Oxford Medicine Applicants 2016

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Sorry to interrupt but I'm yet to find my answer for Oxford medicine what's the lowest number of A*'s someone has got an received an interview, is 4 too low?(I flag the contextual criterias as well)?

I seem to remember that the statistics from 2014 showed that one person got in with two A*s at GCSE. I imagine his application was covered in flags, though.

Reply 81

nexttime

Original post by curiouzgeorge

Sorry to interrupt but I'm yet to find my answer for Oxford medicine what's the lowest number of A*'s someone has got an received an interview, is 4 too low?(I flag the contextual criterias as well)?

http://www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/pre-clinical/statistics

Reply 82

not you

Original post by curiouzgeorge

Sorry to interrupt but I'm yet to find my answer for Oxford medicine what's the lowest number of A*'s someone has got an received an interview, is 4 too low?(I flag the contextual criterias as well)?

Generally speaking, even 6A*s is considered quite low even with contextual flagging, and very few people will get an interview with 6, let alone 4. Assuming you have at least 10 GCSEs, neither the number of A*s nor the proportion of A*s is going to be spectacular.

Oxford do their interview selection entirely numerically though, so if you have a very high BMAT score (as in 7.5+) then you can somewhat make up for it, but it's always difficult to predict scores accurately, especially when you're at the UCAS deadline and won't have done all your preparation.

Reply 83

DezzleMon

Original post by User2317169

Sorry to interrupt but I'm yet to find my answer for Oxford medicine what's the lowest number of A*'s someone has got an received an interview, is 4 too low?(I flag the contextual criterias as well)?

This year's cycle for medicine:
Lowest number of A*s for interview - 7
Lowest number of A*s for offer - 7

That being said as has previously been mentioned your BMAT score is also taken into account (as well as any extenuating circumstances). So with 4 you would be up against the odds but with a very strong BMAT score you may be shortlisted. Then just show you're engaged, interested and fit Oxford's teaching style at interview and you'll bag yourself an offer.

Hope that helps.

Reply 84

User2422333

Original post by thechemistress

Whoop, glad we finally have a thread :biggrin:

I did awfully in the BMAT- 5.2, 4.9, 3A. My school was quite surprised because I think they assumed that a good UKCAT score is linked to getting a good BMAT score (I got 800). Clearly not :lol:

Other stats- 11A*s 1B, AAAA at AS and A*A*A*A* predicted for A2.
Fully expecting a rejection tom Oxford tomorrow/the day after tomorrow. I realised how much I wanted to go to Oxford just after getting my BMAT results, which is fairly annoying :tongue:

Ah well, best of luck to everybody else xD

800! In ukcat how?!

Reply 85

spikyphoenix

Original post by User2422333

800! In ukcat how?!

Yea
I got 817 in UKCAT too (890 in QR and 880 in VR) Band 1 SJ, but ****ed up my BMAT (5.2, 5.1, 3.5A)
Oh and I'm an international student

Reply 86

BackLumbarJack

Original post by spikyphoenix

Yea
I got 817 in UKCAT too (890 in QR and 880 in VR) Band 1 SJ, but ****ed up my BMAT (5.2, 5.1, 3.5A)
Oh and I'm an international student

How and when did you prepare for the UKCAT, if you dont mind me asking?

And would 9A*s be enough with only 9 GCSEs?

Reply 87

spikyphoenix

Original post by BackLumbarJack

How and when did you prepare for the UKCAT, if you dont mind me asking?

And would 9A*s be enough with only 9 GCSEs?

9A*s with only 9 GCSEs is outstanding (100% proportion of A*s) for Oxford.

I used the ISC Medical Book and Medify for UKCAT prep. Medify is brilliant as a source of questions, and has a format that is just like the UKCAT format. You'd have to subscribe to it, but its definitely worth the investment. It has over 2500 questions (of which I did like 1500) that very similar to the actual UKCAT questions. Their QR and AR sections are slightly tougher than the real exam, but the prep pays off. VR isn't that great on Medify, its too easy there.

Reply 88

BackLumbarJack

Original post by spikyphoenix

With the UKCAT, when did you start preparing for the actual exam and when did you sit it? And would you advise applying to both UKCAT and BMAT universities to maximise chances of gaining an offer, as the essay section of the BMAT seems pretty scary right now...

Reply 89

t0311

Original post by BackLumbarJack

Hi, this thread is quite old, we have a newer thread for 2017 medical applicants here:

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4235880

Anyway, for your question, this is my personal opinion (which can be wrong or bias, so yeah :P):

- I personally feel like UKCAT has an optimal practice time, which is about 1 month for me (I got 720 for ukcat). Under- or Overpractice can lower your score. This opinion can be highly controversial so i advise you to maximise the use of official sample tests so you can calibrate your practice amount.

- This is not the case for BMAT where more practice will get you more marks. It probably is because BMAT is mostly about application of knowledge instead of pure aptitude like ukcat (I score 6.0; 7.1 and 3A for BMAT). Now this is where your second question comes in. First, you don't need to worry too much for the essay. Getting 3.0 for essay is especially easy. Each essay question is divided into 3 smaller sections. Just by putting an argument for all 3 sections will get you 3.0. However, the difficulty exponentially increases after that. You need really solid arguments to get 4.0+. You will later find most of your practice will be for section 1 and 2.

- Whether you want to apply to a mix of UKCAT or BMAT universities is entirely up to you. It does not necessarily increases your chance of getting an offer. THe only case I can think of is when your UKCAT is not very outstanding. In that case, applying for BMAT uni may increase you chance as you can effectively avoid applying to "risky" schools. Keep in mind that, BMAT score will only be released wayyyy after UCAS deadline so you have to be sure you can ace it. I took BMAT simply because I love some BMAT schools, as simple as that.

That's all, sorry for the lengthy response :P

P/s: I'm waiting for oxford decision on 11th, which is in 5 days. If you find this answer any useful, please pray for me lolololol