Medicine 2024 entry for resit / retake / gap year applicants

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

Just wondering as I am on a gap year currently and have my achieved grades- is clearing open on the 5th of July and do you think i would have to do an interview over the phone or arrange it on zoom sometime after

Reply 5

KA_P

OP

20

Original post by isa04

Just wondering as I am on a gap year currently and have my achieved grades- is clearing open on the 5th of July and do you think i would have to do an interview over the phone or arrange it on zoom sometime after

I would have a read through this thread:
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7327602

Yes, clearing opens on 5th July. For medicine, they may ask you for either an in-person or virtual interview at a later date (perhaps a week later, maybe a few days). The link above will take you to the UCAS Extra thread, which is currently open until Clearing opens.
Hope that helps!

Reply 6

Original post by KA_P

I would have a read through this thread:
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7327602

Yes, clearing opens on 5th July. For medicine, they may ask you for either an in-person or virtual interview at a later date (perhaps a week later, maybe a few days). The link above will take you to the UCAS Extra thread, which is currently open until Clearing opens.
Hope that helps!

I emailed like 8 unis that did Ucas Extra before only Buckingham said yes but the tuition fees are 38 k a year (AKA wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy toooooooooo much bro ) even for home students and everyone else said no and some said not even clearing

Reply 7

Hi, I'm a 2023 medicine reject, just received all my rejections. I was wondering if anyone else is in the same boat, and if so what are you going to do? I don't really think that a gap year is for me- my UCAT was top 10% and I had a good amount of volunteering. I got 3 interviews so I assume that the interview performance itself was my downfall. I just don't know where to go to get into medicine now? Abroad (Latvia etc) seems to only do medicine if you do biology A-level too, which I do not. Graduate medicine is more competitive to get in to, and I am just really lost as to where to go with my application from here. Any any any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Reply 8

Dabz69

8

If med is your goal take a gap year and reapply. Med abroad is a risk imo. I took 2 gap years and finally got in this year so don't lose hope and don't give up.

Original post by katyasummerfield

Hi, I'm a 2023 medicine reject, just received all my rejections. I was wondering if anyone else is in the same boat, and if so what are you going to do? I don't really think that a gap year is for me- my UCAT was top 10% and I had a good amount of volunteering. I got 3 interviews so I assume that the interview performance itself was my downfall. I just don't know where to go to get into medicine now? Abroad (Latvia etc) seems to only do medicine if you do biology A-level too, which I do not. Graduate medicine is more competitive to get in to, and I am just really lost as to where to go with my application from here. Any any any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Reply 9

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by katyasummerfield

Hi, I'm a 2023 medicine reject, just received all my rejections. I was wondering if anyone else is in the same boat, and if so what are you going to do? I don't really think that a gap year is for me- my UCAT was top 10% and I had a good amount of volunteering. I got 3 interviews so I assume that the interview performance itself was my downfall. I just don't know where to go to get into medicine now? Abroad (Latvia etc) seems to only do medicine if you do biology A-level too, which I do not. Graduate medicine is more competitive to get in to, and I am just really lost as to where to go with my application from here. Any any any comments would be greatly appreciated.

I am currently in a gap year and I advise you to take one as you can make your application even better the second time round - better interviews etcetera. After you have the grades it is easier to get an interview and during your gap year you get a job as an HCA which you can talk about in your interview which will hopefully help

Reply 10

medic0975

13

Original post by katyasummerfield

Hi, I'm a 2023 medicine reject, just received all my rejections. I was wondering if anyone else is in the same boat, and if so what are you going to do? I don't really think that a gap year is for me- my UCAT was top 10% and I had a good amount of volunteering. I got 3 interviews so I assume that the interview performance itself was my downfall. I just don't know where to go to get into medicine now? Abroad (Latvia etc) seems to only do medicine if you do biology A-level too, which I do not. Graduate medicine is more competitive to get in to, and I am just really lost as to where to go with my application from here. Any any any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry to hear that. 😕 What medical schools did you apply to? Medicine interviews are incredibly subjective, dependent on the interviewer's mood, the questions being asked, your explanation and whether you hit on those key markscheme topics such as the NHS core values. It's hard I get it, the medicine application is such a long and draining process. Take some time for yourself and make sure to talk to friends, family etc about the situation. @Faisal101 @Jessi2004 Thoughts?

