Med school application

2

Hi all,

Just wanted to know more about medicine application process:

- Things to maximise chance of getting into med school
I am in S5 and except for getting the grades that I need, are there any suggestions that I should do which I would benefit from, to get into med school?
Like activities, volunteering...

- Personal statement
I feel like it is quite difficult to avoid cliché as most of them to me are quite overused, so just wanted to ask what the previous applicants who got into the interview stage broadly about what they wrote or the ideas?
And for students who are in S5 what can you do to maximise your chance of getting in? (I've heard things about volunteering at a care home but is that too overused or is there other clinical volunteering opportunities that might be useful as well? I've tried to find GP volunteering or shadowing but is not available for the places near me... I would love to hear some suggestions...)

- UCAT
For those who did this, how long did you start prepping for it and what resources you think really helped you in getting a high score? I know UCAT website is a good one but is there anything that can be used before doing the big long test on their website that can specifically help you improve?

- Interview
How long did you prep for interview?
Is it daunting?
How to practice and prepare for it?
What are the typical questions that they would ask you whether it is online or face to face?

-MMI
Are there typical questions that they would ask you or is there any tips for this section?

Thank y'all who have read all my questions and help, good luck to all who are applying this year!!

Reply 1

Scotland Yard

Volunteer Team

20

Original post

by pharmaceutical-r

Hi all,

Just wanted to know more about medicine application process:

- Things to maximise chance of getting into med school
I am in S5 and except for getting the grades that I need, are there any suggestions that I should do which I would benefit from, to get into med school?
Like activities, volunteering...

- Personal statement
I feel like it is quite difficult to avoid cliché as most of them to me are quite overused, so just wanted to ask what the previous applicants who got into the interview stage broadly about what they wrote or the ideas?
And for students who are in S5 what can you do to maximise your chance of getting in? (I've heard things about volunteering at a care home but is that too overused or is there other clinical volunteering opportunities that might be useful as well? I've tried to find GP volunteering or shadowing but is not available for the places near me... I would love to hear some suggestions...)

- UCAT
For those who did this, how long did you start prepping for it and what resources you think really helped you in getting a high score? I know UCAT website is a good one but is there anything that can be used before doing the big long test on their website that can specifically help you improve?

- Interview
How long did you prep for interview?
Is it daunting?
How to practice and prepare for it?
What are the typical questions that they would ask you whether it is online or face to face?

-MMI
Are there typical questions that they would ask you or is there any tips for this section?

Thank y'all who have read all my questions and help, good luck to all who are applying this year!!

If you can get some work experience, that'd be great. Ideally something in a healthcare setting, but anything in which you're working with and dealing with people will be useful (so volunteering at a shop will also work, if that's all you can get) when it comes to interviews and writing your PS.

The best way to maximise your chances of getting into medical school will be by acing the UCAT and apply to medical schools based on your strengths. So for example, some medical schools might score applicants based on GCSEs so if you have a particularly strong set of GCSEs you might want to apply there, and stuff like that. We have a good thread here called Which medical school should I apply to? which is good for figuring out these sort of stuff, BUT you should only post there once you have your full stats, including your UCAT score. But do also check the universities' own websites, many will have the details on their shortlisting for interview process.

In terms of personal statement, it's not as important as you might think. So while you totally should write a good one and avoid cliches as much as you can, don't overthink it or let it stress you too much. You can get an idea of what people write about on their personal statement here on the Student Room's Personal Statement bank but always remember that it's your personal statement and to be honest as to your motivations.

I've always found the official UCAT resources plenty, but other people use others too like Medifiy or Medentry. Good to start revising about a month or two in advance, anything beyong that is a bit overkill and likely to lead you to burn out instead of getting a good UCAT!

Interview prep is a handful, you should be reading about medicine now and keeping in touch with medical news from now. But to avoid overloading you with too much info right now, I suggest you look for interview prep tips here in the Student Room and also the free resources in the Medic Portal at your own leisure.

Good luck!

Reply 2

Flower2007!

