Medicine Applications 2017

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As UKCAT season is in full swing and I can't find a thread anywhere else I thought I'd start this off. This is for parents of children looking to apply for Medicine at University with courses starting in 2017. UCAS application is only a couple of months away. It is hard to watch our kids put themselves through so much to work in the hardest profession imaginable and I thought it might be useful to start some sort of discussion here.

Having said that I am aware it is unusual to have 4 offers and as total novices in this area I can't explain why I am just very grateful and maybe she has been very lucky .My daughter hasn't had any tutoring / interview practice etc although she did have a few books on the tests and went to a medics info day . She didn't have any contextual data and I can't find find anything that says her medical condition would be factored in . I think her experiences health wise may have helped hugely with her empathy .The whole process is mind boggling and I wish you all the best .

Your daughter's stats are good but they only count to get an interview,.

Most medical schools just interview roughly the top third /quarter of applicants and they all have their own system for ranking them. Typically some combination of academic score, BMAT/UKCAT and contextual score. Some also score the PS.

Once they have an interviews, most unis only count performance on the day, unless two candidates get the same score at interview.

So I reckon that triplets DD has done exceptionally well at interview and it's not about her stats.

My nephew also got 4 offers last year and his stats were very good but not outstanding . I think he also interviews extremely well. He jist applied to the medical schools he wanted to go to, there was no strategy.

Information on competition ratios here BTW

themsag.com/uk-medical-schools/competition-ratios

DD and I looked at the specific criteria each institution set but when I read the experience of those who got interviews and those who didn't it wasn't so obvious. For instance Liverpool states it values PS and not UKCAT as much so was surprise to read that a number with excellent experience and average UKCAT score didn't get an invite whilst a couple with average experience but good UKCAT score did which through us a bit! More homework to be done but still plenty of time for 2018 entry.

Wow, that's amazing, triplet!

My DC is still waiting for an offer post interviews at three med schools... waiting...waiting.

Abraid and others, many sympathies. DD had three interviews in March last year, so went through mocks and coursework with a horrid uncertainty hanging over her. It is so hard for 17 year olds, however mature. It seems many medical schools, who are required by law to give all home/EU applicants equal opportunity, reject some and accept some, but then leave the rest hanging until the end of the interview process. With three interviews and no rejections to date, the chances are that your DC should get something, but it is not the easiest way to prepare for A levels. All I can say is that deferring was the best decision my daughter could have made. She was absolutely drained by the end of Yr 13, but having a great gap year, and is really looking forward to going to University in September.

If s/he is still waiting in April it is worth reading the tail end of last year's Student Room threads for the relevant courses. Offers can come through as late as May, and we know one boy who was offered a place at a respected medical school last August. (But sadly a couple of very able applicants who received no offers at all.)

Swing, from the outside there seems to be no rhyme or reason to PS scoring. The initial advice has to be to practice UKCAT so that you are fully familiar with the format of questions and have got the timing down to a fine art. The better the UKCAT (or BMAT) the more doors that are open. And obviously make sure that predicted grades meet entrance criteria.

DD had a problem as she was too ill to take BMAT, and had an average UKCAT (just below the percentile cut off Triplet's DD was just above, so one point short of a Nottingham interview). PS became all important. We printed off the guidance from each University and cross checked their required competencies against her PS and made sure she had described and evidenced each of them. It's not what you have done, but how you score. Most of her classmates were very focused on BMAT schools in Oxbridge and London (Central London children! - even DD wanted to stay in a major city) and DD's PS ended up looking very different. Less academic, more "doing".

Part of the problem is that the medical schools which appear "easier" on paper, attract the highest number of applicants. Bristol only require AAB from pupils from the 40% of schools on their contextual list, and don't give much weight to UKCAT, so is hugely popular.

Kr1stina is right. The first step is getting to interview. If you need a strong PS I would seek out someone with experience of Public Sector recruitment, not necessarily medical, and get them to check off the statement against competencies. It does not matter how good you are and what you have done. If you don't put it down you wont get the point.

(I would also look at competition rates. For example at Queens Belfast you have a one in two chance of an offer, against one in ten at Bristol. Both are well regarded, and we know someone at Belfast who is very happy. DD was willing to treat her application as a two year process, so took more risks. You will be there 5/6 years so it is important to like the place, but equally you want a place.)

Thanks, needmore. It is dispiriting for them to keep on with such uncertainty. At least some of her group are still waiting for offers, too, so she has companions in nervousness! Only other parents who have been through it can get how drawn out the process is.

Kristina, thank you very much for that link, very interesting and eye opening.

DD strength is more in her social skills than academic, despite being one of the top performer in her school. She is confident without being arrogant, can formulate her ideas verbally well, and comes across as a nice, friendly, mature and enthusiastic young person, so if she can get invitations to interviews, she will have a much better chance afterwards. The link really shows the difference in percentage between the establishments who offer more interview slots but less offers and vice versa, so definitely a factor that DD will have to take into consideration.