You are fortunate to have got a good UCAT this time round, it should mean a gap year would be easier. You'd have achieved A-levels (so focus on getting the grades this summer!!) so only need to worry about interviews and UCAT. Once UCAT is over, it'd be preparing for interviews. You would have the advantage of not having to juggle A-levels alongside volunteering, interview prep, etc etc like you did this year. For your gap year, there are so many opportunities whether that is becoming a HCA where you can develop skills such as team working and communication - all of which you can present at interview and will also help at medical school. Think of a gap year as a positive - talk to your family and have a thorough discussion about what the future might hold and go from there. Grad entry is not the way forwards, it's like you said very competitive and you'll have 'wasted' 3 years that a) you don't care about that much and b) spent a fortune in tuition, accommodation as well as other finances. A year out is nothing compared to at least 10 years to become a fully qualified/certified doctor (in this case a GP). Best of luck! 😊

Reply 11

Faisal101

18

Original post by katyasummerfield

Hi, I'm a 2023 medicine reject, just received all my rejections. I was wondering if anyone else is in the same boat, and if so what are you going to do? I don't really think that a gap year is for me- my UCAT was top 10% and I had a good amount of volunteering. I got 3 interviews so I assume that the interview performance itself was my downfall. I just don't know where to go to get into medicine now? Abroad (Latvia etc) seems to only do medicine if you do biology A-level too, which I do not. Graduate medicine is more competitive to get in to, and I am just really lost as to where to go with my application from here. Any any any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Why don’t you want to take a gap year?

Reply 12

thank you all of you for all your help. I don't know why I'm against a gap year this year, I know it would definitely benefit my application, however in a selfish sense there's a fear of fomo which I get. I also think it would crush me even more if I didn't get in next year after spending a whole year dedicating my time to preparing for medicine. I completely understand that it would help me get relevant experiences which I possibly could have used for my interview this year, but I almost fear the rejection for next year already and I almost fear how I'd feel after dedicating so much of my time. My parents aren't keen on a gap year either, so I'm not sure how I would financially sustain myself without their support. If I was to go into pharmacy this year (my 5th choice), could I reapply for medicine whilst still being enrolled in my pharmacy degree?

Original post by medic0975

Sorry to hear that. 😕 What medical schools did you apply to? Medicine interviews are incredibly subjective, dependent on the interviewer's mood, the questions being asked, your explanation and whether you hit on those key markscheme topics such as the NHS core values. It's hard I get it, the medicine application is such a long and draining process. Take some time for yourself and make sure to talk to friends, family etc about the situation. @Faisal101 @Jessi2004 Thoughts?

You are fortunate to have got a good UCAT this time round, it should mean a gap year would be easier. You'd have achieved A-levels (so focus on getting the grades this summer!!) so only need to worry about interviews and UCAT. Once UCAT is over, it'd be preparing for interviews. You would have the advantage of not having to juggle A-levels alongside volunteering, interview prep, etc etc like you did this year. For your gap year, there are so many opportunities whether that is becoming a HCA where you can develop skills such as team working and communication - all of which you can present at interview and will also help at medical school. Think of a gap year as a positive - talk to your family and have a thorough discussion about what the future might hold and go from there. Grad entry is not the way forwards, it's like you said very competitive and you'll have 'wasted' 3 years that a) you don't care about that much and b) spent a fortune in tuition, accommodation as well as other finances. A year out is nothing compared to at least 10 years to become a fully qualified/certified doctor (in this case a GP). Best of luck! 😊

Reply 13

have you applied for 2023 medicine? Or are you going to apply for 2024? All the best regardless!!

Original post by isa04

I am currently in a gap year and I advise you to take one as you can make your application even better the second time round - better interviews etcetera. After you have the grades it is easier to get an interview and during your gap year you get a job as an HCA which you can talk about in your interview which will hopefully help

Reply 14

Well done!!! Where will you be studying this year?

Original post by Dabz69

If med is your goal take a gap year and reapply. Med abroad is a risk imo. I took 2 gap years and finally got in this year so don't lose hope and don't give up.

Reply 15

GANFYD

18

Original post by katyasummerfield

thank you all of you for all your help. I don't know why I'm against a gap year this year, I know it would definitely benefit my application, however in a selfish sense there's a fear of fomo which I get. I also think it would crush me even more if I didn't get in next year after spending a whole year dedicating my time to preparing for medicine. I completely understand that it would help me get relevant experiences which I possibly could have used for my interview this year, but I almost fear the rejection for next year already and I almost fear how I'd feel after dedicating so much of my time. My parents aren't keen on a gap year either, so I'm not sure how I would financially sustain myself without their support. If I was to go into pharmacy this year (my 5th choice), could I reapply for medicine whilst still being enrolled in my pharmacy degree?

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=7209108

Some med schools will accept applications from those in the first year of a degree, but many will not, so you would be limiting your options.
Do not assume you have to dedicate the whole year to preparing for medicine - you will have no school, if you get the grades, so should have plenty of time to work/volunteer, develop yourself as a person and have some fun!