14

Original post

by pharmaceutical-r

Hi all,
Just wanted to know more about medicine application process:
- Things to maximise chance of getting into med school
I am in S5 and except for getting the grades that I need, are there any suggestions that I should do which I would benefit from, to get into med school?
Like activities, volunteering...
- Personal statement
I feel like it is quite difficult to avoid cliché as most of them to me are quite overused, so just wanted to ask what the previous applicants who got into the interview stage broadly about what they wrote or the ideas?
And for students who are in S5 what can you do to maximise your chance of getting in? (I've heard things about volunteering at a care home but is that too overused or is there other clinical volunteering opportunities that might be useful as well? I've tried to find GP volunteering or shadowing but is not available for the places near me... I would love to hear some suggestions...)
- UCAT
For those who did this, how long did you start prepping for it and what resources you think really helped you in getting a high score? I know UCAT website is a good one but is there anything that can be used before doing the big long test on their website that can specifically help you improve?
- Interview
How long did you prep for interview?
Is it daunting?
How to practice and prepare for it?
What are the typical questions that they would ask you whether it is online or face to face?
-MMI
Are there typical questions that they would ask you or is there any tips for this section?
Thank y'all who have read all my questions and help, good luck to all who are applying this year!!

i was typing out a long reply but it suddenly got deleted :frown:

so i’ll send it in different comments, sorry about that.

personal statement - ik it can sound cliche but it is important to mention relevant stuff like volunteering. and yes it’s fine and good to mention volunteering even at typical places like a care home.
big chunk should be on wex. pick two key moments to talk about and say why it was interesting and what happened and what you learnt and how you relate to the key skill shown (for example: non verbal communication, important for understanding patients, you have experience with this by doing acting and learning to pick up on cues and body language).
small part should be dedicated to extracurriculars like piano, dofe.
decently sized section should be dedicated to supercurriculars like research, lectures, books, podcasts.
the beginning bit should be about why you’re interested in medicine. you can do a sob story, mention something from your wex, talk about research you’ve done etcetc

Reply 3

Flower2007!

14

Original post

by Flower2007!

i was typing out a long reply but it suddenly got deleted :frown:

so i’ll send it in different comments, sorry about that.
personal statement - ik it can sound cliche but it is important to mention relevant stuff like volunteering. and yes it’s fine and good to mention volunteering even at typical places like a care home.
big chunk should be on wex. pick two key moments to talk about and say why it was interesting and what happened and what you learnt and how you relate to the key skill shown (for example: non verbal communication, important for understanding patients, you have experience with this by doing acting and learning to pick up on cues and body language).
small part should be dedicated to extracurriculars like piano, dofe.
decently sized section should be dedicated to supercurriculars like research, lectures, books, podcasts.
the beginning bit should be about why you’re interested in medicine. you can do a sob story, mention something from your wex, talk about research you’ve done etcetc

ucat- 6-8 weeks prep. joyel george youtube. do official ucat mocks. get medify subscription. really give it your all because this is seriously the most important part of the whole application

Reply 4

Flower2007!

14

Original post

by Flower2007!

ucat- 6-8 weeks prep. joyel george youtube. do official ucat mocks. get medify subscription. really give it your all because this is seriously the most important part of the whole application

interview - always prepare ‘why med’. also write list of all the skills and your experiences with them and why it’s important for a doctor eg: teamwork, communication, empathy, leadership. try to think of two or three experiences that embody a lot of these skills so that you don’t have to spend time memorising completely unique situation for each of these skills if you’re asked abt them.

for uni specific advice there r lots of guides online like ‘most common leeds questions’ etc. you can also get a tutor from that uni. Medicmentor does a programme where they match you with tutors from the uni you have an interview with so you can have very tailored sessions.

key sections that come up and are good to be well versed in for pretty much all interviews are: ethics, roleplaying, data analysis, skills. be familiar w your personal statement and everything you wrote in it. eg if you mentioned a research paper you read, go back and revise it in case you’re asked.

good hot topics to know about - structure of nhs and resident doctor strikes. obesity crisis. smoking campaigns. preventative medicine. genetic medicine/designer babies

Reply 5

ringi

14

UCAT and work experience can be fixed with a gap year, but most medical/dental schools don't like retakes. So the primary requirement is to ace your A levels.

Duke of Edinburgh Reward is good to do, partly as it gives you things to use as examples for interviews.

(Read the Belfast admission policy carefully as they are one of the easyer options with a gap year, but want consider you if you failed to include them in your 1st set of applications to med school.)

Med school application

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