even people with those credentials don't get in - remember they are an acdemic medical school! Southampton is also one of the most competitive grad courses in the country because they don't interview. Again your UKCAT is on the low side for this school and tbh, I would not have applied there given your past luck so in my opinion 3 out of your 4 choices for 2012 were big mistakes. If you had chosen schools like hyms, peninsula (with a gamsat of 64 overall) you could have secured a better chance of getting to interview.
If you decide to apply again and it doesn't work out and you think you have done all you can and cannot sacrifice anymore time, that is when you leave it behind. Remember there are many more careers out there, medicine isn't the only one! Realistically i think you should give it another go but apply tactically and improve your admissions test.
So the 2 areas of improvement are 1) admissions test scores and 2) look carefully at the schools you are going for and whether or not you meet their criteria. You should resit the GAMSAT (51 is as good as nothing - why you used that 2 years in a row beggars belief, aim for 64) and then you can apply to st georges, notts, penisula (possibly swansea). if you get 64 you should be guaranteed an interview at all of those. i know i may have been harsh but this is the only way to get the message across!
EDIT - i've just reread that you were rejected after interview from swansea,leicester and uea in 2011. again you probably shouldn't have applied to swansea in 2012 - some medical schools have rules against this sort of thing in that if you are rejected after interview you cannot apply the following year but logic would suggest you shouldn't have applied there again.
because of those 3 interviews, my advice has changed. you have had a fair number of interviews now and things are still not going anywhere. if it is what you want to do then by all means apply 1 last time but to be honest i think you need to take a step back and have a good long think. medicine isn't the be all and end all. it is incredibly overhyped and there are many other satisfying things out there. have you ever considered other professions - pharmacy, teaching, nurse,optometry,dentistry? it is very easy to get strung up on medicine and keep on applying for it year after year and then get to a point where you realise that you wasted many years of your life going for this when you could have spent them more constructively. how about getting a day or 2 experience in eahc one of those professions i have mentioned and then if it interests you, go further. at fisrt you need to make a decision if you still want to be in healthcare or another profession. if it's healthcare look at the different options under that area - there are loads of things within the healthcare umbrella, medicine is just the one that the lay public hear about the most/ one that teachers push alevel students in most
To not get interviews signifies that something is going wrong in your paper app and off course this problem is your entrance exam scores. I truly believe that if you can sort this out you should be able to get more interviews and from the interview, it is based on you as a person. I've also noticed that you have not got many replies from grad medics/grad applicants and as you know, grad entry is in a whole different ballpark to applying during alevels. It is not uncommon for grads to have to apply 3 times to get offers. (if you had applied 3x with alevels, then yes it would be a huge problem, but grad entry is so much more difficult to get into and the candidates are MUCH more stronger).
You are also not applying tactically and to highlight this, kings and brighton would require significantly higher ukcats (even in 2007) than what you had. In 2011 your gamsat was way too low and leicester require a year of paid healthcare experience to be able to apply to their gem - you were a hca but did you have this at the time. leicester get a lot of apps from the allied health professions - pharmacy, optom, podiatry, physio, paramedics who are all fully qualified healthcare professions at the time of the app and have already worked at least 1 year. 2012, again it should have appeared to you that if you got that sort of gamsat score and were rejected after interview the previous year, why the hell did you apply to swansea again? you were lucky to even get an interview at swansea with that gamsat, it's just too low so that was a wasted slot right there. even with gamsat of 61, it is doubtful whether you would have got a look in at all the other gamsat ones tbh. AAlthough your academics are good, they are not enough for cambridge - they often get people with straight As at gcse and a2, 1.1 degrees, Masters, PhDs etc and even people with those credentials don't get in - remember they are an acdemic medical school! Southampton is also one of the most competitive grad courses in the country because they don't interview. Again your UKCAT is on the low side for this school and tbh, I would not have applied there given your past luck so in my opinion 3 out of your 4 choices for 2012 were big mistakes. If you had chosen schools like hyms, peninsula (with a gamsat of 64 overall) you could have secured a better chance of getting to interview.
If you decide to apply again and it doesn't work out and you think you have done all you can and cannot sacrifice anymore time, that is when you leave it behind. Remember there are many more careers out there, medicine isn't the only one! Realistically i think you should give it another go but apply tactically and improve your admissions test.
