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a probable oxbridge reject (going crazy)
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Minnieb48
I'M GOING HYSTERICAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
after having just been told that i'm probably not good enough bother with oxbrige >>>>>> DO NOT KNOW WHERE TO GO!
I'M GOING HYSTERICAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!after having just been told that i'm probably not good enough bother with oxbrige >>>>>> DO NOT KNOW WHERE TO GO!
to be honest what do we know- we're just applicant/students, not the interviewers, we don't know how they'll percieve you if you apply and have an interview. so go for it, u never know u could strike lucky. however it has to be something you actually want to do- don't just apply because it's oxbridge, you have to LOVE the course and the place as well (in my case it wasn't so much the course, rather the gorgeousness of the city)
it does come across as though you really haven't thought about uni properly- you're just going on what your parents/teachers are saying (please correct me if i'm wrong). the thing is though, you want to do medicine- there are loads of unis that do a good medicine course, places like Manchester/Leeds/Newcastle/London uni's/Liverpool etc etc are all great for it.
my advice would be to a) work damn hard to keep your predicted grades(or better) next year- you're at a disadvantage for applying ANYWHERE if you don't. and research research research. open days are there for a reason,as are medic conferences and courses like medlink, and local anaesthesia days etc (dunno if anywhere else apart from my local hospital has these?). oxbridge isn't the be all and end all. there's loads of people out there who could apply to oxbridge, and would probably be successful, but they don't want to, cos it ain't for them
it does come across as though you really haven't thought about uni properly- you're just going on what your parents/teachers are saying (please correct me if i'm wrong). the thing is though, you want to do medicine- there are loads of unis that do a good medicine course, places like Manchester/Leeds/Newcastle/London uni's/Liverpool etc etc are all great for it.
my advice would be to a) work damn hard to keep your predicted grades(or better) next year- you're at a disadvantage for applying ANYWHERE if you don't. and research research research. open days are there for a reason,as are medic conferences and courses like medlink, and local anaesthesia days etc (dunno if anywhere else apart from my local hospital has these?). oxbridge isn't the be all and end all. there's loads of people out there who could apply to oxbridge, and would probably be successful, but they don't want to, cos it ain't for them
WORK EXPERIENCE, WORK EXPERIENCE, WORK EXPERIENCE.
If you haven't got any, get some this summer. It's much more important than earning money at this stage. Go into your local doctor's surgery and ask if you can do a week with them. Go to a local hospital and ask. It's even worth sounding out nurses, midwives and even vets. Anything is better than nothing. Even if you get a job cleaning in your local hospital, you can still say you work part time in a hospital. They're not stupid, they won't expect you do be treating patients, but it all helps. And it's a foot in the door.....who knows where a cleaning job might lead? Nursing homes are good too. They always needs people and it's pretty well-paid, because you have to do sensitive things like helping people go to the toilet. You might think that has nothing to do with studying medicine, but it will show admissions tutors you're not likely to look at a dead body for the first time, faint and drop out of the course in the first month. If you're interested in a certain area of medicine, you might want to try and find something relevant to that, for example, if you want to be a paediatrician, a week working in a local playgroup might even be worth mentioning. Do as much as you can.
Medicine is so difficult, and for the record, Oxford is not one of the best medical schools. My friend applied to read medicine, and she was rejected from three unis without interview, although she got AAAB at AS in Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Spanish and the B was 2 UMS marks off an A. She was a bit different, because she hasn't got any GCSEs, having spent year 11 in the Netherlands. She has a string of European qualifications which aren't mentioned in any prospectuses and I think the admissions tutors looked at her UCAS form, decided they couldn't be bothered to find out what they meant, and moved on to the next candidate. She eventually got an offer from Birmingham on May 28th. This was a month after the deadline for replying to UCAS, and basically, she was in a list of people whose applications would be more carefully considered once Birmingham knew how many people had put them down as first choice.
Work experience is vital, and so, unfortunately, is interview technique, which is why I suggest you start practising now. It's also another good reason to go round asking people for work experience, as it will prepare you for speaking to scary, busy people who might turn you down.
