The Student Room Group

2014 Medicine Re-Applicants

Hi everyone!

Thought it would be a good idea to start up a re-applicant thread for 2014 as it seems like a fair few people are deciding to take a gap year and reapply.

It would be nice to discuss what plans people may have as well as just encouraging each other and getting advice/ideas - remember, we're all in the same boat so let's go get 'em!

Medicine 2014 here we come!

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Reply 1
Thought I'd join in here, where are you considering re-applying to? And where did you apply this year?


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Reply 2
Original post by mcollin1
Thought I'd join in here, where are you considering re-applying to? And where did you apply this year?


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I applied to Sheffield, Southampton, Barts and Imperial. Still thinking about where to reapply! I know I want to apply again to Imperial but for the rest it will all be dependent on the dreaded UKCAT (which i fully intend to smash this time!).

What about you? :smile:
Reply 3
Sheffield Durham Southampton and UEA here, and as with you I'm going to aim to smash the UKCAT and then decide where to apply
Currently considering HYMS, Southampton, Exeter, Nottingham, Kings, Sheffield and UEA although this could all change!



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Reply 4
That seems like quite a nice mix :smile:

It really is daunting, having to choose all over again but at the same time I feel quite excited about the prospect of a fresh start. Do you have any plans so far for your gap year? I think personal statement and work experience is what really let me down last time so that's probably what I want to work on most.
Hey, I'm a re applicant as of this week. Not sure if I should be excited or not. :hello:
Reply 6
Had 3 interviews but no offers :frown:

I'm gonna try avoid MMI interviews next time around, because i had a standard Mock interview with my Headteacher and that went really really well
Original post by HaQ_mAn_
Had 3 interviews but no offers :frown:

I'm gonna try avoid MMI interviews next time around, because i had a standard Mock interview with my Headteacher and that went really really well


Same here, 3 interview, 2 MMI at Leicester and UEA which I didn't really like as it was quite unexpected
Hey everyone (: I was a 2013 re-applicant and just thought I'd come to say hi. I found it so much easier being a re-applicant, having been through the process once before, and my gap year has been one of the best years of my life - and I haven't yet started my travelling!

Good luck to you all :biggrin:
Reply 9
Original post by babychocolate
Hey, I'm a re applicant as of this week. Not sure if I should be excited or not. :hello:

Hiya! Commiserations but hopefully next year will be our year! Where did you apply to?

Original post by HaQ_mAn_
Had 3 interviews but no offers :frown:

I'm gonna try avoid MMI interviews next time around, because i had a standard Mock interview with my Headteacher and that went really really well



Original post by babychocolate
Same here, 3 interview, 2 MMI at Leicester and UEA which I didn't really like as it was quite unexpected


Well at least you've had some experience of the interview process so you'll know what to expect next time. Is MMI common?

Original post by TattyBoJangles
Hey everyone (: I was a 2013 re-applicant and just thought I'd come to say hi. I found it so much easier being a re-applicant, having been through the process once before, and my gap year has been one of the best years of my life - and I haven't yet started my travelling!

Good luck to you all :biggrin:


Hi there thanks! When did you start planning out your gap year and deciding what to do?
Original post by kimsiclez
Hiya! Commiserations but hopefully next year will be our year! Where did you apply to?

Well at least you've had some experience of the interview process so you'll know what to expect next time. Is MMI common?


I applied to Sheffield, UCL, UEA and Leicester.

MMI is still kinda a new thing but more uni's are adopting it each year. Whilst i'm prepared for it I don't think I'll do it again as they were quite random and it was hard to know what they wanted
Original post by TattyBoJangles
Hey everyone (: I was a 2013 re-applicant and just thought I'd come to say hi. I found it so much easier being a re-applicant, having been through the process once before, and my gap year has been one of the best years of my life - and I haven't yet started my travelling!

Good luck to you all :biggrin:


Damn you beat me to this thread :')

Hey everyone. I'm another re-applicant, just popping in to say hi and offer any help I can. As Tatty said, it's really a lot easier being a re-applicant and your gap year will genuinely be awesome. I happened to turn it all around, 4 rejections to 4 offers! Feel free to message me or whatever, I'm off to Edinburgh this september. Good luck all :biggrin:
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 12
Original post by babychocolate
I applied to Sheffield, UCL, UEA and Leicester.