So the 2 areas of improvement are 1) admissions test scores and 2) look carefully at the schools you are going for and whether or not you meet their criteria. You should resit the GAMSAT (51 is as good as nothing - why you used that 2 years in a row beggars belief, aim for 64) and then you can apply to st georges, notts, penisula (possibly swansea). if you get 64 you should be guaranteed an interview at all of those. i know i may have been harsh but this is the only way to get the message across!
EDIT - i've just reread that you were rejected after interview from swansea,leicester and uea in 2011. again you probably shouldn't have applied to swansea in 2012 - some medical schools have rules against this sort of thing in that if you are rejected after interview you cannot apply the following year but logic would suggest you shouldn't have applied there again.
because of those 3 interviews, my advice has changed. you have had a fair number of interviews now and things are still not going anywhere. if it is what you want to do then by all means apply 1 last time but to be honest i think you need to take a step back and have a good long think. medicine isn't the be all and end all. it is incredibly overhyped and there are many other satisfying things out there. have you ever considered other professions - pharmacy, teaching, nurse,optometry,dentistry? it is very easy to get strung up on medicine and keep on applying for it year after year and then get to a point where you realise that you wasted many years of your life going for this when you could have spent them more constructively. how about getting a day or 2 experience in eahc one of those professions i have mentioned and then if it interests you, go further. at fisrt you need to make a decision if you still want to be in healthcare or another profession. if it's healthcare look at the different options under that area - there are loads of things within the healthcare umbrella, medicine is just the one that the lay public hear about the most/ one that teachers push alevel students in most
(edited 12 years ago)
I'm in almost the same situation: two years of rejections post-school with a gap year followed by a B.Sc degree and then another gap year in which I have re-applied and received an offer.
Honestly, I think I'd reapply again if it were me. Yes thats a fourth time. I don't want to be where I am now for the rest of my life. Most of what I've done in teen/adult life has been directed towards medicine and that has always been where I want to be. Some may say to be sensible and do something else but I wouldn't have been happy giving up on something that I've always wanted to do.
Your application seems to need work. You're not applying smart enough. Judging only from what I've seen: first rejections pre-interview means PS needed work, second rejections post-interview means interview technique needed work and rejections from 4 year-courses are because your UKCAT was nowhere near high enough (you must MUST research UKCAT cut-offs). I'm being brutally honest and very general though. I'd need to see your actual PS but I cannot fault your commendable amount of work experience and care-related experience.
I've heard of people applying up to 7 times and receiving an offer. Some may call this a waste of time, and I don't know if I could have done it myself. All I know is that if you know what you want to do in life, you should do everything in your power to do it. Therefore, no regrets.
Honestly, I think I'd reapply again if it were me. Yes thats a fourth time. I don't want to be where I am now for the rest of my life. Most of what I've done in teen/adult life has been directed towards medicine and that has always been where I want to be. Some may say to be sensible and do something else but I wouldn't have been happy giving up on something that I've always wanted to do.
Your application seems to need work. You're not applying smart enough. Judging only from what I've seen: first rejections pre-interview means PS needed work, second rejections post-interview means interview technique needed work and rejections from 4 year-courses are because your UKCAT was nowhere near high enough (you must MUST research UKCAT cut-offs). I'm being brutally honest and very general though. I'd need to see your actual PS but I cannot fault your commendable amount of work experience and care-related experience.
I've heard of people applying up to 7 times and receiving an offer. Some may call this a waste of time, and I don't know if I could have done it myself. All I know is that if you know what you want to do in life, you should do everything in your power to do it. Therefore, no regrets.
(edited 12 years ago)
Dont give up. You also have the possibility of studying medicine in a different country.
I'm not an expert on this but I agree with the other posters that identifying which medical schools are likely to be receptive to your application is by far the most important part of the application process. Do as much research as you can. Trawl the medical school websites for any documents on admissions policy and take advantage of TSR to investigate the 'culture' of each medical school (i.e. the type of applicant they tend to take). Contact admissions tutors and inquire about the makeup of the student body (for example I contacted a few schools asking whether they could let me know the percentage of their graduate students who held arts degrees; they weren't all happy to do so but a number were and I could infer from those figures that some had a much more favorable attitude to applicants with a BA than others), and use open days as an opportunity to grab senior faculty members. Unfortunately it can't just be a case of applying to where you would most like to go, the competition is simply too great for that, and at the end of the day you will be a doctor regardless of which Uni you went to.