Very good advice also to print guidance from each school. I am not an HR manager, but do work in the public sector and often involved in recruitment processes, so indeed, I know how important it is to tick the boxes against the person specification and do so in a way to catch the attention, a balance between expanding on an experience without waffling! I hope I'll be able to guide DD although she made it clear (and I agree!) that is her application, not mine!

Arggg Abraiid, not looking forward to it indeed. I think it's knowing how much they put into it, often for years, and it all comes down to four emails! As parents, we of course are convinced that our children would make excellent doctors!

Hope your DD hears very soon.

😀

No offers here either for my mentees (one has an interview mid April so it's a drawn out process!). Triplet well done to your daughter.

It's a really difficult process but both my mentees are enjoying the process and learning a lot from each stage. The hardest thing for them is not hearing back for months and months after interviews and having it all hanging over them as they prepare for the hardest exam year of their lives.

I know it is a case of easier said than done but those that have had all of their interviews need to try and disengage from the process for a while. There is nothing to be served by checking UCAS track every 20 minutes and I am seeing a kind of post interview burn out in my house and work on A Levels themselves is at an all-time low. TSR doesn't help. Seems like everyone else is getting offers but today someone totted up the Leicester applicants on the site who had said they had offers: There were only 27 and Leicester will eventually make over 500. So still very early days. Chins up . My heart goes out to those still waiting to see if they are going to get any interviews. That is a long haul since applications went out in October.

I agree, there are very few offers out yet. There are twenty pupils in my child's year applying for medicine And dentistry. All but one have had two or more interviews and none have offers. Most unis are still interviewing EU and international applicants so it's quite likely that most UK applicants won't hear for another month or six weeks.

Please tell your kids not to worry and get down to studying . They don't want to get an offer and miss the grades.

State of total burnout here. No a level revision but lots of angst about offers.

I hope this may offer a glimmer of hope to anyone who has neither interview nor offer!
I read an old thread last year on here where someone's nephew was unsuccessful with all his applications, he didn't lose heart and infact exceeded predicted grades. 2 weeks after ALevel results received an offer. I told my DC this last year and he said "that would never happen".
Well my DC had only 1 offer last year despite 13 A\A GCSE, predicted AAA at A Level, above average UKCAT and MBAT so something was wrong! DC is very personable, got 1 interview and an offer AAA at his first choice uni. Missed his A* by 2 raw points. Wa then re-offered his original place 2 weeks later!
Moral of the story "stay positive" good luck to all applicants this year and families - it is absolutely the most stressful time 💐

Thanks for such an encouraging post awishes

Hope your DS is enjoying uni

Worth noting that SGUL and, I think, Plymouth, entered clearing last year. So if DC do pull off some good A level grades it may be worth being ready to hit the phones on results day.

Thank you, I hope it does offer some encouragement to others.
Yes loving the course, not too sure about the university ironically!

Hi I'm new to this website ,my son has an interview today at Liverpool,hoping it goes well.However he has an offer from Leicester.It was a struggle for him after last year being unsuccessful all four rejections only offer was Bradford clinical science but after his A level results be declined it and took a Gap year and reapplied and did more medicine related experience which involved 3 weeks abroad hospital.Anyone know much about Leicester medical school his heart is set on that because his got few friends at Demonfort university Leicester which only 10 minutes from Leicester university medical school.

My DD is at Leicester Medical School , she is a grad entry and in her 3rd year. She seems very happy, she is in her clinical phase now so quite a bit of traveling but she stays over when in Northampton and Kettering . I don't think the nightlife is amazing but the medical has a brand new building . All in all she is having a good experience . Good luck to your son .

Thank you Rachelle 1964,I understand your DD is on their old curriculum,they have changed to new curriculum from 2016,any ideas what that is like.My son not into nightlife ,But does like going out to cinemas etc.He wants to stay near campus city living accommodation,he is thinking of optal and Nixon courts with self catering.

If your DD is a graduate on 5 years normal entry it must cost quite a lot of money.luckly my son took a GAP year and reapplied and declined his offer at Bradford clinical science last year after getting his A levels,he took his teachers advice to take GAP year.

Thankfully she is a 4 year grad entry , I think that has stopped now at Leicester . So she gets a student loan and an NHS bursary .
I will ask her about accommodation and the new course and will let you know what she says

Thank you

My DS is a second year at Leicester and loving it too

it's a long, tough process but applications have dropped this year - part of a continuing decline. So there will be a good few offers coming through in March and maybe even places in clearing as there seems to be one that messes up the process most years.

This may be their most difficult exam year to date but they will find the degree means a great deal to remember and they need to be fit to cope with the bugs they will pick up from patients. There will be a stream of tough years.

It was heartbreaking to see very good medical students being rejected on university of Leicester medicine 2017 entry thread.Hope some of the get through clearing or after Gap year. My DS did the same last year, took a GAP after taking advice from teachers.