Girl complaining that she got rejected despite getting 3As at A-level

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2398748/Straight-As-student-forced-to-ROMANIA-study-medicine-rejected-British-universities.html

Listen love, it's not all about the grades, especially with Medicine where virtually everyone will be set to get 3As, if not more.

With Medicine, there's the UKCAT/BMAT, interviews, personal statement, reference. She needs to realise the fact that people were better than her.

It's her fault that she got interviews and didn't get in. Obviously didn't do well in the interviews.

Also, she initially wanted to be a midwife/nurse, but applied to Medicine because her school told her too. They obviously sussed her out at interview.

Your thoughts?

Reply 1

EvasiveRose

15

Original post by im so academic

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2398748/Straight-As-student-forced-to-ROMANIA-study-medicine-rejected-British-universities.html

Listen love, it's not all about the grades, especially with Medicine where virtually everyone will be set to get 3As, if not more.

With Medicine, there's the UKCAT/BMAT, interviews, personal statement, reference. She needs to realise the fact that people were better than her.

It's her fault that she got interviews and didn't get in. Obviously didn't do well in the interviews.

Also, she initially wanted to be a midwife/nurse, but applied to Medicine because her school told her too. They obviously sussed her out at interview.

Your thoughts?

I agree with your post entirely. It seems she decided she wanted to do medicine, as a last minute option. There were probably people at the interviews who seemed passionate about medicine more than she did and therefore, came across as better candidates. And from the article you get the feeling she almost expected to waltz into her 4 chosen universities just because she got 3A's, even when other people did get higher grades than her. This attitude may have also come accross in the interviews, with the tutors probably not being impressed much :tongue:

If she really loves medicine, she'll prosper no matter where she goes. Whether it be a univerity in Romania (I believe it was) or the UK

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 2

Gorwell

14

If she actually had sense she would follow what she wanted to pursue and not what her school suggested, she clearly missed the bit about grades not meaning everything! in medicine grades do play a significant role, but face it, if you flop the tests and interviews etc. grades alone won't help you.
Why doesn't she do something sensible like take a gap year out and get some decent work experience under her belt, then reapply next year? but no, lets raise money to study abroad and moan to the DM shall we.

Reply 3

Aj12

18

Every year we hear these stories and every year it convinces me that people not involved directly in the education system have no idea about how it works.

Reply 4

H0PEL3SS

12

Even A's at A level aren't a surefire way to get a place for medicine, so I'm not all that surprised- lots of people get A*s and just about get in. Also, says nothing about extracurriculars or work experience, and like you said, grades aren't everything. Three A*s, well that's a different story. Everyone knows medicine is highly competitive, so I don't see why this is news..

Reply 5

Gkt1378312870

13

Everyone who applies to medicine gets 3As, it's not a big deal, especially when 26.3% of grades are now A grades.

I applied to medicine this year, got 4A*s and was rejected by all of my universities. In two of my interviews, I missed out on an offer by a couple of places. It's so competitive now that your place on a medical course may depend on saying a few key words. I don't believe an interview will ever determine whether you are going to be a good doctor, but it's a game we have to play.

This girl is obviously a bit of a spoilt brat if she thinks she is somehow guaranteed a place on a medical course. There are so many places where you can fall that the chances will never be in your favour.

However, any article that comes from the 'daily fail' really isn't worth reading. An A grade is certainly by no means a 'top grade'.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 6

SamTheMan95

11

I can't not help but cringe at her sense of entitlement just because she got the grades, it's pretty shameful.

Reply 7

SpicyStrawberry

18

I don't know why they are making out like she's being forced to move to a different country... she wasn't good enough, just like loads of other hopeful applicants. She could try again here or apply for postgraduate Medicine. It's a shame but there's more to an application than just grades (and many successful applicants have better than 3 A grades nowadays).

Reply 8

J_W-x

13

"Forced to move"

not really forced though

Reply 9

Pandora.

15

I'm confused. She's 18, so surely she applied with only her AS grades? Therefore her eventual A Level grades have no relevance to whether or not she got rejected by universities.

She needs to get over herself.

Reply 10

RebeccaHerts

I completely agree. My best friend (Having wanted to do medicine since she was 5 years old) got rejected first time round with A* predictions. This year she received only one offer even though she resat her UKCAT and achieved 2A*'s an A AND a B in her A-Levels (Without resits).

When she phoned up the universities to discern what had let her down, they told her her application was perfect and her grades were great - more than enough to get into medicine, but that simply "others had done better". People need to realise that with courses like medicine the entry grades are just a guide. Sure you need 3A's, but everyone has three A's, some even more. Like many of the other replies have stated, there's far more to it than that, and with it being so competitive I wouldn't be at all surprised if the shoes you wore to the interview affected your result.

Geography?

Also I must add I know a lot of people who have moved or considered moving abroad to complete their medical studies because it is easier to get in elsewhere. I agree with awilson008 that your results to do not necessarily affect your ability to become a doctor, it is definitely a recruiters market. I however don't think she was FORCED to move abroad. She could have re-sat, applied to different courses in the UK at less prestigious universities and spent her gap year gaining relvant work experience to suport her application- or continued with nursing as a career choice. Plenty of options.

Reply 13

wrexhamfc

11

These stories pop up every August. Do any journalists understand how university applications work? She didn't apply with those grades, did she? And let's be honest, her application probably wasn't watertight anyway; those grades are nothing supernatural by medicine's standards and she could easily have bombed her interviews or the UKCAT.

Actually, I wonder if I could sell my university sobstory to the papers? :laugh:

Reply 14

PotterLaw

12

Original post by im so academic

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2398748/Straight-As-student-forced-to-ROMANIA-study-medicine-rejected-British-universities.html

Listen love, it's not all about the grades, especially with Medicine where virtually everyone will be set to get 3As, if not more.

With Medicine, there's the UKCAT/BMAT, interviews, personal statement, reference. She needs to realise the fact that people were better than her.

It's her fault that she got interviews and didn't get in. Obviously didn't do well in the interviews.

Also, she initially wanted to be a midwife/nurse, but applied to Medicine because her school told her too. They obviously sussed her out at interview.

Your thoughts?

Obviously she wasn't the holistic candidate they were looking for. To be honest I'm not sure why this was a news story. Thousands of prospective Uni students did not get an offer.
I'm sorry for her, but she isn't the only one.
Loving how the mail sensationalise it "she has to go to Romania". No, she could take a gap year, work on her application form and try again

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 15

PotterLaw

12

Original post by J_W-x

"Forced to move"

not really forced though

So true. Can't really imagine the Home Office knocking her door down saying "well that's it. Off to Romania with you"

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 16

HopefulMidwife

12

I love the way she's 'forced' to go to Romania.

Reply 17

Ben Kenobi

I guess she wasn't as academic as you OP. lol

Reply 18

Alexandra's Box

17

As usual, some of the comments are gold:

so can someone explain to me how people have been accepted for the courses despite having lower grades???? i am not up to speed on the process but cant understand how on earth that could be possible? unless acceptance is not based purely on academic achievement. which seems ridiculously unfair

Anyway she's taking the piss whining to the DM about it. They do love a story like this, don't they?

Reply 19

TheBigJosh

Surely selling her story will harm her chances in the future also, all a bit trashy. She was poorly advised, and shouldn't have done Geog...
Reapply, and enrich your PS with work experience in a care home, shadowing a GP or something!

Girl complaining that she got rejected despite getting 3As at A-level

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