Oxford Medicine 2018 entry

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I understand and it has crossed my mind several times. I've considered it thoroughly. Taking a gap year has definitely been the right decision for me as I've been able to enjoy wider reading, greater experience in the field of health care, and a better understanding of my own wellbeing which will prepare me for medicine. Also, I hope to pursue a career which ultimately leads to opportunities in research which Oxford prepares for very well. A traditional teaching style and academic focus suits me best and medicine is such a long course as it is - does one extra year really make much of a difference. Of course I will be happy wherever I go, but this is where I really want to go :smile:

Reply 41

sortmeoutgeezer

Original post by Ecds

Do you mind if I ask what you mean by that?

wherever the hell you go, you'll still be Dr.Ecds. and your uni will make no difference. I wouldn't reject a crap uni like Liverpool just so I can apply to Oxford the next year, since at the end it makes no difference, let alone a great one like UCL wtf

Reply 42

Ecds

I respectfully disagree - though I wish you good luck in your application.

Reply 43

sortmeoutgeezer

Original post by Ecds

I respectfully disagree - though I wish you good luck in your application.

already applied. got 4/4 offers and got grades good enough for Oxford. Thanks anyway and good luck to you too

Reply 44

Ecds

I pride myself in my stupidity 😜

Reply 45

A*/100% Man

Original post by sortmeoutgeezer

already applied. got 4/4 offers and got grades good enough for Oxford but didn't do a stupid thing like you are :/. Thanks anyway and good luck to you too

Honestly mate, anyone applying to Oxford will have the grades to get in. The difficult part is performing well on the BMAT and at interview. Congratulations with receiving all of your offers, but there is no need to criticise OP's decision so much; they are clearly capable and have every right to apply as they see fit.

Reply 46

TheConfusedMedic

Peak when you get 9A* and 1A at GCSE but still know that realistically this isn't really 'enough' for Oxford :/

Reply 47

ozmo19

Hey, I'm a gap year applicant!
GCSEs: 10A*s and 1A
A-Levels: A*A*A*A
Open application - allocated to Oriel

Also applying to UCL, Birmingham and QUB

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 48

Amelia2163

Original post by Ecds

I respectfully disagree - though I wish you good luck in your application.

What did you get in your BMAT if you don't mind me asking?

Reply 49

Ecds

4, 4.2, and 3.5A. Re-did last years paper accidentally yesterday when preparing and I got 6.9 and 8 so yeah; I knew I could have done better hence the reapplying :wink:

Reply 50

Stanspam

Original post by Ecds

4, 4.2, and 3.5A. Re-did last years paper accidentally yesterday when preparing and I got 6.9 and 8 so yeah; I knew I could have done better hence the reapplying :wink:

Ooh great score! Since when did you start preparing?

Also, is your gap year job full-time? I'm working as a HCA at the moment, but part-time, and was wondering if that's quite disadvantageous

Reply 51

ozmo19

How is everyone structuring their BMAT preparation and what resources are they using for it?

Reply 52

Ecds

Probably beginning of September properly... no it's part time which I'm finding very useful cause I can do other stuff I've always wanted to do :smile:

how're you finding it and for how long have you been working?

I mean, I don't think any uni would necessarily find part time bad?

Reply 53

patchesohoulihan

Hello, joining in. I am an international applicant from the United States with a MS and BS, so hopefully that pulls some weight haha...
Does anyone know if there is a cutoff score for the BMAT at Oxford? I am also applying to Imperial and know that their cutoff is around a 4.6.

Thanks and best of luck to everyone.

Reply 54

nexttime

Original post by patchesohoulihan

There is no cut-off, but as you lack GCSEs it will form 100% of your pre-interview selection criteria. For a domestic applicant, chances of getting an interview fall away below 5.5ish, but as you are international you will need higher - 6s as a realistic minimum I would say.

Reply 55

joanne.chang

Hello! I'm an international applicant from Canada and was allocated to Oriel college. I'm a little lost as to what all the a-level scores mean; could someone please translate that to percentages? Thanks!

Reply 56

nexttime

Original post by joanne.chang

A*AA is achieved by about the top 9% of those who take a-levels, or about 23,500 people.

Oxford's position on Canadian qualifications is below

https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/international-students/international-qualifications?wssl=1

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 57

joanne.chang

Original post by nexttime

Thanks! So would that be around mid to high nineties in terms of percentage? The listed percentage on Oxford's website at 85% seems a bit low.

Reply 58

nexttime

Original post by joanne.chang

Thanks! So would that be around mid to high nineties in terms of percentage? The listed percentage on Oxford's website at 85% seems a bit low.

All I know is what it says on the website. A*AA is the grades Oxford require. Most who get in will achieve better than that, but Oxford makes its decisions before those results are available.

Trying to draw some kind of percentage comparison is obviously not going to be helpful - there are some exams where its easy to get 100% (the written part of our driving test) and some where 50% is a great result (BMAT). I don't know what Canada is like so I can't comment on equivalence.