Finally, extra-curricular stuff is ALWAYS worth mentioning on your personal statement. More so for medicine than for other subjects. Birmingham admissions tutors told us (I went to the open day with the aforementioned friend) that they don't just want to know why you want to be a doctor. They want to know what you're going to do in your free time when you finally become one. They don't want a doctor who will go home, stress about their patients, not sleep a wink and then accidentally kill a patient the next day. They want someone who will do their best, go home at the end of the day and play tennis/chess/the piano or whatever, forget about work, get a good night's sleep and be refreshed and ready for anything the next day. That was direct from an admissions tutor.
And finally, don't be too downhearted if you don't get in. You can always do a medical research degree for three years and then do a fast-track postgrad medical course which will only last 4 years, so you'll be studying for 7 years as opposed to 5. Not the end of the world.
Good luck x x x
If you haven't got any, get some this summer. It's much more important than earning money at this stage. Go into your local doctor's surgery and ask if you can do a week with them. Go to a local hospital and ask. It's even worth sounding out nurses, midwives and even vets. Anything is better than nothing. Even if you get a job cleaning in your local hospital, you can still say you work part time in a hospital. They're not stupid, they won't expect you do be treating patients, but it all helps. And it's a foot in the door.....who knows where a cleaning job might lead? Nursing homes are good too. They always needs people and it's pretty well-paid, because you have to do sensitive things like helping people go to the toilet. You might think that has nothing to do with studying medicine, but it will show admissions tutors you're not likely to look at a dead body for the first time, faint and drop out of the course in the first month. If you're interested in a certain area of medicine, you might want to try and find something relevant to that, for example, if you want to be a paediatrician, a week working in a local playgroup might even be worth mentioning. Do as much as you can.
Medicine is so difficult, and for the record, Oxford is not one of the best medical schools. My friend applied to read medicine, and she was rejected from three unis without interview, although she got AAAB at AS in Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Spanish and the B was 2 UMS marks off an A. She was a bit different, because she hasn't got any GCSEs, having spent year 11 in the Netherlands. She has a string of European qualifications which aren't mentioned in any prospectuses and I think the admissions tutors looked at her UCAS form, decided they couldn't be bothered to find out what they meant, and moved on to the next candidate. She eventually got an offer from Birmingham on May 28th. This was a month after the deadline for replying to UCAS, and basically, she was in a list of people whose applications would be more carefully considered once Birmingham knew how many people had put them down as first choice.
Work experience is vital, and so, unfortunately, is interview technique, which is why I suggest you start practising now. It's also another good reason to go round asking people for work experience, as it will prepare you for speaking to scary, busy people who might turn you down.
Finally, extra-curricular stuff is ALWAYS worth mentioning on your personal statement. More so for medicine than for other subjects. Birmingham admissions tutors told us (I went to the open day with the aforementioned friend) that they don't just want to know why you want to be a doctor. They want to know what you're going to do in your free time when you finally become one. They don't want a doctor who will go home, stress about their patients, not sleep a wink and then accidentally kill a patient the next day. They want someone who will do their best, go home at the end of the day and play tennis/chess/the piano or whatever, forget about work, get a good night's sleep and be refreshed and ready for anything the next day. That was direct from an admissions tutor.
And finally, don't be too downhearted if you don't get in. You can always do a medical research degree for three years and then do a fast-track postgrad medical course which will only last 4 years, so you'll be studying for 7 years as opposed to 5. Not the end of the world.
Good luck x x x
hey...
how much work experince do you think is worth doing?
im a doing 2 this summer, = 1) magistrates court, 2) solicitors office
(i want ot study law)
is this enough?
thanks
jay
how much work experince do you think is worth doing?
im a doing 2 this summer, = 1) magistrates court, 2) solicitors office
(i want ot study law
)is this enough?
thanks
jay
Friday's Child
Medicine is so difficult, and for the record, Oxford is not one of the best medical schools.
Medicine is so difficult, and for the record, Oxford is not one of the best medical schools.
oh, so enlightened one..which are the "best" & on what criteria..?
as it happens, i felt oxford was the best medical school for me..& so did another 156 people this year.
different courses suit different people..*sigh*
Helenia
About 280-300, including the grad students!
