Cambridge Medicine Students and Applicants

What did you apply for, out of curiosity?

I know they're only rumours, but I've heard people say that Caius or Emma are infamously hard to get into, so as I don't really have any preference to which college I apply for, I thought that I may as well avoid the really competitive ones.

I'm aware that the UCAS deadline is ~10th of October, and BMAT is somewhere in November. Hence I thought that even if I do slightly underperform in it, I'd rather choose a college that did use BMAT as a crucial factor for deciding who does/doesn't get an interview. As at school there was an Oxbridge information evening, and the admissions tutor for Churchill said that they don't really look at BMAT too much when deciding candidates for interview, but looked at their UMS scores a lot more.

Ah yes, I always spell that word wrong

I think that in a sense they may not be less competitive, but some may suit your academic profile a bit more, perhaps you have extremely good AS scores, and a college may look at your UMS more than others. That's kind of what I was trying to ask :/

read...

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1835125

and particularly

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1331767


General point

BMAT is hugely important at Cambridge. It is NOT just a tool for interview selection unless you score very badly.

After interview they use it to select who gets offers. I have NEVER seen a home candidate with 8+ in S1+S2 get rejected from Cambridge; and only a few 7+s - i cant even remember any.

It is used with interview performance, as ums and gcse.

my theory is that bigger colleges use it more; they rank their applicants using it and only seriously consider higher scores

remember that out of all the measures of performance, bmat is the most objective...its been proven to correlate with exam performance at ugrad level. thats y cambridge love it

anyway read that second link

good luck

Would you say getting a 7+ in the BMAT is something you can either do or not, regardless of preparation? Or does preparation help maximise your school significantly?

Preperation can improve your score by about 2-3 points.

Each point is worth about 0.3.

The difference between a 5 and a 6 was the difference between me getting rejected and getting in.

Definitely prepare.

For essays its even more helpful but really thats more relevant for UCL/perhaps Oxford (less so nowerdays)

Actually reading your post now, I remember being told either by my teacher or my friend, that Caius was really hard for med too. And yeah Churchill looking very strongly at your UMS scores is probably very true, that's one that gets spread around quite a lot. Churchill is known for looking at your UMS scores a lot, for all subjects, but as far as I know, I don't think any other colleges are known/have a reputation for looking a lot at your UMS scores. Though If I come across anything else I'll let you know.

another important thing

emma and downing are hard to get into, as is trinity, st johns, and some years christs

caius on the other hand has the most places. it gives you the most consistent chance of getting in...in the sense consider a college with 5 spaces ... if 30 as opposed to 20 people apply that year then you will, probabilistically, suffer quite a bit...with caius...10 more applicants with 25 places overall makes little difference.

Caius does well in the exams because they have that attitude not because all the students are any cleverer. My experience is that the top people at caius are excellent; probably because they were attracted by its reputation as the "leading medical college" but the rest of the students are just average.

(I went to caius)

Ah okay, thanks. What would you say is a "good UMS score" for Churchill? As we got a little bit of a shock when the admissions guy said ~97%, but was that just to shock us, or do you think that is actually the average AS UMS?



Thanks a lot, I just looked at both the links Hm, how did you find Caius? I think one thing that I'm a little bit concerned about is the workload concerned, as I understand that medicine is a very rigorous course, but coupled with Cambridge... Erm, on average, how many hours do you work a week/each day? And for things like lectures and tutorials, how much of the day would these take up?

Yeah I've heard that it's the leading medical college, hence I assumed that it would be harder to get into :/

So would you say that BMAT has a larger weighting than AS UMS scores?

Also, originally I was set on applying to Oxford, but I was told to rethink as I did well in my January modules... Which would you advise someone to apply to if they got 100%A* GCSE, and (in Jan I got ~98% for my modules), but say low 90UMS for my AS modules? As before I posted this thread, I thought that BMAT didn't matter as much at Cambridge. And on one of those threads, you said that Cambridge pre-decide candidates, and interview them to just make sure that they are suitable for medicine, do they predecide people on the BMAT/AS UMS?

Personally I have no preference between Oxford/Cambridge, but I thought I'd apply to the one that I have the greatest chance to get into, but I'm a little confused to which that will be :/

Ok, would you say starting after the AS exams (in may) would be early enough. I've got the books and everything but haven't had a chance to start properly yet?

Cheers for the help.

Just thought i'd say, what makes you think you won't do well in the BMAT?

Thanks a lot, I just looked at both the links Hm, how did you find Caius? I think one thing that I'm a little bit concerned about is the workload concerned, as I understand that medicine is a very rigorous course, but coupled with Cambridge... Erm, on average, how many hours do you work a week/each day? And for things like lectures and tutorials, how much of the day would these take up?

I liked how good Caius was at teaching you medicine and giving you all the help you needed to get a 1st in the exams. As a college, its overrated - the accommodation and food was poor and it was relatively expensive and inflexible. So its a weigh up of how much you want a good college experience vs help in your degree. Lots of other colleges offer quite a bit of help with your degree too, so don't think Caius is the only one...by any means. Christs is a good college and has good support but some years it gets very competitive. Caius is certainly better than any of the 'modern' colleges.

So would you say that BMAT has a larger weighting than AS UMS scores?

Definitely.

Also, originally I was set on applying to Oxford, but I was told to rethink as I did well in my January modules... Which would you advise someone to apply to if they got 100%A* GCSE, and (in Jan I got ~98% for my modules), but say low 90UMS for my AS modules? As before I posted this thread, I thought that BMAT didn't matter as much at Cambridge. And on one of those threads, you said that Cambridge pre-decide candidates, and interview them to just make sure that they are suitable for medicine, do they predecide people on the BMAT/AS UMS?

Oxford to my knowledge dont look at UMS score. If they dont and you have 100% A* and you think you can get decent BMAT scores but not brilliant ones, apply to Oxford... You'll need to interview well and perhaps not go for the absolute best colleges but you'll have a decent shot there too.

Personally I have no preference between Oxford/Cambridge, but I thought I'd apply to the one that I have the greatest chance to get into, but I'm a little confused to which that will be :/

Cambridge is almost always easier. If you really have no preference, id apply there. 90% UMS is excellent and as long as you get around 6.0 in your BMAT youd have a good chance of getting in. If you are set on Oxford, with 100% A* at GCSE I cant really think of any good reason not to apply there either.

I know...not very helpful...but it just means you have more choices!

I am considering taking 5 AS levels. I will definitely take Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Religious Studies: Philosophy and Ethics and I am considering Psychology.

Would taking 5 AS levels improve my chance of gaining entry to Cambridge? I think I could do well in all of them. I don't have my GCSE results yet for you to get a clearer view as I have not completed them but I know I have A*'s in both Core and Additional science and I don't think I will get below a B in any full GCSE's and I am predicted a distinction in BTEC IT.

Do you think I stand a chance providing I get good GCSE results and would you recommend doing 5 AS's?

I am considering taking 5 AS levels. I will definitely take Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Religious Studies: Philosophy and Ethics and I am considering Psychology.

Would taking 5 AS levels improve my chance of gaining entry to Cambridge? I think I could do well in all of them. I don't have my GCSE results yet for you to get a clearer view as I have not completed them but I know I have A*'s in both Core and Additional science and I don't think I will get below a B in any full GCSE's and I am predicted a distinction in BTEC IT.

Do you think I stand a chance providing I get good GCSE results and would you recommend doing 5 AS's?

That is a pretty diverse range of subjects, could you consider another subject insted of RS, such as maths, geography, a language, history etc.?