Yes, the other two comments have been really helpful ( thank you sd91 and vox0) I actually feel a lot clearer about what I should do now. I understand that I def need to research the unis I apply to a lot more and work my arse off for the ukcat and gamsat.
I think I might give it one more shot but going into medical engineering will also be a great profession too!
I think I might give it one more shot but going into medical engineering will also be a great profession too!
NEVER GIVE UP!
I've also had to apply for the third time this year after failing to get in the first two times. I know it's extremely discouraging and disheartening to get straight rejections year after year, as I've been in your shoes as well. Just like you, I'd done numerous volunteer works every year, but not getting in even after having to take a gap year made me so angry. At time I felt helpless and sad that nothing was going my way and sometimes I even felt that 'maybe medicine is really not for me'.
I enrolled to a non-med uni to study a biochem related degree, but I decided to give it one more shot because my heart and soul still belongs to wanting to become study medicine and become an astonishing doctor. After three years of hard work and dedication, I have finally received an offer from medical school (only got it 2 weeks ago!) and felt so glad I persisted and never gave up.
Like those before me have already said, you get uttermost satisfaction when you put in the effort and you have no idea how rewarding it will be when you achieve your goal after blood sweat and tears
Remember, if medicine is really what you wish to study, the few years of having to reapply is NOTHING compared to the vast remainder of your career as a doctor after you do get in
Try to consult lots of people for advice (more doesn't hurt!) and if you want, you can even apply abroad to places like Czech Republic or Spain - I know friends who are currently there and absolutely having the time of their lives! Just because it's not in the UK it won't be too different. After all, medicine is medicine and you shouldn't really bother too much about whereyou study as long as it's what you wish to pursue!
I've also had to apply for the third time this year after failing to get in the first two times. I know it's extremely discouraging and disheartening to get straight rejections year after year, as I've been in your shoes as well. Just like you, I'd done numerous volunteer works every year, but not getting in even after having to take a gap year made me so angry. At time I felt helpless and sad that nothing was going my way and sometimes I even felt that 'maybe medicine is really not for me'.
I enrolled to a non-med uni to study a biochem related degree, but I decided to give it one more shot because my heart and soul still belongs to wanting to become study medicine and become an astonishing doctor. After three years of hard work and dedication, I have finally received an offer from medical school (only got it 2 weeks ago!) and felt so glad I persisted and never gave up.
Like those before me have already said, you get uttermost satisfaction when you put in the effort and you have no idea how rewarding it will be when you achieve your goal after blood sweat and tears
Remember, if medicine is really what you wish to study, the few years of having to reapply is NOTHING compared to the vast remainder of your career as a doctor after you do get in
Try to consult lots of people for advice (more doesn't hurt!) and if you want, you can even apply abroad to places like Czech Republic or Spain - I know friends who are currently there and absolutely having the time of their lives! Just because it's not in the UK it won't be too different. After all, medicine is medicine and you shouldn't really bother too much about whereyou study as long as it's what you wish to pursue!
Original post by sd91
Just thought I'd mention that I think Swansea's GradMed course states it requires a minimum 50 GAMSAT only and bears only 20% weighting in the selection process. Is this not correct? Do they issue a new cut off score after the exam?
Also I'm new to this so I wondered if you could comment/advise which is considered the harder test to get a high score in: GAMSAT or UKCAT or is there really no difference?
Many thanks for any help you can give.
(edited 12 years ago)
I enrolled to a non-med uni to study a biochem related degree, but I decided to give it one more shot because my heart and soul still belongs to wanting to become study medicine and become an astonishing doctor. After three years of hard work and dedication, I have finally received an offer from medical school (only got it 2 weeks ago!) and felt so glad I persisted and never gave up.
Hey well done you! FANTASTIC... you must be over the moon.
Hey well done you! FANTASTIC... you must be over the moon.
Original post by honeybeeangel
Hi,
I'm not sure if there is a thread like this already but I'd just like some advice about what I should do next - whether your in the same situation or not.
I'll give you my stats first.
