Downing College 2022 A100 Medicine Applicants

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I'm not at Downing but am a Cambridge medical student in clinical school - so just wanted to wish best of luck to those applying! Just wanted to drop a few tips to alleviate any anxiety because I wish someone did this for me when I was sitting the interview! Here goes:

1) You've probably heard this loads but THINK OUT LOUD! Even if you can't answer exactly what the interviewer is asking about - sometimes revealing your thought process can prompt the interviewer into explaining your thoughts, and this may steer away from what they were actually asking about in the first place! You think the interviewer is in control but really you can steer the interview in your direction too!

2) If you know the background of the interviewer i.e. what research field they are in - it's helpful to look up what kind of research projects they have been involved with. They may be more likely to ask scientific questions - at your level - from this field. For example, one of my interviewers was a Biochem graduate from Oxford - think she specialised in genetics, and coincidentally got a question on pedigree diagrams. This isn't a hard and fast rule as my next interviewer was a haematologist but I got asked about physics lol.

3) Stay up to scratch with your A-Level knowledge which I'm sure you all are - you're not expected to know anything more than what you've been taught in school - everything else just involves lateral thinking.

4) If you haven't done A-Level physics, still be up to scratch with basic concepts such as solids/liquids/gases and sound/light etc. Non physicists get asked physics questions too - again this isn't actually A-level physics knowledge but the application of GCSE concepts with lateral thinking. The reason behind this is that some concepts in first year medicine involve concepts from physics so I guess they're just checking how much you are able to catch up to this despite not doing physics?

5) I wouldn't be too fussed about knowing human anatomy/physiology for the interview as such, as these are things you will be taught during the course but would recommend purchasing this book anyway. If you do know a thing or two and have the chance to show it off during the interview, I'm sure they'll be super impressed! It will be super useful to have a headstart once you get into medicine (firm this, believe this and manifest this!!!) - those who did a little bit of pre-reading over the summer always did a lot better and had an easier start to the course than those who didn't. I would highly recommend checking out this website to purchase this book: https://3e095eowijqz-l5c27fhmqvd6o.hop.clickbank.net/

Message me if you have any questions!

Reply 61

Gracedarcy

Original post by Sun.h

Yea i had mine i relly rlly messed it up

I’m sure it wasn’t that bad, everyone always thinks they did bad but they can still get offered a place :smile:

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 62

janoski99

What did everyone get in the BMAT? Do we know how they use it after interview…

Reply 63

janoski99

What did everyone get in the BMAT? Do we know how they use it after interview…

Reply 64

Gracedarcy

Does anyone know what the average score for BMAT was? I think I read somewhere that they use BMAT more for interview selection however it is still used to distinguish between candidates after interview