Reply 16

Thank you so much for all of your help, I will definitely explore my alternate routes. My school is arranging to discuss things with all of the medical rejections, so that should possibly help too. All the best!- p.s thank you for the gap year stories thread, very interesting!

Original post by GANFYD

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=7209108

Some med schools will accept applications from those in the first year of a degree, but many will not, so you would be limiting your options.
Do not assume you have to dedicate the whole year to preparing for medicine - you will have no school, if you get the grades, so should have plenty of time to work/volunteer, develop yourself as a person and have some fun!

Reply 17

Faisal101

18

Original post by katyasummerfield

thank you all of you for all your help. I don't know why I'm against a gap year this year, I know it would definitely benefit my application, however in a selfish sense there's a fear of fomo which I get. I also think it would crush me even more if I didn't get in next year after spending a whole year dedicating my time to preparing for medicine. I completely understand that it would help me get relevant experiences which I possibly could have used for my interview this year, but I almost fear the rejection for next year already and I almost fear how I'd feel after dedicating so much of my time. My parents aren't keen on a gap year either, so I'm not sure how I would financially sustain myself without their support. If I was to go into pharmacy this year (my 5th choice), could I reapply for medicine whilst still being enrolled in my pharmacy degree?

I’m going to copy and paste something that I’ve said before about gap years and advise re that.

basically I’m on a gap yr currently and have been successful in getting a med offer alhamdulillah. I was speaking with my mum and we both agreed that even if I was unsuccessful in that regard, this gap year has still otherwise been very valuable and beneficial. I despise when people call gap years as a waste of time, or something that makes you behind. Behind what exactly? If you can’t achieve anything non med related in a gap year then that says a lot about you as a person.

A gap year gives you free rein to advance yourself in so many facets, now that you aren’t restrained by school. During this time I have earned thousands of pounds, gained a lot of work experience which will hopefully give me an edge over my med student peers in clinical placements, which cancels out any academic advantage they may have on me, which is mostly irrelevant anyway and from my understanding not as big of a deal as some people who are scared to take a gap year make it seem to be. I have been able to teach children the Quran and about Islam at a madrasah. I have strengthened my hifdh ul quran. I have made a solid start in the Arabic language itself, using the madina arabic textbooks. That does not sound like a waste to me.

i haven’t even mentioned the med application side of it. Having alhamdulillah achieved aaa, I also massively improved my ucat from 2670 to 3040, and this is because I knew what to expect and where I went wrong, and I had a stronger motivation. I had way more time to do interview prep, using predominantly r/ucat discord server. I secured 4 interviews and have been accepted to med skl.

if I were you, I’d hustle and get aaa at least, no excuses. Work hard, don’t complain, don’t moan that you aren’t good enough to get aaa. Secure a hca job via nhs jobs or indeed as soon as you finish a levels. If you want more advice on why hca is important I can copy and paste something i said to someone else. Spend 2 months on u at so you can get a high score and get 4 interviews. If it’s below 2850 do Bmat and apply to a bmat uni. Start interview prep maybe 3 hours a week, then 2 weeks leading up to each real interview do a mock a day. Do your hobbies simultaneous to work and int prep.

Edit: in my gap year I have also been able to focus on the gym. I have also restarted karate after a 7 year hiatus

So with work experience, it’s not so much how much you do, what’s a lot more important is how you can reflect on it in interview. The main benefit I’ve found from hca is how much of a realistic insight it gives you into medicine, as all the challenges in the nhs will now affect you too. And as a hca you really learn a lot about the multidisciplinary team, in fact you become a part of it. And it is also a great opportunity to build on your patient communication skills, and will gives you lots to talk about re empathy, compassion etc. and you will also be able to make friends with young jr drs whove just graduated p, so will know the interview process very well, as opposed to drs who are older. And these jr drs might even be able to do mock interviews with you, and let you shadow them. The unique opportunity to do actual mock interviews with the very Same person you’ve shadowed is a massive help, as they will be able to help you know how to link things you’ve seen them do to the questions. And also working as a hca is actually decent money for our age group, I earn 9.50 ph on weekdays, and Saturdays and nights I earn 11.50, and the real big one, Sundays I earn 17.50. So that is a big bonus of working as a hca. How ever I must admit it is a very tough job, and I am seriously considering quitting, but I think if you’re able to stay in the job at least till you finish all your interviews, it will be a massive benefit.

Reply 18

Dabz69

8

Original post by katyasummerfield

Well done!!! Where will you be studying this year?

Thank you so much !! So far i have recieved an offer from Southampton but im still waiting on 2 other unis so i guess ill decide when they get back(hopefully get back soon ahahah)

Reply 19