Medicine 2022 entry for resit / retake / gap year applicants

Hello! I recently decided to take a gap year this year to reapply for medicine ( long story short is that I didn't do my research into the unis I applied to and now no longer want to attend the uni's I have offers at - medicine is a 5-6 year degree so I'd like to attend an institute I actually like). I have predicted 3A*s however with teacher assessed grades being used its become uncertain if Ill be awarded that. Hence, I would like to know what the UCAS process was like last year for those who had applied early (particularly for med) but were taking autumn exams and waiting for final results. Were your uni's sympathetic to your situation, how did you input your grades into the ucas system, if you're initial awarded grades hadn't met the course requirements but your autumn exam grades had what happened? were your offers communicated as conditional or unconditional etc

In the next round of applications, I will not be prioritising a certain university, merely doing the work I didn't do this year to thoroughly research each and every uni/course I apply to. I will still be applying strategically when doing this to maximise my chances of getting an offer with my individual portfolio

if I want to do work experience, what time in my gap year should this be done? am I meant to do it during my holidays? is that even long enough to be considered work experience?

Completely agree with what ecolier said ^ (I'm just browsing through different Med threads and thought I'd just pop this here)

I got 4 rejections last year. I know it feels awful after putting so much effort into your application, but rejection is just a part of life and medicine applications especially.
I reapplied this year during a gap year and already have 2 offers and waiting on 1 uni post-interview. I'm so glad I did end up taking a gap year and apply again for Medicine instead of doing an undergrad degree. I got a better UCAT and applied more strategically than last time, whilst also making sure the unis I did apply to were places I would love to be for the next 5yrs time.
1 yr in the grand scheme of things is nothing!!! Plus, during the gap year you have all the time in the world to destress and relax before another 5/6yrs of education and then going on to be a Dr. From my understanding, Medicine is HARD - a marathon, not a sprint.
Just because you didn't get in the first time round, it doesn't mean you should give up if you really want it. Trust me, I was SOOO CLOSE to giving up! I ended up deciding it was best to reapply than regret it later on, and I haven't regretted my decision at all!!

Good luck for anyone reapplying!! I've been there (I know you're gonna hate the UCAT or BMAT again), but it will all be worth it in the end!! Just have some faith!!

(If you have any questions about reapplying, feel free to ask me!)

Oh god. I didn’t get any offers this year unfortunately congratulations on your 2 offers, may I ask where you applied this year and where you were successful/rejected?
I don’t want to waste a year, so what did you do to make your gap year more productive?
Having to take the BMAT and UCAT again is just exhausting to think about, so how did you stay resilient?

Awwe, I hope you are doing alright. I know it sucks right now, but I hope you know that you can do it! Don't give up!

This year, I applied to Cardiff, Sheffield, Exeter and Plymouth. I got rejected from Sheffield pre-interview due to my UCAT, but got interviews from the other 3. Currently have offers from Plymouth and Exeter, and waiting on Cardiff.
I decided to just apply to UCAT unis and focus on one test, rather than trying to practice for the BMAT as there weren't any unis that struck my fancy out of the BMAT ones. I definitely didn't get the highest UCAT score but it was a great improvement on my score last yr. Even so, I opted to apply to unis that took the UCAT into less consideration, allowing me to get more interviews this time round. I knew that UCAT scores would inflate this year so out of the 4 Med Schools I applied to, only 1 (Sheffield) really put an emphasis on the UCAT for getting an interview. In previous years, my UCAT would have met the threshold for interview, but with the rapid increase in applicants this year, it just wasn't high enough for this years cut off. When choosing Med schools, be strategic but make sure you would actually go there if you do end up getting an offer! Thinking about how the TAGs/ CAGs will affect the number of med applicants reapplying this time, I would say supposedly roughly the same or more as this year; therefore, the UCAT scores are likely to be high this year too.

In terms of taking the UCAT/ BMAT again (as I said, I only did the UCAT but the same applies if I did choose to do the BMAT), for me, it was all about how much I knew I had all the time to chill after I did the UCAT. Since I already had the grades and no longer had school to worry about, all my energy in Sept went into UCAT prep. Afterwards, I could do whatever I wanted to basically lol. I did maybe 2/3/4 hrs every day in the morning for a month leading up to the UCAT test day which really helped. Having friends who were also reapplying to medicine and dentistry; therefore also doing the UCAT really helped, as we were in the same boat and motivated each other by just updating each other on how we were finding UCAT prep etc.

For the Gap year, don't expect to fill it with anything and everything. For me, atm its a time to chill before uni. In terms of productive stuff, I've done some work to help save up for uni (specifically tutoring which helps to retain some Alevel knowledge aha), volunteering and just spent the time developing my Medicine application. Since I can't travel or leave home much, I've been doing random things to keep busy. Take the time to learn new skills! (I'm failing at learning French atm but it's good fun!)
I know this is far ahead, but when interview season comes along. Use your time wisely to practice for the interviews properly. I know I definitely didn't last year as I had Mocks, but there really is a difference between a prepared candidate and the ones who's just turned up and read the GMC the night before aha. I personally used a word doc and wrote down answers to questions I found on Medic portal and got used to practicing with friends and family who would ask random interview questions at me. (Plus, youtube vids from Ali Abdaal, Ollie Burton and Kharma Medic were really useful for med application stuff.)

Sorry this was really long-winded, but I like to be thorough lol. Good luck!! You can do it!

Honestly, thank you so much for your time. I really do appreciate the detail you’ve put into your response. Again, congratulations on your offers! They’re all definitely well deserved.

I am planning to reapply next year (2022), and I completely understand that it’ll be as competitive as this year due to the sheer number of reapplicants from this cycle. Knowing this, I’m better equipped in taking my admission exams and interviews A LOT more seriously than I did this year (I really underestimated this entire process, and I definitely don’t believe I gave it my 110% , so as much as I am disappointed with the result I can see why it has led to the rejections I’ve received). I was just wondering how you managed to convince your family to allow you to take a gap year, my mum would much rather me pursue biomed than ‘waste a year’ and she’s quite stringent too.

I am hoping to do both the UCAT and BMAT, and reapply to imperial, UCL, kings and queen mary!! (St George biomed —> would allow me to transfer to med if I do exceptional in my 1st year). I have come to grips with my choices and what I have planned.

Could you please specify what exactly you did in the gap year other than the medical prep. What specific work experience/job did you undertake? What is something you wish you did? And something you regretted doing during your gap year? How did you stay resilient/committed during this whole process also?

Quite a few questions, but I’d be super grateful if you answered (: thank you!