*MEGATHREAD* - The Ultimate 'Am I Good Enough For Medicine?' Angst Thread MK III

Nobody can say, as this depends on your interview. How likely are you to get an interview? This depends a lot on your UKCAT result, and you haven't even sat this yet! There is nothing in your results so far that would preclude you obtaining a place at Med School, but that is all we can say at this stage. Come back when you have your UKCAT results and we might be able to offer more advice. Good luck!

sorry, you are correct. Assume i get 700 on average. Do you think you can provide an answer???

thanks for your reply, you gave me a lot of confidence. I spoke to a QMUL medicine student and he told me i wouldnt be able to get in if i wasnt predicted A*A*A. Whats your response to what he said? Also is the fact i am doing 3 AS levels instead of 4 putting me at a disadvantage? thanks again

Hi. I am unsure which university I should apply to with the following stats as my UKCAT wasn't as good as I thought it would be.

GCSE: 6A*s and 3As
BIO-A*
CHEMISTRY- A*
PHYSICS- A*
MATHS- A*
ENGLISH LANG- A
ENGLISH LIT- A
FRENCH- A
RS- A*
HISTORY- A*

AS- ABBB
BIO-A
HISTORY- B (going to get this remarked as I was one mark off an A)
CHEM-B
MATHS-B (one mark off an A as well)

UKCAT AVG Score: 657.5
VR-530
DM- 680
QR- 710
AR- 710
SJT-BAND 2
If you could help, it would be very helpful. Thanks.

Hey, congratulations on your really good results! Your UKCAT score is actually very good Of course, it's not quite good enough for universities such as Kings, Newcastle, Sheffield, Barts, but it's still a good one!
I would suggest looking into universities such as UEA, maybe Plymouth (although if I remember correctly, they look at individual subsection scores, so your VR may be too low, but look at previous trends and make sure). Maybe take a look into HYMS, although I'm not completely certain on their scoring process, but you may stand a good chance? That said, definitely look into it yourself, as I may be wrong
If you are going to take the BMAT, then BSMS, Lancaster, and Imperial may be good choices?

What sort of work experience and volunteering do you have? If you have a good amount, maybe Liverpool, Keele or Bristol could be good, if you're confident on your personal statement, but they are always risky choices because of this.

I would, however, avoid the really GCSE heavy universities (Oxford, Edinburgh, Cardiff) and universities such as Leicester or Nottingham that score your entire application, as while you make a very good applicant, you have a few week points which would make it risky to apply to such places. I would also err on the side of caution with any of the Scottish universities, as for RUK applicants they tend to be quite UKCAT heavy, but if you are interested, definitely do so research into their admission processes.

I have a good amount of work experience.
-Volunteered at a care home for 2 years and still doing it. (2 hours every week)
-One week at the GP surgery
-One week at A&E department in a hospital
-One week in Neurology
-One week in Cardiology

I also attended a taster day at St George's University + a medical ethics workshop at Royal College of Surgeons.

Do you think this amount of work experience is sufficient? I was also thinking about applying to St George's, do you think that is a sensible option?

Finally, thank you for that detailed response, that was very helpful

GCSE - 5A* 4A 1B 1C
AS Level - BBDD (I know...) Biology, History, Chemistry, Maths (hopefully I'll get predicted higher because I know I can do better than that)
UKCAT/BMAT - not sat yet
Work experience - worked in a pharmacy for over a year, shadowed a consultant (including getting to see some operations :-0), volunteer in school library for 3 years, looking at getting some work experience in a nursery/hospice, medicine information day, loads of team/leadership-oriented stuff (NASA space school, air cadets, deputy head girl, gold DofE etc.)

I was thinking of applying to Nottingham, Lancaster, Manchester and QUB but with my AS results that's probably all going to change. Is it even worth me applying? If anyone could give me advice on good places to apply then that would be great, thanks :-)

If you can get predicted AAA to include chemistry and biology then it may be worth applying this year- med schools will not give offers to anyone who is not predicted AAA (unless you are applying to a foundation programme and that is a whole different matter). However if you do you will need to get some long term work experience that is more relevant to medicine asap in order to be able to reflect on it in your ps.

If you cannot get predicted AAA then you can work your a$$ off and get those 3As and apply next year.

Hi can someone help me, I know I haven't got my ukcat result yet but can someone give me advice on where to apply with the rest of my stats, so I can know what to aim for in the ukcat. Help greatly appreciated:

GCSEs: A^, 10A*, 2As
AS: AAAB
Predicted A level: A*A*AA bio, chem, physics, epq
PS: international hospital 2 weeks, uk hospital 1 week, cardiologist, volunteering, NCS (average personal statement)

If I got about 600 in ukcat where should I apply? And what about if I got > 700? Is there any where I should definitely consider or not consider and any general advice?

Aim for the highest mark you can possibly get in the UKCAT. Why on earth would you aim for anything else? And then come back here. It is absolutely pointless people spending a lot of time giving you advice based on where you MIGHT apply based on results you MIGHT get in a test you haven't even sat yet

Hi yes I think I got a bit too excited wish me good luck in my ukcat

Did my UKCAT today I thought it went well however... My average was, 600 BAND 1 530,630,640,620 . I was planning on applying to Liverpool, Manchester, Leicester and Nottingham. What are my chances of getting in now?? My AS grades were(AABB) Bs in biology and chemistry and my predicted A2 grades are A*AA and my GCSEs are 2A* 7A 1B Am I a competitive applicant anymore?

Did my UKCAT today I thought it went well however... My average was, 600 BAND 1 530,630,640,620 . I was planning on applying to Liverpool, Manchester, Leicester and Nottingham. What are my chances of getting in now?? My AS grades were(AABB) Bs in biology and chemistry and my predicted A2 grades are A*AA and my GCSEs are 2A* 7A 1B Am I a competitive applicant anymore?

As you saw from my reply, I edited it regards Liverpool.

Your academics would be OK for Liverpool and your UKCAT would probably be on the acceptable borderline for Liverpool. Certainly, the other 3 are out.

It is worth applying to Liverpool but your work experience and PS need to be top notch.
You should consider Liverpool and then take BMAT and apply to Brighton and Lancaster as well.

Liverpool have used the UKCAT as part of their assessment criteria for the last 2 years, and their cut offs were 625 2 years ago and 640 last year, so scores much below this are unlikely to be successful unless the averages change significantly, unfortunately