Hello everyone – long time no post!I just wanted to share some wonderful news and offer a heartfelt thank you to this amazing community.
It’s been just shy of a year since I joined TSR, around the time my darling daughter sat the UCAT. She had a bit of a wobble on the day and scored 2480 (Band 3), which left us feeling disheartened — especially as she had been hoping to apply to Oxford.
With careful strategic application planning, shaped massively by this forum, we submitted Oxford as an aspirational choice alongside Exeter, Leicester, and Queen’s University Belfast. She was fortunate to be invited to interviews at Leicester and Queen’s — and, after a long wait, we’re absolutely over the moon that she has now secured a place at her first-choice Leicester, with A-levels of A*A*A*A.
A huge thank you to the incredible contributors who helped guide us through this journey:
@MedMama @jonjon6 @GANFYD , and many others. Your advice on personal statements, interview prep, MMI tips, and general encouragement was invaluable. A special thank you to @jonjon6 for your above-and-beyond kindness during the UCAT wobble – your support truly lifted her spirits.
We’ve also been following others’ journeys closely — such as
@eagleflight and your recommendation of MMI Interview prep book by Dr Vasu — congratulations to you too!
There are also many others I’ve interacted with on the forum — getting advice, chatting about interview prep and comparing notes with others shortlisted at the same universities. I’m sorry I haven’t named everyone individually, but I’m just as grateful to you all. I hope you’ve also secured your first choices and are celebrating too.
For those who haven’t had the news they hoped for, I’m truly sorry — but please don’t give up. As many have said, sometimes this journey takes two years or rounds of applying for under grad or the post grad route.
As a general practitioner working border of South Warwickshire and North Oxfordshire, we regularly hosted students from nearby med schools — many of whom have taken different routes into medicine, whether through the traditional undergraduate path or the graduate entry course. They all go on to be excellent doctors. There
is more than one route into this profession — and it’s worth it.
I’ve been a doctor for 25 years now and can honestly say medicine is the most rewarding career. DD now begins her own journey, and I couldn't be prouder.
I do have one small regret — I wish I’d found this forum sooner than 2024, as I would’ve had more time to get to know all the wonderful people on here. But hey-ho… my younger daughter will be going through the same process in three years’ time, so in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger — I’ll be back.
Warmest wishes to all, from a very proud an relieved dad.