Cambridge Medicine Students and Applicants

Scrubby

Ah I see. This makes the Cambridge interviews sound rather reasonable and normal as opposed to the horror stories I've been hearing. Just briefly there weren't questions on ethics or current health news or anything were there? Or the typical questions like why not a nurse etc. If not then it doesn't appear to be anything like the other med schools I'm applying to in terms of interviews. Thanks :smile:

I didn't get asked any of those things, no. But this was quite a long time ago, and only one college (and even at Clare, the interviewers have all changed now!) so it's worth being prepared, but expect the majority to be scientific.

Quite possibly.

Alright guys, I would really love some advice or tips to current university students out there.

For my Gcses I got 9A* and 1A.
As levels, I'm studying Maths, chemistry, biology, physics, and further maths.
A2 level, i'll probably drop further maths, maybe physics.
Don't know any predicted grades yet but I'm coping well so far.
I'm thinking of applying to cambridge mainly then imperial, kings and possibly birmingham.

Voluntary work every other saturday.
I play the piano, grade 8, and im trying to get that on a certificate. I played the violin up to grade 5. (doesnt count for ucas points i know)
D of E bronze, did ccf for a year and a half.
I used to be in the school swimming team, i still swim recreationally (can you put that on your personal statement) and I also go to the school badminton club once in a while.

Is there anything I'm missing out? My dad says i need to know about the wider world like have an interest in everything, especially politics and the government.
I briefly know what the cambridge medical course is, but I don't exactly know what makes it different to other medical schools. I'm just choosing cambridge because on the cambridge website, it gave a detailed description of what you learn in the course and they all seemed interesting. I can't be sure that the Cambridge course is so brilliant because its website is maintained well and is well detailed. Why did you guys choose cambridge?

If any of you could give me tips in how to prepare for BMAT, interviews, etc I would really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Reply 1223

Helenia

20

You need to get some medical work experience. The extra-curricular stuff doesn't matter too much, but both for Cambridge and wherever else you want to apply, you have to show that you have a realistic understanding of what a medical career is like.

The Cambridge course is different from other universities' in that it is a lot more focused on biological sciences for the first three years, with little to no clinical contact or application. For some people this is really good, and I think that the supervision system we have is a real strong point, but it does not suit everyone. If you have a look in the medical bit of the wiki and in the medicine forum on this site you'll probably be able to find out lots more.

Reply 1224

momories

thank you so much! :smile:

Reply 1225

QuantumOverlord

16

Original post by momories

thank you so much! :smile:

Out of interest will you be applying in 2012?

Reply 1226

kayla:)

6

Hey
Anyone here already a med student at Christ's?
I've applied this year, and just wondered how you like it at Christ's? Are the supervisions nice? I'm just hoping to get an interview now, and if I do, I know one of my interviews is with the DOS for Clin and Pre Clin, anyone had any experience of them? Are they nice/oneniceonestrange/bothstrange?
Fingers crossed though guys(Y)

Reply 1227

7589200

18

I have a friend at Christ's and he says

haha
they both dicks
the two doses
lolll

Good Luck, though!

Reply 1228

momories

Original post by QuantumOverlord

Out of interest will you be applying in 2012?

Yes i will be applying in 2012. you?
Not very happy with the fees going up.. :frown:

Reply 1229

Pinacoladacone

SO, I'm thinking of applying to Cambridge if I get the grades, and I'm taking a gap year to get in all the relevant work experience and money etc etc.
The first year sixthform was f****** awful, grades were appalling and so I've been working my butt off for the second year and my teachers are now predicting me As. I'm retaking 7 AS exams in Jan 2011 and doing 4 A2 exams. Basically I'm retaking my AS year in the January and June next year, while doing A2.. pretty suicidal but I had to get the alevels done within 2 years :frown:

Does Cambridge object to resits for AS. I know that UCL doesn't like A2 retakes and a couple of other unis as well, but I was thinking that the amount I'm doing will probably be pretty shocking for anyone who saw my UCAS. I asked about and some people said that you don't have to declare whether you did resits for AS but then someone from my sixth form got their UCAS scrapped because they didn't declare them :/ :confused:

oh, and in total over next year I'm doing 11 As resits and 8 A2 exams..

help muchos appreciated :rolleyes:

Reply 1230

Slowbro93

20

Original post by Pinacoladacone

SO, I'm thinking of applying to Cambridge if I get the grades, and I'm taking a gap year to get in all the relevant work experience and money etc etc.
The first year sixthform was f****** awful, grades were appalling and so I've been working my butt off for the second year and my teachers are now predicting me As. I'm retaking 7 AS exams in Jan 2011 and doing 4 A2 exams. Basically I'm retaking my AS year in the January and June next year, while doing A2.. pretty suicidal but I had to get the alevels done within 2 years :frown:

Does Cambridge object to resits for AS. I know that UCL doesn't like A2 retakes and a couple of other unis as well, but I was thinking that the amount I'm doing will probably be pretty shocking for anyone who saw my UCAS. I asked about and some people said that you don't have to declare whether you did resits for AS but then someone from my sixth form got their UCAS scrapped because they didn't declare them :/ :confused:

oh, and in total over next year I'm doing 11 As resits and 8 A2 exams..

help muchos appreciated :rolleyes:

Sorry to hear that :hugs:

If you do apply to Cambridge next year, you could see if you are eligible to apply via a scheme known as the CSAS. What it does is that it gives you special consideration if you were to apply to Cambridge.

The workload you are going to have is alot, but I would say that if you plan your time correctly, then you should be able to get your A's and A* (Bearing in mind, it would probably be more competitive 2012 entry)

Also, if you get at much work experience as possible and you show that you are dedicated, then that can work to your advantage. Can I ask, how did you do at GCSE?

Reply 1231

Pinacoladacone

I emailed the uni about the scheme and they said I qualify but I'm not sure what that involves :/ as in they're less strict on grades or they ask you about it in interview etc presumably with the competition they can't afford to be lax on grades but yeah

heh yeah I realise the work load is helish :frown:

60 hours external work a week!!! my life is literally timetabled hour by hour. I know that it's going to get more competitive, so I was planning on doing something incredibly awesome in my gap year to get an edge over some of the other applicants. Have yet to decide what the awesome thing is though.

GCSE I got 6A* 4As and a B for shortcourse
I realise the average cambridge medic has about 9 A* so lots more lovely work for me :/

Reply 1232

hobnob

14

You've chosen a very confusing title, considering that your actual question seems to be 'Does Cambridge mind resits for medicine applications?' :confused:

Reply 1233

Pinacoladacone

moot point.. how do I change it
I got sidetracked when writing message I guess :/

Reply 1234

sophgen

Hi everyone! :smile:

Maybe someone can help me out? I have an interview for the grad entry course in a few weeks time, and on http://www.societies.cam.ac.uk/cgcm/ProspectiveStudents.html it says that:

The interview is a strange experience, not that interviews generally aren't but it's probably fair to say that the CGCM one is especially so. The reason for this is due to the interview's closed nature. This means that the selection panel effectively (not literally!) take your application, crunch it up and throw it in the bin, with regard to the interview. The system has its pros and cons and is a strange experience if you've never done it before, but for better or worse that's just the way it is.

I was just wondering if anyone could give me a better idea of what to expect - will there be absolutely no discussion of anything in my personal statement? and (this is what I'm stressing out about right now) will the interviewers be aware of my actual level of scientific knowledge? I ask because I know that there will be scientific questions, but I've not yet covered A2 for one of my sciences (I'm doing it this year) and I'm worried that they wouldn't be aware of this... :confused:

Mods - please delete/let me know if you think this is too specific a question! I don't want to be breaching any rules, it's just that I've been stressing out about this for a while and wasn't sure who to ask!! :redface:

Reply 1235

mediccam

Original post by sophgen

Hi everyone! :smile:

Maybe someone can help me out? I have an interview for the grad entry course in a few weeks time, and on http://www.societies.cam.ac.uk/cgcm/ProspectiveStudents.html it says that:

The interview is a strange experience, not that interviews generally aren't but it's probably fair to say that the CGCM one is especially so. The reason for this is due to the interview's closed nature. This means that the selection panel effectively (not literally!) take your application, crunch it up and throw it in the bin, with regard to the interview. The system has its pros and cons and is a strange experience if you've never done it before, but for better or worse that's just the way it is.

I was just wondering if anyone could give me a better idea of what to expect - will there be absolutely no discussion of anything in my personal statement? and (this is what I'm stressing out about right now) will the interviewers be aware of my actual level of scientific knowledge? I ask because I know that there will be scientific questions, but I've not yet covered A2 for one of my sciences (I'm doing it this year) and I'm worried that they wouldn't be aware of this... :confused:

Mods - please delete/let me know if you think this is too specific a question! I don't want to be breaching any rules, it's just that I've been stressing out about this for a while and wasn't sure who to ask!! :redface:

which uni are you at??