Medicine 2018 part 3

[SomersetS]

Hope you all find this - didn't realise I took 999! Whoops.

And now plan B. Already worrying whether I get up in the night to check UCAS (&/or encourage DD) to do so, or go to school unknowing.
Even DD said when she got home "I don't like this, now I know there's nothing more I can do".

Well done to those who have finished! One more for DD on Friday C4 maths. DS has his last 2 GCSEs tomorrow, so we are all done on Friday!

Enjoy your tea Somerset (once the scales are done!)

Well done to everyone who finished today. I feel quite emotional - it’s been a long slog. Sadly DS is away for the evening as he is at girlfriends as was her 18th yesterday. Will have to have a celebration tomorrow 🍾

Flute Exam. Sitting listening to the run through. Exam at 13:57 precisely
DD more nervous than for any A Levels or Med School Interviews. Poor lass.
Good luck to the Mathematicians.

Hope flute exam went ok Somerset. DD used to get very nervous before her piano exams too.
DS finally finished GCSEs today, he has prom on sat. DD counting down the minutes until maths finishes tomorrow. Straight home for power snooze then out to a BBQ then clubbing. Large bottle of wine for me tomorrow night!

Hope flute went well Somerset. DD is also desperate for tomorrow to be over. I think she's struggle more this week before she had 3 days off last week with many of her friends finished, so this week seems to have gone on forever. Thankfully, she finds C4 easier than C3, so crossing fingers. Doing her last practice exam right now.

Already dreading the wait until 16/08.

Hope flute exam went well Somerset.

DD also has C4 tomorrow - she used to find it ok, but seems to be struggling today. Hope tomorrow will be ok. After the exam they are going on a picnic (we live in the new forest) and then out - out.

DS finished GCSEs today, so tomorrow we will be done

We are still hanging on. DD exhausted but has maths C4 tomorrow and S2 on Monday. DS finished GCSEs today but don't think it's sunk in yet. Looking forward to the end and a quiet few weeks. Let's all enjoy and cherish this time !

Not long to go, I think all your DC's will be finished by Monday?.. SomersetS impressed that your DD fitted in flute as well, music can be very calming but the thought of an exam in it too... clearly good planning and coping skills that will come in useful in the future!

Very strange having DD at home and not surrounded by books - a pile of notes and revision cards etc. is building up for recycling! Looking at the content just fills me with respect for our DC's. Although my now annoying mantra is 'you still need to do 5 years of more biology' , I presume some chemistry, maths, physics etc. will come into too....

Lots of parties and nights out on the calendar, last night a bar and club in central London, so grown up - just needs to get some part time work organised to pay for all the socialising .

Enjoy the sunny weekend everyone ....

2B1Gmum - can't imagine going through this 3 times! And I can't imagine it gets any less stressful. This is my eldest DC so the first time for us as parents.

Poor DS has just come back feeling really rubbish from Maths C4 - last night's migraine was hanging around and he's all frustrated with how his brain wouldn't work and he knows he's messed up stuff he normally finds straightforward. it's so hard to know what to say :( He's pretty good at judging performance and he's sure that his A* is now unachievable.

I was out last night so feeling super guilty that I didn't know about his migraine and wasn't here to make him take medicine etc.

If it's this hard on us, goodness only knows what is going on in their heads. Just wishing the days away until the 16th ;)

On twitter that c4 was leaked last night? Not sure if it's true?

First casualty of the tremendous pressure of A levels - DS has split up with girlfriend of nearly 2 years, citing the fact that he felt she didn’t support him and expected her to sort out her stress. We feel bereft as she has been a big part of our family. He seems fairly ok but wondering if it’s all going to come crashing down and he will regret it. Life as mother of teenagers!

Sorry to hear about your DS splitting up with his girlfriend Movingmountains.

I also heard about the C4 paper being leaked. Not sure what it will mean. I haven't told DD!

Same thing happened with C4 last year. Candidates were assured provisions were in place to deal with such an eventuality. DS missed his predicted grade by 1UMS but still got his uni place. He's still miffed about not getting the grade he thought he deserved though!

DS passed his driving test (eventually) today. Amazing when not distracted by med school interviews and A levels what can happen.

Also sat in instructor car with him in back!!

Tbh glad epq isn't included as DD didn't do particularly well! She hated doing every minute of it but she did bring it up a lot in her interviews so was useful from that perspective.

Someone who hated every minute of an EPQ isn't likely to enjoy her first year at medical school very much. I'd be a bit concerned about this, to be honest. Do you know why she hated it?

There is a maths station at Liverpool interview, but DD said it was easy mental maths

There are numeracy stations in the MMIs at Birmingham, Leicester, Liverpool & Cardiff, but I think Liverpool are dropping theirs. Keele includes a 30-min numeracy test before/after the MMI. The level of maths in these is nowhere near A-level, or even GCSE. Anyone who can do science A-levels should be able to do well on these, but quite a lot don't. A disturbing number of medical students with A* and A grades in science A-levels turn out to be very uncomfortable with numbers.

Lovely to hear everyone's news. Sorry about girlfriend but maybe best to split now rather than when at Uni. My DD off to party island on Weds and all packed tonight. I'm
a little bit jealous - and slightly worried she might be her mum !!!!
All been bought into perspective for me as my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer the week before youngest DDs GCSE exams started. We have kept it from them until last week as no point upsetting them when so stressed anyway and it's been a strain. Me and DD1 went to see him last week and she was awesome. I watched her with him (& my mum who has dementia) and I saw the doctor she could become. Made me quite tearful. I have grown to love, cherish and adore our wonderful NHS.

We haven't had the "what if you don't get 3As ..." conversation yet. But it will have to happen at some point

It might be worth looking at the following: www.medschools.ac.uk/media/2351/msc-journey-to-medicine-results-day-and-beyond.pdf It's primarily intended for teachers but is also useful for parents (and students).

All the resources at www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/applications/resources-for-students-and-teachers are worth a look for anyone going through the process over the coming year.

innertiger exactly that happened to DS4 last year. He was sitting on 100 % or full ums for all the AS papers and felt all the A level papers were fine but came out of C4 saying that's the A gone. He'd got 100%/ full ums for everything except C$, where his mark brought him down to one mark the wrong side of the A. But the sky didn't fall in and life went on :)

Skiiltan do you know how many very, very bright DC there are out there who find the EPQ a seriously tedious exercise in box ticking? I wouldn't think it had any negative indication whatsoever, speaking from my own DCs' experience and that of plenty of their friends.

C4 not C$!

Skiiltan do you know how many very, very bright DC there are out there who find the EPQ a seriously tedious exercise in box ticking?

I know the things first- & second-year medical students complain about (I've had to listen to the complaints many, many times), and they are very similar to the things sixth-formers complain about with regard to their EPQs.

Very sorry indeed to hear about your Dad mumsneedwine - sympathies (cross post).

Skiiltan the problem with the EPQ is that it's got more to do with admin than anything else. Passionate engagement with the tedium of the process of the EPQ will have remarkably little bearing on how a medical student shapes up unless you're suggesting that they should be drawn to the profession because of a curious attraction to tedium. It's a very effective cost saving qualification for schools but doesn't provide anything else of much substance.

I didn't say it has a bearing on how they "shape up". I said it has a bearing on whether they enjoy it. They will have lots of deadlines for submitting forms, assignments, etc., and will get into trouble if they don't do them on time and in the correct format. Even something like getting hospital ID badges sorted out causes lots of complaints, failed submissions (resulting in inability to attend placements) and so on. Doctors have to do a lot of form-filling; medical students somewhat less but still quite a bit.