aint no way im expected to prep for ucat?

Hi, im in yr 12.
All my friends have already started doing ucas prep. they said the workload would get 2 heavy later which i understand and all but isn't it 2 early to start prepping now? Anyone have any advice for what i should do now for UCAS (if anything)? Should i briefly familiarise myself with the structure etc?
Im the type of person who leaves thing to basically last min, so i know as time goes on, i will get more busy and procrastinate it even more. Plus i am NOT coping well with the a level workload at all.
I do bio chem maths, wanna go into medicine

Right now for med you have to secure good predictions and focus on going work experience in hospitals care homes etc anywhere where you are caring for someone as well as other supercurriculars like books lectures podcasts or reaserch projects. You might wanna start UCAT prep around spring time too.
Med is however a hard degree that is really taxing on ppl mentally so you should seriously consider if you would really want to do it or you're doing it for your family or money and come up with a reason for it. Especially with the current situation in the UK.
Also check if you're contextual anywhere as you can get into some programs like UKWPMED which gives you chances to interview or like uni specific programs too such as the uni of birmingham.
But in summary focus on getting good predicteds, work experience and supercurriculars and then focus on getting a good UCAT.

Hi, im in yr 12.
All my friends have already started doing ucas prep. they said the workload would get 2 heavy later which i understand and all but isn't it 2 early to start prepping now? Anyone have any advice for what i should do now for UCAS (if anything)? Should i briefly familiarise myself with the structure etc?
Im the type of person who leaves thing to basically last min, so i know as time goes on, i will get more busy and procrastinate it even more. Plus i am NOT coping well with the a level workload at all.
I do bio chem maths, wanna go into medicine

Hi, im in yr 12.
All my friends have already started doing ucas prep. they said the workload would get 2 heavy later which i understand and all but isn't it 2 early to start prepping now? Anyone have any advice for what i should do now for UCAS (if anything)? Should i briefly familiarise myself with the structure etc?
Im the type of person who leaves thing to basically last min, so i know as time goes on, i will get more busy and procrastinate it even more. Plus i am NOT coping well with the a level workload at all.
I do bio chem maths, wanna go into medicine

There is nothing called "UCAS prep". UCAS is a website for you to submit university application and you don't need to prepare for it.
If you are referring to the medicine admissions test, UCAT, then it is different to UCAS.
UCAT i think needs early preparation, so you need to plan accordingly

UCAS is the website you use to apply to uni's.
The UCAT is the medical school's admissions exam, I think you mean this.
I could not emphasise how much the UCAT takes out of you if you do too much practise (it is a thing, yes, to do too much for the UCAT) The UCAT is more like an IQ test rather than a school exam so it is pretty easy to say you'll have never done a test like it before. It tests you on your speed reading, mental maths, analytical skills, morals, prioritisation, time management and problem solving skills, there is nothing you can revise for really, just get better at the more you practise. You definitely DO have to practise for it though, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Most people advise you start prep around 2-3 months before your actual date (anywhere from June to September in the summer you take it which will be next year). Although, I would say that just looking at some question types right now isn't a horrible idea, just it isn't a good idea to start "studying" for it just now.
All in all, definitely focus on your a-levels as you won't get into any medical school without them. Familiarise yourself with the UCAT questions if you want, but definitely don't start proper revision yet.
Also, as above, ensure medicine really is the career you want to get yourself into right now. Only go for it if you genuinely cannot imagine yourself in any other job and you are willing to sacrifice large parts of your life (missing weddings, not meeting with friends, not being there to take care of your children etc.) to work obscenely long shifts and study for exams even while you are a qualified doctor. With the state of medicine in the UK right now, a lack of funding, a failing NHS and competition ratios for doctors all mean that you would be paid barely above minimum wage and not guaranteed a job higher up than that at all. So DO NOT do it for the money or because someone else wants you to do medicine.
Best of luck, any questions and I'll be here!

Hi, im in yr 12.
All my friends have already started doing ucat prep. they said the workload would get 2 heavy later which i understand and all but isn't it 2 early to start prepping now? Anyone have any advice for what i should do now for UCAT (if anything)? Should i briefly familiarise myself with the structure etc?
Im the type of person who leaves thing to basically last min, so i know as time goes on, i will get more busy and procrastinate it even more. Plus i am NOT coping well with the a level workload at all.
I do bio chem maths, wanna go into medicine

Hi,
I am in year 13 now, and from my own experience I would say take things at your own pace, don't get overwhelmed by everything at once or you're more likely to risk everything (I did that myself, and my ucat wasn't what I wanted 😐️ ). Although, the less competitive unis are still likely to consider low ucat, but if you miss your predicted grades as per their expectations (the min academic requirements including gcses), then it would be a straight rejection, so focus on your a-levels for now 🙂 you'll do great, it's very important not to burn out too quick and try not to be too critical of yourself at this stage. Good luck!

tysm, tht was very sweet. i'll make sure to prioritise a levels

Another option is to take a year out so you can concentrate on year 13 and getting these A level results. During that year out, you work in healthcare, learn to drive and study for the UCAT.
You start a year later than your friends but you will hit hard in first year AND you'll be able to drive which helps in medical school a great deal.

