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DoE -- really necessary?

Poll

How important is it

Hey, i am in year 12 and have just moved to the UK. I have taken Phy, Chem, Bio,Maths (+Further Maths). I know that i desperately need to get some work experience and will get some in December (maybe earlier). But i was thinking whether i should try and do the Duke of Edinburgh award as well. I think that the pressure of 4 A levels, DoE and work experience will hamper my studies and the last think i want is bad grades.

So.. how important do you think that the DoE(can maximum do bronze) is really important for an oxbridge medicine application?

EDIT: Like i said, i need a priority list as i will need to do a lot of things new to me in these 2 years

Reply 1

James

14

Doing anything just to get CV points is generally a bad idea. On the other hand if you *want* to do D of E (and it is great fun) then definitely go for it. With good time management it's easy to fit in the required activities alongside your work - and indeed getting away from work every now and then to clear your mind may benefit your academic performance.

Reply 2

Matthew_Lowson

17

Only do something if you actually want to do it, if you are doing it to score points I think you are doing it for the wrong reasons - a similar thing happened for our Head Boy/Head Girl selections - which are done by staff, works much better than a popularty contets

Reply 3

krit_dw

OP

1

I agree that doing things just for gain (in this case CV points) isnt a way to approach things (and i almost never do that).
But look at my situation..
New here, Have 2 years, Will badly need work experience to get in, have to adjust to the new system. I need real sharp time management skills for these 2 years and i guess i need to have a priority list

Reply 4

Deep1989

1

Just to let you know, you can do straight gold, as I did in the summer of year 12.

Reply 5

krit_dw

OP

1

Deep1989

Just to let you know, you can do straight gold, as I did in the summer of year 12.

But doesnt that take 18 months?

Reply 6

purplefrog

18

I presume this is for your PS.

It is nowhere near necessary or advantageous to an application for Oxon. They even state this themselves. What they are looking for is eligibility for the course and how determined and suitable you are for it.

Playing football, learning sewing, working in a charity shop and then going for a walk in the hills for several days will not put you on top of someone with the same grades as you and who did not complete this award scheme. The PS is there for you to show how much you want to be on the course and why you are suited to it. At Oxon, they will interview you to see you as a person.

If you do go for it, purely to tick boxes, that is wrong. Surely you don't need the award to go and do a sport/service/hobby in your own time. All the award does it credit you for it. If you do go for it and do it, you had better say what you got out of it.

Hope that helps.

Reply 7

krit_dw

OP

1

purplefrog

I presume this is for your PS.

It is nowhere near necessary or advantageous to an application for Oxon. They even state this themselves. What they are looking for is eligibility for the course and how determined and suitable you are for it.

Playing football, learning sewing, working in a charity shop and then going for a walk in the hills for several days will not put you on top of someone with the same grades as you and who did not complete this award scheme. The PS is there for you to show how much you want to be on the course and why you are suited to it. At Oxon, they will interview you to see you as a person.

If you do go for it, purely to tick boxes, that is wrong. Surely you don't need the award to go and do a sport/service/hobby in your own time. All the award does it credit you for it. If you do go for it and do it, you had better say what you got out of it.

Hope that helps.

That helped a lot, thanks
In my priority list, medicine related work experience and my UMS marks occupy the 1st spot as they what you call 'subject related'
I have enough extra curricular (national level table tennis player, international level debater, quizzer :yep:

) (or atleast i think :shifty:

)

Reply 8

Deep1989

1

krit_dw

But doesnt that take 18 months?

Yeh. Well communtiy service has to last 18 months. I only did 16 or so, they're a little flexible with it.

Reply 9

Teebs

16

No one at Oxbridge cares about your extra curricular activities unless they're related to the course. I actually forgot to put that I'd done DofE on my personal statement.

Reply 10

olly_springs

9

DofE is ******** for people with no social life who do nothing but work and need something to try and convince university staff that they actually know how to close a book.

Reply 11

GerardT

I would say it is about as necessary as having blonde hair.

So, No.

Reply 12

Jigglypuff

16

olly_springs

DofE is ******** for people with no social life who do nothing but work and need something to try and convince university staff that they actually know how to close a book.

Or for people like me who played basketball and guitar anyway, and fancied doing the voluntary work purely because it would be rewarding and the expedition because it would be a bit of fun (rather than to get into Cambridge, believe it or not) and on top of this, shock horror, STILL had a social life and didn't work that hard.

I decided to do DofE when I was like 14-- I wasn't even thinking about getting into uni then.

OP, you sound like you want to do it solely to get into uni. I'd recommend doing it for a bit of fun (the expeditions were a laugh and the voluntary work rewarding) but Cambridge really won't give a damn. I'd have done most of the stuff (the sport and the skill sections) without doing the award itself anyway.

Reply 13

HereIstand

anyone ev er asks why you do doe just say you enjoy it and hope to be able to give something back in the future

Reply 14

Scipio90

Probably useless for improving your application; however, I regret not doing it, as the people who did seemed to enjoy it a lot, so you might want to just do it for fun anyway.

Reply 15

Galatea

11

It's obbviously not really necessary; but if you have Gold DofE on top of good grades and everything else, it certainly will do your application no harm. But it can be quite time-consuming, especially if you're doing straight Gold, and while the expidition can be quite fun there's all the planning, and map reading which gets tedious to say the least; only do it if you've got the time.

Reply 16

Craghyrax

17

None of those options are correct.

Let me put this straight:

If you are a motivated and proactive person who happens to also do a DoE and mention it in your statement, then it isn't going to set you back, and may help to enhance or highlight your self motivation.

If you go to a school that encourages you to do DoEs, and that's the only reason you do it - this will probably be pretty obvious, and won't help to sell you.

Obviously the DoE itself is entirely irrelevant. You stand a chance if you are disciplined, motivated, independent, hard working. proactive and able to convey this somehow. A friend of mine didn't mention any personal detail, or any extra curricular activities in his personal statement, yet came across as a strong, independent thinker and was admitted to Cambridge.

Entirely irrelevant.

Firstly- would say that it's really irrelevant.

If you have the grades you'll get invited to an interview and then the tutors really don't give a damn.

Secondly- work experience and DoE are easily combinable. Make the community part working in a nearby hospital or care centre etc. and that'd sort you out.

Then you just need a skill (first aid perhaps???) and a sport. if you already play a sport you're sorted.

FWIW- did the bronze DoE and did everything but got so annoyed with the management on the trip that I never bothered applying for the badge and hence never mentioned it on my PS and got in just fine, though not for medicine, but for a more competitive course :wink:

Reply 19

DaveJ

Cambridge (I dunno about Oxford) say that your character is important for their Medicine course, and Duke of Ed shows good determination and committment. So I'd say it would look good, but it is by no means essential.

EDIT: To the person about me, how competitive the course is doesn't make a difference!! The fact is, the only course they really care about your character is Medicine, so it would be the one Duke of Ed would at least be slightly relevant for.

DoE -- really necessary?

How important is it

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