The UCAS &#x27;chat&#x27; thread for all 2009 hopeful medics...

OP

aMasterPieceOfDNA

You don't have to put the UKCAT or the BMAT on your UCAS form. Your scores will be sent along to the unis you apply to. Just DON'T miss the BMAT deadline :smile:

Thanks for clearing that up for me! :smile:

Reply 4

OP

I'm amazed by how much I've had to cut down in my personal statement already. At this rate I'm not going to be able to throw in anything non-medical related (i.e sports, hobbies...etc) but I know I'm going to have to. I'm aiming on finishing my first draft today and I shall be sending it to a few PS helpers here on TSR to give me some feedback on what I've wrote so far. I'm quite worried that what I think is good will end up being rubbish in contrary.

Reply 5

Speedbird2008

3

Hi all!

I am currently just worried about getting predicted AAA and doing well in my UKCAT!

Have you all filled out your UCAS form yet, except your PS?

My PS is nearly finished I think, though it is probably ****e. :biggrin:

Reply 6

BuckBuckBuckaroo

I've also nearly finished my first draft and it is extremely hard to be selective because you don't know what to choose over what. I'm trying really hard to think like a lecturer but it just isn't working!

Reply 7

OP

Speedbird2008

Have you all filled out your UCAS form yet, except your PS?

My PS is nearly finished I think, though it is probably ****e. :biggrin:

No where near finished with the UCAS form. Still need to run a few things with my parents about personal info / additional info before finishing those sections. I haven't put my choices on yet because I'm quite frankly scared to - plus knowing me, they could change any time. I think I'm finished with the education section but again, I might not carry on Computing to A2 so I have to discuss this with my head of year when I go back to school. I've listed all my individual module grades and overall grades and everything else required in that section. That's really about it.

Good luck with your UKCAT. My best advice with that is to try your best, read carefully in the VR section and spend more time in the AR section. Don't be afraid to guess in the QR section - I literally only completed 19 questions properly and guessed everything else (21 questions) and got 690 in that section somehow. VR and AR pulled it down for me. It's done though. :smile:

Reply 8

DrDomDom

Im drafting my PS (draft 3) as we speak. Seriously, there is so much that I could write, but not enough space, so its a challenge being selective and getting the most from your words.

I'm on my fifth draft at the mo (at least!) and I'm finding it really hard to inject my enthusiasm and passion for medicine without sounding uber-cheesy. Anyone else find this?
I'm so worried that my PS is sounding too boring and generic, it's just not conveying me properly. It's a headache when applying to Edinburgh, so I won't even have the chance to show them what I'm like in person :frown:

I'm also confused about the UKCAT/UCAS thing. I'm sure Pearson Vue send our scores to the universities we apply to, but why would UCAS put it on there as a qualification if we didn't need to add it onto our application?
:confused:

Reply 9

MagdaleneMedic

Hey I just added my personal statement, medicine 30, best of luck to all of you applyin this year. It's a nail biting process that can realy take it out of you, but between interviews, and module results this year will pass in a flash!

And as for UKCAT - its a joke. Having been the only person i'd known applying for medicine I didnt realise it was a Big deal, i didn have a book or practice papers. I went an sat the test on the 26th of June 2007 cuz tht was the earliest appointment available. And i didnt start stressing out until i got in there. I think i did fine. My non-cognative analysis section said i was a nice person who found that helping people was something they truely enjoyed - or something to that effect. lol. But anyway abstract reasoning and non-cognative were both removed from the scoring sections of the 2008 UKCAT because they were "invalid". =S. dont stress out about it. You wil be okay.

The same applies for BMAT, i didn have a book. And i knew there were three sections, but i didnt realise i had to write an essay that couldn be longer than a page. I didnt understand the essay title i picked either and i think that probabnly really came across when i proceeded to argue about global warming =/ (not mentioned in the question). lol.

My point is if i can get in you can too - you jus need the grades :wink:

! xxx

Reply 10

OP

scaryhair

I'm on my fifth draft at the mo (at least!) and I'm finding it really hard to inject my enthusiasm and passion for medicine without sounding uber-cheesy. Anyone else find this?
I'm so worried that my PS is sounding too boring and generic, it's just not conveying me properly.