GCSE: 7A's, 3A*
A LEVELS: ABBB (Art, maths, biology, chemistry)
Degree: Medical Engineering 2:1
2007: Ukcat 570 rejected from all 4 w/o interview (king's, brighton, ucl, imperial)
2011
kcat 620, gamsat 51
rejected w/o interview from leeds, rejected after interview (leicester, uea, swansea)
2012: ukcat 635 (need to improve on this!)
rejected w/o interview from (swansea,southampton bm4, cambridge grad), waiting list after interview uea
I have wanted to study medicine since I was about 15 and since then everything I have done has been leading up to getting into medical school. I have gained hospital wrk experince every year since 2007, volunteer scout leader (4yr), carer for disabled young people(4yr), HCA(1yr), mentor (4yr), had several part-time jobs, play 2 instruments, won awards for uni projects, presented at medical/engineering conferences, published abstract, worked for two med engineering research companies during summer and more.
You may think i'm kidding but i'm not. a part of me thinks that maybe the med schools think it's too good to be true. but if they googled me, its all there and my reference backs everything I said in my statement!
so i can't understand why i keep getting rejected! i've had interview practice and asked people to read my statement.
so my question is - should I try keep trying (redo A levels maybe) or give up. I thought maybe the third time round i'd be lucky but doubt uea will fall through. Anyway, i know this is a long thread but i just feel hopeless right now and confused!
I'm not sure if there is a thread like this already but I'd just like some advice about what I should do next - whether your in the same situation or not.
I'll give you my stats first.
GCSE: 7A's, 3A*
A LEVELS: ABBB (Art, maths, biology, chemistry)
Degree: Medical Engineering 2:1
2007: Ukcat 570 rejected from all 4 w/o interview (king's, brighton, ucl, imperial)
2011
kcat 620, gamsat 51rejected w/o interview from leeds, rejected after interview (leicester, uea, swansea)
2012: ukcat 635 (need to improve on this!)
rejected w/o interview from (swansea,southampton bm4, cambridge grad), waiting list after interview uea
I have wanted to study medicine since I was about 15 and since then everything I have done has been leading up to getting into medical school. I have gained hospital wrk experince every year since 2007, volunteer scout leader (4yr), carer for disabled young people(4yr), HCA(1yr), mentor (4yr), had several part-time jobs, play 2 instruments, won awards for uni projects, presented at medical/engineering conferences, published abstract, worked for two med engineering research companies during summer and more.
You may think i'm kidding but i'm not. a part of me thinks that maybe the med schools think it's too good to be true. but if they googled me, its all there and my reference backs everything I said in my statement!
so i can't understand why i keep getting rejected! i've had interview practice and asked people to read my statement.
so my question is - should I try keep trying (redo A levels maybe) or give up. I thought maybe the third time round i'd be lucky but doubt uea will fall through. Anyway, i know this is a long thread but i just feel hopeless right now and confused!
I don't much about this stuff but I've been looking at the grad courses and there seems a real difference between PBL courses and the more traditional approaches. So if you put a traditional university like Leicester with a PBL course like Swansea doesn't it just make it difficult to enthuse in your personal statement about your love of one approach or another and how it would be the ideal thing for you etc... I just wondered would it be better if you just grouped universities by ethos in order to be able to write a statement in which experience and everything else was written in light of that ethos? It would also enable you to focus in on what to say at interview.
Sorry if I have misunderstood the nature of your applications/choices but I just thought it might help.
Original post by catoswyn
I don't much about this stuff but I've been looking at the grad courses and there seems a real difference between PBL courses and the more traditional approaches. So if you put a traditional university like Leicester with a PBL course like Swansea doesn't it just make it difficult to enthuse in your personal statement about your love of one approach or another and how it would be the ideal thing for you etc... I just wondered would it be better if you just grouped universities by ethos in order to be able to write a statement in which experience and everything else was written in light of that ethos? It would also enable you to focus in on what to say at interview.
Sorry if I have misunderstood the nature of your applications/choices but I just thought it might help.
Sorry if I have misunderstood the nature of your applications/choices but I just thought it might help.
It would be inadvisable to mention teaching methods in your personal statement simply because it would be so limiting. Even two PBL based universities will have differences in the way the course is taught; When are clinical skills introduced? Are students able to learn in the community? What format do the Student Selected Components take?
