Applying to study medicine at university 2014 for 2015 entry

I am applying to study medicine, 2 of the 4 medical schools I want to apply to, I would like to do a foundation year...is this allowed?

I'm studying Chemistry, Biology and Maths (and Theology is my fourth AS)

I'm pretty sure medicine with a foundation year is aimed at students that have studied non-science a-levels. Which universities were you considering applying to?

Not all, kings foundation programme is for students who attends a no selective school in certain English boroughs. So if this is the case OP then yes perfectly fine

I'm pretty sure medicine with a foundation year is aimed at students that have studied non-science a-levels. Which universities were you considering applying to?

Oh right, didn't know kings offer this type of programme, looks interesting though since they take demographic information into account.

Oh right, didn't know kings offer this type of programme, looks interesting though since they take demographic information into account.

Do you go to a state school in South London?

No, I'm from Manchester, I'm already at university

Oh sorry lol thought you were another potential applicant. Do you study medicine at Manchester ? Quite a few unis cover contextualisation data to help make it a even playing field , I know cardiff gave bonus points for this and lots of other Unis do similar things.

Haha I don't think I could go through the whole application process again! Yeah I have just finished my first year. Manchester use demographic data for there UKCAT cut off score, so if you have a postcode that links to an area of low participation to higher education they require a lower UKCAT score for you to progress to the next stage. Most universities have widening participation programmes which is a requirement for them to be able to charge £9000 in tuition fees. Are you applying this year?

Same its been the most gut wrenching/craziest thing I have experienced. Just did it this year.. Now I am so scared for results day need AAA for cardiff. If I don't get it I will be so angry at myself cause I definitely could get it, but can't do anything now.

Oh thats interesting I didn't know they had to .. Yeah kings thing is really good foundation year... they also run along side it a lecture series for all the schools eligible for the 6year course which is for post16 students it was really interesting and useful.

Hows manchester ? Hows the PBL, glad you chose it ? Cardiff do a new thing called Case based learning, they totally rewrote he curriculum so some bits are similar to PBL.

I definitely understand how you feel. The pressure and stress involved with the whole application process and balancing a-levels is insane. Medicine seems to becoming more competitive year on year and is pretty cut throat. Congrats on the Cardiff offer, my friend has just finished his first year of med school there and he is really enjoying the course. That sounds interesting at kings since you get some exposure to the medicine curriculum/course post16. I'm sure you have met your offer mate, it wouldn't surprise me if the grade boundaries were lower this year compared to last year especially after jan exams being scrapped! What A-levels were you studying?

I did have a few reservations about PBL but overall I'm enjoying the group aspect of it plus you do get a decent amount of support. Everyone presumes we just get a case, go and learn the content then meet up at the end of the week and discuss. It is a lot more structured than that. We have 6 hours of lectures a week relating to the PBL case, 2 hours of anatomical dissection using cadavers, 2 hours of communication skills and 2 hours of phys/pharm. At first I did find the PBL work quite difficult to keep up with but you adapt and the workload becomes more manageable.

Yeah it really was so stressful. Also it goes on for ever takes so long in comparison to others... that what made me really worried about a gap year. Yeah totally agree but I guess it has to competitive. Thanks, yeah I visited it like 3 times now, loved it each time. *Oh good thats reassuring.*
Yeah it was really usual so they were weekly lectures on anything from UKCAT to a consultant coming in and talking about their speciality. *Hopefully, I studied bio,chem history and maths ... but the offers AAA so I realised working for maths was no worth it, so probably didn't do we'll in that but hopefully chem and bio were ok... but I hate this waiting period... feel like its a massive point that could go either way.*

Thats good and oh wow, yeah I never knew PBL had so much contact time, there is a real stigma over it. *Yeah and I guess everyone struggles at first but it medicine, its not supposed to be easy.*

No, I'm from Manchester, I'm already at university

eeeeep I'm from Manchester too! I go to Xaverian College