I'm in the same boat - there are a few sections of my P.S that reflects my personality and passion but there are a more areas where I sound sooo boring and unenthusiastic. I'm finding it hard to keep mentioning why I want to become a doctor when talking about work experience...etc since I tend to write where I did it, what I did, and what I learned and leave it at that due to the lack of space we're given.

Reply 11

jjkkll

scaryhair

I'm on my fifth draft at the mo (at least!) and I'm finding it really hard to inject my enthusiasm and passion for medicine without sounding uber-cheesy. Anyone else find this?
I'm so worried that my PS is sounding too boring and generic, it's just not conveying me properly. It's a headache when applying to Edinburgh, so I won't even have the chance to show them what I'm like in person :frown:

I'm also confused about the UKCAT/UCAS thing. I'm sure Pearson Vue send our scores to the universities we apply to, but why would UCAS put it on there as a qualification if we didn't need to add it onto our application?
:confused:

its depends on what you consider to be cheesy?

how long is yours at the moment?

Reply 12

jjkkll

its depends on what you consider to be cheesy?

how long is yours at the moment?

Just using the cliche cheesy words like 'fascinating' and 'passion' - this is especially frustrating when you can't really think of other words that describe your feelings as well as that without sounding like a thesaurus.
Mine's about 4500 characters at the moment.

Reply 13

Llamageddon

18

I had mine at 3 pages before the cull started. Sometimes you just have to be brutal, and concentrate on the things that best apply to medicine. It's very important to sound enthusiastic about what you write, though, rather than just giving a bland list of things.

I wrote it as though it was a scientific article rather than a novel. It was probably quite bland, but I had all the relevent information on there and it worked reasonably well.

I'm sure you'll do great scaryhair. Your posts suggest you will, and you have the qualifications to back up your personal qualities. Good luck :smile:

Reply 14

Llamageddon

I had mine at 3 pages before the cull started. Sometimes you just have to be brutal, and concentrate on the things that best apply to medicine. It's very important to sound enthusiastic about what you write, though, rather than just giving a bland list of things.

I wrote it as though it was a scientific article rather than a novel. It was probably quite bland, but I had all the relevent information on there and it worked reasonably well.

I'm sure you'll do great scaryhair. Your posts suggest you will, and you have the qualifications to back up your personal qualities. Good luck :smile:

Thanks, I really hope so. I've been editing it tonight quite extensively with a good friend, and I feel it's a little more 'me'. I'm now just waiting for the PS helpers to get back to me...

Reply 15

OP

I've checked out a few of the PS uploaded on TSR and I'm slightly put off by how my PS so far is based on my experience at the nursing home plus my three weeks work experience in hospitals mainly and that's like 3/4 of my personal statement. The ones I've read have been primarily based on A-Level choices and extra cirriculars such as sport and roles in school with such little focus on work experience placements...etc. The rest of my PS will be based on my year as a volunteer at Oxfam plus sports, reading, mentoring in school...etc but is it bad that I've focused the main chunk of my PS on experiences gained at the nursing home and work experience placements?

Reply 16

Llamageddon

18

scaryhair

Thanks, I really hope so. I've been editing it tonight quite extensively with a good friend, and I feel it's a little more 'me'. I'm now just waiting for the PS helpers to get back to me...

those slackers!

I got my friends dad to look over mine. I then disregarded all his advice as "old school snobby nonsense". I was really quite arrogant back then, come to think of it.

Reply 17

magichearts

7

I just finished my first draft for my PS and I'm 2000 characters over the limit. In my first draft I put down everything I've done and for my 2nd draft I think i'll have to start selecting what is important and what's not. This is going to be tough! And did anyone else find that the Opening and Conclusion were the two hardest paragraphs to write?!

Reply 18

jjkkll

scaryhair

Just using the cliche cheesy words like 'fascinating' and 'passion' - this is especially frustrating when you can't really think of other words that describe your feelings as well as that without sounding like a thesaurus.
Mine's about 4500 characters at the moment.

I'm on my 4th draft, and i have not used the word fascination and passion only once!! :biggrin:

which draft are you on?

mine was once 4500 and i killed the useless stuff.

Reply 19