Helenia
Medicine is one of the biggest courses, I can only think of Natsci that is bigger. Maths and Engineering are similar sizes, I think.
Mark_KK
I really hate these people, you know the people that think that there are only two universities worth going to in the entire world.
In the event that you do not get into Oxford or Cambridge there are around another 100 universities in the U.K to consider. Out of this around 60 are decent and will be viewed fauvorably by an employer.
I will just be happy to get moderate A-Level grades to facilitate entry into a middle of the road university, as will thousands of others.
If you really think that getting into Oxbridge is the be all and end all then fine, but when people come on here talking like the world is going to end if they don't get in it is so annoying.
In the event that you do not get into Oxford or Cambridge there are around another 100 universities in the U.K to consider. Out of this around 60 are decent and will be viewed fauvorably by an employer.
I will just be happy to get moderate A-Level grades to facilitate entry into a middle of the road university, as will thousands of others.
If you really think that getting into Oxbridge is the be all and end all then fine, but when people come on here talking like the world is going to end if they don't get in it is so annoying.
Thank you!
AdamC
Durham is THE PLACE for Oxbridge rejects. It's teeming with them. I think at the Open Day, everyone I spoke to (inc. myself) was an Oxbridge reject. lol
You can't do Medicine there though
(although their Stockton campus, which for Medicine is actually attached to Newcastle, rejected me without interview
)
a) Oxbridge isnt the only good university to go to
b) there is no harm in applying and seeing how you do
c) oxbridge stress that they look for potential, not how you do in the past
d) a good interview overides bad results
c) most people fill up the 6 unis with random ones, so using up one uni with oxford/cambridge wont really take away your options
d) you were ill so they might give you allowence for your results
e) you dont want to always wonder if you might have got in
f) i applied and got rejected (didnt want to go anyway but thats another story) but the thing is that i learnt soooo much in the application process and truly engaged with my subject so even if i knew id be rejected id have still applied purely for the fact that its a great experience
ie apply, no harm in it, definitely apply!
b) there is no harm in applying and seeing how you do
c) oxbridge stress that they look for potential, not how you do in the past
d) a good interview overides bad results
c) most people fill up the 6 unis with random ones, so using up one uni with oxford/cambridge wont really take away your options
d) you were ill so they might give you allowence for your results
e) you dont want to always wonder if you might have got in
f) i applied and got rejected (didnt want to go anyway but thats another story) but the thing is that i learnt soooo much in the application process and truly engaged with my subject so even if i knew id be rejected id have still applied purely for the fact that its a great experience
ie apply, no harm in it, definitely apply!
emma_
ie apply, no harm in it, definitely apply!
ie apply, no harm in it, definitely apply!
Yeh. Apply away. But expect to have to go for nerve racking interviews, fill in extra forms. If you don't want to go there, dont bother.
I would not agree with the fact that you think Oxbridge is the only univeristy worth going to. There are LOTS of prestigious Unis, like Warrick, Durham, Nottingham (so becoming), Bath.
I applied to Cambridge, Warwick, Exeter, KCL, Cardiff, Lancaster. Cambridge, Warwick, Exeter and KCL rejected me. Cardiff gave me an offer but i fucked up slightly, so i'm off to Lancaster.
My GCSE results were A* 3A's 3B's 3C's and i have lots and lots of extra-curricular activities on my CV. A lot goes on the interview. Also I think applying to 'Ox' or 'Bridge'
may affect your chances, on of my friends also applied to Cam and got rejected my 4/6 also.
BUT it was a great experience, i'm sort of glad i applied although not sure why! I got BBC!!! Oh well, nothing wrong with aiming high i guess. Go for it.
My GCSE results were A* 3A's 3B's 3C's and i have lots and lots of extra-curricular activities on my CV. A lot goes on the interview. Also I think applying to 'Ox' or 'Bridge'
may affect your chances, on of my friends also applied to Cam and got rejected my 4/6 also.BUT it was a great experience, i'm sort of glad i applied although not sure why! I got BBC!!! Oh well, nothing wrong with aiming high i guess. Go for it.
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