MMI is still kinda a new thing but more uni's are adopting it each year. Whilst i'm prepared for it I don't think I'll do it again as they were quite random and it was hard to know what they wanted


I think the main thing putting me off MMI is the unpredictability. But I suppose (as many people say) if you mess up one part you can try and redeem yourself at the next station or whatever. Provided you're able to get over the jumble of nerves and anxiety it might cause to mess up in the first place! :redface:


Original post by Nandos94
Damn you beat me to this thread :')

Hey everyone. I'm another re-applicant, just popping in to say hi and offer any help I can. As Tatty said, it's really a lot easier being a re-applicant and your gap year will genuinely be awesome. I happened to turn it all around, 4 rejections to 4 offers! Good luck all :biggrin:


Hello! Where did you apply the first time round compared with your reapplication? What did you do to improve your application the second time round? Congratulations it must be such a fantastic feeling! Do you know where you want to firm/insure yet?
Original post by kimsiclez


Hello! Where did you apply the first time round compared with your reapplication? What did you do to improve your application the second time round? Congratulations it must be such a fantastic feeling! Do you know where you want to firm/insure yet?

First time round - Birmingham, UCL, Imperial and Leeds. - was silly to apply there. Could've have applied more wisely.
Second time around - Edinburgh, Exeter, Newcastle and Manchester.

What did I do:
I prepared for the UKCAT more, I used two books instead of one, and a few of those free websites. I started two weeks before, doing 2 hours a day for the first week, and then a bit more for the second, rather than the weekend before I did first time round.
I edited my personal statement. When you go back to re-read your personal statement in september to edit it, you realise may realise how bad it was, well that's how I felt. I felt I was able to improve it by 10000%.
Apply to your strengths, but also make sure you like the universities, and I researched them more this time.
Try and make sure you've got most bases covered work exp wise. I've done very little work exp compared to others tbh, but it ticked most boxes.

I don't think I did much else differently, I guess I just had a different mindset at interview, like the fact I was out to prove why that medical school wants me. You must be there at interview if there is something they like about you.

Also, it is an amazing feeling, my UCAS track looked amazing :P but I've firmed Edinburgh, it was my risk that paid off.
(edited 10 years ago)
Hey y'all

I'll be a reapplicant for 2014 too.

Applied to:
Liverpool
Aberdeen
HYMS
Keele

Given my stats, I don't think I could have applied any more strategically than I did. I researched for a good 18 months before my application was sent off, so knew that this was the best I could do given the situation I was in. My only interview and thus post-interview rejection was Liverpool. I can't blame them, it was my first interview, I was a nervous, sweating, red, wreck. I am usually quite confident and a give-them-my-all attitude type person, but I was demolished to a bag of anxiety come interview day.

Feeling quite depleted at the moment. Don't really have any motivation to get any work done, which is obviously not the greatest idea - think I need to start researching my gap year a bit more thoroughly so I'm far more excited for it, and then hopefully that will motivate me to get the grades that I need.

What are you guys hoping to do this gap year?
Any of you started applying to NHS jobs yet?
Original post by ameelia22
Any of you started applying to NHS jobs yet?


Hey, I ended up apply for an NHS job as a HCA last year. See like you I hadn't considered it would actually be quite THAT tough to find one, and I only started looking for one come post-results day. According to your question, some of them have essential/desirable tables in the person specification. It's worth looking at these but these aren't always gospel. Just make sure you've got them largely ticked off, and even those that way they require an NVQ, just go for it. Obviously just be wise about them, but most band 2 jobs should be okay.

What I was told, once I got my job, is that the main way to be a good candidate is to complete the form on the NHS jobs website fully, and also write a killer accompanying statement/personal statement/covering letter. Apparently that's what got me my job, well the interview, which is a huge amount of the work done.

I guess the main pointers I'd give is:
Start looking early, use NHS jobs, google and whatever else, but make sure you have enough time to enjoy your summer too. I've only worked 5 months, and I've found that is more than enough to learn ALOT, and make a decent amount of money.
Write a decent covering letter/statement with your application and fill out the whole form on NHS jobs.
Be prepared to do what is required :P It's not all easy come easy go, there is quite a few things which you've got to make sure you're comfortable with. Even so, you do learn alot, despite the fact you do the job you're doing.