Interview is the time to suck up to the course!
Original post by TooSexyForMyStethoscope
It would be inadvisable to mention teaching methods in your personal statement simply because it would be so limiting. Even two PBL based universities will have differences in the way the course is taught; When are clinical skills introduced? Are students able to learn in the community? What format do the Student Selected Components take?
Interview is the time to suck up to the course!
Interview is the time to suck up to the course!
Ah, very good advice. Thank you!
Never give up on your dreams.
Improve your UKAT scores and retake your A Levels, then you could go on a pre-med course?
Also apply to universities with the lowest admission scores.
If that fails, and you really have your heart set on doing medicine, study overseas. I live in Australia and you could almost definately get a place at a uni here with your scores, it is a lot less competitive.
Improve your UKAT scores and retake your A Levels, then you could go on a pre-med course?
Also apply to universities with the lowest admission scores.
If that fails, and you really have your heart set on doing medicine, study overseas. I live in Australia and you could almost definately get a place at a uni here with your scores, it is a lot less competitive.
I'm in the same boat. This will be the third time I am applying now and I got 2850 in my UKCAT. The Alevels you have are good enough since you are a graduate now, most universities ask for only ABB or don't even look at them at all. They said they rank us on our ukcat but I know someone who got in with a lower ukcat score than me. I think maybe you need to apply for lower universities as the ones you applied to are Russell group and top unis. Southampton purely look at the ukcat to select those for an interview. I applied for kings, Edinburgh, Newcastle and queen Mary. Not sure how people who have less experience and lower ukcat scores get in. But I guess no harm in applying once more. give yourself a cut off time; When will be the last time you apply. This is my last now as I'm not getting younger and I'm already 22. No point complaining about it or wondering why you didn't get in as the university never give feedback. Just get a higher score and make your statement more personal. Nothing else you can do. If you don't get in then it wasn't meant to be. Just think, do your efforts outweigh the end result.
Original post by Rjajsj
I'm in the same boat. This will be the third time I am applying now and I got 2850 in my UKCAT. The Alevels you have are good enough since you are a graduate now, most universities ask for only ABB or don't even look at them at all. They said they rank us on our ukcat but I know someone who got in with a lower ukcat score than me. I think maybe you need to apply for lower universities as the ones you applied to are Russell group and top unis. Southampton purely look at the ukcat to select those for an interview. I applied for kings, Edinburgh, Newcastle and queen Mary. Not sure how people who have less experience and lower ukcat scores get in. But I guess no harm in applying once more. give yourself a cut off time; When will be the last time you apply. This is my last now as I'm not getting younger and I'm already 22. No point complaining about it or wondering why you didn't get in as the university never give feedback. Just get a higher score and make your statement more personal. Nothing else you can do. If you don't get in then it wasn't meant to be. Just think, do your efforts outweigh the end result.
This is a 4 year old thread :/
Posted from TSR Mobile
Related discussions
- Cambridge GCSEs and A-Levels
- Help
- Should I choose business or further mathematics for alevel?
- forced into a gap year due to low predicted grades
- Reapplying to Cambridge medicine
- Best 4 A Level Combinations for Medicine
- Should I join as regular officer before apply GEM or go straight to medicine ?
- Medicine reject after gap year.
- OFFICIAL A101 Liverpool University Graduate Entry Medicine Thread 2024 Entry
- Official: University of Leicester A199 (foundation year) 2024 entry applicants
- Medicine course advice urgent !!!!
- Medicine Clearing 2023 (Updated 17/08/23 at 15:56)
- feeling depressed, got 3/4 medical school rejections
- i got a low ucat what do i do
- Access to HE/Medicine
- *MEGATHREAD* Medicine A-Level subjects queries UPDATED for 2022 entry
- GAMSAT 2024 / 2025 entry discussions megathread
- *MEGATHREAD* - The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread Mark 5
- Is EPQ Essential For Medicine ?
- FutureDoc Scam???
Latest
Trending
Last reply 2 weeks ago
OFFICIAL A101 Liverpool University Graduate Entry Medicine Thread 2024 EntryMedicine
77
Trending
Last reply 2 weeks ago
OFFICIAL A101 Liverpool University Graduate Entry Medicine Thread 2024 EntryMedicine
77
