Gap year for medicine

Hi all,

I've applied to medicine for Cambridge, UCL, Imperial and King's this year, but I didn't make it for any of them as I messed up BMAT and UKCAT.

My IB scores are decent though, with 43 and 776 on Biology, Chemistry and Maths HL. I got a firm offer for King's Pharmacy via Extra, but I'm thinking of taking a gap year and retry for Oxbridge or UCL medicine.

Would it be possible to attend King's Pharmacy for a year, and reapply? And are there any disadvantages that come with applying for medicine through gap year?

Thanks.

Reply 1

Amedic

4

Original post by tk789741

Hi all,

I've applied to medicine for Cambridge, UCL, Imperial and King's this year, but I didn't make it for any of them as I messed up BMAT and UKCAT.

My IB scores are decent though, with 43 and 776 on Biology, Chemistry and Maths HL. I got a firm offer for King's Pharmacy via Extra, but I'm thinking of taking a gap year and retry for Oxbridge or UCL medicine.

Would it be possible to attend King's Pharmacy for a year, and reapply? And are there any disadvantages that come with applying for medicine through gap year?

Thanks.

Hi, I'm sorry to hear about your application this year. But congratulations on your offer for Pharmacy! Although I can't speak from personal experience, I was told numerous times that gap years don't disadvantage candidates, as long as you can demonstrate a meaningful and good use of the time. Some people say it prepares you better for life as a student, and future career. I'm sure that other members should be able to give better advice :smile:

Also, did you apply for your universities before the UKCAT test? Because I understand that you can take the UKCAT first, and then decide where to apply. This is helpful because some medical schools have high cutoff scores: a known example is Kings College.

Reply 2

lightwoXd

12

Original post by tk789741

Hi all,

I've applied to medicine for Cambridge, UCL, Imperial and King's this year, but I didn't make it for any of them as I messed up BMAT and UKCAT.

My IB scores are decent though, with 43 and 776 on Biology, Chemistry and Maths HL. I got a firm offer for King's Pharmacy via Extra, but I'm thinking of taking a gap year and retry for Oxbridge or UCL medicine.

Would it be possible to attend King's Pharmacy for a year, and reapply? And are there any disadvantages that come with applying for medicine through gap year?

Thanks.

Gap year applicant here - definitely not a disadvantage at all. I went from no offers at all first time round to three offers this year (with the help of a vastly improved UKCAT, haha). Like Amedic has said, so long as you make it clear you've got a plan to do something productive in your gap year, you'll be fine. No matter what you end up doing you'll most likely be a lot more confident/mature/whatever for next year's round of applications, and will probably have a few good anecdotes to use in interviews. Plus, with this year's experience behind you, you're in a better place to smash your admissions tests and personal statement (no guarantee of course, but you'll be able to develop your tactics better).
Plus, you definitely won't be the only one - loads of people take gap years to apply to medicine. Some even take 2 or 3, but it depends how dedicated you are and your circumstances to an extent.

When it comes to Pharmacy it certainly sounds interesting, but I'd check with the med schools you want to apply to as some places can get a bit arsey about transfers from other degree programmes (and bear in mind this'll most likely be a lot more competitive than applying the usual way). Might affect your funding as well (couldn't tell you for sure, or how if this is the case), so it's definitely something to check before you commit to a decision.

Reply 3

Helenia

20

Original post by tk789741

Hi all,

I've applied to medicine for Cambridge, UCL, Imperial and King's this year, but I didn't make it for any of them as I messed up BMAT and UKCAT.

My IB scores are decent though, with 43 and 776 on Biology, Chemistry and Maths HL. I got a firm offer for King's Pharmacy via Extra, but I'm thinking of taking a gap year and retry for Oxbridge or UCL medicine.

Would it be possible to attend King's Pharmacy for a year, and reapply? And are there any disadvantages that come with applying for medicine through gap year?

Thanks.

No disadvantage in applying while on a gap year, but many universities (including, I'm pretty sure, both Oxford and Cambridge) will not accept you if you have started another course. If medicine is what you want, and you have the grades for it, just take the time out and wait.

And maybe don't put all your eggs in one basket by applying to three BMAT schools this time!

Reply 4

tk789741

OP

Thanks everyone for the replies. Looks like taking a gap year won't be a disadvantage, so I should consider it as a viable option. I sat for the UKCAT before I applied for my universities, but like my BMAT, it wasn't that good. For those of you who took a gap year for your application, what did you do during the period?

Reply 5

The Medic Portal

11

Original post by tk789741

Thanks everyone for the replies. Looks like taking a gap year won't be a disadvantage, so I should consider it as a viable option. I sat for the UKCAT before I applied for my universities, but like my BMAT, it wasn't that good. For those of you who took a gap year for your application, what did you do during the period?

Morning

As all of the above TSR users have said, taking a gap year can be a great thing for your application. People we've met have spent the year getting amazing medical work experience, both in the UK and abroad, as well as doing travelling, earning money (to then spend at uni :smile:

) and other stuff!

We met a student here on The Student Room who last year was rejected by all 4 med schools, but after a gap year she reapplied and got 4 offers! She kindly wrote a blog for us, How To Go From Four Rejections To Four Offers.

