support thread for those of us who have DC submitting UCAS applications in the next few months

[mumoverseas]

Thought we should all get together and calm each other down/mop fevered brows/hand around glasses of wine etc. We've seen other go through it over the past few months and it will be our turn soon.

DS has just got his AS results which were not too bad. AAAB. The B suprised him as it was for maths and we'd expected a B for french which he had not studied for a few years as sat his GCSE early. He says he will re-sit one of the maths modules and one of French ones to get a higher A

He (we!) has been considering various Unis over recent months and has visited 4.
PS is all in hand as is extended project (whatever all that is about) but time is creeping by and not long now til his mid Oct deadline (one of his choices is Oxbridge)

There has been so much in the papers over recent days about the lack of places at University at the moment and stories of how so many good students did not get places as they didn't put 'insurance' choices.

How is everyone else coping and how do we get our children to make realistic choices?

I found this in the jokes section and hoped it might make everyone smile when the UCAS process is particularly stressful.

Happy Christmas!

LOL. Happy christmas, fingers crossed for a few offers

Frumpy - love the link {fgrin]

Hi
I have been lurking on this thread growing a bit despondent that my DS would NEVER get an interview for Medicine. However....I have to share my good news: we heard this morning that he has an interview at Sheffield on 26th. Fingers crossed!

Hi sparklyjewlz,

I'm so happy for you and your DS for landing an interview. Your DS must be brilliant because I've heard Sheffield have a high cut-off UKCAT score. I'm certain more invitations will be coming along soon.

Good luck on the 26th.

hi sparklyjewlz,
goodluck to your son - i feel sure he would love sheffield its brilliant - my son - not doing medicine but now in his final master year is at sheffield and not only does he love it, but when we visit we love it too - botanical gardens, great parks, excellent eating on ecclesall road and good access to peak district and amazing countryside

Thank you peteneras and mollymole for your good wishes.
Can I ask everyone what DS should wear to his interview?

Good news! Sheffield is a really great place to do medicine and also nice countryside for walking.

Dark suit (charcoal/black/dark grey). White shirt or possibly white with thin blue stripes. Tie of his choice. Well polished black shoes. Clean nails.Clean shaven.

It is a professional interview not just a uni interview.
Good luck!!

sparklyjewlz
Can I ask everyone what DS should wear to his interview?

I have here an extract of the Dress Code for the School of Medicine at Guy?s, King?s and St Thomas? Hospitals in London as published by the Student Admissions Office, King?s College London (KCL) for their medical personnel and students alike. Medical Schools seldom come bigger than this and I guess the same dress code should be acceptable to Sheffield University.

My DS wore a pair of darkish trousers and a light-blue, long-sleeve shirt with a matching tie under a jacket complete with a pair of black leather shoes for his two medicine interviews so far. He seemed quite happy and comfortable with the attire. Hope this helps.

Peteneras- Happy New Year! Hope you have a good one. I wish your son lots of success.
His interview outfit sounds fine. The thing is - that dress code you posted is the dress code for clinical medicine for going on wards/clinics etc so it is the minimum. For a medical/medical school interview setting- interview clothes are supposed to go up a notch. Interview clothes, especially for young medical students, are a good investment as they can (should) be worn for oral exams, clinical exams, junior doc interviews. If new clothes are to be bought, there is no point, for example, going out and buying a brown interview suit or a non matching trousers and jacket, when one could just as well buy a black/charcoal suit. Pin stripes not greatly liked.
We found that River Island and M and S both do reasonably priced suits which fit the younger male figure, so they don't end up looking like lamb dressed as mutton.
It is useful incidentally to make sure the shoes don't squeak or clack so rubber soles may be better than leather ones.

If it was me interviewing the clothes wouldn't matter much, incidentally, as long as the person looks clean and tidy. After all the applicants are only sixth formers. My male surgical colleagues or GP tutor colleagues would not have my view though. The conservatism of the medical establishment should not be underestimated.

Having said that, a fantastic suit won't take precedence over what is actually said, or the attitude of the person.

Good luck anyway.

Here is a link to the GMC website on ethical guidance
www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethical_guidance.asp
not all of it will be relevant at this stage, but, for example, the section on personal beliefs, and duties of a doctor might be helpful reading. Here are some considerations ( very partial) when answering the ethics question.

The benefit of an intervention needs to be balanced against any risks to the patient

1. all cases are individual
2. there is no easy answer and often no right or wrong answer
3. it is important to obtain as much information as possible about the case, and about the risks and benefits of treatment, consulting other specialists and those who know the patient where necessary taking into account quality of life issues
4. the gmc guidance and law should be followed

5.the patient should be informed of risks and benefits in a way which they can understand and have the right to choose

1. For those unable to make their own decisions, their wishes should be taken into account but in addition gmc guidance on consent should be followed.

You would be surprised how many medical school candidates think it is perfectly OK for a doctor in the UK to assist suicide and say so.

Wow! Thank you so much Funnyperson. This is very useful!

You are welcome. I am off to lunch with my phenomenal parents. Do ask anything else and I will try to help.

common question; how do you deal with stress; examples of 'good' answers; I play an instrument/go running/hang out with friends/and have done so regularly for the last ......years, or anything else interesting; not good answers; I like doing family barbecues/going to the reading festival.

The stress coping mechanism has to translate to a tired doctor on call in a district general hospital far away from home who has possibly been to three cardiac arrests in a row where all three have died.

Thats just an example of doctor stress- not from personal experience incidentally but perfectly feasible.
My examples of answers are very stilted and fossilised of course- most young people have much better answers.

Fp ? Thank you and ?A Very Happy & Prosperous New Year? to you and your family too.

Re dress code for medical interview, the KCL link I uploaded specifically states in the opening line:

?Many applicants are unsure how to dress for the interview . . .?

. . and then went on to give examples on what is acceptable/not acceptable for both males and females. A business suit of course, is mentioned as acceptable - as always has been in any kinds of interview traditionally.

But in the second decade of the second millennium, I guess time has moved on a bit. Like you, I?ve always thought a suit (for men) is the standard gear for an interview, medical or otherwise, but I was suitably astonished (no pun intended) in the few uni Open Days I attended last summer to hear the admission tutors not really giving a monkey as to what is worn at the interview when this specific question was being raised.

What came across most overwhelmingly is the fact that they are most interested to see at the interview what is in between a candidate?s ears rather than what is worn between the hair and feet. For professional and practical reasons the KCL list seems just about perfect.

'The business suit'....how those words took me back. The words haven't changed for half a century. When we first came across them as soon-to-be-clinical-students, the boys in particular fell about laughing. There was discussion as to whether doctors should dress like travelling insurance salesmen or not, and what thickness of a pin strip would distinguish between a doctor and a stockbroker. There was covert observation of the Physician to the Queen and the quality/design of suit worn thereof. (Saville Row; plain black wool; as befitted a Wykhamite). Many suits for the younger generation of course had bell bottom trousers, whereas the registrars upwards had straight drainpipe legs....
At least todays interviewees don't have to worry about whether to cut their long locks.

Are we still talking about this?

DD submitted her UCAS form with personal statement etc to the school in late October, as requested. It took the bloody school until mid-December to add their reference, predicted grades etc and submit to UCAS.

But she has received her first offer! From Manchester, ABB (so should be do-able) for Social Anthropology. We are thrilled to bits!

Anyone else heard anything lately?

Yes we are NadiaWadia well done your DD on her offer. We are all quiet here but only waiting for one more university anyway.

we're just waiting for UCAS to confirm the final offer (they wrote to DD to say they would be making her one, but UCAS hasn't got there yet). DD is over the moon at getting all 5 offers as most of her friends have at least one rejection.

Good luck to everyone with exams starting this week

And look at this link (copied from the TSR) to make you smile - insert uni name of your choice

what ucas didn't tell you before starting uni

Happy New Year everyone on this thread....

How nice it was over Christmas to not chekc the emial every couple of hours to see if there was a message from 'track@ucas'... but now I'm back to obsessive checking just in case.

I swear I'm more stressed than DD - she has one offer and one rejection and we are waiting on 3 more - one renowned for late decisions (although they did send a holding email) one looking at a written submission and one who I know is making offers to other candidates for her subject as I speak!

Lurking on the Student Room just makes me jealous of those who have all of their decisions in already!

Is anyone on here still waiting for more than 3 to reply? Maybe just typing this will stimulate cyberspace and she'll get a flurry today....

Hi thekidsmom - we are waiting for 1 reply, and like you, we have had a holding reply so I'm not expecting to hear anything till after the closing deadline next week.

Which subject is your dd hoping to study?

Its English for us - or English with Creative Writing in a couple of places.

I think you're right, frumpy, we shouldnt expect much in the way of offers before the 15th deadline passes... I'll just practice my Zen outlook between now and then....