Rant bc I’m now depressed - UCAT

I wanted to apply to dent but flopped the ucat. I rlly wanna try hard next year and hopefully make competitive applications to QMUL, Manchester, Plymouth amd Sheffield . I rlly rlly wanna get into QMUL. I got 1700 B3 this year. Next year I’m rlly aiming for 2200+ and I will start practicing a year early. Will a gap year rlly be bad , even if I get “3 A* s” in my a levels? I’m alr predicted “A* A* A”. I rlly don’t want to be seen as dumb or not as intelligent bc I didn’t get in the first time.
Also to add to this, I’m Indian and there is a weird stigma around taking a year off before uni. That being said my parents are supportive of me taking a gap year since I rlly wanna do dentistry, but in our family friend group there is only one other person who took a gap year before dentistry. I just feel like I’m gonna be judged and seen as dumb. Also I’m gonna feel a year behind, although I have one friend who is also taking a gap year and I have friends younger than me so I won’t be lonely, I still feel like I fxcked up my life. I feel like absolute shi. And also I take one I will be 20 when I join uni as I’m born before 20th of sep. not going to uni at 19 feels like I’ve wasted my ‘teenage’ years, I only had one life and I fxcked it up.

I wanted to apply to dent but flopped the ucat. I rlly wanna try hard next year and hopefully make competitive applications to QMUL, Manchester, Plymouth amd Sheffield . I rlly rlly wanna get into QMUL. I got 1700 B3 this year. Next year I’m rlly aiming for 2200+ and I will start practicing a year early. Will a gap year rlly be bad , even if I get “3 A* s” in my a levels? I’m alr predicted “A* A* A”. I rlly don’t want to be seen as dumb or not as intelligent bc I didn’t get in the first time.
Also to add to this, I’m Indian and there is a weird stigma around taking a year off before uni. That being said my parents are supportive of me taking a gap year since I rlly wanna do dentistry, but in our family friend group there is only one other person who took a gap year before dentistry. I just feel like I’m gonna be judged and seen as dumb. Also I’m gonna feel a year behind, although I have one friend who is also taking a gap year and I have friends younger than me so I won’t be lonely, I still feel like I fxcked up my life. I feel like absolute shi. And also I take one I will be 20 when I join uni as I’m born before 20th of sep. not going to uni at 19 feels like I’ve wasted my ‘teenage’ years, I only had one life and I fxcked it up.

Hiya, great to hear you're keen to be a dentist and I'm sorry to hear you're struggling at the moment.
Taking a gap year out is a very normal and common thing to do, so don't let this get you down at all! It's often the right decision for many people to ensure you're making the academic/career progress you need to at your own pace, as well as making informed decisions for your future.
Although I don't study this course, I've heard great things from dentistry studentsstudying at Plymouth, and if you're interested in the university and need any questions answering, I'm a current student so morethan happy to help 😊
You can find entry requirements here and can find out more about foundation years here if you're worried about grades at all. You can also take a look around on an upcoming open day by booking a space here.
Best of luck! 🙌
-Alfie, University of Plymouth Undergraduate Student Rep

Hi
A member of my family starting dentistry course this week. He was also on gap year. He flopped his UCAT with zero interviews. He then focused on his A level and got 2A*A then did UCAT and scored 2960b2 to secure 3 interviews and two offers. He made some money during the gap year. Next year you get much higher UCAT .

You still have it. Nothing is lost.

Hi that’s rlly good to hear well done to him!
So does dentistry not discriminate against gap years then? Do you know if they prefer applicants in the first cycle rather than second?

I wanted to apply to dent but flopped the ucat. I rlly wanna try hard next year and hopefully make competitive applications to QMUL, Manchester, Plymouth amd Sheffield . I rlly rlly wanna get into QMUL. I got 1700 B3 this year. Next year I’m rlly aiming for 2200+ and I will start practicing a year early. Will a gap year rlly be bad , even if I get “3 A* s” in my a levels? I’m alr predicted “A* A* A”. I rlly don’t want to be seen as dumb or not as intelligent bc I didn’t get in the first time.
Also to add to this, I’m Indian and there is a weird stigma around taking a year off before uni. That being said my parents are supportive of me taking a gap year since I rlly wanna do dentistry, but in our family friend group there is only one other person who took a gap year before dentistry. I just feel like I’m gonna be judged and seen as dumb. Also I’m gonna feel a year behind, although I have one friend who is also taking a gap year and I have friends younger than me so I won’t be lonely, I still feel like I fxcked up my life. I feel like absolute shi. And also I take one I will be 20 when I join uni as I’m born before 20th of sep. not going to uni at 19 feels like I’ve wasted my ‘teenage’ years, I only had one life and I fxcked it up.

Hi that’s rlly good to hear well done to him!
So does dentistry not discriminate against gap years then? Do you know if they prefer applicants in the first cycle rather than second?

they don’t discriminate against gap years, it’s mainly against resits so fr fr fr make sure you get those A*s or your chances will be gone sadly. just letting you know because this happened to me and now i can’t get into any university so take it seriously. best of luck x

So if I get A* A* A* and a high ucat next year - my chances will be just as good?
Tysm btw

I wanted to apply to dent but flopped the ucat. I rlly wanna try hard next year and hopefully make competitive applications to QMUL, Manchester, Plymouth amd Sheffield . I rlly rlly wanna get into QMUL. I got 1700 B3 this year. Next year I’m rlly aiming for 2200+ and I will start practicing a year early. Will a gap year rlly be bad , even if I get “3 A* s” in my a levels? I’m alr predicted “A* A* A”. I rlly don’t want to be seen as dumb or not as intelligent bc I didn’t get in the first time.
Also to add to this, I’m Indian and there is a weird stigma around taking a year off before uni. That being said my parents are supportive of me taking a gap year since I rlly wanna do dentistry, but in our family friend group there is only one other person who took a gap year before dentistry. I just feel like I’m gonna be judged and seen as dumb. Also I’m gonna feel a year behind, although I have one friend who is also taking a gap year and I have friends younger than me so I won’t be lonely, I still feel like I fxcked up my life. I feel like absolute shi. And also I take one I will be 20 when I join uni as I’m born before 20th of sep. not going to uni at 19 feels like I’ve wasted my ‘teenage’ years, I only had one life and I fxcked it up.

Hiya,
I just want to say, do not worry about taking a gap year at all - you can even maybe take this time to get experience and work in some clinics maybe or shadow dentists. I had friends who took gap years after not getting into medicine first time and now they after having received offers during gap years, they undertake research with their professors alongside their studies. There is no predicting how things will turn out, so try to focus on the positives of taking a gap year and how you can round out your other skills. There are also lots of students at university who have taken gap years or switched disciplines so you meet people from all different backgrounds and ages as people are just trying to figure their own interests out.
Good luck with your resit for the UCAT next year and I hope everything works out
If you have any questions about Sheffield, let me know!
Jivanthika

Hey, tysm for the reply! Was just wondering if you know how Plymouth dentistry views gap years? Ik dentistry is a very competitive course especially at a uni like Plymouth, so do admissions view gap years negatively? Do they prefer students who apply the first time round?
Thanks

What is the ucat cutoff likely to be for dentistry at Sheffield. I got 1930 b2.
GCSEs are 9999999887 and predicted are A*A*A