Anything else just ask!
GEM reapplicant here :smile: Cocked up the GAMSAT and hence why I'm here!
Reply 17
I'm happy to try to answer questions by the way!

I'm going to Southampton in September after the gap year I'm taking this year.

I had 4 rejections last year and also managed to cock up my A Levels by getting A*AB (these are the most irritating grades to get. Over-performing in one and losing out on the other don't cancel each other out apart from at Keele.) So I was a reapplicant AND a resitter. I resat my B in the January session and put it up to an A - meeting my conditional offer.

So far during my gap year I've volunteered at a care home and I now work as a HCA at a local outpatients department.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 18
Original post by ameelia22
Hey y'all

I'll be a reapplicant for 2014 too.

Applied to:
Liverpool
Aberdeen
HYMS
Keele

Given my stats, I don't think I could have applied any more strategically than I did. I researched for a good 18 months before my application was sent off, so knew that this was the best I could do given the situation I was in. My only interview and thus post-interview rejection was Liverpool. I can't blame them, it was my first interview, I was a nervous, sweating, red, wreck. I am usually quite confident and a give-them-my-all attitude type person, but I was demolished to a bag of anxiety come interview day.

Feeling quite depleted at the moment. Don't really have any motivation to get any work done, which is obviously not the greatest idea - think I need to start researching my gap year a bit more thoroughly so I'm far more excited for it, and then hopefully that will motivate me to get the grades that I need.

What are you guys hoping to do this gap year?
Any of you started applying to NHS jobs yet?


Hi there! Sometimes it really is a shame that even those who would be seemingly perfect candidates don't get in. I'm sure once you start planning how to ace through your gap year you'll get more motivated :smile:

I applied for a few jobs going at my hospital last night so I'll see how that goes. There were quite a few posts in different departments listed, I'm just hoping I'll be able to snag one of them! Apart from that the general plan is just volunteer, more work experience, the usual. What about you?

Original post by Nandos94
Hey, I ended up apply for an NHS job as a HCA last year. See like you I hadn't considered it would actually be quite THAT tough to find one, and I only started looking for one come post-results day. According to your question, some of them have essential/desirable tables in the person specification. It's worth looking at these but these aren't always gospel. Just make sure you've got them largely ticked off, and even those that way they require an NVQ, just go for it. Obviously just be wise about them, but most band 2 jobs should be okay.

What I was told, once I got my job, is that the main way to be a good candidate is to complete the form on the NHS jobs website fully, and also write a killer accompanying statement/personal statement/covering letter. Apparently that's what got me my job, well the interview, which is a huge amount of the work done.

I guess the main pointers I'd give is:
Start looking early, use NHS jobs, google and whatever else, but make sure you have enough time to enjoy your summer too. I've only worked 5 months, and I've found that is more than enough to learn ALOT, and make a decent amount of money.
Write a decent covering letter/statement with your application and fill out the whole form on NHS jobs.
Be prepared to do what is required :P It's not all easy come easy go, there is quite a few things which you've got to make sure you're comfortable with. Even so, you do learn alot, despite the fact you do the job you're doing.

Anything else just ask!


When applying I based my 'additional information' on their desirable/essential criteria. Would you suggest that is the way to go or should it read more like a CV/covering lettering? I guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks anyway but thank you for your help!
Original post by kimsiclez
Hi there! Sometimes it really is a shame that even those who would be seemingly perfect candidates don't get in. I'm sure once you start planning how to ace through your gap year you'll get more motivated :smile:

I applied for a few jobs going at my hospital last night so I'll see how that goes. There were quite a few posts in different departments listed, I'm just hoping I'll be able to snag one of them! Apart from that the general plan is just volunteer, more work experience, the usual. What about you?



I'm sure I will too. Yesterday, that's all I did :tongue: my excuse being that i'm far too ill to work or do my mocks this week...:s better do something today though. I also applied to a few jobs in my area, a receptionist in A&E, a ward assistant person (a bit like a cleaner) and a ward clerk. No idea if i'm right for any of these jobs but I certainly met all the criteria. What I'm really hoping for is a bank hca job, but these seem pretty hard to come by - particularly as they prioritising any 'at risk' individuals.

Original post by kimsiclez
When applying I based my 'additional information' on their desirable/essential criteria. Would you suggest that is the way to go or should it read more like a CV/covering lettering? I guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks anyway but thank you for your help!


Seconded!

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