It would be a great idea to use your gap year to secure some more, really valuable work experience! If you then jot down all your experiences, you'll be able to use them in your interviews and personal statement.

Plus, as you won't have to be worrying about school exams next summer, you'll have more time to focus on the UKCAT, and then the BMAT. In general, we recommend that students apply to just 1 or 2 BMAT universities.

We hope the above helps,
The Medic Portal

Reply 6

lightwoXd

12

Original post by tk789741

Thanks everyone for the replies. Looks like taking a gap year won't be a disadvantage, so I should consider it as a viable option. I sat for the UKCAT before I applied for my universities, but like my BMAT, it wasn't that good. For those of you who took a gap year for your application, what did you do during the period?

Not the most exciting thing ever, but I've been working at an opticians - ended up being the only vaguely healthcare-related work near me that I could get hold of. It's been more clinical than I expected though - got to learn about a few common sight-affecting eye conditions as part of training and once you start to pick things up on the job and talk to a few patients it can be really interesting.

Also going on holiday to a few places in Europe with the family in a couple of weeks so I guess that counts as my mandatory gap year travel, haha.

Reply 7

tk789741

OP

Oh I see. I should try to find a healthcare-related work too, as I only have a few experiences in that area. Thanks everyone for your help!

Reply 8

anaMed17w

Original post by lightwoXd

Gap year applicant here - definitely not a disadvantage at all. I went from no offers at all first time round to three offers this year (with the help of a vastly improved UKCAT, haha). Like Amedic has said, so long as you make it clear you've got a plan to do something productive in your gap year, you'll be fine. No matter what you end up doing you'll most likely be a lot more confident/mature/whatever for next year's round of applications, and will probably have a few good anecdotes to use in interviews. Plus, with this year's experience behind you, you're in a better place to smash your admissions tests and personal statement (no guarantee of course, but you'll be able to develop your tactics better).
Plus, you definitely won't be the only one - loads of people take gap years to apply to medicine. Some even take 2 or 3, but it depends how dedicated you are and your circumstances to an extent.

When it comes to Pharmacy it certainly sounds interesting, but I'd check with the med schools you want to apply to as some places can get a bit arsey about transfers from other degree programmes (and bear in mind this'll most likely be a lot more competitive than applying the usual way). Might affect your funding as well (couldn't tell you for sure, or how if this is the case), so it's definitely something to check before you commit to a decision.

Hey

where did you apply to?

Reply 9

futuremedic19

16

Original post by tk789741

Hi all,

I've applied to medicine for Cambridge, UCL, Imperial and King's this year, but I didn't make it for any of them as I messed up BMAT and UKCAT.

My IB scores are decent though, with 43 and 776 on Biology, Chemistry and Maths HL. I got a firm offer for King's Pharmacy via Extra, but I'm thinking of taking a gap year and retry for Oxbridge or UCL medicine.

Would it be possible to attend King's Pharmacy for a year, and reapply? And are there any disadvantages that come with applying for medicine through gap year?

Thanks.

Hi my advice would be to definitely take a year out and reapply. I stupidly applied to Cambridge,Imperial,UCL and Bristol in my first application cycle (so basically 3BMAT unis and Bristol, which is the most competitive place). I messed up my BMAT and quickly got 4 rejections.
Second time round I applied to my strengths and got 4 interviews. Taking a year out will NOT disadvantage you, infact a year out for me meant that some of the places I applied to actually topped up my academic score because I had achieved grades.
So make sure this time you apply to your strengths and don't worry about prestige/location etc because that all doesn't really matter for medicine.
:smile:

Reply 10

UniAdmissions

5

Original post by tk789741

Hi all,

I've applied to medicine for Cambridge, UCL, Imperial and King's this year, but I didn't make it for any of them as I messed up BMAT and UKCAT.

My IB scores are decent though, with 43 and 776 on Biology, Chemistry and Maths HL. I got a firm offer for King's Pharmacy via Extra, but I'm thinking of taking a gap year and retry for Oxbridge or UCL medicine.

Would it be possible to attend King's Pharmacy for a year, and reapply? And are there any disadvantages that come with applying for medicine through gap year?

Thanks.

Hi tk789741

As others have already said, taking a gap year certainly won't put you at a disadvantage. It is a great opportunity to gain some experiences that you wouldn't otherwise have.

Take the time to reflect on each experience that you have over the coming year and what you have gained from it. If you can do this, then that will only strengthen your application for next time.

With regards to your UKCAT and BMAT, if you retake them next year, you will have a much better idea of how to approach them, having already sat them once. Make sure that you allow yourself enough time in the lead up to each test to really prepare and practise as much as you can. That way you will walk into each of them confident which should mean that next time, you come out with a result you want.

Good luck with it all. Feel free to give me a shout if there is anything we can help with.

UniAdmissions

Reply 11

lightwoXd

12

Original post by anaMed17w

Hey

where did you apply to?

First time round: UCL, Edinburgh, Bristol and Aberdeen.

This year: BSMS (firmed), Plymouth, Liverpool and Exeter (the one that rejected me, haha)

(EDIT: I've seen you on the med threads a lot recently, if you have more questions feel free to PM me - can't guarantee that I can help but having done this whole thing twice now I can certainly try :smile:

)

(edited 7 years ago)

Gap year for medicine

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