hey, if you are in Year 12, you need to be aware that there is this test called the UCAT for medicine admissions.
The thing is, since you are only in year 12, you need to relax a bit and focus more on your a levels and know in general what the UCAT is.
In the UCAT, there is a significant element of luck involved since everyone gets different questions and months of practise may/may not work if you dont do it efficiently.
UCAT is quite important to the medicine application.
From this year onwards they removed one of the sections and some people seemed to get really high scores so universities are on a rejection spree with low scorers and even some of the high scorers.
At first, even i wanted to do medicine, but since i also do maths a level, i easily pivoted to another course that i know i will thrive in. I pivoted, mainly because i realised that medicine takes years and years of studying, exams all your life, all to treat diseased people in the end and there is a good probability u would get sick too so i thought the same hard work could be focused on something else for a better work life balance and also better salary. NHS is kinda crumbling as well, so even if u get into med school, no guarantee u will become a doctor since there are like 5 doctors competing in every empty spot at a hospital. (remember, doctors are going on strikes for a better pay in the NHS)
remember, people go on about taking many gap years just to want to get into medicine but then some of them end up hating it because they didnt realise this sooner...
I would really recommend you to try out other fields in STEM , and consider your motivation for medicine thoroughly

do u mind me asking wht other a levels u take? i take maths, bio chem does tht mean its 2 late for me 2 go into a maths career? because for maths dont u need to take like physics, fm etc? Also im not THAT passionate abt medicine, i js feel like its always been a career i've thought of going into because its such a big field, kinda pressure too, not from others but myself and not trying to explore many other careers.

It sounds like you really shouldn’t study medicine

Hi, im in yr 12.
All my friends have already started doing ucat prep. they said the workload would get 2 heavy later which i understand and all but isn't it 2 early to start prepping now? Anyone have any advice for what i should do now for UCAT (if anything)? Should i briefly familiarise myself with the structure etc?
Im the type of person who leaves thing to basically last min, so i know as time goes on, i will get more busy and procrastinate it even more. Plus i am NOT coping well with the a level workload at all.
I do bio chem maths, wanna go into medicine
EDIT: can we change this to a like help me find my career path cuz im genuinely SO LOST. 2 much internal conflict.
A bit more context:

do u mind me asking wht other a levels u take? i take maths, bio chem does tht mean its 2 late for me 2 go into a maths career? because for maths dont u need to take like physics, fm etc? Also im not THAT passionate abt medicine, i js feel like its always been a career i've thought of going into because its such a big field, kinda pressure too, not from others but myself and not trying to explore many other careers.

It's good that you are thinking about your future.
As for me, I'm do the exact same A levels as you + an EPQ.
it's not at all late to go into a maths career. Also, those bio, chem, maths are beneficial to a maths career.
Not doing further maths would only put u at a disadvantage for some Russell groups in london.
Since you have maths a level, you would be able to pivot to maths easily with all other great russell groups since most only need that (such as manchester, leeds, sheffield, given u have A* in maths and meet other entry requirements)
Physics isnt a requirement for those universities either.
Also, if you have good gcses, it's still not late at all to ask your teacher if you could take further maths since you are only 2 months into year 12 and the content would be easy. You may end up enjoying further maths.
Keep in mind that Maths A Level opens more doors than just a maths degree. You can apply to degrees ranging from Accounting, law , aerospace etc, with that combination - i would recommend you to research courses (there are MANY) and decide where your strengths and interests are along with how you want to see yourself in the future.
Also, if you are not that passionate of medicine, I would absolutely NOT recommend it... Let me explain...
It only involves dealing with diseased patients and there is a lot of stress involved with a very small reward (at least in the UK, NHS is not in a good situation AT ALL) I regret not knowing this sooner...
Even to just get into medical school, you need to spend hours and hours on preparing for the UCAT alongside the hard a levels and there's no guarantee you will get a good score even if you are feeling 100% confident or are scoring well on practise tests because of the luck element and anything could happen on the day itself.
I've seen people getting majorly burnt out after taking it, and not doing well on it, hindering their energy and motivation to revise for their actual A-Levels.
Also, EVEN if u do smash the UCAT and get 90th+ percentile, there is STILL no guarantee u will get into med school - Manchester this year is on a rejection spree with some people who got 90th+ percentile even before interview...
In these recent years, it got much harder to get into a med school. Lots of people apply to medicine thinking it will be rainbows and butterflies but in the end, it's one of the most stressful degrees. You have exams all your life, textbooks to memorise, in the end it's not worth it imo.
If you choose any other degree apart from medicine/dentistry, your social life at uni would be a lot better - you will have plenty of free time to find your hobbies, do side projects and stuff because you will have lesser uni lectures per week, and still ace you degree, ending up with a better work life balance and a much better salary, given you put in the work.
So yeah, this is why I don't really recommend medicine...
You wont hear these points a lot since these are the facts that no one talks about...
Best thing to do if you enjoy medicine or not is to do work experience at a GP or a hospital and you would know...

If the pay is bad, cant i js move abroad? salary is higher in other areas

Hi, im in yr 12.
All my friends have already started doing ucat prep. they said the workload would get 2 heavy later which i understand and all but isn't it 2 early to start prepping now? Anyone have any advice for what i should do now for UCAT (if anything)? Should i briefly familiarise myself with the structure etc?
Im the type of person who leaves thing to basically last min, so i know as time goes on, i will get more busy and procrastinate it even more. Plus i am NOT coping well with the a level workload at all.
I do bio chem maths, wanna go into medicine
EDIT: can we change this to a like help me find my career path cuz im genuinely SO LOST. 2 much internal conflict.
A bit more context: