Medicine application 2016

[MauAnt]

Hi my dd will be applying to medical schools and has sat the UKCAT successfuly with an 800 score. She wants/wanted to apply to Oxbridge but because she is snowed under with prep in school and has absolutely no time, she is reluctant to sit the BMAT because of the preparation time involved. She is taking 4 A levels and had wanted to drop one Physics in order to have more free periods but DD's school will not bend and give her the time by allowing her to drop an A level. This will force her to apply to only UKCAT universities and limits her options, on the other hand BMAT universities are a risk as you make your application before you sit the examination. Does anyone have any experience in this area and shouldn't selection be based on liking the university, its teaching style and so forth rather than which exam board they use

Are you aware of the new junior doctor contracts coming out? I didn't know about it but been reading up since I first heard as my niece was applying for medicine. Not sure she'll want to apply when you look into it.

Think you should post this in the higher education section, you'll get more response. Sounds like you DD hasn't had the best advice and that's a very good UKCAT score (well it was when my DD applied two years ago). There is no need for 4 A2s and quite frankly her school should have advised her about Oxbridge (you would think they would encourage strong candidates to apply). It's a case of working out which medical schools she is likely to get interviews at based on work experience, GCSEs, AS, A2 predictions, UKCAT and BMAT requirements. She needs to do a lot of research, to make sure she makes wise choices. Good luck

Four A levels aren't needed to get into medical school. I did 4 A levels but most of my peers did not, the school should know that if the student is struggling and is having to miss out on the BMAT then a subject should be dropped to allow her the time and energy to sit the BMAT. Generally the BMAT universities (Oxbridge, UCL, etc) are higher ranked but really this is not as important in medicine as it is for other subjects.

Work experience is very important, ensure she gets enough work experience before applying. She should visit university open days and see if she likes the atmosphere of the university and the town as well, I underestimated this when applying to medical school but it is a big deal.

Like the previous poster mentioned, a lot of research would do her well!

If she wants help with medical entry I work with a tutoring agency that have specialist tutors that can advise, best of luck!